Vestiges of the old Hà Nội Citadel

The citadel of the Vạn Xuân Kingdom on the banks of the Tô Lịch River did not exist for a long time but it had enormous influence upon history. It played a significant and strategic role in maintaining national independence but, unfortunately, no vestiges of this citadel exist today. However, under the base of the Thăng Long Citadel on the right bank of the Tô Lịch River there are three vestiges from the Vạn Xuân Kingdom which are associated with Lý Nam Đế.

Trấn Quốc Pagoda

Trấn Quốc Pagoda and Thiên Niên Pagoda are two of the oldest Buddhist relics in Thăng Long. Trấn Quốc Pagoda is a famous tourist attraction located on a small isle in West Lake. According to the Thiền Uyển Tập (History of Buddhist Zen sect in Việt Nam), when Buddhism was introduced in Việt Nam this pagoda was built outside of the Yên Hoa dyke and was called An Trì. Lý Nam Đế renovated it when he founded the Vạn Xuân Kingdom and renamed it Khai Quốc Tự (Pagoda of National Foundation). In the 17^th century, the pagoda was moved to the West Lake Peninsula because of fears the Yên Hoa dyke would collapse. In the era of the Lê kings and Trịnh lords (17^th and 18^th centuries), the pagoda's name was changed to Trấn Quốc as it is called today.

Thiên Niên Pagoda, opposite Trấn Quốc on the north side of West Lake, has survived for a thousand years. It was built before the foundation of the Vạn Xuân Kingdom.

A third vestige is Quán Đôi Temple in honor of Lý Nam Đế’s wife and children, built on the banks of the Tô Lịch River in An Phú, Nghĩa Đô.

It is said that the Vạn Xuân Kingdom, including these three vestiges, was located beside the Vạn Xoan Lagoon in Thanh Trì District where the Tô Lịch and Kim Ngưu Rivers converge. This was also the home-town of famous General Phạm Tu, who led the army of the Vạn Xuân Kingdom. A stone carved with the symbol of the Liang from the time of the Vạn Xuân Kingdom was discovered in this area in 1962.

These vestiges help us understand old Hà Nội when it was the important strategic center of the Tô Lịch Estuary, West Lake, and the lagoon in Thanh Trì District.

An ancient walkway unearthed in the ancient Thăng Long Citadel

After Lý Nam Đế's rebellion to liberate the nation, Tống Bình District (old Hà Nội) played an increasingly important role and eventually became the government headquarters. Governors from the successive Chinese dynasties expanded Tống Bình Citadel into a large system of citadels to prevent rebellions by the citizens of Tống Bình.

Within this system there was a small citadel with a perimeter of 1,674m called Tu Citadel which was built in 621AD by a vicar general. There was also the small and narrow citadel of An Nam La Thành only 31cm high built in 757 by Viceroy Zhang Boyi to surround his palace.

After the liberation movement of King Phùng Hưng in 791, the Chinese governors fortified the La Thành Citadel making it one of the biggest citadels in old Hà Nội. At that time it was 22 meters high with three entrances; the east and west entrances each had a three storey tower and the south entrance (the main entrance) had five gates and a five storey tower. The northern part of the citadel had no entrance because it was under the Tô Lịch River. Inside the walls there were ten buildings constructed in the feudalistic style, and to either side of the citadel there was a storehouse with 40 rooms to keep weapons.

The Tang Dynasty understood the importance of Tống Bình Citadel to its control of Việt Nam and they continually worked on making La Thành and a strong and solid citadel. However they still had to deal with many citizen rebellions, especially the national liberation struggles in the many other provinces concentrated in the area.

From 863 to 865 the citadel of An Nam (Tống Bình Citadel) was attacked by tens of thousands  Nan Chao aggressors and the cowardly Tang Dynasty governors deserted the citadel, but General Kao Pien led his troops in an offensive and eventually defeated his enemy.

After his victory, Kao Pien rebuilt the citadel of An Nam and changed its name to Đại La Citadel. Sima guang, a historian in the time of the Tang Dynasty, wrote that Đại La Citadel had a perimeter of 5.580km and there were 80 buildings inside the citadel. In the Đại Việt sử ký (History of Đại Việt), it was stated in more detail: “Pien rebuilt the citadel of La Thành, with a perimeter of 6.139km and a height of 8.06m; the width of the base of the walls is 8.07m. Four sides of the citadel were surrounded by small walls, with 55 watch towers. The citadel is surrounded outside by three water channels, 34 roads, and a dyke 6.589 km long and 3.10m high. There were 5,000 buildings inside the citadel."

There were four citadels inside old Hà Nội in the early years of the 19^th century. The first was the citadel of Tô Lịch, built in the time of Lý Nam Đế, and the second was the citadel of Chiao Chih District. This district was known as Đại La or Phủ Citadel (citadel of governors) and had a perimeter of 6km. It was protected by the Tô Lịch River to the north and the Cái River (Red River) to the east. The third citadel was the smaller Tu Citadel with a perimeter of 1.6km and surrounded by the Phủ Citadel. The fourth was built by Zhang Boyi in 757 and was called the Cựu Citadel (Old Citadel).

The following dynasties, particularly the independent Mạc Dynasty of the 16^th century and the Lê-Trịnh Dynasty in the 17^th and 18^th centuries, were based in the Lý Dynasty citadel which they expanded and named Đại La. During the Mạc Dynasty, Mạc Phúc Nguyên (1546-1561) and Mạc Mậu Hợp (1562-1592) continuously fought against the Lê-Trịnh troops who attacked and destroyed the rear of the Mạc Dynasty in Sơn Tây, Tuyên Quang, Hưng Hóa, Kinh Bắc, and Hải Dương. As a result, Mạc Mậu Hợp reinforced and expanded Thăng Long Citadel.  In the history of the Vietnamese dynasties it is stated: “In the year of Đinh Dậu (1585), Mạc Mậu Hợp moved to Thăng Long and increased the size of the royal citadel. In 1587 he ordered the provincial mandarin of Tây Sơn to build an earthen rampart and plant miles of thorn bamboos from the Hát River to the Hoa Đình River. Mạc Mậu Hợp also built three ramparts outside the Đại La Citadel from Nhật Chiêu through West Lake and Cầu Đền to the port of Thanh Trì. With a width of seven meters, these ramparts were several meters taller than those of the previous Thăng Long Citadel, and the new citadel was surrounded by three tunnels covered with spikes." This citadel, along with the other old citadels of La Thành and Đại La, had many parts that were surrounded by earthen ramparts which later disappeared making it difficult to find their exact locations today.

Đoan Môn Gate of the ancient Thăng Long Citadel

The structure of citadels from the independent dynasties of Việt Nam was fairly solid except for the An Nam La Thành and Đại La Citadels. At the center of the citadel was the royal or "forbidden" city, which included many luxurious palaces and buildings. Unfortunately, these were buried and forgotten over time and were only rediscovered in 2003 in the area near the Parliament House. Since that discovery, the specific location of the independent dynasty royal citadels has been determined along with the size of the palaces and other buildings. Thousands of objects were buried about two meters deep and archaeologists have been able to determine the citadel's exact location.

Việt Nam is justifiably proud of these cultural and historical treasures of Thăng Long which have been internationally acknowledged and recognized.

In the past, people in Bưởi and Nghĩa Đô, called the present day Hoàng Hoa Thám and Bưởi Roads "Đường Thành" (Citadel Road). An Nam La Thành and Đại La Citadel were not considered important because they were identical. Apparently there was a dyke or a road on the surface of the citadel but it was not documented in history although there is a folk song about the La Thành Citadel and the Tô Lịch River that runs through this area of Bưởi:

There was a Vua Temple (King Temple) in Bưởi Market

There was also a road beside the Thiên Niên Temple

The Vua Temple was constructed in honor of the two genies who earned the title of Grand Duke from the Lý King for their many contributions to the Lý Dynasty.

According to legend, in the reign of King Lý Nhân Tông (1072-1128) the king had chronic eye problems that could not be treated successfully. One night a genie appeared to the king in a dream and told him that his disease was caused by the Thiên Phủ and Tô Lịch Rivers coming together and creating a whirlpool which damaged a corner of the Đại La Citadel and damaged the topsoil. The genie advised the king to prepare an offering for the river god; the offering was to be the lives of two people who crossed the river in the early morning. A couple sacrificed their lives for the god and on the 30^th of October in the years of Thái Ninh (1072-1076) the river became calmer, the corner of the citadel was saved, and the king recovered from his disease. The couple's sacrifice was greatly appreciated and a temple in their honor was built in the corner of Thăng Long Citadel (now known as Thuỵ Khuê-Lạc Long Quân).

Nghĩa Đô, the neighboring precinct of Yên Thái in Quảng Đức District, was made up of four communes: Đoài Môn, An Phú, Trung Nha (Tân Village), and Tiên Thượng (Nghè Village). In the past this precinct belonged to the Vòng Canton, in Từ Liêm District (present day Nghĩa Đô Ward in Cầu Giấy District). In Chinese "Nghĩa Đô" means a precinct that made contributions to the capital. The Lý King awarded this name to Trung Nha and Tiên Thượng because these villages contributed money and helped the king build the western part of the citadel. The village of Đoài Môn was located near the Royal Citadel on the bank of Tô Lịch River and became one of the four hamlets of Nghĩa Đô Precinct. The village was small in both population and area consisting of only 21 hectares, mostly planted with vegetables. During the French domination, a Frenchman appropriated eight hectares to build a brick factory which limited the village's area for agriculture even further. In the reign of King Gia Long (1802-1820) during the Nguyễn Dynasty, the village borders recorded in the land registry run from Thượng Cầu Vòng to Hạ Cầu Giấy and it had not yet merged with Nghĩa Đô or Cống Vị Precinct. In 1948 this village became a hamlet of Nghĩa Đô and was renamed Nghĩa Môn. Đoài Môn Village was moved in 1961 because of city planning and became the hamlet called Bái Ân. According to Nghĩa Đô records, Đoài Môn extended from Đậu Đông to Cống Vị, along La Thành Citadel to Cầu Vòng.