Stone statue in Hanoi of Ho Chi Minh reading to young girl
About this photograph
- Creator
- Margery H. Freeman
- Date created
- May 1997
- Location
- Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam
- License
- This photograph copyright ©1997. Terms of use
See this photograph in context
- Contemporary life in Vietnam: Photographs and text describe contemporary life in Vietnam and the impact of economic and social reforms since the 1980s. (Page 3)
- Postwar North Carolina: Primary sources and readings explore the history of North Carolina and the United States during the postwar era (1945–1975). (Page 7.2)
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- Search LEARN NC for art, Communism, family imagery, Ho Chi Minh, Ho Chi Minh City, monuments, political symbolism, public spaces, statues, urban life, and Vietnam.
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- See our collection of articles on visual literacy for ideas on using photographs meaningfully in the classroom.
A monumental stone statue of Ho Chi Minh, outside city hall in Ho Chi Minh City, shows him gently touching a young girl’s head. She is looking down towards the book he holds. “Uncle Ho” is recognizable by his characteristic goatee.
This Soviet or Communist style statue presents Ho Chi Minh as a kindly older male relative, with his arm protecting the girl beside him. The statue’s form suggests that Ho Chi Minh was, and is, like a father, educating the Vietnam nation and people. The presentation also implies that the nation and its citizens are vulnerable, precious, and uneducated like young children.
