Nhan Van

Vietnamese literary review

Written by

The Information Architects of Encyclopaedia Britannica

Last updated

July 1, 2026

Quick Summary

The Nhan Van (Humanism) was a radical literary review in North Vietnam, edited by Phan Khoi. It emerged during a period of liberalization inspired by China's Hundred Flowers Campaign. Khoi and the review offered strong criticisms of the Communist regime, targeting corruption and anti-intellectualism within the Vietnam People's Army. Khoi famously stated, "Art is a private sphere, Politics should not encroach upon it." However, this period of openness was short-lived. The government ended the liberalization policy, and Phan Khoi was imprisoned for "deviationism".1

Summary created from Britannica articles using AI. AI can make mistakes, so verify using Britannica articles.

2 Britannica Sources

Ask Britannica AI about this topic

Britannica doesn't have a full article on this topic, so we've curated a list of our relevant coverage.

Phan Khoi
He was the editor of Nhan Van (“Humanism”) and Giai Pham Mua Xuan (“Beautiful Flowers of the Spring”), two radical literary reviews that took advantage of the liberalizing proclamation of Mao Zedong, of China, to offer stringent criticisms of the Hanoi regime. Phan Khoi accused the Communist Party of corruption,…
Read More
He was the editor of Nhan Van (“Humanism”) and Giai Pham Mua Xuan (“Beautiful Flowers of the Spring”), two radical literary reviews that took advantage of the liberalizing proclamation of Mao Zedong, of China, to offer stringent criticisms of the Hanoi regime. Phan Khoi accused the Communist Party of corruption,…
Read More