Characteristics of the Party’s ethics building in Ho Chi Minh Thought

MA. LE MINH PHUONG
MA. NGUYEN HUONG HANH
Political Theory Journal,
Ho Chi Minh National Academy of Politics

1. Introduction

The concept of ethics holds an important position and has profound theoretical and practical value as a fundamental value in Ho Chi Minh Thought regarding Party building. Ho Chi Minh’s ethical thought is the creative application and development of the national ethical tradition, the ethical quintessence of humanity, and the ethical theory of Marxism - Leninism. Within his ethical legacy, building ethics within the Party was an issue of special concern to him. This article summarizes the characteristics of building ethics within the Party following Ho Chi Minh Thought.

2. Characteristics of building ethics in the Party according to Ho Chi Minh Thought

Firstly, humanism

The first characteristic of building ethics in the Party according to Ho Chi Minh’s thought is humanism, because:

First, ethics is the foundation and root of cadres and party members. Ho Chi Minh approached ethics from the inherent human nature of kindness. He often used the phrase “human nature is inherently good” to explain the issue of Good - Evil in a simple way: “On earth, there are billions of people. But those people can be divided into two classes: GOOD people and EVIL people. In society, although there are hundreds of jobs and thousands of tasks, they can be divided into two types: RIGHTEOUS work and WRONGFUL work. Doing RIGHTEOUS deeds makes one a GOOD person. Doing WRONGFUL deeds makes one an EVIL person”(1). According to him, “Good and evil are not inherent in nature. Most of them are shaped by education”(2). For Ho Chi Minh, even the smallest good deeds should be done, and even the smallest evil deeds should be avoided.

According to him, human character and ethics are basically expressed in benevolence and righteousness. “Benevolence is to honestly love and wholeheartedly help one’s comrades and fellow countrymen (...) to be willing to endure hardship before others, to enjoy happiness after others, etc., not coveting wealth, not fearing hardship, and not intimidated by authority”(3). “RIGHTEOUSNESS is being upright, without selfishness, not doing bad things, etc., not worrying about personal gains. When the Party assigns a task, no matter how big or small, one must do it carefully. If you see the right thing, do it; if you see the right thing, say it out”(4), etc..

For revolutionaries, according to Ho Chi Minh, “Just like a river, there is a source for water; without a source, the river dries up. A tree must have roots, without roots the tree withers. Revolutionaries must have ethics. Without ethics, no matter how talented they are, they cannot lead the people”(5). A party member “is not trusted and loved by the people just because they bear the title of “communist”(6) on their forehead, but because they have ethical character. Therefore, building the Party ethics is one of the important components of building a clean, strong, truly “ethical and civilized” Party.

Second, ethics are connected to progressive cultural values of the nation and humanity. Traditional ethics were revitalized and deepened by President Ho Chi Minh with the following connotations: Loyalty, filial piety, diligence, frugality, integrity, and righteousness in new conditions. According to him, loyalty is not only to the king, filial piety is not just to parents, but also loyalty to the country, and filial piety to the people. Loyalty to the country and filial piety to the people are regarded as the most important qualities of revolutionary ethics. The main content of loyalty to the nation is always putting the interests of the Party and the country above personal interests, being determined and steadfast in pursuing revolutionary goals, and effectively implementing all Party policies and State laws. Loyalty to the nation must be based on filial piety to the people, being close to the people, relying on the people, learning from the people’s wisdom, listening to their opinions and aspirations, and organizing and mobilizing the people to implement the Party’s policies and the State’s laws. It also involves taking care of the people’s material and spiritual lives and building trust and credibility with the people, so that they believe in, respect, and love the Party.

Besides the qualities of “loyalty to the country” and “filial piety to the people”, Ho Chi Minh considered diligence, frugality, integrity, and righteousness as four important and necessary virtues, a measure of the level of civilization and ethical progress of humanity. He emphasized: “Diligence, Frugality, Integrity, and Righteousness” are the foundation of the New Life, the foundation of patriotic emulation”(7). It is necessary to be diligent, hard-working, and dedicated to work, to the common cause, as opposed to laziness and dependence. Being frugal is a simple, orderly lifestyle, knowing how to make the most of your time and spend it wisely. Frugality is the opposite of luxury, wastefulness, and arbitrariness. Integrity is pure, not greedy for money, profit, and position, while opposed to corruption, bribery, and fame. Righteousness is about being upright, honest, knowing others - knowing yourself, handling common matters with understanding and reason.

Public-mindedness and impartiality are the crystallization of diligence, frugality, integrity, and righteousness. Training to have the above four virtues is a process quantitative accumulation, while public-mindedness and impartiality represent a qualitative change. Public-mindedness and impartiality are to devote oneself wholeheartedly to a great cause, without seeking personal gain or favoritism. Impartiality and selflessness oppose individualism and selfish. A person who possesses these humanistic virtues will remain steadfast in the face of all challenges and storms.

Ho Chi Minh absorbed, inherited, creatively applied, and developed many humanistic, and traditional cultural values of the nation, and the quintessence of humanity in ethics. Under the guiding light of Marxism - Leninism, these values were elevated by Ho Chi Minh to new heights, such as: integrating the rational “thinking man” of the West with the “heart” or compassion of the East into a way of living that is “filled with emotion and meaning,” “learning tied to practice,” and “words matched with actions” to harmonize talent and virtue. From humanity’s compassion and love for the people, it was raised to communist humanitarianism; From traditional patriotism, it was upgraded to Vietnamese patriotism in the era of socialist revolution; From the tradition of national solidarity and benevolence, it was upgraded to a tradition of national solidarity connected with international solidarity; etc. Hence, Soviet journalist Oxyp Mandenxtam (in 1923) wrote: “from Nguyen Ai Quoc radiated a culture, not a European culture, but perhaps the culture of the fure”(8).

Secondly, reality

First, building ethics in the Party does not stem from speculative reasoning but from the summary of practice. This involves the practical ethics of Vietnamese society and the ethics of the Vietnamese people, particularly the lessons learned from Ho Chi Minh’s own ethical cultivation and training, which were elevated to the theoretical level of Ho Chi Minh Thought on ethics.

Second, building ethics within the Party originates from and is closely linked to the ethics of individual officials and party members. Our Party is a ruling party, so it is required that “Each party member and cadre must truly embody revolutionary ethics, and must be diligent, frugal, honest, righteous, selfless, and impartial”(9). Therefore, each cadre and party member must truly be a pioneer and a good example for the people, matching words with actions, and effectively implementing the motto “party members go first, the people follow”; They must “do everything that benefits the people and avoid anything that harms the people”(10).

Third, building ethics within the Party originates from and is closely connected to the specific realities of each party organization and each locality. The ethics of individual cadres and party members is always directly affected and closely linked to the ethics of the Party organization (cells, grassroots party committees, etc.) where they live; At the same time, their ethics cannot be separated from the practical conditions and actual circumstances of the locality where they live and work. In the practical activities of Party organizations and localities, alongside positive outcomes, there are still shortcomings and limitations among some cardres, party members, and segments of the population. Each Party organization and locality has its own unique objective reasons that lead to both positive results and shortcomings, limitations, or negative aspects.

Therefore, it is essential to first focus on the practice, training, and cultivation of ethics, as well as the education and management of cadres and party members within each grassroots Party organization. In the process of continuing to improve mechanisms and policies to motivate cadres and party members to practice, strive, and be wholeheartedly devoted to their work, we must resolutely prevent and combat manifestations of factionalism, and “group interests” by strictly managing cadres and party members right from the grassroots and local party organizations to detect and promptly handle violations of the law and the Party Charter, to clean up the Party’s internal affairs, etc.. Each party organization and each locality should proactively implement specific and practical measures to build ethics within the Party.

Thirdly, comprehensiveness

First, building ethics in the Party involves both theory and practice.

In terms of theory, Ho Chi Minh paid special attention to the issue of building the ethics of cadres and party members. He wrote extensively on this issue at various historical stages. Right from the first political training classes in the years 1925 - 1927, in order to cultivate the “red seeds” of the Vietnamese revolution, Ho Chi Minh set out 23 criteria to determine the status of revolutionaries, people, and work in his work, “Duong Kach Menh - The Revolutionary Path”. When the resistance war against the French colonialists entered a new phase, in his work “Modifying Working Methods” (1947), Ho Chi Minh named the Third part as “Revolutionary Ethics and Character”. When the North and South were preparing to implement a new revolutionary strategy, he wrote the work “Revolutionary Ethics” (1958), to clarify the general concept of revolutionary ethics and the specifics of building ethics within the Party.

Ho Chi Minh always emphasized the value of the “national spirit” of the Vietnamese people as the basis for creating Vietnam’s strength. Based on Marxism - Leninism, he rearranged Confucian moral standards; Instead of “benevolence, righteousness, propriety, wisdom, and trustworthiness”, he emphasized: “Benevolence, righteousness, wisdom, courage, integrity”(11). He absorbed the positive elements of religions concerning the desire to build loving, honest relationships between people. However, for Ho Chi Minh, benevolence must first be directed towards the suffering masses and transformed into practical power to eliminate oppressive and exploitative regimes.

The slogan “Liberty, Equality, Fraternity” of the French Revolution of 1789 strongly influenced President Ho Chi Minh and motivated him to go to the West to find a way to save the country and the people. He criticized Western bourgeois morality as it is essentially built on the basis of individualism. He exposed the crimes of the bourgeoisie, who appropriated the common wealth produced by society to make it their own so they could sit in a cool place and eat with a bowl of gold, while hypocritically preaching the words liberty, democracy, and fraternity.

Ho Chi Minh dismissed negative elements and absorbed positive elements in traditional Eastern and Western ethical thought. He emphasized patriotism and respected the international spirit. His love for all oppressed and suffering peoples following the motto: “Proletarians in all four corners of the world are brothers”, in order to help each other in the work of national liberation, as well as in the fight against hunger, poverty, and backwardness, because according to Ho Chi Minh, helping others is also helping yourself.

Ho Chi Minh carried out a profound revolution in the field of ethics. He affirmed: “Old ethics are like a person with his head facing the ground and his feet up in the sky. New ethics are like a person who can stand firmly on the ground with both feet, with their head raised to the sky”(12). Old ethics - colonial and feudal ethics are a selfish, restricting and destroying the people. The new ethics are for the country and the people. Ho Chi Minh was an ethicist, not in an academic or dogmatic sense, but an ethicist who practices dialectics with a wise and humanistic mind. Ho Chi Minh’s ethical theory is therefore easily transformed and spread into social ethical practice.

In terms of practicality, Ho Chi Minh emphasized compassionate behavior between people, valuing love and meaningful living in real-life situations. President Ho Chi Minh’s love for the people is very specific and practical for each social class: He sent letters to children on the occasion of Mid-Autumn Festival, the first day of school; wrote poems to encourage young people; visited the elderly; sent New Year wishes to people across the country; cared about our Southern compatriots and overseas Vietnamese, etc. Ho Chi Minh often advised to say less and do more; Only say and write when necessary, and do so briefly and simply so that the public can easily understand, and do things right and do them well.

In order for the masses to follow and accompany, every cadre and party member must do what they say, their words must go along with their actions, and they must lead others by setting a good example. Ho Chi Minh himself consciously set a good example and in fact became a shining example of ethical qualities and the beauty of a simple yet noble style. His practice of aligning words with actions was entirely different from the hypocrisy often seen in “superficial ethics” during the feudal era and among many politicians of Western bourgeois parties.

Second, the comprehensiveness of the standards, principles, and methods of building ethics in the Party. Based on the requirements of the entire revolutionary cause or each stage of the revolution of national liberation and building socialism in Vietnam, Ho Chi Minh clearly defined the ethical standards, principles, and methods for building new ethics within the Party and in society. The noble ethical standards raised by Ho Chi Minh are loyalty to the country, filial piety to the people, love for people, diligence, frugality, honesty, righteousness, impartiality, benevolence, wisdom, courage, integrity, the collective spirit, pure international spirit - have become the qualities and actions of generations of Vietnamese people in the Ho Chi Minh era. He also outlined specific ethical criteria and standards for different groups, sectors, and classes to practice and cultivate ethics, such as the “revolutionary’s character,” “Uncle Ho’s five teachings for children,” “Uncle Ho’s six teachings for the people’s police”, and the “six requirements for a leader”, and so on.

His principles and methods for building ethics in the Party cover the harmonious relationship between virtue and talent, integrity and expertise, ethical character and ethical practice, ethical awareness and ethical behavior, and ethics with the law, setting a good example and following examples, etc., first of all among the cadres and party members.

Third, the comprehensiveness of the subjects and scope of building ethics within the Party.

Ho Chi Minh addressed the issue of building ethics in society in general and within the Party in particular, covering all social strata (scholars, farmers, workers, traders, politicians, religious practitioners, children, teenagers, youth, women, the elderly, etc.); all fields (labor, production, study, work, combat, etc.); and all scopes (from the family to society, from class to nation, from national to international levels). Ho Chi Minh called for everyone and every sector to compete in raising revolutionary ethics and eliminating individualism, with a constant focus on cadres and party members as the starting point.

Fourthly, unity

First, President Ho Chi Minh approached Marxism - Leninism to form and build his thoughts on building the Party’s ethics from an ideological-theoretical perspective consistent with the ethical perspective of the doctrine as well as the moral lifestyle of the founders of that revolutionary and scientific doctrine. Indeed, in the article “Lenin and the Peoples of the Orient” (1924), Ho Chi Minh wrote: “It is not only his genius, but also his disdain for luxury, his spirit of love for work and life. The teacher’s pure thoughts, simple lifestyle-in short, the great and noble ethics-have greatly influenced the peoples of Asia and made their hearts turn toward him, an unstoppable force”(13). This observation reflects the fact that the people’s trust in the Party is based on the correctness of the Party’s guidelines and policies and is also closely tied to the exemplary ethics of cadres and party members in their work, combat, and daily lives.

Second, consistently building the ethics of the Party from the time of its preparation for establishment and throughout the entire process of the Party leading the Vietnamese revolution. In fact, the issue of ethics was clearly identified by Ho Chi Minh in the first article of the work Duong Kach Menh (The Revolutionary Path) (1927), in many subsequent works, and up until his Testament (1969). In the practice of leading and building the Party as well as in his own daily activities, he always paid attention to setting a good example and educating cadres and party members on the practice of cultivating ethics, considering it the foundation of a revolutionary.

Third, the unity of ethics in Party building stems from the nature of revolutionary ethics. This includes the unity between virtue and talent, between ethical awareness and daily ethical behavior, between words and actions, and between the role of leadership and the responsibility of being a public servant who serves the people. Ultimately, this unity originates from the essence of practicing, setting examples, and following examples “for the people” and “for everyone”, which is the core of revolutionary ethics during the national liberation period as well as in the phase of advancing towards socialism in our country.

Fifthly, practicality

First, in Marxism - Leninism, the category of action or practice is expressed through various terms (action, activity, behavior, experience, etc.). Ho Chi Minh determined the content of emulation, not only through practical activities (economy, politics, culture, etc.) but also through daily work. In fact, according to him, many people “mistakenly think that emulation is something different from everyday work. In fact, daily work is the foundation for emulation”(14). Thus, Ho Chi Minh expanded practical activities - ethical practices of cadres and party members to include daily work. Practice for Ho Chi Minh was not an abstract, general activity; it encompassed all political, economic, social, and cultural activities, as well as daily work and is closely linked with the training of the subject engaging in these practices. Only by practicing can cadres and party members authenticate their role as leaders and servants of the people in a practical way.

Second, the subjects of practical activities are real people. These include cadres, party members; young people, women, the elderly, children; workers - farmers - soldiers - intellectuals, etc. As the subject of practical activities, these are individuals with personalities, “unique traits,” “special skills,” personal interests, and private lives. Ho Chi Minh believed that everyone has good and bad qualities. Thus, education, especially through practical experience, will help “the good qualities in each person bloom like spring flowers, while the bad gradually disappears”.

Third, regarding the methods of practice. According to Ho Chi Minh, the practical activities of cadres and party members takes place in the dialectical relationship between the “broad” and the “specific”, specifically between performing “daily work” and the emulation movements, between the example of “good people doing good deeds” and the general public’s participation in emulation across all sectors. Through this, the dialectical relationship between practice and understanding is achieved in an upward spiral: “Practice, then understanding. Then more practice, and more understanding. This cycle continues endlessly, and the content of practice and understanding in each cycle is higher than the last. This is the essence of understanding in dialectical materialism”(15). Ho Chi Minh identified the following principles that must be thoroughly understood and practiced in the revolutionary ethics of cadres and party members:

- Words must be matched with actions: Unlike merely speaking without acting, this principle helps cadres and party members easily distinguish right from wrong, right from left, genuine ethics from hypocrisy. To apply this principle to real life, Ho Chi Minh proposed the movement “promote examples of good people, good deeds”. Many books with examples of good people and good deeds rapidly spread among the people.

- Construction must go hand in hand with resistance: This is a dialectical relationship. If you want to build successfully, you must resist; if you want to resist effectively, you must build. Building means building good ethical qualities, such as loyalty to the country, filial piety to the people, diligence, frugality, integrity, righteousness, impartiality, sense of responsibility, the spirit of self-criticism and criticism, and a spirit of lifelong learning, etc. Resistance means fighting against negative manifestations such as embezzlement, waste, bureaucracy, lust for fame, luxury, formality, individualism, flattery, opportunism, and ideological, moral, and lifestyle degradation, etc. Thus, in order to create individuals who are both talented and virtuous enough to serve the revolutionary cause, it is necessary to thoroughly grasp and practice the principle of building together with resistance.

- Lifelong ethical cultivation: Ethics is the criterion and measure of the quality of each person, especially cadres and party members. Ho Chi Minh believed that everyone must cultivate ethics, just like “washing your face every day”, persistently throughout their lives. Cultivation must come from each person’s conscience, linked to revolutionary practice, and aiming to serve the Fatherland and the people. He pointed out: “Revolutionary ethics does not fall from heaven. It develops and strengthens through daily struggle and constant training, just as a gem becomes shinier with polishing, and gold becomes purer through refining”(16).

- Building exemplary practice: Ho Chi Minh emphasized: “Party members go first, the people follow”(17). This is because, “The masses only love people with good character and ethics. If we want to guide the people, we must be a model for them to imitate”(18); “Speaking well without action is useless”(19). He required each individual to constantly self-reflect and self-criticize the words they have said and the things they have done, to develop good qualities and correct shortcomings. At the same time, they must welcome others’ criticism of them, ensuring that everything is practical and actionable. He also firmly criticized cadres who were not ethical, who set a bad example for the people, and defamed the Party’s honor.

Ho Chi Minh was a shining moral example of ethics in practicing the principle of “setting an example, promoting examples, and following examples”. He exemplified this approach consistently and naturally, such as in practicing thrift and sharing with others. He consistently practiced the principle: “Anyone can speak, but we need to act”(20).

He always praised and reminded himself to learn from and follow the examples of heroes in Vietnam’s history of nation-building and defense, the leaders of the international communist movement, and the steadfast communist party members. He persistently practiced “self-cultivation and uprightness”, meaning that in everything, he set a model because only by doing so could he set an example for others. In Ho Chi Minh, there was a harmonious unity between words and actions, between setting examples and promoting examples in ethical education, lifestyle, and working style in both revolutionary activities and daily life. He demonstrated the unity between the ethics, lifestyle, and working style of a cultural figure as a Party leader and President with the ethics, lifestyle, and working style of an ordinary carder, party member, and citizen.

3. Conclusion

The five characteristics of building Party’s ethics in Ho Chi Minh’s ideology demonstrate a systemic approach. Thus, in practicing Ho Chi Minh Thought on building the Party’s ethics, it is essential to achieve unity and complementarity among these characteristics in building the Party’s ethics, and more broadly, in building the Party’s ethics, politics, ideology, organization, and personnel work. This should be done under the principles of: Matching words with actions, combining construction with resistance, lifelong moral cultivation, and setting and implementing exemplary practices.

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Received: January 31, 2024; Revised: March 16, 2024; Approved for publication: April 22, 2024.

Endnotes:

(1), (6), (7), (14), (18) Ho Chi Minh: Complete works, vol.6, National Political Publishing House, Hanoi, 2011, pp.129, 16, 117, 169, 16.

(2) Ho Chi Minh: Complete Works, vol.3, ibid., p.413.

(3), (4), (5), (11) Ho Chi Minh: Complete works, vol.5, ibid., pp.291-292, 292, 292, 291.

(8) Ho Chi Minh: Biographical Chronicle, vol.1, National Political Publishing House, Hanoi, 2016, p.191.

(9), (17) Ho Chi Minh: Complete works, vol.15, ibid., pp.622, 546.

(10), (20) Ho Chi Minh: Complete works, vol.4, ibid, pp.51, 171.

(12), (15) Ho Chi Minh: Complete works, vol.7, ibid., pp.220, 130.

(13) Ho Chi Minh: Complete works, vol.1, ibid., p.317.

(16) Ho Chi Minh: Complete works, vol.11, ibid., p.612.

(19) Ho Chi Minh: Complete works, vol.14, ibid., p.168.