Vietnam displays past Land Reform at Hanoi exhibition

Nearly 150 original photographs, documents, and artifacts portraying the “smiles and tears” of the mass Land Reform campaign conducted in northern Vietnam from 1946 to 1957 are on display in Hanoi.

The items related to the historic period are being showcased at an ongoing exhibition, which will run until the end of the year, at the Vietnam National Museum of History in the capital city.

The exhibition, which opened to the public on Monday, is structured around two main themes: “Rural Areas in Vietnam before the Land Reform Campaign,” portraying the difference between the life of landowners and peasants in the country before 1945; and “The Land Reform Campaign of 1946-1957,” featuring State and Party documents that highlight the reform’s errors, corrections, progress, and eventual achievements.

Visitors will see contrasting images, such as the luxurious furniture and clothing of the rich landowners compared to the dilapidated cottages of poor peasants.

During the Land Reform Campaign, the government seized and redistributed more than 810,000 hectares (2 million acres) of agricultural land from rich landowners to 2.2 million peasants in the northern region.

Two foreign visitors look at pictures at an exhibition on Vietnam's 1946-1957 Land Reform on its opening day - September 8, 2014. Photo: Tuoi Tre

The exhibition relied on contributions from the Reserve Department of the Central Party Office, Government Office, National Assembly Office, National Reserve Center I, II, III, the Ho Chi Minh Museum, and provincial museums in Hung Yen, Thai Nguyen, Nam Dinh and Thai Binh Provinces. Many rare, unique objects and documents are being showcased for the first time. The Vietnam National Museum of History has organized this event to celebrate the 69th anniversary of the August Revolution (August 19, 1945) and National Day (September 2).

“A period of pain and disorder”

Many rich landlords, who were classified as “cruel bourgeoisie,” were also executed during this time. Some of the landlords were later found innocent.

At the exhibition on Monday, descendants of one family who were wrongly classified as “cruel bourgeoisie” were seen carefully looking at objects and documents on display in the “Errors and Corrections” section.

“When I was a fifth grader at Yen Thai Elementary School, all of the students went to see how landowners were executed. It was not until 1956 that I was told that some of them were wrongly killed,” said a 74-year-old exhibition-goer.

“I told my friend that I went to this exhibition to review a period of pain and disorder,” he told Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper.

Meanwhile, Ex-Deputy Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism, Tran Chien Thang, who was among the guests on the opening day of the event, said the government should judge that period [the Land Reform] correctly.

“It’s time for us to be fair with history. We should look back at the mistakes made during the Land Reform. We always talk about errors and corrections when it comes to the campaign,” Thang said.

Meanwhile, Nguyen Thuy Chung, a paternal grandchild of Cat Hanh Long, who was executed after being falsely classified as “a cruel bourgeois,” pointed out that the “Errors and Corrections” section is unimpressive.

The local government declared Cat Hanh Long innocent in 1987.

“The exhibition showcases only some of the original items we have access to. We chose to focus on the achievements the reform campaign gained,” said Nguyen Van Cuong, director of the Vietnam National Museum of History. “We cannot show everything to the public,” he added.

Le Nhu Tien, deputy chairman of the National Assembly Committee for Culture, Education, Youth and Children, said that Land Reform was a good policy of the Party and the State.

“After Vietnam gained independence, it was necessary to launch a land reform program to redistribute land to poor people,” he explained.

However, Tien admitted that mistakes were made during the Land Reform redistribution. “Late President Ho Chi Minh cried after the Land Reform process. Late Party General Secretary Truong Chinh, who was then head of the Land Reform campaign, also resigned. This proved that the Party and State admitted their mistakes,” he elaborated.

The exhibition is running at 25 Tong Dan Street, Hoan Kiem District until December.

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