The c hange of gatew ay to delta from.... Hố Nguyên Trừng makes identical the two men From this, many books re quoted and folklore unified the two into one ' According to TUTA, Hà Trac
Trang 1V N U J O U R N A L O F S C IE N C E , soc S C I , H U M A N , N 01E, 2 0 0 2
T H E C H A N G E O F G A T E W A Y T O D E L T A F R O M 12th T O 1 7 ,h C E N T U R I E S
I T H E G A T E W A Y P O S IT IO N O F T H E AREA
B E T W E E N R E D R I V E R AND ĐÁY RIV ER
D u e to g e o lo g ic a l stru ctu re a n d directly
su bje c t to R ed R iv e r delta structural form ation
p r o c e s s u s , N a m Đ ị n h b ear in Itself an e n o u g h
particular history and special cultural traditions
T o g e t h e r with lan ds e m b r a c in g traces o f
p reh isto ry period, th ere w ere s u b m a r in e yet
areas h u n d r e d s y e a rs a g o from that time
W ith in b e tw e e n 1 1th c entu ry and 14th century
e nd, c o r r e s p o n d in g to Lý-Trần dynasties, N am
Đ ịn h w a s the im po rta n t g a te w a y o f Delta and
all Đ ai V iệ t K in g d o m L ý K ings rccognized
s o o n the im p o r ta n c e o f this area Until 13th
c e n tu ry , this was w here T rầ n fam ily rose up
and its s p e c if ic im p o rta n c e relays on that it was
likely th e s e c o n d cap ital th o ro u g h T r ầ n d yn asty
175 y e a r s rule
1 Hái T h a n h division (Lộ) o f ứ n g P h o n g
p re fe c t ( P h il ) u n d e r L ý d y n a s ty
OverallV , this c o rre s p o n d e d to today's My
Lộc VII Bân, Ý Y ên , N a m Trực d istricts and
part o f n o w Trực Ninh and N g h ĩa Hưng
district Ung P h o n g Prefect includ ed two
im porta n t e s tu a rie s - Ba Lạt and Đ ại An Red
R ive r r u n s into the s e a by Ba Lạt At the time,
it was s it u a te d at a ro u n d the c o n flu e n c e where
a d join ed T r ự c N in h a n d X u â n T rư ờ n g districts
Đại A n (o r Đai A c ) was Đ á y river estuary,
Professor of Vietnam National University Hanoi
V u M in h G ia n g '* ’
sited at the tim e a ro u n d Đ ộ c Bộ wharf, the
c o n flu e n c e o f Đ á y river and Đ à o river This land are a m igh t be c o n s id e re d as the G a te w a y
to R ed River Delta
A d jo in in g the sea, the area from Q u á n C ác
to Ba Lạt e stua ry w h ic h c e n te r w as c ổ Lể
P a g o d a site rap idly b e c a m e a trip o f cultural cross This w as n a m e d "K eo" - V ie tn a m ese hierogly ph - in w o rd s "G iao T h u y " (w h ere
sw ee t-w a te rs and sa lte d w aters c ro ssin g e a ch
o th e r at flood-tide), w h e re fish e rm e n berthed
a fter o ff-sh o re o p e ra tio n s T h e y c ro w d e d and settled th em se lv e s in to fish-villages, arou n d
w hich, trade activities fre q u e n tly bustled O n - land and o n -w a te rs s c en e rie s created
d y n a m is m in e c o n o m ic life an d diversity and
a b u n d a n c e in c ultural p h y s io g n o m y
A Lý stele n a m e d " V iê n Q u a n g tự bi m in h tính tự (ỊM17*6 T p ĩ ậ :ìfi ) w as rem ained and c o n serv e d in N g h ĩa X á P a g o d a )
o f to d av X u a n N in h c o m m u n e , X u a n T ru o n g
d istrict Fo r Stele d ate, m o st historians
s u g g e ste d that it w as p ro d u c e d by 1122 with
u n d e rlin ed w o rds " ịịỀ 'f r z L ^ r • Lý
N h â n T ô n g K in g in clu d e d 8 d y n a s tic titles, if* ' # Ĩ Ĩ w as the 7 ,h o n e p ro m u lg a te d in
C a n h TÍ y e a r (1 1 2 0 ), s o 1122 w as the 3rd y ear -
c o rre s p o n d in g to
H ow ever, a c a re fu l stud y sh o w e d that the stele text m ig h t not be e d ite d by this year
23
Trang 224 Vu Minh Giang
Firstly, th e stele text e n g ra v e d :
m eaned T h i s V iê n Q u a n g P a g o d a w a s c re a te d
by Lý A n h T ô n g ” L ý A n h T ô n g re ig n e d in 38
years ( 1 1 3 7 -1 1 7 5 ) If the te x t w a s c a rv e d ju st
in A n h T ò n g K i n g ’s I s* y e a r, it w o u ld be later
than the m e n t io n e d d a te up to 16 y ears
M oreover, the tex t u se d his P o s t h u m o u s n a m e
(Anh T ô n g ), that m e a n s that it s h o u ld be e d ite d
after his d e a th , that w o u ld b e s o o n e s t bv 1175
S ec o n d ly , th e s te le tex t m e n tio n e d that the
King in stru c te d p a g o d a e m b e l li s h m e n t in l sl
year o f T h iệ u M in h ( L ý A n h T ô n g C r o w n ’s
title -1137) So, c re a tio n h ere sh all be
understood as r e s to re d w ith the n e w n a m e
"Vien Q u a n g P a g o d a " (its f o r m e r n a m e w a s
Dien Phuc P ag o d a )
T h ird ly , in the text e n d , a fte r relatin g
inspection trip o f Lý N h â n T o n g ( f n 7^ ) and
Lý A n h T ố n g (Ệ£ 7^-) - P o s t h u m o u s n a m e , (he
literature carries to K im V ư ơ n g (4 * £ )
(existing ru lin g K in g ) W e s u g g e s t that this
Stele, in resp e c t o f c o n te n t, m ig h t p r o b a b ly be
erected u n d e r L ý C a o T ô n g d y n a s ty (1 1 7 6 -
1210) T h e e d ito r w a s D ĩn h Đạt
A c c ordin g to the full se n te n c e en gra v e d
under the stele n a m e 5 c i f 1 H , /rf*
1Ế M : k ÌẾ 'iip M ĩ ậ Bp ", this w as not the
date o f this stele O n l y this fn ean t a re a s o n for
c o n tin u o u s c a rv in g C tỀ " m e a n in g ) o f a stele
by G iá c H ải in 3rd y e a r o f T h i ê n Phù D uệ Vũ
(1122), m a y be in th e tim e o f D iê n Phúc
Pagoda In o u r o p in io n , that w a s a n o th e r stele,
however, lost ago T h e p a g o d a w a s o r ig in a lly
sited in G i a o T h ủ y f is h in g v illag e, m a n y tim es
d isp la c e d , then, finally settled as by now
ex isting
T h e initial G i a o T h ủ y fishin g village loca tion u n d e r L ý D y n a s t y m ig h t be n early
R e d R iv e r b an k , b e tw e e n N a m T h ắ n g village to
N a m H o n g v illage o f t o d a v N a m Trực district
T h is c o m p lie s w ith the t e x t o f a n o th e r p a g o d a stele c o n s tr u c te d latterly b y 2 nd y e a r o f Đ ổ n g
K h á n h (1 8 8 7 ) A c c o r d in g t o this stele, this was
a big p a g o d a in L ý D y n a s t y co n sistin g o f 36
bu ild in g s, h u n d r e d s o f c o m p a r tm e n ts W h e re
th e river s tre a m w a s c h a n g e d , the p a g o d a was
th re a te n o f slide, t h e n m o v e d to Bát D ương (V ũ
P h o n g , V ũ H ợ p C o m m u n e , V ũ T h ư D istrict)
an d fin ally to the e x is tin g site Bát Dương sited
o n the o p p o s ite R e d R iv e r, sy m e tric to Q u á n
C á c m
T h e d is p la c e m e n t t h ro u g h historic e p o c h es
o f V iê n Q u a n g P a g o d a w ith re m a in in g Lý
e p o c h stele is a reliable e v id e n c e and also a
p r o o f s im ila r to K e o P a g o d a ’s disp lacem ent
T h e P a g o d a w o rd y n a m e " T h ầ n Q u a n g Tự" is
n o w used in c a llin g the th re e b ig p ag odas in
R e d river d o w n s tr e a m a re a (2) The
d is p l a c e m e n t o f p a g o d a rela te d to R e d River
s tr e a m c h a n g e a n d d o w n s t r e a m a rea ex p a n sio n
p ro ce s s u s ju s tify th e c lo s e c o h e re n c e betw een
c u ltu r e a n d natural c o n d itio n s T h is m e a n s a critical f ea tu re o f this la n d area
H isto ric p e rs o n a g e s w e re g e n e ra te d in this c u ltu ra l s p a c e w h o s e c a re e rs go n e into
,1’ As recorded in the Rear Stele erected in 9th year of Chính Hoà (1688), Quán Các at the tim e was a commune belonging to Giao Thuỳ district, Thién Trường Prefect, now Nam Thắng communa, Nam Trực District.
(?1 Hành Thiện Keo Pagoda, Dũng Nhuệ Keo Pagoda (Thải Binh) and Cổ Lẻ Pagoda
I X U Journal o f Science, S o c Sci., Human., NoIE, 2002
Trang 3The c hange of gatew ay to delta from 25
le g e n d a ry tales with m ir a c u l o u s a c h ie v e m e n ts
c o v e rin g not o n ly all the N a m Đ ịn h land o f Lý
Dynasty but continuing national-size phenom ena
T h e s e were B o n / e s u p e rio u s D ư ơ n g K h ô n g Lộ,
N g u y ẻ n M inh K h ô n g and G iá c H ải, the
p e rso n a g e s that had o p p o r tu n itie s to travel
a u in t r v - i d e and a b ro a d L e g e n d has it that
B onzes Dương K h ô n g L ộ a n d N g u y ề n M in h
K h ô n g and N g u y ề n M in h K h ô n g f re q u e n tly
were identical o r the s a in e ‘h
W ith curren t a n a ly s is, it w o u ld be d iffic u lt
to affirm that th ese w ere two d iffe re n t
individuals, or o n ly o n e -o n e H o w e v e r, b a sed
on the closest Lý e p o c h b ib lio g ra p h ic a l
m aterials such as "T h icn it y e n tậ p a n h "
( / 7 7 , 4 ) , "Lình N a m chích quái" (L N C Q )
Dương K h ô n g Lộ and N g u y ê n M in h K h ô n g
were tw o distinct p e rs o n a g e s
A c c o rd in g to Tin A , K h ô n g Lộ w a s n ative
o f I lải T h a n h (i.e N a m D in h a n d part o f to d a y
T hai Binh), with u n k n o w n D O B , a n d d ied in
1119-as recorded H e d e s c e n d e d from a
fish erm an fam ily; g r o w n up, after a tim e o f
w a n d e rin g on the w a te rs , he w illing d e v o te d
him self to a religion life H e m a k e s f rie n d with
Bonze su p erior G iá c H ải and rec e iv e tra in in g
with B o n /e Hà T r ạ c h in M ộ c N gưu S h rin e o f
Đ ộc Bỏ V illa g e '2\
' This confusion may start from Hố Nguyen Tri/ng's "Nam ồ n g
mông luc", where in "Minh Khỏng thán dị" tale Hố Nguyên
Trừng makes identical the two men From this, many books re
quoted and folklore unified the two into one
' According to TUTA, Hà Trach was a human's name laterly
peoples named the pagoda constructed by Bonze superior’s
name Đố BỐ village was possibly Độc BÔ at Đáy river estuary in
Lý epoch This was one among critical gateways of North Delta
at the time
In 1069 Lý T h á n h T ô n g in person
c o m m a n d e d the a r m e d e x p e d it io n to fisht
C h a m p a , p a s s in g a n d r e t u r n in g th ro u g h Đại An
es tu a ry A m o n g the p r is o n e rs bro ug ht hack fro m C h a m p a , w a s a C h i n e s e B o nze n a m e d
T h ả o Đ ư ờ n g w h o w a s c a r r y in g p reaching relig io n in V tja y a c a p ital H ig h ly appreciating
a n e m i n e n t M o n k , T h á n h r ô n g a p p o in te d him
" Q u ố c Sư" - ( S ta t e B o n z e ) a n d c a u s e d
e s t a b l i s h m e n t o f a n e w b u d d i s h s e ct in Đai Việt A n d D ư ơ n g K h ô n g L ộ did receive tra in in g fro m Q u ố c Sư Ju st f o r this, T U T A
ra n g e d K h ô n g L o in th e third g e n e ra tio n o f
T h á o Đ ư ờ n g B u d d is h Sect H o w e v e r , as he
c o m m it t e d to v ỏ N g ổ n T h ô n g sect, so
B uddhist H is to ry o f this M e d ita tio n L ineage [ A c c o r d i n g to 4 ,5 a n d 10]
K h ô n g L ộ w a s a d o m in a n tl y talentuous
b o n z e s u p e r i o r w ith h ig h a c h ie v e m e n ts in
e x p a n s i o n o f c u ltiv a te d lan d s, cultural
a m e lio r a tio n a n d , th e m o s t im portant,
e s ta b l is h m e n t o f a n e w e r a fo r c o p p e r c asting , a
te c h n ic s w ith s ig n if ic a n t ro le in e c o n o m ic and
c u ltu ra l d e v e lo p m e n t not o n l y fo r N a m Đ ịn h but for th e w h o le Đ ạ i V iệ t N a tio n at the time
L e g e n d a r y s o u rc e s said th at c o p p e r casting
an d a ls o c o p p e r w e r e b r o u g h t b a c k fro m C hina
by the B on ze s u p e rio r T y p i c a l p ro d u cts o f
c o p p e r c a s tin g at th e tim e in c lu d e d pagoda
b ells a n d b ig -s iz e B u d d h a s ta tu e s M ost o f
a n c ie n t p a g o d a s in N a m Đ ị n h with Lv
s tru c tu ra l s o u r c e w o r s h ip p e d him M oreover,
fu rth e rly m o s t o f tra d itio n a l c o p p e r casting
p ro fe s s io n a l p la c e s r a is e d h im as Professional
A n c e s to r for w o rk -sh ip In N g ũ X à, a fam ous
I XU Journal o f Science Soc Set., Human., Sn IE, 2002
Trang 426 Vu Minh Giang
copper c asting village, a p a g o d a n a m e d "T hần
Q u a n g Tự" (the sa m e n a m e o f H à n h T h ie n Keo
pagoda, Dũng N huệ K eo p a g o d a and c ổ Le
pagoda) also w o rk sh ip s K h ô n g L ộ as
Professional A ncestor
As the native land o f C o p p e r c a stin g R esto
rator, N a m Đ ịn h in L ý e p o c h had well k n o w n
c opper craft ce n te rs w h ic h typical one was
T ổng Xá village (n o w belonging? to Y ê n La
c o m m u n e , Ý Y ên district) Such a co p p e r
c a uldron was found in P h ổ M in h p a g o d a - N a m
Đ ịn h - w hich was ran g e d in h eavy m etal class;
L egend has it that it w as fo rg e d by K h ò n g Lộ,
and for sure, there w ere e ffo rts co n trib u te d
from talentano us local c a stin g artists
N g u y e n M in h K h ô n g w as not a native o f
N am Định, however, he soo n settled there, and
his c a re e r also got p r o sp e ro u s fro m G ia o T h u y
land M in h K hôn g o rig in a lly was a v illager o f
Đ à m X á - Đ ại H o à n g (n o w b e lo n g in g to N in h
Blnh), initial na m e d N g u y e n C h í T h à n h , born
in 1066 and died in 1 1 4 i (l) F r o m 11-years age,
H e d evoted to religions c a re e r, and received
training from Bonze s u p e rio r T ừ Đ ạ o Mạnh
with religion nam e M in h K h ô n g R e c o g n ize d
"Chân K h ô n g Bát N h à ”, he to o k c h a ir o f G ia o
T h u y M o n k (2)
H e was reputated as a Bonze su p e rio r o f
tho rough c o m p re h e n s io n not o nly o f sutras and
There v^ere very different records on Nguyền Chi Thánh alias
Nguyễn Minh Khong's DOB Above birth year IS based on
"History o f Ly Tnếu Quốc s ư ' Pagoda edited by Venetable
Thích Bào Nghiém.
{ĩ) Giao Thuỷ Pagoda means Keo Pagoda Its initial name was
Quang Nghiêm Tư, then changed into Than Quang Tư Legend
has it that it was erected by Bonze superior Dương Không Lộ,
furtherly hold by Nguyễn Minh Khòng Its construction site in Lý
epoch corresponds to around today Quán Các
c h a n g e s b ut o f tradition al m ed ic in e , a b le to
c u re s tu b b o r n d is e a s e s W ith a c h ie v e m e n t in
m ed ic al c a re for K in g Lý T h ầ n Tông, h e w as
a w a rd ed “ Q u ố c s ư ” T Ư T A book c lassified him
in the 13lh g e n e ra tio n o f V in ita ru ci M e d ita tio n Lineage
C losely a tta c h e d to K h ố n g L ộ p restigious
n a m e was Bonze s u p e rio r G i á c Hải Also native
o f Hải T h a n h su b d iv isio n , in a fishm an fam ily,
he d e v o te d to relig io u s life at 25-years ago H e was the c re a to r o f D iê n Ph úc P agoda (furtherly
c h a n g e d i n t o V iê n Q u a n g ) U n d e r Ly dyn a sty , this p a g o d a also w as sited nearly Thần Q u a n g
P a g o d a (K e o P a g o d a )
2 L o c a tio n o f ú n g P h o n g O u t e r Palace
U n d e r Lý e p o c h , N a m Đ ịn h m e a n t not only the g a te w a y o f all the R e d river Delta but
a critical e c o n o m i c cen ter Lý kings paid a special interest in this a rea T h ro ug h hisporic
d o c u m e n ts , at least tw o o u te r palaces were
k no w to be e re c te d in a n c ie n t N am Đ ịn h for their te m p o ra ry sta y in insp ectio n trips T he
first o u te r p a la c e m ig h t be in around Keo
P agoda a big c u ltu ra l a n d e c o n o m ic cen ter at the time H à n h T h iệ n C o m m u n e now pertaining to X u â n T r ư ờ n g district had its original n a m e as H à n h C u n g (Outer palace)
C o m m u n e , a g o n e a rb y Q u á n Các wharf, o f
N a m T h ắ n g C o m m u n e , N a m Trực district
W ith river stre a m c h a n g e s , m o st o f ancient Ly architectural relics w e re d rifte d away by the river flow a n d p e o p le s o u g h t to m igrate to new lands “ H à n h C u n g ” L a n d nam e also was
I XỈ Journal o f Science, Soc Sc*/., Hunan., NolE, 2002
Trang 5The change of g atew ay to delta from. 27
“ d r if te d ” with in h a b ita n ts w as th e East and
ỉattcrlv b e c a m e s H à n h T h iệ n C o m m u n e
T h e s e c o n d O u te r-P a la c e was ư n g Phong
as a n c ie n tly a n d historically called
Lý K i n g ’s, p a rtic u la rly k in g Lý N h â n T ô n g got
u su ally to c o m e there to w atch p eop les seeding
and harvesting
T h o ro u g h 5 6 y e a rs o f rule, history
re c o rd e d in 19 ro yal c o rte g e s at o u t e r palaces
the King 11 tim es w a tc h ed p lu n g in g or
harvesting at ứ n g P h o n g O uter-p alace
R e c a p itu la tin g re c o rd e d in fo rm a tio n s in
im perial written histories, o n e m a y k n o w that
in 14 tim es q u o t e d ư n g Pho n g o u te r palaces,
only tw o e v e n ts related to K in g L ý A n h Tổn g
and one event related to K in g T r ầ n T h ái Tông
royal trip, w h ile the re m a in in g e v en ts related
to K ing Lý N h â n T ông
A b o v e in fo rm a tio n s sh o w e d that ư n g
Phong Pre fe c t in g e n e ra l a n d ứ n g Ph o ng O u te r
Palace in p a rtic u la r took an im po rta n t position
for Lý D y n a sty , e s p e c ia lly u n d er N h â n T ông
reign, w h e r e to o k p a la c e m o st o f Đ ại Việt
country g re a t e v e n ts u n d e r Lý ep o c h , s u c h as
R e sista n c e w ar a g a in s t the T ố n g invader,
foundation o f V ãn M iếu (Temple o f Literature),
e sta b lis h m e n t o f Q u ố c tử g iá m (N ational
U niversity) a n d o rg a n is a tio n o f the first
C o n fu c ia n ist e x a m in a tio n It w as not
causeless that the K in g arriv ed th ere two, three
tim e (by 1117 a n d 1125) and e v e n there was a
royal stay d u r in g up to tw o m o n th s (A pril to
Ju n e 1125)
W h ile e a sy to ag re e with the im portance
o f ư n g P h o n g O u t e r p alace u n d e r L v e p o ch and
its a tta c h m e n t to K in g Lý N h â n T ô n g , the identification o f this o u te r p alace actual location rem a in s a not sim p le issue
R e c o rd in g K in g Lý N h â n T o n g ’s watch
o ver p lo ug hin g by 1117, C i«m g M ục had note
“ ư n g Pho ng b e lo n g s to N a m Đ ịnh, form erly
H iển K h á n h d istrict, c h a n g e d into ứ n g Phong
u n der Lý, then into K iế n H ư ng u n d e r Trần
d y n a sty , th en into K iến Bình Prefect under
C h in e s e M in h rule, latterly into N g h ĩa H u n g Prefect u n d e r L ê d y n a s ty , i.e N g h ĩa H ưng Prefect n o w ” [7, T.4,tr.8]
A c c o rd in g to this citation, V iệt Sử lư ợ c'a
tra n sla to r n oted also “ N g h ĩa H ư n g district,
N a m Đ in h P ro v in c e ” [12, tr.20] Đ V S K Ỉ T '
T ra n sla to rs e s tim a te d that ứ n g P h o n g O u te r Palace w as sited in an e n o u g h large area,
e q u iv a len t to L ê \s N g h ĩa H ư ng, i.e including
N g h ĩa H ưng, Ý Y ê n and Vụ Bản districts o f
N a m H à P ro vince [6,T l,tr.2 8 8 ] ; while in the
V o lu m e II o f the s a m e book, translators noted that “ ứ n g P h o n g O u t e r p a la c e e x iste d in Lý
ep o c h , p ertrap s Ý Y ê n district territo ry ” [6,T.2,tr.20] T h u s , up to n o w a d a y s , e xp erts d o not unify their o p in io n on ứ n g P h o n g o u ter palace location
T here w a s a n in fo rm a tio n w orth o f interest
in D N N T C w h e n w riting o n N g h ĩa Hưng Prefect - N a m Đ ịn h province: “ N gh ĩa Hưng Prefect u n d e r C h in e s e H a n ’s rule pertained
to G ia o Chi district, o rig in a lly w as H iển K h á n h
d istrict N o w T h iê n Bản district inclu d es also tổng H iển K h á n h w h ic h w as c h a n g e d into ứ n g
Ph on g district u n d e r Lý e p o c h ’' T h e boo k also recorded that existed a temple for Lý N hân Tông
VNU Journal o f Science, Sot'., Sci., Human., No IE, 2002
Trang 628 Vu Mtnh G iang
w orship in H iể n K h á n h c o m m u n e
[2,T.3,tr.339] T h e se were critical indicators
During field su rv e y in V ụ Bản district
c o m m u n e s , we paid special interest in M inh
T h u ậ n c o m m u n e with its differently
distinctions c o m p a re d w ith o th e r district
rem ain in g c o m m u n e s C lose to M in h Thuận,
rem ain ed H iể n K h á n h c o m m u n e w h ere relics
o f Lý N h â n T o n g ’s te m p le w ere conserved
T he site m ig h t be in ứ n g P h o n g district c enter
u n d er Lý e po ch o r N g h ĩa H ư n g prefect under
Lê epoch A n d relics related to L ý-T rần
architecture were rec e n tly and c o n tinuously
discovered in M in h T h u ậ n
In respect o f terrain and traffic ne tw o rk in
Lý epoch, there w as no m o re c o n v e n ie n t and
secured traffic s y s te m th an riverw ays Red
river and Đ á y river run fro m T h ă n g L o n g to the
sea M any historic an d g e o g ra p h ic a l m aterials
sho w n that at the tim e, Đ á y river play ed a m ore
im portant role th an R e d river F o r N a m Đ ịn h
with includ ed ứ n g P h o n g , sm all rivers
co n n e ctin g these tw o larg e rivers played an
e x tre m e ly im portant role T h e s e w ere Châu
Giang, N inh G ia n g , Đ à o c a n a l and Ba Sát river
(Sắt river), s ắ t river m e a n t a n d a ncient and
critical one as it liked C h â u G ia n g river with
Đ à o canal n ear its estuary
T o -d ay , M in h T h u ậ n c o m m u n e lays on the
cross-road area a d jo in in g the tw o Ba Sat and
N inh G ia n g rivers F ro m there, w a te rw ay s run
easily along N inh riv er to C h a u Ciiang river an
Lý N h â n O u te r palace, th e n Sat river to get the
sea M in h T h u ậ n w a s o nly distan t from Hiển
K h á n h an earthed road (road 56) w h ich was an
ancient h o rs e - s e r v ic e path In respe c t of terrain ,
traffic networks and according to related
historic s o u rc e s , ứ n g P h o n g O u te r P a la c e
d e te rm in e d as s ite d in M i n h T h u ậ n and H iể n
K h á n h area s o u n d s re a s o n a b ly appropriate
In respect o f p a la c e n a m e , orig in al p arts o f
M in h T h u a n C o m m u n e (in c lu d in g Bịch, Phu, Phú Cốc, Phú L ã o , Phú V in h , H ư ớ n g N g h ĩa , Trại K ho v illag e s) u n d e r L ê e p o c h and befo re
bo rn e the n a m e o f H à n h C u n g ( i r ' i n
c o m m u n e At th e tim e, H à n h C u n g c o m m u n e included Đ i ệ n ( ® ) a n d L u c villages
c om prising 6 h a m l e ts w h ic h w e r e developed into 6 villages: B ịch, Phu, K h o (P hú Lão), Trại
K h o (Phú L ã o c a m p , Đ ại L ão), G ộ c (Phú Cốc),
K h ố n g / H ố n g ( P h ú Vinh)
By l sí y e a r o f M in h M ạ n g (182 0 ) H à n h
C u n g C o m m u n e s a w its n a m e c h a n g ed into
H à n h N h â n and Đ i ệ n V illa g e in to K ín h N g h ĩa
w h ic h then b o r n e H ư ớ n g N g h ĩ a n a m e u n d e r
T h à n h T hái r e ig n (1 8 8 9 - 1907) In the early
2 0 th centu ry , C o lo n ia lis t A u th o ritie s had policy
on division o f c o m m u n e s into s m a lle r units
E x c e p t for th e m e r g e o f Bịch a n d Phil villages into one, e a c h H à n h C u n g C o m m u n e form er village b e c a m c a c o m m u n e , h o w e v e r H à n h
N h a n 's n a m e r e m a in e d [13, tr.611]
Above p a la c e n a m e s s o m e w h a t suggested
a land area o n c e e m b r a c in g palaces with serious and r ig o r o u s rites Besides, there exist ham lets w ith M ề n , N ến , D ầu n a m e s or little hills or rise lum ps - G ò Ngựa, Đ ố n g D ọ n - the
n a m e being re la te d to long a g o rite s e x erced by the R oyal C o u r t a n d m a n d a rin s , as explained
by local p e o p le s a n d the a n c ie n t w h a r f close to
l 'NU Journal o f Science, Soc., Sci., Human., No I E, 2002
Trang 7The change of galeway to della from 2 9
H ư ớ n g N gh ĩa village (Đ iệ n village - was
n a m e d Ben D e n ( T e m p l e ’s W a rf)
W o rs h ip and cult relies in M in h T h u ậ n
in clu d e d specific aspects Firstly, the very
c ro w d e d d e n s ity o f relics; o n ly fo r c o m m u n a l
h ouse , p a g od a , shrine, te m p le (exclusive
C h ristian C h u r c h ) in 7 villag es o f an cien t H ành
C u n g c o m m u n e , one m a y c o u n t 3 9 relics
A subject w orth o f interest in that, in all
c o m m u n e h o u s e s o f Phú Lão, Bịch, Hướng
N g h ĩa villages, H ậu T ắ c ( Ju / G e n i e o f rice)
was w orship ped T h is w as not se e m in other
villages o f the district W h e th e r th ere o n c e took
palace im portant f a n n i n g ritual form alities o f
the R oyal C ourt?
The d isc o v e ry o f real k in d s related to Ly
architecture, s u c h as b ric k s and tiles,
de c o ra tin g c e ra m ic s , pier sta n d s d e c o ra te d with
lotus petals in T e m p le w h a r f m o r e affirm ed
the b a c k g ro u n d o f abo v e suppositions
How ever, the final c o n c lu s io n s on the
existe n ce o f ứ n g P h ong O u t e r palace in Lý
epoch in M inh T h u ậ n territories o f V ụ Ban
district need e v id e n c e m a te ria ls from
archeolo gical ex c av a tio n s
W ith in the “ sa cre d s p a c e " a tta ch e d to the
O u te r Pa lac e area, Lý N h â n T ô n g caused
erection on Chương Sơn M ount (n o w pertaining
to Yên L ợi C o m m u n e , Y Y en d istric t) o f "V an
Phong T h à n h T h iệ n " sa cre d to w e r w hich was
inaugurated in 1117 u n d e r his p resen ce T h ere
was an im p o rta n t e v e n t rec o rd e d in historic
annuals: o n the o c e a s io n o f h is trip to ứ n g
Phong O u t e r Palace in 1123, K in g Lý N h án
l ô n g instructed c o n s tru c tio n o f a bridge cro ssin g o v e r Ba L ạt river D V S K ĨT wrote:
“ Q u ý M ã o (1 1 2 3 ) winter, in O c to b e r, the
K ing arrived in ứ n g P hong O u te r Palace to
w atch harvest Ba Lạt brid g e constructio n featured this trip.” T h e translato r noted: “ Ba Lạt river w as a R ed river se g m e n t ru n n in g to
to -da y Ba Lạt e s tu a r y ” [ 6 ,T h tr 2 9 2 ] Just for this reason, m a n y histo rians su g g e ste d that Lý
D y n a sty had c a u se d bridg e constructio n cro s s in g the Red river
A c c o rd in g to historic g e og ra ph ica l
m aterials, th o u g h o f no s u c h big size as existin gly , R ed river d o w n s tre a m in Lý ep o c h - the se g n m e n t r u n n in g along N a m Đ ịnh territory to the se a - m ig h t not be too sm all that
e n a b le b ring ing with the techn ics at the time
A lso for this e v ent V iệt S ừ lược recorded:
“ C o n stru c tio n o f Phi K iều (Fly in g bridge) crossin g Bà T h íc h riv er’' T h e differen t nam in g
o f the river rec o rd e d in the 2 historic books
m a y be e x p la in e d as a c o n fu s io n in letter identification - Bà Lạt a n d Bà T h íc h m a y be
co n fu se ly inspirited, o r there w ere 2 ways o f
C h in e s e - V ie tn a m e s e tran scriptio n o f
V ie tn a m e s e h iero g ly p h o f a river o n w hich a brid g e was c o n s tru c te d by o r d e r o f the Lý King The in te resting thing w as that Việt Sử lược g u e sse d d iffe re n tly from D V S K J T
translator: “ Bà T h íc h river m a y be the N a m Bình river that k in k s R e d river and runs across
N g h ĩa H ư n g D istrict.” [12, tr.229] ,i.e anoth er river o th er than Ba L ạt river (R e d river) A detail to be interested in w a s that the tw o above historic v o lu m e s q u o te d the p rese n c e o f royal
I \ f Journal oj Science Soc S c i Human SntE, 2002
Trang 830 Vu Minh G ia n g
c o rte g e at ứ n g P h o n g O u t e r P a la c e in this
r ec o rd e d event T h e r e f o r e , th e b r id g e m ig h t be
c o n s tru c te d n e a rb y the o u t e r p a la c e site
In r esp e c t o f p h o n e tic s , Ba L ạt o r Bà T h íc h
m a y be the tw o w a y s o f t r a n s c r ip tio n o f s ắ t
river o r Ba s ắ t river*0 r u n n in g b e tw e e n V ụ Bản
and Ý Y ê n d istric ts S u c h g u e s s i n g had
s ig n ific a n t b a c k g r o u n d , a s the b rid g e
c o n s tru c tio n o c c u rr e d s o m e y e a r s later after
C h ư ơ n g Sơn T o w n e r ’s in a u g u r a tio n A b rid g e
link ing the O u t e r P a la c e a re a (in V ụ Bản
territory) w ith a R itu a l site (C h ư ơ n g Sơn
T o w e r) c o m p lie d m u c h w ith L ý a rc h ite c tu r a l
style
T h o r o u g h L ý e p o c h , ứ n g P h o n g a lw a y s
w as a stra te g ic a l territo ry in all m ilita ry ,
e c o n o m ic a l a n d c u ltu r a l a s p e c ts , w o rth o f a
so u th e r n g a te w a y o f T h ă n g L o n g c a p ita l at the
tim e A n d in the r e la tio n s w ith C h a m p a , this
are a to o k a c ritic a l p o sitio n A n d j u s t w ith this
g a te w a y position, f ro m th e re , T r a n ’s fa m ily
p o w e r rose up, a n d th o u g h T r ầ n e p o c h , this
land w as c o n s id e r e d as Đ ạ i V iệ t s e c o n d
capital
II D I S P L A C E M E N T O F G A T E W A Y T O
N O R T H
R e d riv er flo w w ith 122 b illio n m V y e a r
flo w m a y e x te n d to N o r th G u l f a ro u n d 4 0
m e te rs o f a llu vial soils p e r y ear O n the o th e r
part, basis N o r th w e s t to S o u th E a s t flow s plus
(1! According to linguists, in Việt language, "S" and "L" phones
may be interchangeable, so, “Sắt" may be transcripted into "Liệt"
or "Lạt" For example "sức" -> “lực" (ý ] ), “Sen" -> "liên” ( j|f)
'sáp' “lạp'' ( í£), 'sâu'' ''làu" )Now folklore even calls it
with script name, as "Sảt" or "Ba s ắ t", which might mean that Ba
Lat or Ba Liet river as recorded in historic books is just this river.
im p a c ts from o c e in w aves, m on so on , w a v e
la n d in g directional refraction brought m o s t
o f alluvial soils to the S ou th o f N am Đ ị n h
se a w a te rs So, the transgression speed o f
S o u th e rn coastal a lu v ia l e m b a n k m e n ts t o the
s e a w e r e stronger th an that in the N o rth ,
h o w e v e r, on the ether hand, m a k e R ed river
a n d Đ á y river estiaries rapid ly shallow , and this po sition al gateway g r a d u a lly effaced itself
s in c e late 15lh centtry
In a n o th e r respect, L ê D y nasty, m o stly
d u r in g H ồ n g Đức reign pa id great interest in
ag ric u ltu ra l p ro dic tion and e x te n sio n o f
c u ltiv a te d area Royal p olicies p u she d up rap id ly agriculture in a reg io n originally
a s s u m i n g the role o f c o n ta c t gatew ay A s a result, wilderneis o p e n in g u p and
a g g lo m e ra tio n f o m a t io n in the coastal area
b u stled th o ro u g h tie X V th century
T o g e th e r w ith p eo p les m ig ra tio n and
v illag e f o u n d atio n H ổ n g Đ ứ c d y n a s ty issued
d e c r e e s on foundition o f plan tations in wild land s, coastal and river alluvial soils o f N o rth
D e lta in g e n e ra l an! X V ‘h c e n tu ry N a m Đ ịn h in particu lar In the stcond h a l f o f 15th ce n tu ry , on
N a m Đ ị n h co a sta l irea a p p e a re d the I s* big size salt d ik id in g d ike at the tim e, fre q u e n tly and
h isto ric a lly n a m e d H ổ n g Đ ứ c dike A c c o rd in g
b o o k o f N a m Đ ịn h , K iê n T r u n g - H à L a n dike
lo o ck like a prolon;ed e a rth m o u n ta in ridge
H u m a n actiorc w e re p u s h in g up sp e ed o f
b a n k in g and fillin' o f R e d river and Đ á y river
e s tu a rie s , and th e zatew ay o f Ba L ạt a n d Đại
A n e s tu a r ie s gradutlly e ffa c e d itself S inc e 16th
VNU Journal o f Sciece, Soc., S c i, Human., NftlE, 2002
Trang 9Hie change of gateway to (Jclta from 31
c e n tu ry , the a re a o f V a n ú c a n d T h ái Bình
estua rie s was b e c o m i n g im p ortant F o re ig n
m e r c h a n t boats o p e r a t e d tra d e in P h ố H iế n and
ỈTiăng Long (K ẻ C h ợ ) a n d o th ers in D a n g
Ngoài (N o rth e rn a re a ) via this g a te w a y s
c o m p risin g m ain ly C h i n e s e and South East
Asian m e rc h an ts J u s t in th e s e c o n d itio n s , M a c
la r n ily uprose in N g h i D ư ơ n g , and a p p e a re d an
em in e n t p e rs o n a g e in T r u n g A m - N g u y ề n
Binh K hiêm - w h o “ o n ly w a tc h e d h ig h a n d e b b
tide hut k n e w all th in g s at p resen t and in the
pa st.”
By 17Ih C e n tu ry , E u r o p e a n m e r c h a n t boat
fleets o p e ra tin g o n the E ast Sea c a u se d the
whole South East A s ia a n d East A s ia e n te rin g
period c a lled “ T ra d e tim e "
As a b o v e m e n tio n e d , Đ á y river e s tu a ry
(also c a lle d Đ ộ c Bộ), th o u g h s o m e
what im p o rta n t but s h a ll o w fro m a lluvial
filling, c a u s e d h i n d r a n c e s to E u r o p e a n big
boats in a n o u t o p e ra tio n s A s o b s e rv e d by w
D am pier - a n E n g lis h m e r c h a n t a rriv in g in
Đ à n g N go ài in 17th c e n tu r y - R o k b o e s tu a ry
(transcripted from Đ ộ c Bộ, Đ á y riv er e s tu a r y )
was only c o n v e n ie n t for C h in e s e and S ia m e se
small c o m m e r c i a l boats O n ỉ 7lh- 18 th c e n tu r y
European n a v ig a tio n m a p s , th ere w a s a P alace
n a m e w h ic h in th eir o p i n io n was that o f an
important river, that “ m o s t o f E u r o p e a n
m erchant b o a ts shall rum t h r o u g h ” T h is p a la c e
n am e was D O M E A M ost o f V ie tn a m f o re ig n
trade r e s e a r c h e s highly a p p re c ia te d D o m e a
important p o sitio n , not o n ly by its g a te w a y
linking big u r b a n c e n te rs s u c h as T h ă n g L o ng,
Phò Hiến, but b e c au se the a r e a o n c e b e c a m e a
b u s tlin g tra d e c e n te r U n til th e 17th c e n tu ry
s e c o n d half, this c e n t e r r e m a in e d p ro sp e ro u s
1 Domea size and role in trade time
A s d e s c r i b e d by w D a m p ie r , by his tim e,
th ere w ere u p to a r o u n d 100 h o u s e s A thing
w orth o f in te rest w a s th at in a s a m e p a ra g ra p h ,
D a m p ie r s o m e t im e s w ro te it "village" and
s o m e t im e s "C ity": W h e t h e r at 17th c e n tu r y
e nd , w a s D o m e a in the " u rb a n isa tio n
p r o c e s s u s " ? A lso , w D a m p ie r d e s c rip tio n
in c lu d e d a sm a ll but im p o r ta n t d e ta il that w as
"the v illa g e la id o n th e b a n k , m u c h c lo s e ly to
th e w a te r lin e s o th a t w a v e s w ill b e a t a g a in st the w alls in tide rise" [14, tr 16] T h u s , these
h o u s e s p o s s ib ly w e re c o n s tr u c te d in a relatively
s o u n d w ay, b e c a u s e e a r t h e d w alls m a y not
su s ta in t h e m s e lv e s a g a in s t tide w av es A lso , it
w o u ld be w o rth o f a s s e r tin g that a street w ith
100 h o u s e s w a s e q u iv a l e n t to a C h in e s e street
in H ộ i A n by 1695 [1, tr 183] E u r o p e a n
m e r c h a n t b o a ts s tr o n g ly i n flu e n c in g o n D o m e a
d e v e lo p m e n t p e rta in e d to N e t h e r l a n d s East
In dia C o m p a n y ( V O C ) In tim a te rela tio n s h ip s
w e re e s ta b lis h e d th e re , s o th at th ey "m ay be com fo rta b le a s a t th eir hom e" (W D a m p ie r
wrote) H o lla n d s a ilo rs in stru cte d local
in h a b ita n ts g a r d e n i n g a n d h o r tic u ltu re skills to
su p p ly s a la d d i s h e s to th e m It's t o o reg re tta b le that w e h a v e not o p p o r tu n i ty to a p p ro a c h
N e th e rla n d s E a s t I n d ia c o m p a n y d o c u m e n t s now , for m o r e in fo r m a tio n
A s d e s c r i b e d by E u r o p e a n m e r c h a n ts ,
D o m e a re a lly b e c a m e a P repo rt, w h e re tra n s s h ip m e n t w a s d o n e fro m big m e r c h a n t ship s to local s m a l le r b o a ts , th e n the g o o d s
IW'U Journal! ofScience Soc Sci., Human., No IE, 2002
Trang 1032 Vu Minh Giang
w ere tra n s p o rte d to P h ô H iế n and Kẻ C h ợ by
c o m m e rc ia l e x c h a n g e s
Till late 17th c e n tu ry , D o m e a port in and
out o p e ra tio n s w ere duly org anised: foreign
m e rc h a n t sh ip s frequ en tly b e rth e d at a round 3
m ile s from the estu aries, a su fficient distance
for visual sig ht fro m inland, an d c a n n o n fire
o c c u rre d in fo g g y d ay s Pilot sm all boats will
pilot th em r u n n in g the c o rre c t stream Pilots
w ere ju st fis h m e n living on an e stu a ry nam ed
"Bat C ha" N o w , in the s o u th e a st o f Tiên Lãng
district 4 k m from the e stu a ry , a village bears
Bạch Sa n a m e , p ertaining to Bắc Hưng
c o m m u n e Pe o p les there trad itio nally involve
in pilot and port operatio n career It m ig h t be
"Bat Cha" s a id ab o ut by w D a m p ie r and
E u ro p e a n m erc h an ts
In 18th c entury, T rinh v ice ro y s gradually
im p le m e n te d in te rdiction o f foreigners' e ntry to
th e capital an d e v e n th eir c o m m e r c e at Phố
H iến, and D o m e a b e c a m e a m o re critical
in tern ation al trade ren d e z -v o u s French
R ic h a rd in his book d e s c rib e d D o m e a as the
3rd m a jo r trade city o f D a n g N go ai after T ha ng
L o n g ca p ital and Phô Hiến: "T h e r e w a s a city
w o rth e n tir e ly o f its n a m e "K c C lif/' s ite d oil
lo n g itu d e N o r th 2 1 ', th is is th e c a p ita l o f the
R e a lm A fte r th e c a p ita l M ean (P h ô H iế n ) is
th e b ig g est c ity o f Đ à n g N g o à i 5 o r 6 m iles
fr o m the e stu a ry , th ere w a s a c ity c a lle d
D o m e a, s m a lle r th a n P h ố H ie n, b u t very well-
k n o w n f o r fo r e ig n e r s a s it la id in a b a y fo r m e d
b y a r iv e r f l o w o p p o site to it T h e y (the
E u ro p e a n s T h e a u th o r) d r o p p e d a n c h o r a n d
only there they c o u ld set b a ses fo r trade"
[8,tr.715] T h ere w a s no a n o th e r city d e s c rib e d
by R ichard So, a fte r a ro u n d a century from
w here D o m e a w as c ite d in his story a b o u t his trip to Bắc Hà ( T o n q u in ) pu blished in 1688, this place was stro n g ly d e ve lope d s o that
E u ro p e an s called it a city w h e re they set bases for trade
W ith su ch a c o n tin o u s thro u g h c e n tu rie s
d e v e lo p m e n t, D o m e a itse lf a n d su rro u n d in g s
s ub stan tially in flu e n c e d o n the e c o n o m y and the culture o f the la n d s b e tw e e n Thái Bình and
V ãn Uc rivers T h is e x p la in e d why on world navigation m a p o f 17th cen tu ry E u ro p e a n
c ountries, D o m e a w a s rec o rd e d as an im portant place name
2 Where was Domea ?
T h is is not a s im p le issue F rench scholars also c o n s u m e d e ffo rts to study its location Ch
M a y b o n in 1916 g u e s s e d it to be in T ie n Lang territory Till 1939, H B ern ard suggested m ore
c o n c re te ly that it w a s Đ ô n g X u yên village, now pertainin g to D o à n L ậ p c o m m u n e , Ti£n Lãng district Also, D o m e a w as optionally a variant
o f ĐÒ M ia place n a m e (H ả i Dương) [11] It is regrettable that a b o v e guesses only were lim ited to the r e d u c tio n from the sim ilarity
b e tw e e n plac e n a m e s
In o rd e r to d e te r m i n e Dom ea location, we
b e g a n from a m a p d ra w n :>y a Britain navigator, t h e n r e - d r a w n by Jacques Nicolas Berlin in 1755 an d n a m e d ’Carte d u C o u rs de
ia Riviere de T o n k i n d e p u is C a : h o j u s q u ’a la
m e r ” O u r u se d m a p w a s printec in th e "Early
l X I ' Journal o f Science, Soc., Sci., Hunan., Nfìỉ E, 2002