DSpace at VNU: Administrative and urban planning in Thang Long - Hanoi from 11th - 14th centuries

VNƯ Journal of Science, Social Sciences and H um anities 23, No... This area is 0 The book "D ai V iet's Record of the H istorian recorded that there w ere 40,000 house spaces.. From ou

VNƯ Journal of Science, Social Sciences and H um anities 23, No 5E (2007) 39-52

Administrative and urban planning in Thang Long - Hanoi from 11th - 14th centuries

Vu Van Q uart1'*, Vu Duong Luan2

d ep a rtm en t o f History, University of Social Sciences and Humanities, VNU, Hanoi,

336 Nguyen Trai, Hanoi, Vietnam

in s titu te of Vietnamese Studies and Development Sciences, VNU, Hanoi,

336 Nguyen Trai Street, Hanoi, Vietnam

R ece iv ed 16 A u g u st 2007

A b stra c t A fter m o re th a n 1000 years u n d e r th e d o m in a tio n of th e N o rth e rn fe u d a l d y n a stie s, th e efforts o f th e N g o - D in h a n d early Le d y n a stie s d efin itiv ely w re ste d b ack V ie tn a m 's in d e p e n d e n c e

a n d co n firm e d th e n a tio n a lism T h ese s h a p e d fav o rab le c o n d itio n s for th e Ly d y n a s ty to tra n s f e r its cap ital to Dai La, w h ic h w a s re n a m e d T h an g Long in 1010 N o t u n til 10lh c c n tu ry , th e D ai La -

T h an g Long area u se d to b e an im p o rta n t econom ic, political a n d m ilita ry ce n tc r in th e R ed R iver

D elta from th e o c c u p a tio n by C h in e se T an g colonialists u n til 10th ce n tu ry D u rin g th e n e x t 4

c e n tu rie s u n d e r th e Ly a n d T ran d y n a stie s, the feu d al lead e rs b ro u g h t th is a re a to a m u c h h ig h e r level of d e v e lo p m e n t B asing on m a te ria ls from d iffe re n t sources, w e can co n c lu d e th a t th e c a p ita l

of T h a n g Long w a s o rg a n iz e d in to a d m in istra tiv e u n its, in c lu d in g w a rd s, alleys a n d stre e ts

E stab lish ed in 1230, B inh Bac p ro v in cia l service office (ty Binh Bac), w a s the ea rlie st a d m in is tr a tiv e

k n o w n u n it in T h a n g L ong in th e p erio d from 11th to 14th ce n tu rie s A re a p la n n in g of th e T h a n g

L ong C ita d e l d u rin g th e Ly-T ran d y n a stie s strictly co m p rised of 2 m a in areas: a d m in is tra tiv e -

bureaucratic and economic-folkloric areas However, these areas w ere not clearly separated but

ra th e r lin k e d to g e th e r T h an g Long C ita d el p ro v id e d a n e v id e n c e of flexible a n d h a rm o n io u s

elem e n ts, as w ell as o f th e V ietn am e se p eo p le ability to e x p lo it n a tu ra l c o n d itio n s for p la n n in g a n d

c o n stru c tio n G e n erally , T h an g L ong C ita d el from 11th - 14th c e n tu rie s w a s th e initial p e rio d of

u rb a n iz a tio n b u t w ith s h a r p im p rin ts of n a tu re T his re su lte d in a w ild a n d n a tu ra l T h a n g L o n g in

its ea rly sta g e as th e ca p ita l o f th e co u n try

1 After over a th o u sa n d y ears u n d e r the

d o n atio n of the N o rth e rn invaders, the great

efforts of the N go, D inh and early Le

dynasties affirm ed solidly the independence,

the m atu re of the n ational consciousness and

the form ation of a u nified nation This w as

the basis, on w hich th e lead ers of the Ly

* C orresponding author Tel.: 04-4-7760709

E-mail: quanvanvu@ yahoo.com

d y n asty could have m ad e d ecisio n s as prem ises for the n ational d e v e lo p m e n t a t a

h igher level Ly C ong U an - w ith th e q u ality

of a talented strateg ist as w ell as th e p e rso n

w h o in h erited historic p rem ises - d ecid ed to

m ove the capital from H o a Lu to D ai La The

m ove w as officially im p lem en ted in A u tu m n ,

in July, 1010 " the king left H o a Lu for the palace in Dai La W hen h e te m p o ra rily

39

40 V V Quan V.D Luan / V N U journal o f Science, Social Sciences and Humanities 23, No 5E (2007) 39-52

sto p p e d the sh ip u n d e r the tow n, the golden

d ra g o n a p p e a re d on the ship It w as the

reaso n w h y D ai La w as n am ed T hang Long."

[1] T he capital m o v e m ark ed the im p o rtan t

tu rn in g -p o in t in the d ev elo p m en t of Dai La -

T h a n g L ong C itadel The construction of the

n ew citadel m a d e the sta tu re of a new city -

the capital city - the econom ic an d political

cen tre of the in d e p e n d e n t n atio n of Dai Viet

w h ich g ra d u a lly d ev elo p ed into a p o w erful

nation

In fact, it w a s n 't u n til Ly C ong Uan

located the cap ital d id the centre of H anoi at

p re se n t b eg in to b ark into the urbanization

T his process h a d occurred h u n d re d s of years

b efo re the N o rth e rn feudalists decided to

choose this area as the ad m in istrativ e centre

of G iao C hi d istrict a n d then the S outhern

d o n a tio n office In the late 15th century, the

city of T ong Binh - Dai La u n d e r the Chinese

T an g d y n a sty w a s a p o p u lo u s centre Based

on the h isto ry of the C hinese T ang dynasty,

the a u th o rs of H an o i th o u san d s of vears ago

in d icated th a t th ere w ere 15, 000 people in

th e in n e r a n d o u te r areas of the city [2] The

b o o k "V iet Su L uoc" records th a t w h en Cao

Bien b u ilt th e city of Dai La in 865, there w ere

5,000 h o u se s p a c e s (1)

Ly C ong U an w ro te in the royal

p ro clam atio n : 'T h e city of Dai La, the ancient

capital of C ao V uong, in the centre of heaven

a n d earth , h as the p osition of a rolling drag o n

a n d a sittin g tiger, is located in the m id d le of

the S outh, th e N o rth , the East a n d the W est

a n d is co n v en ien t because there are hills in

th e fro n t a n d riv ers at the back This area is

0) The book "D ai V iet's Record of the H istorian recorded

that there w ere 40,000 house spaces From our point of

view , the n u m b er recorded in Viet historical sum m ary is

suitable because there w asn 't such a large num ber of

in h ab itan ts in Dai La City in the 14th century.

large and flat; its p osition is h ig h er and brighter; the in h ab itan ts are n ot su n k en and gloom y and every living th in g is green and

p ro sp ero u s" It p ro v es th a t Dai La at that tim e w as the g ath erin g place of four directions, the political centre w ith p o p u lo u s

p o p u latio n u n d e r the late d o n atio n of the

N o rth ern invaders

The histo ry boo k by D an g Xuan Bang indicates th a t u n d e r the C hinese Tang dynasty, T ong Binh D istrict - the chief tow n

of Giao Chi D istrict at th a t tim e had 11 villages (huongs) [3] In the early 5th century,

w ith the reform by K huc H ao in 907 w hen

"H u o n g s" w ere ch an g ed in to "giaps", each

"giap" h ad a h ead m an and a vice h ead m an

w h o controlled the tax p a y m e n t [4], the

a d m in istrativ e u n its in Dai La City m ay have been ch an g ed from "h u o n g " into "giap"

W hen becom ing the capital of Dai Viet, the u rb an izatio n in Dai La - T hang Long

C itadel h ad m ore conditions to dev elo p m ore rapidly It is certain th a t this area attracted a lot of inh ab itan ts from all p arts of the country, m ainly from the N o rth ern plains

an d m id lan d s T here h a s n 't been any source

of d o cu m en ts w hich sh o w directly and accurately the n u m b e r of in h ab itan ts in

T hang Long u n d e r the Ly d y n asty (1009 - 1225) H ow ever, th ro u g h the scattered records in the g reat collections of history

w ritte n by the Im perial C ourt, it is certain

th at the in h ab itan ts in T h an g Long C itadel in this p erio d w ere o rg an ized into the

ad m in istrativ e u n its as w ard s

Som e records in annals in d icate th at w ard nam es in T hang L ong C itadel u n d e r the Ly

d y n asty w ere Thai H oa, Bao Thien, P h u n g

N hat, Co Xa, Bo Cai, T hinh Q u an g , Tay N hai,

An H oa, K hau G iang and etc In the Tran

d y n asty (1226 - 1400), a p a rt from the w a rd s

v.v Quan V.D Limn / V N U Journal of Science, Social Sciences and Humanities 23, No 5E (2007) 39-52 41

w hich h ad existed in the Lv dynasty, there

w ere such new o th er w a rd s as H ac Kieu,

N hai Tuan, Toan Vien, Cac Dai and etc

In the g e o g rap h y book com posed in 1435,

N g u y en Trai sh o w ed us som e additional

w ard nam es in P h u n g Tien D istrict, m ost of

w hich m ay hav e existed in T hang Long

C itadel in the p re v io u s period For exam ple,

"th e w ard of T a n g K iem m ad e palanquins,

canopies, arm o u rs, an d parasols; the w ard of

Yen Thai m ad e shoes; the w ard s of T huy

C h u o n g an d N g h i Tam w ove fabric and silk;

H a Tan w ard b u rn e d lim estone; H an g Dao

w a rd d y ed cloth; a n d Ta N h a t w a rd m ade

fans T here w ere big fish in Tay Ho Thinh

Q u an g w ard h a d lo n g an e fruit D ong N h an

sold "d iep y" shirts."

Thus, from d ifferent sources of

inform ation, w e h av e k n o w n a system of

ad m in istrativ e u n it nam es in T hang Long in

the 11th - 15th cen tu ries In 1230, the n u m b er

of w a rd s in T h an g L ong C itadel w as first

m en tio n ed w h en the king allow ed to "build

the w a rd s on the left a n d rig h t h an d sides of

the citadel, im itatin g the previous

gen eratio n s to d iv id e the capital into 61

w ard s" [5] This ev en t leads us to the

conclusion th at m o st of the w a rd s in T hang

Long in the 11th - 15th cen tu ries w ere form ed

in the Ly d y n asty W ith m o re th an 200 year

construction a n d d ev e lo p m en t from the

capital location, the ap p earan ce of Thang

Long u n d e r the Ly d y n asty w as basically

planned It w as th e m o st fu n d am en tal basis

for the capital d e v e lo p m e n t in the next

periods

It d o e sn 't m e a n th a t w e d en y the

d ev elo p m en t as w ell as the u rb an izatio n

w h ich occurred rap id ly in T hang Long

d u rin g several cen tu ries It is certain th at

u n d e r the T ran dy n asty , the n u m b e r of

in h ab itan ts and the size of the capital w ere different T hang Long C itadel u n d e r th e T ran

d y n asty w as the m eeting place for n o t only dom estic b u t also oversea in h a b ita n ts w h o cam e to live and do b u sin ess in d ifferen t

w ays The sources of an cient h a n d w ritin g s recorded m an y tim es th at the in h ab itan ts from the N o rth and the S outh crossed the ocean in o rd e r to reside here In 1272, 30 ships of C hinese Song p eo p le w h o fo u g h t against the Chinese Y uan d y n a sty carried

w om en, children and riches to D ai V iet in

o rd er to ask for a perm issio n to resid e and the king of the Tran d y n asty p e rm itte d th em

to live in Giai T uan w a rd or th e ev en t in 1302,

a Taoist h erm it from the N o rth - n a m e d Xu Song Tao - w h o follow ed th e tra d e rs ' sh ip into Dai Viet w as allow ed to live at the A n

H oa River b an k " [5] M any w a r p riso n ers from Chiem T hanh becam e farm slaves in the area of Cao Xa (now it is the v illage of P hu

T huong, N h a t Tao) T hey are th e e v id en ce of the co n tin u o u s p o p u latio n d e v e lo p m e n t in

T hang Long C itadel from the cap ital location

In ad d itio n to the n atu ral u rb a n iza tio n , the central state in p o w e r had m an y m ea su re s to plan an d b u ild new resid en tial areas a ro u n d the capital In 1362, King T ran D u T ong

"o rd e red his serv an ts to p lo u g h a h ectare on the N o rth e rn b an k of the To Lich R iver in

o rd er to cultivate onion, garlic a n d v eg etables for sale an d called th a t w a rd "T an V ien"" [5] The p o p u latio n increase a n d the extension of resid in g u n its w ere tw o m ain factors and often occurred in T h a n g L ong

d u rin g the 11th - 14th centuries H o w ev er, at the end of the T ran d y n a sty a n d especially

u n d e r the H o d y n asty (1400 -1407), this tendency w as p artly slow ed d o w n b ecau se of political changes; an d it is b e ca u se T h an g Long w as no longer the a d m in istra tiv e centre

42 v.v Q uan V.D Luan / V N U journal o f Science, Social Sciences and Humanities 23, No 5E (2007) 39-52

of Dai N gu nation w h en H o Q u y Ly b u ilt the

new capital in Tay D o (Thanh H oa) The H o

d y n asty w ith its sh o rt existence d id n 't have

eno u g h effort to create factors th at caused the

decline of T hang Long The d ev elo p m en t of

T hang Long d u rin g four centuries u n d e r the

Ly and T ran d y n asties w as n o t only lost b u t

also tu rn e d into the m otiv atio n for the great

changes of this la n d 's ap p earan ce in the late

15th century w h en T hang Long becam e the

capital of the feudal natio n s of V ietnam

u n d e r the Le dynasty

2 For a long time, defining com pletely

the n u m b er an d nam es of the w ard s in T hang

Long u n d e r the Ly-Tran d y n asties has been

an unsolved problem for the researchers w ho

stu d y the history of H anoi Little inform ation

in the geography books and annals is not

enough for us to define accurately the

b o rd ers of these units O n the o th er hand, the

change in q u antity and ad m in istrativ e u n it

nam es and the estab lish m en t tim e of each

w ard have been u n so lv ed problem s

H ow ever, based on som e sources of

d ocu m en tatio n s and bib lio g rap h ies in

com bination w ith p o p u la r docum entations,

w e define the relative positions of som e

w a rd s in the c u rren t m ap of H anoi This

h elps us to have the first overall

u n d e rsta n d in g ab out the appearan ce of

T hang Long C itadel u n d e r the Ly-Tran

dynasties [6,7]

In the first planning, residential areas

w ere m ainly form ed on the left and right

h an d sides of the citadel This com pletely

suits the n atu ral conditions of this lan d ten

centuries ago

In the East and the N orth, there w ere

ham lets along the Red River D yke from the

area of W est Lake to the South A ncient

bibliographies and p o p u la r do cu m en tatio n s

recorded H oe N hai w a rd on th e flam boyant plan ted road to D ong Bo D au W harf N ow they are the streets of H oe N hai, H an g Than, Yen Phu Beside Long Bien B rigde w as G iang Tan w ard, then ren am ed H a T an and Thach Khoi, and n o w th ere rem ain Thach Khoi

T hu o n g C o m m u n al H o u se a t 64 Yen Phu road and Thach K hoi H a C o m m u n al H ouse

at 12 H an g T han street w h ere lim estone used

to be b u rn e d in o rd e r to serv e the capital In the South is Co Xa w ard , w h e re King Ly

N h an Tong in 1108 o rd e red to dike as so to

p rev en t floods and th en in 1911 its nam e w as changed into P huc Xa It is in the East of the

c u rren t road of Yen Phu

From D ong Bo D au W h arf (the area of

H oe N hai P agoda in H an g T h a n Street) along the Red River D yke to the N o rth w as the position of An H oa w a rd , w here the cerem ony crem ating K ing Ly H u e Tong took place in 1226 A ncient h isto ry records: "Thu

Do killed Ly H u e T ong at C h an G iao Pagoda o rd ered the m a n d arin s to cry, bore a hole

in the S o u th ern C itadel w all to m ake the door (the people at th at tim e called it the bored door) and m ove the coffin to Yen H oa w ard for b u rn in g [5] This affirm s th at An H oa

w ard w as next to the a d m in istrativ e and political zone of the State In 1302, a C hinese Taoist herm it, Xu Song T ac cam e tc our

co u n try and w as allow ed to reside in this

aw ard by K ing Tran [5] In 1427, Le Loi u rg ed his officers to build a w all from A n H oa w ard

to the city's N o rth e rn gate in o rd e r to fight against the C hinese M ing invaders U n d er the N g u y en d y nasty, this w a rd 's nam e w as changed into Yen P hu, the c u rre n t city's gate

of Yen Phu

In front of A n H o a w ard w as Tam Tang cam p beside W est Lake, w h ere guilty w om en

w ere p ersecu ted to do d ru d g e ry Later

v.v Quan V.D Luan / V N U journal o f Science, Social Sciences and Humanities 23, No 5E (2007) 39-52 43

Princess Tu Hoa, the d a u g h te r of King Ly

T ran Tong asked for a perm ission to live

there and cultivate m u lb erry and raise

silkw orm s to g eth er w ith the palace m aids In

the Tran d y nasty, this w a rd 's nam e w as

changed into Tich Ma Then later, the Trinh

Lords allow ed b u ild in g Kim Lien P agoda on

the fo u n d atio n of Tu H oa Palace u n d e r the

Ly d y n asty an d now there are rem ainders

A long the To Lich R iver w hich ran near

the ancient city to the W est, w e saw the

peaceful life of the in h ab itan ts in the edge of

W est Lake, w ho d id cultivation w ork

together w ith the activities of traditional

handicrafts It w as Toan Vien w ard th at

specialized in gro w in g garlic and vegetables

for sale; the residential area of T huy C h u o n g

w ith alcohol brew ery to p ro v id e for the city

w as the place w h ere K ing H o Q uy Ly

o rd ered to b u ild a palace in 1391 The book

"Tay H o chi" records: "The palace in the

South of the lake, in fro n t of w hich w as the

river, w as T huy C h u o n g Palace, b u ilt by the

T ran d y n asty for feasts Later, the H o

dy n asty broke it a p art an d b ro u g h t its w ood

and tiles to Tay Do U n d e r the Le dynasty,

the local people b u ilt Ling Lang tem ple on

this old g ro u n d U n d e r the H o n g D ue

dynasty, its old nam e w as u sed for the w ard

This nam e rem ain ed in the late Le dynasty

Thus, there is the village of T huy C h u o n g

today."(2> F arther is the area of Buoi w here its

residents lived w ith fabric w eaving and

p ap e r m aking in the w a rd s of N ghi Tam and

Yen Thai The exciting life closely connected

w ith labour and p ro d u c tio n w as recorded in

T ung Tay H o proses by N g u y e n H u y L uong

in the late 18th century

The legend has it th at there w as Thai Hoa

w ard in the W est, w h ere the house of high- ranking m an d arin Ly T hu o n g Kiet w as located u n d e r the Ly dynasty The

V ietnam ese history su m m ary records that Thai H oa Brigde sp an n ed the To Lich River next to C huc T hanh Tem ple and today Chuc

T hanh P agoda is still located in the village of

H o K hau in T huy K hue Street It is certain

th at Thai H oa w ard w as near the cu rren t area

of H o Khau

The fam ous w ard of Tay N hai in the

N orth, w hich w as m en tio n ed m any tim es in the bibliographies, w as connected w ith such geographic nam es as Tay M arket, Tay D uong Brigde and Tay D uong G ate of the citadel Som e researchers are of o pinion th at Tay

D uong Brigde is Giay Brigde at present Is it possible th at Tay N hai w ard w as the residential area aro u n d this place and near the N o rth ern gate of T hang Long C itadel in the past?

The b u sy com m ercial area in the East (near the To Lich R iver's gate connected w ith the Red River) b eg inning w ith G iang Khau

w ard (later ch an g ed into H a K hau w ard)

w ith shops and inns u n til Bach M a Tem ple (36 H an g Buom Street) w as recorded in the books of "V iet dien u linh an d Linh N am chich quai" This w as the residential area in the E astern gatew ay of the city, w here the exchanges of T hang Long C itadel w ith all parts of the natio n an d w here the im p o rtan t political events took place In 1309, this w as the place w h ere parliam en tarists w ere

p u n ish e d and it becam e the jam w here

D uong N h a t Le w as im p riso n ed by King

T ran N h u e Tong in 1390 This w ard w as close

to D ong M arket, w hich w as the com m ercial centre of Thaiig Long d u rin g historical periods

<2) Tay Ho chi, the m aterial translation by the D epartm ent of

History.

44 V’.V Quan V.D Luan / V N U Journal o f Science, Social Sciences and Humanities 23, No 5E (2007) 39-52

T o g eth er w ith tra d in g w ards, in the East

of the capital city w ere m an y handicraft

w a rd s w hich specialized in m aking different

k in d s of item s in o rd e r to satisfy the d em an d

for the city life a n d exchange It w as Tang

K iem W ard th a t specialized in m aking

p a lan q u in s, arm o u rs, w eapons, ham m ocks

and canopies N o w they are H an g Trong

S treet a n d H a n g N o n Street H ang Dao w ard

specialized in d y in g cloth It is certain th at

Kieu Cac Dai W ard w as later D ong Cac W ard

u n d e r the Le d y n a sty an d to d ay it is the area

of H a n g Bac Street, w hich specialized in

m o ld in g an d ex ch an g in g silver D u ong N han

W ard specialized in selling blue clothes (diep

y) an d w as th e area w h ere Q u an g D ong

b u sin e ssm e n cam e to d o business and live In

the Ly d y n a sty , the w a rd 's nam e w as

ch an g ed into D ien H u n g an d to d ay it is the

area of H a n g N g a n g Street

D o w n w a rd to the South, Thien Bao W ard,

w h ere D ai T h a n g 12 Storey T ow er reflected

in the Luc T h u y Lake (H oan Kiem Lake) w as

b uilt, w as one of the fam ous w orks in Thang

L ong C itadel In the late 19th century, this

to w e r d id n 't ex ist anym ore, b u t th ere w as its

trace on the fo u n d atio n u n til the French cam e

h ere to b u ild a g reat church on it It is

possible th at Bao T hien W ard w as located in

the area of Ly Q u o c Su Street and N h a C hung

Street The resid en tial area of T hang Long

m ay h av e been e x p a n d e d to the area of D ong

N h a n g ro u n d w ith the construction of H ai Ba

a n d Xuy V uu T em ples in Bo Cai W ard in

1160 A t p resen t, H ai Ba T ru n g Tem ple

rem ain s in D o n g N h an Street, H ai Ba T rung

D istrict

In the S o u th of the Royal Citadel,

d o cu m e n ts reco rd the nam es of such w ard s

as T h in h Q u a n g (in the su b u rb s aro u n d the

C ho D u a C ity G ate) w h ere there w as fam ous

longane fruit, Xa D an W a rd (3) w here the Ly

d y n asty b uilt Vien K hau in o rd er to sacrifice the H eaven and Earth There are m any w ard nam es such as P h u n g N h at, Giai Tuan, Hoa Thi, etc w hose p ositions h a v e n 't been defined u n til now H o w ever, th ro u g h the

w ard s w hich have been alread y defined, w e can im agine a system of residential areas

su rro u n d in g and p ro tectin g the political centre of the capital as w ell as Dai Viet

N ation This m akes T hang Long em erged

w ith the ad m in istrativ e stru ctu re of the Eastern city's features

T hang Long u n d er the Ly-Tran dynasties

w ere com prised of n o t only w ard s b u t also

sm aller residential u n its such as alleys and streets A lthough th ere w e re n 't m any, some alley nam es w ere reco rd ed in the historical annals

In 1212, "th e king o rd ered his m an d arin s

to com fort the soldiers of Tu, b u t they w ere killed by the second com m ander, N guyen Cuoc The king got angrv; Tu w as the general

to facity C uoc o u tsid e Tay D uong City At Pho H y Alley, the m a n d a rin w as defeated and lost the precious sw o rd th at the king often carried The king retu rn e d his horse and then escaped at G iao Tac Alley" In 1214,

w hen the king heard th a t N g u y en N ghanh came, he w e n t tò D oãn Ba's house at the alley

of Phien C am " R ight later in 1215, the king

w en t to D ang Lao's h o u se in T ruong C anh from Thai H oa Palace, cam e back to N oi's house to sign and e n d o w D o An at the alley

of Chi Tac" Thus, a series of v ario u s alley nam es w ere recorded only in the residential

(3) The vestige of Xa Dam W ard w as "d an Xa Tac" (dan Vicn Khau) It w as just discovered in the area at the end of

N guyen Luong Bang Street and at the beginning of Kham Thien Street in late 2006 M any building m aterials and the vestige of foundation architecture in the 10lh - 14th centuries

w ere discovered.

v.v Quan V.D Luan / VNU Journal of Science, Social Sciences and Humanities 23, No 5E (2007) 39-52 45

areas a ro u n d Tay D u o n g Bridge Dai Viet

Record of H isto rian s n o te d th at the ev en t in

1270, in July, the w ater level w as the highest

in A utum n; peo p le w as trav eled in the streets

of the capital by boats" T hree top successful

can d id ates w ere led to Long M on D oor of

P h u o n g T hanh for sightseeing in the streets

for three d ays in 1390" [5] The ancient story

n arra te d th at K ing Ly A nh Tong often g ot out

secretly for a w alk in all streets of the city

These th in g s m eans th a t the w ard s in

T hang Long C itadel at th a t tim e w a sn 't

sep arated or thinly located aro u n d one area

su rro u n d e d by a system of fortifications, b u t

the citadel h a d its real sta tu re of a developing

city w ith cro w d ed an d d en se streets, w ards,

alleys an d ham lets The ap p earan ce of the

capital w a sn 't com pletely exposed th ro u g h

the system of a d m in istrativ e units H ow ever,

w e p artly u n d e rsta n d an overall picture of

T hang L ong C itadel in the initial

d ev elo p m en t stage from the capital location

3 The process of increasing the

p o p u latio n to g eth er w ith the increasing

establishm ents of ad m in istrativ e units

req u ired an ad m in istrativ e m an ag em en t

b ody of the State in o rd e r to im p lem en t its

public functions of p ro tectin g the security

a n d the society in the capital O n the oth er

hand, the feudal states in V ietnam w ere

alw ays aw are of controlling the localities as

the fo u n d atio n of econom ic and social

construction of the nation Especially, for

T hang L ong C itadel, the political

a d m in istrativ e centre w h e re m any im p o rtan t

events took place, th a t pro b lem w as m ore

concerned th a n ever

It is possible th a t th e o rg an izatio n and

m an ag em en t of T hang L ong C itadel cam e

into the w o rld u n d e r the Ly d y nasty, b u t

there h a sn 't been any d o cu m en tatio n w hich

provides us the info rm atio n ab o u t this body

T hrough the ancient record of the h istorians, the earliest m an ag em en t b o d y in T h an g Long

C itadel w as k n ow n as Binh Bac p ro v in cial service office (ty Binh Bac), w h ich w as set u p

by the T ran d y n asty in 1230 T he le a d er w as the post of "K inh d o an " w h o took o v er the

ju d g m e n t of the law suits in th e citadel In fact, "K inh d o an " w as the p o st of m a n d a rin

w ho g o v ern ed the capital generally, b u t n ot specialized in ju d g in g law suits

The book "Lich Trieu hien c h u o n g loai chi" by P han H u y C hu records: "A t the

b eginning of the T ran d y n asty , a b o u t the

p erio d u n d e r the reign of Kien T ru n g (1225 - 1232), the capital w as n a m e d Binh Bac provincial office (ty Binh Bac) L ater u n d e r the reign of T hanh Tong, T hieu L ong (1258 - 1273) changed the capital n am e in to "K inh su dai an p h u su" and chose th e ex p ired p o st

"A n p h u su " of the streets to k eep this post

H ien T ong u n d e r the reign of K hai H u u (1329

- 1341) changed this p ost into "K in h d o dai

d o an " T h u an Tong u n d e r the reig n of Q u a n g Thai (1388-1398) ren am ed th e p o st 'T r u n g

d o an do" The Le d y n a sty initially follow ed the T ran d y n a sty to nam e the p o st 'T r u n g do phu doan, thieu doan" H o n g D ue d efin ed the m an d arin policy and re n a m e d th e p o st 'T h u n g Thien p h u doan, th ieu d o a n " T hen this p ost rem ain ed in the g e n eratio n of T ru n g

H u n g [8]

Therefore, the a d m in istra tiv e office in

T hang Long C itadel existed u n d e r any

d y n asty and the lead in g p o st of th a t office played an im p o rtan t role A lth o u g h the citadel area w as co n sid ered as a district,

th ro u g h the fact of the leaders in T h a n g Long

at th at t^me, w e can see th at th e T ran d y n a sty attracted m u ch atten tio n to th is p o st an d h ad

a policy for selection The one w h o w a n te d to becom e the lead er of this g o v ern in g office in

T h an g Long m u st hav e ex p erien ced the real

g ov ern in g w o rk in the streets in th e district

The ward system in

Thang Long in

the 11th -14th centuries

Restrictions of the

Royal Citadel

Restrictions of the

Forbidden Palaces

T ích M a

A k ;

Í^Thái Hoà

Thuỵ O itrơng

Tàng Kiếm

1t ó h Ò à x u ế m

ìuMĩẾéề

H ố g X r M ÂC

V V Qunn V.D Luan / V N U Journal of Science, Social Sciences and Humanities 23, No 5E (2007) 39-52 47

W h en satisfy in g the required

exam ination, th a t p erso n w as n o m in ated as

"A n p h u su" of T hien T ru o n g D istrict, w hich

w as th e h o m eto w n of the T ran d y n asty and

in w h ich there w as the palace of the king's

father W hen satisfying the required

exam ination, th a t p erso n w as then ap p o in ted

as "T ham hinh v ien su " a n d after th at w as

ap p o in te d as "K inh su dai d o an " Therefore,

for nearly 200 y e ars u n d e r the Tran dynasty,

there w ere m a n y g o v ern in g m an d arin s

fam ous for their righteousness, generosity

and talen t in T h an g Long

It w as Tran Thi Kien, the person in Cu Xa

Village, D ong T rieu D istrict, Hai D uong, that

first w o rk ed as ''m o n khach" of King H u n g

Dao, an d w as later ap p o in ted as "A n p h u su"

of T hien T ru o n g D istrict H e w as an

in co rru p tib le m a n d arin In 1297, he kept the

p ost of "Dai an p h u su " of the citadel He

w as good at p rin cip les of the books of

changes and h ad the talent of ju d g in g the

law suits He solved p ro b lem s on the basis of

law s and never took bribes O nce on the

occasion of the d eath anniversary, he w as

given a tray of feasts Thi Kien asked w h y he

w as given a tray of feasts, a m an answ ered:

"Because I lived n ear the g o v ern in g office I

d o n 't beg for a n y th in g " H ow ever, a few

d ay s later w hen th a t m a n h a d a problem and

cam e to ask for help, Thi Kien sticked his

finger d o w n h is o w n th ro a t so th at he

vo m ited all the th in g s he h ad eaten The

h isto rian - N go Si Lien p raised Thi Kien

because "Thi K ien acted o d d ly in o rd er to

sh a p e the beg g in g evil so th a t he could d am n

the people at th a t tim e Sim ilarly, A n A nh

w as so thrifty th a t he could sh ap e the

lu x u rio u s habit of Q u an T rong" H e w orked

as a m an d a rin u n til the g en eratio n of M inh

T ong and reached the p o st of "Ta boc xa"

N g u y en T ru n g N gan in Tho H oang Village, Thien Thi D istrict, H u n g Yen and

T ruong Do, w h o w as the vicar-general of

T ru n g Do D istrict at the end of the Tran dynasty, w as a loyal m an d arin H e w as praised for his u p rig h tn ess, talent, righteousness an d generosity in the historical books These m an d arin s of T hang Long

C itadel in the 13th - 14th centuries partly reflected the im portance of this area in the

d ev elo p m en t of Dai Viet

T hang Long w ith a q uite sim ple structure and ad m in istrativ e system certainly h a sn 't

m ade its appearan ce as a capital w ith its ow n features O bviously, the construction and

d ev elo p m en t d u rin g several centuries u n d e r the Ly-Tran d y n asties enabled T hang Long Citadel to have a d ifferent appearance The stru ctu re and a d m in istrativ e m anagem ent system w ere n o t only the prem ises for the

d ev elo p m en t of this land, b u t also m ade

T hang Long be a capital The statu re of a chief tow n of the d o m in atin g governm ent

g rad u ally m ad e room for the capital of a great in d e p e n d e n t n ation w hich w as rising

to gether w ith the d ra g o n flying im petus of the w hole people

4 The results of the research on the

ad m in istrativ e system , architecture and fortification of T hang L ong C itadel u n d e r the Ly-Tran d y n asties in the p a st few years w ere the im p o rta n t bases for us to initially recognize the ap p earan ce of the ancient capital nearly 10 centuries ago

Som e people thin k th at if w e w a n t to identify the b o rd e r and ap p earan ce of Thang Long Citadel, it is necessary to rely on the scope of the system s of fortifications

H ow ever, it is no ted th at the system s of fortifications in T hang Long C itadel w ere not

48 v.v Quan V.D Luan / V N U Journal o f Science, Social Sciences and Humanities 23, No 5E (2007) 39-52

the ad m in istrativ e bo rd ers In reality, there

w ere residential areas o u tsid e the city, b u t in

a certain area w hich often h ad a socio­

econom ic relation w ith the u rb a n areas

M any areas in the Royal C itadel d id n 't

necessarily have the features of one

ad m in istrativ e - political system , especially

u n d e r the Ly-Tran dynasties In the last

analysis, T hang Long, at first, w as w ell

pinned w ith tw o areas of a d m in istratio n and

residence

4.1 The administrative-bureaucratic area

First of all, T hang L ong w as k n o w n as the

capital, the im p o rtan t political centre of Dai

Viet nation u n d e r the Ly-Tran dynasties

Therefore, m u ch atten tio n w as p aid to the

construction of this adm inistrative-political

area (it w as su rro u n d e d by the system of

fortifications an d w as the living and w o rk

place of the king an d the patrician class)

u n d e r any d y n asty by the feudal nations in

Vietnam H ow ever, it is necessary to concede

th at this area of T hang L ong C itadel

experienced changes, u p s an d dow ns U n d er

the Ly-Tran dynasties, T hang Long u sed to

be sizeable w ith sp len d id palaces an d this

area once becam e d eserted because of n atu ral

disasters, w ars and ev en the changes in the

im perial palace H ow ever, recognizing the

adm in istrativ e area plays a decisive role in

the aw areness of T hang L ong in the 11th - 14th

centuries

Located in a high lan d area, in the centre

of the F orbidden City an d Royal C itadel w as

a com plex of palaces the centre of w hich w as

the palace of C an N g u y en - Thien An, w here

the king gave the aud ien ce and m any

political activities of the n atio n took place

For later successive years, m an y add itio n al

palaces w ere b u ilt in this area in o rd e r to satisfy the d em an d of the king and th e royal fam ily

The descrip tio n s th ro u g h the ancient bibliographies p artly help us u n d e rsta n d clearly the p lan n ed space of the central palace zone "In front of C an N g u y en Palace

is the place for w atch in g the aud ien ces given

by the king; on the left h an d side is the palace

of Tap H ien; G iang Vo Palace is on the right

h an d side The d o o r of Phi L ong is connected

w ith N g h en h X uan Palace, th e d o o r of Dan

P h u o n g is connected w ith the d oor U y Vien; Cao M inh Palace is b u ilt in the South; all of them have d rag o n v eran d as; there are corridors in the v e ran d as lead in g to the four directions aro u n d The palaces of L ong An and Long T huy, w h e re the king takes a rest are b u ilt b eh in d C an N g u y e n Palace N h at

Q u an g Palace is b u ilt on the left h an d side;

N g u y et M inh Palace is b u ilt on the rig h t

h an d side; the palaces of T h u y H oa an d Long Thuy, w h ere im perial m aid s live, are b u ilt at the back" [1]

The records by the C hinese envoys w h en they cam e h ere in this p erio d show th at "The accom m odation of the chieftain w as in the four storey b u ild in g The chieftain lived on the second floor H is soldiers lived on the fourth one There w ere the palaces of T huy Tinh, Thien Q uang, etc Particularly, there

w as a notice b o ard w ith w o rd s "A n N am

D om ination D istrict" on the first floor These floors w ere all red -lacq u ered ; the pillars w ere

d ra w n w ith drag o n s, cranes and fairies At the palace gate, there w ere tw o great bells

h u n g in the first floor W hen people h ad any problem , they ran g the b ell"(4)

w Pham T hanh Dai, Q ue Hai ngu h an h chi, the translation

by the D epartm ent or H istory