Question

Describe the ideas behind the Tonkin Free School. To what extent was it a typical example of colonial ideas in Vietnam?

Answer 1

Hint: The school started in March 1907. It was opened by intellectuals in Hanoi. It soon became a center of anti-French agitation and consequently was suppressed after a few months.

Complete answer:
The French, like other colonizers, often claimed that they were on a civilizing mission. Thus, to provide Western education, the Tonkin Free School was opened. Other than the usual topics, the school taught physics, hygiene, and French. The students had to attend evening classes and also pay separately for these three subjects. Not only were the students made to attend these lessons, but they were also often asked to wear modern looks.

A typical instance of this was that they asked Vietnamese to cut off their long hair and adopt a short haircut that was totally against their culture. It was a short-lived but historically important educational institution in Hanoi that, during the beginning of the 20th century, sought to reform Vietnamese society under the French protectorate. In particular, by publishing educational materials and newspapers using these scripts, the Vietnamese alphabet script for writing Vietnamese in place of classical Chinese was promoted as a new vehicle of instruction.

The schools held free lessons for anybody who wanted to learn about the spirit of modernity. It soon became a center of anti-French agitation.


Note:
The school aimed at making the Vietnamese ‘modern’. These schools advocated Western-style adoption, such as getting a short haircut.