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Hanoi. City of the Rising Dragon.
Maryland, Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc., 2002, 187 p.
with G. Boudarel (1926-2003), foreword by William J. Duiker,
translated by Claire Duiker
Hanoi. City of the Rising Dragon.
Maryland, Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc., 2002, 187 p.
with G. Boudarel (1926-2003), foreword by William J. Duiker,
translated by Claire Duiker





§ A City which Remembers



The city under the Waters

The city of today was built, literally and figuratively, along the bends of the Song Hong, or Red River, which cuts across Hanoi from the northwest to the southeast. A high iron content gives the river its brick-red color and its name. It has its source in the mountains of southwest China and is joined by several tributaries around Mount Ba Vi, one of which is the Black River (Song Da).

The region around Hanoi was originally swampy and riddled with lakes, which remained as vestiges of the river’s previous paths. The current configuration of the city was carved out in part by the sea and the powerful Red River—whose floods sometimes altered the shape of the city overnight—and in part by the lush vegetation, whose traces can still be found in certain place names, like Gia Lam (forest of banyans) and Mai Lam (forest of plum trees). As a result, the inhabitants of this flood plain area have always maintained a high concern for the construction and integrity of the dykes that protect them. Even today, the city lies below the water level in times of flooding.

In centuries past, Hanoi was in a sense the Venice of the Far East, as people traveled from place to place by boat along a complex network of lakes, streams, and canals. The presence of water shaped both the material and cultural life of the city, carrying with it both life and death, to the point where the word “country” in popular language is dat nuoc (earth-water). The Vietnamese people have always lived this duality. Since they could not definitively master the water, they learned to make it their ally and an integral part of their nation. Once again, language provides a key for understanding the importance of water to the people of Hanoi: the term for “our country” (nuoc nha) literally means “water-home,” and “the state” (nha nuoc) means “home-water.”

From its founding in 1010 until the 18th century, Hanoi was composed of two distinct parts. The Imperial City was in the center, ringed by the fortified walls of the citadel, and including the Forbidden City. Surrounding this was a group of neighborhoods which housed merchants, artisans, and the imperial servants. Writings such as Nguyen Trai’s Dia du chi [Treatise on Geography] describe the scope of the city in the 15th century. The Imperial City underwent many changes throughout history, as best illustrated by the successive constructions of its citadel: the old fortress of Dai La [Great Citadel], built in the 9th century, was replaced by the citadel of Thang Long in the 11th century; this, in turn, was then enlarged by Olivier du Puymanel in 1805 under the Nguyen dynasty to emulate the French style of Vauban

As the seat of power, the Imperial City was laid out in the form of a square, a reference to Confucian cosmology which holds that the square symbolized the earth while the sky was represented by a circle. It was delimited in the north by West Lake, in the south by what is now the Street of the Bridge of Paper, in the east by what is now called Ba Dinh Square, and in the west by the To Lich River. Outside of this square lay old Hanoi, with its thirty-six commercial neighborhoods. The capital was thus protected by natural defenses: on the north and northeast by the Red River, separated from West Lake by a dyke, and on the west by the To Lich River. Moreover, the fertility of the alluvial soil was undoubtedly one of the reasons that successive Vietnamese dynasties remained in Hanoi until the 19th century, taking advantage of the richness of the soil to develop and prosper.

A city of Legend


One of Hanoi’s most famous legends is that of Returned Sword Lake. It is said that a mythical tortoise gave its sacred sword to king Le Loi (reigned 1428 – 1433 2), allowing him to expel the occupying forces of the Chinese Ming Dynasty in the 15th century after ten years of resistance. The people from Hanoi also love to tell stories about the etymological origins of Thang Long, the city’s first name. When the boats of Ly Cong Uan, the founder of the 11th century Ly dynasty, arrived on the site from Hoa Lu, a golden dragon appeared to welcome them and then flew off into the sky. This good omen convinced the king to build the capital there, calling it Thang Long, which means “the ascending dragon.”

The dragon is an important symbol for the Vietnamese. One of their national legends tells of the city’s ancestors, the mythical couple Lac Long Quan and Au Co, the former a descendent of dragons and the latter of fairies. Popular belief also contends that dragons can cause rain, which is indispensable for growing rice. Lastly, the dragon is a symbol of imperial power in Chinese ideography, a writing system adopted by the Vietnamese court. The name Thang Long thus brought together the monarchy and the common people, a meaning which was ruptured in the 19th century by the transfer of the capital to Hue. The Nguyen dynasty then emptied the city of its symbolic role by renaming it Ha Noi (the city in the water).

The origin of West Lake can claim two legends. One goes back to the founding of the country, and tells of how the region of Hanoi was terrorized by a fox with nine tails. Lac Long Quan, the dragon god, entered into battle with the fox to drive it from the area. The fox fled and left behind him the tracks of his many tails, which then collapsed and gave birth to West Lake. Some older story-tellers offer another version: there once was a giant named Khong Minh Khong who went to China to find a cure for a princess who had fallen ill. Out of gratitude, the king offered him a piece of black bronze from the royal coffers. Khong Minh Khong transformed the bronze into a bell, whose peals could be heard all the way to China. A golden buffalo heard the bell and thought he recognized the lowing of his mother, so traveled from China to Vietnam, following the sounds of the bell. His tracks became the river Kim Nguu (golden buffalo), a former arm of the river To Lich; and the forest of lim 3, which was now trampled and flattened, became West Lake.

The city of today was built, literally and figuratively, along the bends of the Song Hong, or Red River, which cuts across Hanoi from the northwest to the southeast. A high iron content gives the river its brick-red color and its name. It has its source in the mountains of southwest China and is joined by several tributaries around Mount Ba Vi, one of which is the Black River (Song Da).

Temples: The Guardians of History


Hanoi has more than a thousand historical buildings, with some 579 communal houses 4, 676 pagodas, and 261 temples spread out across the city. Since 1954, more than two hundred have been classified as historical sites. During the Ly dynasty, a number of Buddhist religious structures were built. One of the most famous, the One Pillar Pagoda, was built in 1049 in the shape of a lotus, a symbol of Buddha’s enlightenment. The pagoda was built in the middle of a pond on the east side of the Imperial City and has been destroyed and rebuilt many times. It was completely demolished by the French army during the Franco-Vietminh War and was entirely rebuilt. Then in the 1970s, a senior government official suggested that it be torn down because it didn’t conform with the new mausoleum being built to house the remains of Ho Chi Minh. The outspoken historian Tran Quoc Vuong dared to protest against the proposal and was reprimanded by ignorant opportunists hoping to impress key leaders. Fortunately, however, other protests followed and the idea was finally abandoned.

A short distance away to the south stands the Temple of Literature (Van Mieu), built in 1076 in homage to Confucius and his disciples. The site also served as an academy where court-appointed scholars could meet to discuss classical literature. Shortly afterwards, the Imperial Academy (Quoc Tu Giam) was built. Considered to be the country’s first university, it attracted hundreds of students who moved into the surrounding areas in order to profit from its prestige. In 1442, graduates of the mandarinal competitions were celebrated in inscriptions on stone tablets which were erected upon the back of a sculpted tortoise, the symbol of longevity. The first tablets were erected in 1484 under the reign of Le Thanh Tong (1460 – 1497), a ruler known for his humanism and erudition.

On the shores of West Lake in the extreme northeast of the city, at the beginning of what is now Thanh Nien Street (the Avenue of the Grand Buddha in colonial times), is the temple of Quan Thanh. This Taoist structure was built under the Ly in the 11th century and was originally dedicated to an ancient protector-spirit. It also served as one of the sixteen gateways to the city. In 1677 a bronze statue of the spirit, four meters (13 feet) high, was erected inside. On the shores of Bay Mau Lake (Lake of Seven Mau 5), another temple was built in the 12th century, dedicated to the two Trung sisters. These two heroines tried in vain to evict Chinese occupying forces in the 1st century. They committed suicide by plunging into a river in order to escape humiliation.

To the west of the Imperial City are two other historical monuments dating from the 12th century: the Temple of the Reclining Elephants, now located in a zoological park, and the Lang Pagoda, situated a bit farther south. The former was erected to protect the western side of the capital, while the latter is known for its picturesque location and ancient statuary, some of which date back to the 17th century. It is still in use today, and is the site of one of Hanoi’s most popular annual festivals.

We can now see that the Hanoi of today was shaped by the dynasty that founded it. The dynasties that followed did little but preserve it, renovate it, and construct palaces for various dignitaries. None of these other buildings, however, could withstand the violence of history. In 1216, the struggle between rival factions of the declining Ly dynasty provoked a fire and the destruction of the Imperial City, which later had to be rebuilt by the Tran dynasty (1225 – 1400). From the 16th – 18th century, royal palaces were built outside of the old Imperial City because of the fighting between the reigning dynasty of the Le, reduced to a nominal function, and the Trinh lords (an aristocratic clan which had seized power at court) who held real power. This infighting between the ruling classes led to chaos and political instability, including the assassinations of several Le kings by the Trinh lords. In 1623, one of the latter burned down the Imperial City. In 1787, the last reigning Le ruler called for assistance from the Qing Dynasty in Beijing, but the Tay Son brothers, leaders of a rebel faction which had taken control in the South, took advantage of the instability to intervene and liberate the capital from its Chinese occupiers. In 1789, the battle of Dong Da (named for a hill situated several kilometers to the south of Hanoi) put an end to the Chinese intervention 6.


trait

Notes

2. Founder of the later Ly dynasty (1428 – 1527)

3. A tree which gives a very hard wood, whose density is higher than water (it sinks). It is used to make columns or beams to support roofs.

4 Communal houses were public buildings in a village center which served as both religious and civic hub.

5 A mau is a unit of measurement equivalent to 3,600 square meters. The area of this lake is thus about 2.5 hectares .

6 The Tay Son managed to unify the country, which had been divided since the 16th century by two rival families: the Trinh in the North and the Nguyen in the South. However, they were eliminated soon after by the founder of the Nguyen dynasty (1802 – 1945), with the help of the French who began their own conquest of the South in 1858.




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