Ton That Thien - Early Life and Education: 1924-1945

Early Life and Education: 1924-1945

Born on September 22, 1924 in Huế, the imperial capital of the Nguyễn Dynasty, Ton That Thien is descended from a family with a long history of service to the state. His ancestry can be traced to Nguyen Bạc, a close adviser to Emperor Đinh Tiên Hoàng (r. 968-979), a founder of independent Viet Nam in the 10th century; and to Nguyễn Hoàng, founder of the Nguyễn Dynasty, which ruled over most of Vietnam for almost four centuries (1600-1945). His grandfather was a military officer (born in 1835, in the reign of Emperor Minh Mạng) who served Emperor Tự Đức (1847–1883), fought against the French in Cochinchina (1860), the battle of Thuan An (1883), and the failed coup staged by Tôn Thất Thuyết against the French (1885), and ended his career as a general in the reign of Emperor Thành Thái (1889–1907). His father Tôn Thất Quảng (1883–1972) served for thirty years in the Imperial government, rising to the rank of Minister, in charge of Rites. He retired in 1942, only three years before the end of the Vietnamese monarchy, and was thus the last but one Minister of Rites Ministry of Rites in Vietnam's long history. Thien was influenced by the Confucian philosophy followed by his father and the Buddhist beliefs of his mother.

In Huế he attended a "franco-indigene" – half Vietnamese, half French - elementary school, then a Catholic high school and the state-run Khải Định College. The last two establishments were "modern" schools which eliminated Chinese script and Confucian ideas and introduced a French education standard curriculum with French as the medium of instruction. Thien was thereby introduced to Western political and social ideas, graduating with a Baccalaureate of Philosophy in 1944. Plans for medical studies in Hanoi were interrupted in March 1945 when the Japanese occupying forces took over control of the country from the French. With no other transportation available he rode his bicycle the 400 miles from Hanoi to Huế. Along the way he witnessed the terrible effects of a famine estimated to have killed over one million Vietnamese in 1944/45. This traumatic experience convinced him to switch his course of studies from medicine to economics on the understanding he could thereby help more people.