I know it's good news, but I think that in the past 10 years, after the State gave him a break, Mr. Pham Quang Nghi has published a series of works on research, theory, composition... with the stature of a great cultural figure (a journalist, a scientist , a writer, a poet), so the articles in the new work will make me excited and curious.
But when he gave me a new two-volume book set, after the Lunar New Year, my curiosity was solved. The Truth National Political Publishing House collaborated with Mr. Pham Quang Nghi to do a very profound, scientific and systematic work, which was to selectively collect and compile Pham Quang Nghi's published articles and scientific works into this work entitled: "Innovation, new thinking, new practice".
I read carefully the parts of the 2-volume work, 1,444 pages thick, 16x24 in size, and was overwhelmed and impressed by the scientific approach of the publisher and Mr. Pham Quang Nghi. I felt that I had to write about Pham Quang Nghi from a different perspective.
Throughout Pham Quang Nghi’s life, throughout his written works, I see something clearer, more condensed and more concise than Quang Minh Chinh Dai. That is Pham Quang Nghi’s HEART. This idea is really good, but the heart is also really immense in a person’s life.
Ideas are one thing, but actually applying them to a person's life is another.
While struggling with the way of expression, one night, thinking back to Pham Quang Nghi's new work "The renovation process, new thinking, new practice", I discovered that everything about Pham Quang Nghi comes down to one word "Bright heart". From the bright heart, we can also say a part of the culturalist Pham Quang Nghi. I remember the great national poet Nguyen Du. He mentioned the word Heart many times in the story of Kieu, turning it over and over again, "The word Heart is worth three words of Talent".
Unexpectedly, I received an invitation from poet Huu Thinh inviting me, on May 28, 2025, to attend the book launch event "Obsessed with Words", a thick book of literary criticism and theory written about writers, including me. But especially at Huu Thinh's book launch, at the end of that event, Huu Thinh said something that startled me. He told everyone in the hall: I am re-reading the Tale of Kieu and will be determined to recite over 3,000 verses of Kieu. Huu Thinh recalled Nguyen Du's "The word Heart is worth three words of Talent" which reminded me of the topic about Pham Quang Nghi that I was unfinished. That's right, the works and articles of Pham Quang Nghi that the Truth National Political Publishing House chose to print for him have illuminated the word Heart in many different forms.
In ancient China, the personality of a gentleman was expressed through the qualities of Loyalty - Filial Piety - Integrity - Righteousness. Ancient Vietnamese Confucian scholars all followed that moral philosophy. The expression of a bright heart in Pham Quang Nghi's works is also in different forms, including Loyalty - Filial Piety - Integrity - Righteousness.
Chinese characters in Pham Quang Nghi
The word Heart in Pham Quang Nghi's work is expressed in the word Trung. To the Fatherland, to the people, to the Party and in Pham Quang Nghi's case, it is expressed first of all in loyalty to the socialist ideal, to the capital Hanoi , to the Party Committee and the people of the capital Hanoi . The word Heart is expressed in the word Trung in part one of the book series "The renovation process, new thinking, new practice", entitled: "Socialism: Dream and reality". The entire second part of this work: "Party's will and people's heart" is also expressed in the word Trung.
Pham Quang Nghi's Trung character stands out in major national issues, in all his works on Party building, on internal solidarity... Only by paying attention to "Party's will, people's heart", living a clean life can one think of fighting corruption, discussing corruption...
The word "loyalty" to the homeland is all that Pham Quang Nghi has done for Hanoi, the land that Pham Quang Nghi has been deeply attached to all his life. I can explain why, in 2024, on the occasion of the 70th anniversary of the Liberation of the Capital, he was honored as "Outstanding Citizen of the Capital".
“Socialism: Dreams and Reality” is the most important part that I am very interested in. Along with the word Trung, here, we also clearly see the word Tai in Pham Quang Nghi’s theory. All the research articles on the theory of socialism and Marxism in this part demonstrate Pham Quang Nghi’s absolute loyalty and arguments to protect the purity of socialism and the chosen path of Vietnam. This is Trung, tested over time throughout Pham Quang Nghi’s life, tested by his own personality and his Openness and Righteousness.
All of Pham Quang Nghi's articles and discussions from 1986 to 2020 have been tested over time by their scientific objectivity and verified by reality. That means that the words "Trung" and "Talent" have been tested and confirmed by the real life of Vietnam and first of all, the capital Hanoi, where he lives.
The essays “Some thoughts on the issue of innovation in thinking” written in 1986, “Innovation in our country is a demand of life itself” written in 1987, “Socialism is the path we have chosen” written in 1989, “Socialism and the cause of innovation in our country” written in 1991, “The vitality of Marxism-Leninism and our era” written in 1994, “Affirming a theoretical truth” written in 1995... and most recently “Contributions to Document XIII of the Communist Party of Vietnam” written in 2020, after 40 years of innovation, Pham Quang Nghi’s comments, assessments and arguments still retain their value. That affirms that Pham Quang Nghi’s loyalty to the Party’s cause is absolute and scientifically based. Loyalty is tested by Talent.
Filial Piety in Pham Quang Nghi
With his family and parents, Pham Quang Nghi's heart is expressed in the word Filial Piety. In the new book series published in 2025 by the National Political Publishing House, Truth, there are almost no articles about parents and grandparents. However, the articles of his friends (in the fifth part: Opening a page of a book to see a person) deeply expressed the word Filial Piety in him.
Human personality begins from birth in the way we treat our grandparents and parents. Childhood memories, through the articles in the collection "Mien Thuong Nho" and "Di Tim Mot Sao", are the word "Hieu". However, he skillfully and modestly placed the word "Hieu" after the great national works, about the Party, about the country to show his respect for the Fatherland and the people. But for the Vietnamese people in the past, morality was: "For men, Loyalty and Filial Piety come first/For women, Chastity and Virtue are the key to self-improvement" (Nguyen Dinh Chieu, in Luc Van Tien).
The word Filial Piety in Pham Quang Nghi is the memories of grandparents and parents (Advice to those who are kind, My grandmother endured the sun and rain, My father, a life of "Putting public service first", in the memoir The Land of Memories, Hanoi Publishing House, 2024). The portrait of a person is a unified entity. The Loyalty - Filial Piety - Dignity - Righteousness of the Vietnamese people are a unified entity.
The word Tiet in Pham Quang Nghi
With the affection of comrades or people he respects, Pham Quang Nghi's word "Heart" is expressed in the word "Tiet". Here, I want to talk about integrity.
The entire fourth part of the precious book series is a manifestation of the word Tiết (honesty). “Memories are no longer private,” he talks about Uncle Ho, about General Secretary Tran Phu, General Secretary Le Duan, General Secretary Nguyen Van Linh, General Secretary Do Muoi, General Vo Nguyen Giap, Prime Minister Vo Van Kiet... All of those stories are the word Tâm expressed in a different way.
I understand the word "Tiet" in Pham Quang Nghi's articles about Uncle Ho and high-ranking Party officials as the integrity of personality, the precious virtue of thrift, integrity of foresight, and sensitivity to the times and macro-level political developments.
I dare not talk about Pham Quang Nghi's feelings for President Ho Chi Minh and Uncle Ho's feelings for Hanoi because the issue is too big, but the articles about comrades: Tran Phu, Le Duan, Nguyen Van Linh, Do Muoi... clearly show the integrity and personality of the comrades that Pham Quang Nghi highly respected and he tried every way to exploit the profound and noble characteristics of their personalities. General Secretary Tran Phu is associated with basic theoretical issues and integrity in front of the enemy; like Nguyen Van Linh is visionary, is innovation, is determination; like General Secretary Do Muoi is the personality of diligence, thrift, integrity, and uprightness; like General Secretary Le Kha Phieu is the personality of fighting corruption; like Prime Minister Vo Van Kiet is visionary, is practical ways of doing things, is profound economics and has the stature of the times, not getting lost in books, looking up...
The word Tiet in Pham Quang Nghi's articles about To Huu, Dao Duy Tung, Hoang Tung, Tran Bach Dang, Tran Hoan, Tran Quoc Vuong, Vu Khieu or Viet Phuong... is his way of understanding the word Tam with the great cultural figures of the country. With To Huu it is poetry, with Dao Duy Tung, Hoang Tung it is mentality, with Tran Bach Dang it is literature and history, with Tran Hoan it is music, with Tran Quoc Vuong it is history, with Vu Khieu it is culture... The personality and style of cultural figures or macro-level managers... is the word Tam carrying the level of Tiet of human virtue or character.
Meaning of the word in Pham Quang Nghi
Regarding the love between husband and wife, Pham Quang Nghi's Heart is expressed in the word Nghia. I like reading the pages he wrote about his first love and his faithful wife. Unfortunately, due to the topic, he did not include any good poems about his wife.
“You are, only you/ So I can entrust my life to you.” With just two lines of poetry, Mr. Pham affirmed his upright and honest character with his wife: To me, you are only one. That affirmation, with today’s family culture, is so precious in a time when having mistresses is fashionable, when “First wife, second wife are both first wives.”
Another look at the book series "Innovation, new thinking, new practice"
The Truth National Political Publishing House highly respects Pham Quang Nghi, a great cultural figure, and has published almost all of his works. Looking at the whole picture, this can be considered a collection of works summarizing Pham Quang Nghi's life and career.
He is about to turn 80, everything he has done has been done, everything that can be evaluated can be evaluated, because Pham Quang Nghi's life and career can be evaluated based on these two volumes. If Pham Quang Nghi writes more in the future, it will only be added to, but it cannot surpass the scope of all these works and projects. Anyone who wants to do research on Pham Quang Nghi only needs this entire work and the main works published before 2025 as the basis. In this book series, those who write about Pham Quang Nghi do not say a single word "Heart" with the portrait of Pham Quang Nghi, but they have attached to Pham Quang Nghi a word "Heart" in another way, "The root of goodness is in our hearts / That word "Heart" is worth three words "Talent". That is enough.
Looking back at Pham Quang Nghi's life, the word "Heart" is also associated with the word "Talent". Nguyen Du said "If you have talent, why rely on it? The word "Talent" rhymes with the word "Disaster". Pham Quang Nghi is a cautious person. He has not been involved in any issue that affects his personality or leadership style.
Congratulations to culturalist Pham Quang Nghi and the Truth National Political Publishing House for publishing a noble work on the occasion of 50 years of national reunification, 1975-2025, on the occasion of the 80th anniversary of the founding of the country (1945-2025).
Source: https://hanoimoi.vn/chu-tam-trong-nhung-tac-pham-cua-pham-quang-nghi-710037.html
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