In early June, we returned to Gia Dien commune, Ha Hoa district. This place is known as the “Capital” of Vietnam’s resistance literature and arts; the first headquarters of the Vietnam Literature and Arts Association, a stopover for famous poets, painters, and musicians such as To Huu, Nguyen Dinh Thi, Ngo Tat To, Nam Cao, Kim Lan, Xuan Dieu, Huy Can, Hoai Thanh, Nguyen Huy Tuong, To Ngoc Van... on their journey to Viet Bac. In particular, this is also the place where artists created literary works that have been passed down through time, of which the most typical is the poem “Bam oi” by poet To Huu.

Delegation of the Vietnam Union of Literature and Arts Associations and Van Nghe Newspaper next to the stele marking the birthplace of Van Nghe Newspaper.

"Mom, are you cold?"

Cool mountain wind, light drizzle

Bruise went to the field to plant bruises shaking

Feet wading in the mud, hands planting young rice

How many young rice seedlings are planted?

My heart aches for my child many times.

Drizzle wet the shirt

How many drops of rain, how many bruises!..”.

(Excerpt from the poem "Oh Mom" ​​- To Huu)

While humming the verses of the poem “Bam oi” by poet To Huu, I followed comrade Nguyen Tien Phuc - Secretary of the Gia Dien Commune Party Committee to visit the Memorial House where the first headquarters of the Vietnam Literature and Arts Association was located in 1948 and the family of Mr. Phung Khac Tien - the grandson of Bu Gai, the character in the poem “Bam oi”.

In the conversation with comrade Nguyen Tien Phuc and Mr. Phung Khac Tien, it was known that: Around 1947-1948, poet To Huu and the Vietnam Literature and Arts Agency that he was in charge of were stationed in Goc Gao hamlet, Gia Dien commune, staying at the house of old lady Gai. In the locality, people often call old people "bu", mothers are called "bam". Writers and poets all called old lady Gai "bam" and addressed themselves as children. When a group of cadres came home, old lady Gai moved down to the kitchen to give the upper room to the artists to compose and work. Every day, old lady Gai went to work in the fields, planted cassava, and picked bamboo shoots. At night, the artists kept hearing old lady Gai sobbing in the kitchen. When asked, everyone found out that she was crying because she missed her son who had been away defending the country for a long time without any news. Everyone discussed writing a fake letter from her son to old lady Gai. At everyone’s request, poet To Huu composed the poem “Bam oi” and read it to Mrs. Gai. Before that, everyone lied and said that this was a poem that Mr. Khai (Mrs. Gai’s son) had just sent.

With simple, intimate, and emotional lyrics, the poem “Oh Mom” at that time brought great spiritual meaning, helping Gai’s mother to ease her longing for her son. It was thought that the letter in verse was only for Gai’s mother, but who would have thought that, on the distant, fierce battlefields throughout the Viet Bac war zones, soldiers fighting far from home copied the poem to send to their mothers in their hometown who were waiting day and night for news of their son.

The memorial stele house where the first headquarters of the Vietnam Literature and Arts Association was located, the birthplace of the Literature and Arts Newspaper, was newly built to be more spacious.

It has been nearly 80 years since the first days when the group of artists came to work in Gia Dien. Since then, there have been continuous trips back to the source by later generations of artists, to revisit the cradle of Vietnamese literature and art, of literary and art journalism, where the country's leading artists spent years living and creating in extremely difficult and deprived resistance conditions. In addition, there are charitable activities to show gratitude to the land that once nurtured many artists' souls such as: Giving gifts, books and newspapers, building a memorial house where the first headquarters of the Vietnam Literature and Arts Association was located, the birthplace of the Literature and Arts Newspaper with a total value of more than 500 million VND... In particular, when the working delegation visited this place again, the cadres and representatives of the people of Gia Dien commune all recalled old memories with famous artists, especially the poet To Huu with the famous poem "Bam oi" and the story of Bu Gai, the prototype of the mother in the poem in Goc Gao hamlet, who gave up her thatched house and mud walls to the Vietnam Literature and Arts Association at that time.

Gia Dien land is also very proud to be chosen as a resting place for some leaders and agencies of the Central and the province such as: Comrade Truong Chinh at Mr. Nha's house (zone 5), Comrade Pham Van Dong and his wife at Mr. Quy's house (zone 2), where the Literature and Arts Magazine (the predecessor of today's Literature and Arts Newspaper) published its first issue. Continuing those traditions, in October 2023, the Literature and Arts Newspaper and Gia Dien commune also signed a twinning agreement, pledging to build a long-term relationship of friendship to support and help each other on the path of construction and development.

Currently, Gia Dien Commune People's Committee is coordinating with the Writers' Association and the Literature and Arts Newspaper to develop a plan to establish the Writers' Association Monument Area, including: Memorial Stele, Gai House, Guest House and the entire garden area, aiming to become an attractive historical and cultural destination in the locality.

Vinh Ha