Historical stages of Thăng Long-Hà Nội

THĂNG LONG UNDER THE LÝ DYNASTY (1009-1225)

Immediately after ascending the throne, in 1010, King Lý Thái Tổ decided to relocate the capital from Hoa Lư (Ninh Bình) to Đại La Citadel (belonging to present-day Hà Nội) – a land with a terrain of “rolling dragon and sitting tiger” (as stated in the Royal Edict on the Transfer of the Capital). According to the Complete Annals of the History of the Great Việt State, “while boats temporarily anchored by the citadel (Đại La), a golden dragon appeared on the royal boat, consequently it was renamed Thăng Long Citadel.”

Thăng Long (Flying Dragon) capital city was built into two separate areas: the Royal Enclosure with royal palaces and the Court Hall, and the civil area where inhabitants lived and were grouped into craft guilds. The capital was surrounded by an earth rampart expanded from the dykes of three rivers: the Red River to the east, the Tô Lịch River to the north and the west, and the Kim Ngưu River to the south. The rampart was the biggest work of the feudal dynasties in Việt Nam.

The traces of Thăng Long Citadel from this time were left in many marvelous architectural works: the Đồng Cổ Temple (built in 1028), the Diên Hựu-One-Pillar Pagoda (1049), the Báo Thiên Tower (1057), etc. In the heyday of the Lý Dynasty, Thăng Long capital actually became the largest and most typical political, economic and cultural center of the country. The era of the Đại Việt civilization was ushered from then on.

THĂNG LONG UNDER THE TRẦN DYNASTY (1226-1400)

Succeeding the Lý Dynasty, the Trần ended the chaos and restored the socio-political order. Thăng Long was still the national capital. As it was continuously destroyed by warfare between the imperial political factions at the end of the Lý Dynasty, especially in the three Mongol-Yuan invasions (in 1258, 1285 and 1288), the Trần Dynasty almost took advantage of the previous constructions and further restored and extended them: in 1230, Đại La Citadel and some palaces were repaired; in 1243, the Forbidden City (which was later called Phụng Thành) was rebuilt; and in 1253, Quốc Tử Giám, the highest national educational institution, was restored, etc.

Having been re-organized into 61 districts with higher population density and concentrated on the civilian settlement, Thăng Long was more obviously a city with a rapid development of streets, markets and handicraft villages. Many foreign traders came here to earn a living, including the Chinese, Uigurian and Javanese… The Đại Việt civilization continued developing.

THĂNG LONG UNDER THE LÊ DYNASTY (1428-1788)

On April 29, 1428, Lê Lợi ascended the throne and restored the country’s name Đại Việt, located the capital in Đông Đô and renamed it Đông Kinh in 1430 (then Trung Đô in 1466).

Under the Lê Dynasty, the old Thăng Long Citadel was extended to the east. In the Forbidden City with a rectangular brick citadel and the main entrance (Đoan Môn), many palaces were rebuilt and rearranged, the most solemn of all was the Kính Thiên Palace and in 1467, two stone balustrades were built on its veranda. Apart from the imperial citadel, many other new architectural works have appeared. The civilian quarters continued developing and being reorganized into two districts of Quảng Đức and Vĩnh Xương, each with 18 guilds. Đông Kinh at that time had busy business streets and famous handicraft villages, such as Nghi Tàm and Thụy Chương (textile), Yên Thái (paper making) and Hàng Đào (cloth dying).

Under King Lê Thánh Tông’s reign (1460-1497), the country reached the peak of an independent feudal state. However, the contradictions in the internal Lê Dynasty, since early 16^th century, led to the deposition of King Lê by Mạc Đăng Dung’s feudal militaristic group (1527). In 1588, the Mạc Dynasty mobilized people to build a three-clay layer rampart to strengthen the capital defense system. However, four years later, under the guise of restoring the Lê Dynasty, the Trịnh family seized the imperial citadel. The capital was officially re-called Thăng Long. The puppet reign of King Lê was located inside the old Royal Enclosure. The Palace of the Trịnh Lords, the true center of power over the country, was built outside, including many magnificent palaces, running from the west bank of the Sword Restored Lake to the Red River dyke. In spite of political upheavals, Thăng Long (used to be called Kinh Kỳ or Kẻ Chợ at that time) remained the busiest and most prosperous city - commercial port in the country and the largest of its type in Asia. Apart from the Chinese emporiums, there were also those of British, Dutch and German businessmen. The residential area became more crowded and two-storey houses appeared. A lot of art, architectural, especially religious works, were built.

By the end of 1788, Thăng Long Capital and the Đại Việt State had to face the Qing aggression. From Phú Xuân (Huế), King Quang Trung led the Tây Sơn army to the North and liberated Thăng Long. The new capital was located in Phú Xuân and Thăng Long became Bắc Thành (the Northern Metropolis). However, the Royal Citadel and some other artistic works were well maintained and repaired.

Hà Nội UNDER THE NGUYỄN DYNASTY AND FRENCH DOMINATION (1802-1945)

Taking advantage of King Quang Trung’s death (1792), Nguyễn Ánh from the South occupied Phú Xuân (1801) and Thăng Long (1802). The Nguyễn Dynasty’s capital was still in Phú Xuân and Thăng Long remained Bắc Thành. The Royal Citadel was destroyed and replaced by a new square citadel after the French Vauban type. In 1831, King Minh Mạng set up Hà Nội Province with greater district Hoài Đức as its administrative seat (former Thăng Long Citadel); therefore, Thăng Long was also called Hà Nội. Quốc Tử Giám was moved to Huế.

Though Hà Nội was no longer the national political centre, it remained the greatest economic and cultural centre of the whole country then. De La Liraye, a French scholar, wrote in 1877: “No longer being the capital though, Kẻ Chợ (Hà Nội) was still the leading city in the kingdom in terms of art, industry, trade, wealth, population density, elegance and knowledge… It is a site where famous scholars, skilled workers and great traders gathered from all parts of the country. It is there where essential goods and luxurious fine art items were produced. In brief, it is the heart of the nation."

In late 19th century, because of the French colonialists’ invasion, the people all over the country rose up to wage a resistance war. In Hà Nội, under the leadership of Governor Nguyễn Tri Phương and his successor Hoàng Diệu, the people twice defeated the French attacks. However, the Nguyễn Dynasty was so faint-hearted that it signed a “Peace Treaty” (Harmand Treaty, 1883), officially recognizing the French domination. Hà Nội became a “protectorate” of Bắc Kỳ under the ruling authority of a French Resident Superior. Five years later (in July 1888), the French President passed a decree to set up Hà Nội City, including the whole Hà Nội province, which was headed by a French mayor.

The French large-scale colonial exploitation policy changed much of Hà Nội’s face since early 20th century. The infrastructure facilities were completed, first and foremost the systems of roads, railways, bridges and culverts, including the Doumer Bridge over the Red River. The old Hà Nội Citadel was again demolished to build “military areas” and office buildings. Kính Thiên Palace was also destroyed and replaced by a two-storey dragon house for the French artillery headquarters (1886). Together with the formation of the “Western Quarter” (including Đinh Tiên Hoàng, Ngô Quyền, Lý Thái Tổ, Tràng Tiền, Hai Bà Trưng, Trần Hưng Đạo, Lý Thường Kiệt Streets nowadays), some other architectural works with European style were constructed, such as the Governor-General Palace, the Resident Superior Palace, the National Bank, Great Opera House, Big Church, Post Office, Ecole Francaise d’Extreme-Orient, Hà Nội Railway Station, etc.

Although the French colonialists carried out a brutal policy of repression and terrorism, the revolutionary movements of the Hà Nội people, especially after the Việt Nam Communist Party came into being (February 1930), were at times smoldering or seething, but never died out… On August 19, 1945, in response to the Uprising Directive of the Hà Nội Military-Revolutionary Committee, 200,000 Hanoians took to the streets to seize power successfully.

HÀ NỘI IN THE NEW ERA

On September 2, 1945, in Ba Đình Square (Hà Nội), President Hồ Chí Minh read the Declaration of Independence, proclaiming to the world the birth of the Republic Democratic of Việt Nam. Hà Nội was honored to be chosen as the capital city in the new era.

The people of the capital city had started to build a free and democratic life for over one year when they had to confront a new invasion by the French colonialists. On December 19, 1946 night, in response to President Hồ Chí Minh’s appeal, the Hà Nội people opened fire to wage a national resistance war. After eight years of protracted fighting, on October 10, 1954, Hà Nội was splendid with flags and flowers to welcome the victorious troops to return to liberate the capital.

Since the return of peace, Hà Nội expediently entered a period of economic rehabilitation and construction. After the first five-year plan (1960-1965), the capital city became an important political, cultural, and economic hub of the whole country.

In mid-1966, the US imperialists escalated the war to the capital. After the US was forced to declare to stop bombing from the 20th parallel northward in March 1968 and the Vietnamese people were expediently overcoming the consequences of the destructive war, Hà Nội again became a target of the US second air raid in April 1972. At the end of the same year, within only 12 days and nights (from December 18-29, 1972), 40,000 tons of bombs (the destructive capacity of which were equal to two atomic bombs released by the US on Japan’s Hiroshima city in 1945) were dropped on the Hà Nội area. The people and soldiers of Hà Nội, manifesting the spirit of the “Capital City of Human Dignity”, created a “Điện Biên Phủ Battle in the Air”, shooting down 23 B52 flying fortresses, two F111s and five other craft. This victory contributed to forcing the US to sign the Paris Agreement in January 1973 and withdraw all their troops home. One year and nine months after, on September 30, 1974, the Supreme Commandership of the anti-US resistance war approved a strategic plan for liberating the southern region. With the wholehearted and all-round support from the army and people in the northern region including Hà Nội, the historic Hồ Chí Minh campaign won complete victory on April 30, 1975.

The southern region was completely liberated and the whole country was reunified. In April 1976, Hà Nội was approved by the National Assembly of the whole country as the capital city of the Socialist Republic of Việt Nam.

Since the end of 1986, the capital entered a new stage full of challenges and opportunities as it shifted from a State-subsidized to a market-oriented economy. As a result, in the last decade of the 20th century, Hà Nội’s economy overcame the recession and recorded a continual growth in all sectors. In 1999, Hà Nội was awarded the title “The City of Peace” by the UNESCO and chosen as a venue for launching the “International Peace Year – 2000”.

Overcoming difficulties and taking advantage of new international opportunities (Việt Nam becomes the 150th member of the World Trade Organization and a non-permanent member of the United Nations’ Security Council in 2007). Hà Nội is striving to bring into full play its internal strength to continue realizing the all-round renewal policy along the orientation of industrialization and modernization of the capital city./.