New book: Thang Long Capital - Millennium Vision

According to Dr. Bui Van Tuan, Deputy Director of the Center for Hanoi Studies and Capital Development, Secretary of the Editorial Board, shared some information and the significance of the book's publication: The book was published to present an overview of the event of establishing Thang Long as the capital and the appearance of Thang Long - Hanoi from the Ly, Tran, Le dynasties to the Ho Chi Minh era, when Hanoi became the capital of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam.

What is special about the book "Thang Long Capital - Millennium Vision"?

In the early autumn of the year Canh Tuat (1010), after only half a year of ascending the throne and establishing the Ly Dynasty, realizing that “Hoa Lu citadel was damp and narrow, not enough to be a residence for the emperor”, Ly Thai To devoted himself to studying the books of the sages, learning from the experiences of his ancestors and of ancient Eastern countries, expanding his investigation and survey to correctly understand and evaluate the position of each locality in the overall strategy of building and developing the country and came to an absolutely correct decision of moving the capital Hoa Lu to Thang Long. The ultimate purpose of this important historical decision was explained very clearly and transparently by Ly Thai To in the Proclamation on the Transfer of the Capital, which was “to seek a great cause, to choose a middle place, to make a plan for the descendants of thousands of generations, above respecting the mandate of heaven, below following the will of the people, if there is a convenient place then move, so the country will last long, customs will flourish”. Although he firmly affirmed that the Dai La citadel area at that time (later changed to Thang Long by him) "was a place of victory, truly a place of convergence of the four directions, truly the place of the eternal capital", Ly Thai To still bet his entire career on "heaven's mandate" and "people's will", organized a broad referendum and received the wholehearted support of the people. That was the greatest and most important resource that helped Ly Thai To create a miracle in July, Autumn of Canh Tuat year (around August 13 to September 10, 1010).

On August 1, 2010, on the occasion of the 1000th anniversary of Ly Thai To moving the capital from Hoa Lu to Thang Long, the Central Area of ​​Thang Long Imperial Citadel was recognized by UNESCO as a World Cultural Heritage, because it "reflects a continuous historical chain of dynasties ruling Vietnam in terms of ideology, politics, administration, law, economy and culture for nearly a thousand years" and because it is rare in the world to find another heritage "that demonstrates such a long-term continuity of political and cultural development".

Also on this occasion, after 1000 years of looking back, the State-level scientific programs Researching the promotion of natural, economic, social conditions and historical and cultural values ​​to serve the comprehensive development of the Capital; Thang Long Thousand Years of Civilization Bookcase; Hanoi Encyclopedia and the International Scientific Conference on Sustainable Development of Hanoi Capital, along with hundreds of topics and research works of a summary nature... all affirm that the brilliant development stages of the Capital of Culture, Heroism, Peace and Friendship over the past 10 centuries almost all started or had a relationship with the career of establishing Thang Long as the capital of Ly Thai To. The vision and career of Ly Thai To have gone beyond space and time, truly becoming the vision and career of the Millennium.

This year, 2020, commemorating the 1010th anniversary of Ly Thai To establishing Thang Long as the capital, we, a group of experts from the scientific program celebrating the 1000th anniversary of Thang Long - Hanoi, have the opportunity to discuss, test and evaluate research results from the previous 10 years and update new research achievements in the past 10 years, to complete the book Establishing Thang Long as the capital - Millennium Vision.

How can readers briefly know about this book?

The book is divided into 10 chapters (we emphasize the number 10 which is very meaningful at this time, the year 1010; the 1010th anniversary; the 10-10 anniversary and after 10 years of the great celebration), presenting an overview of the event of establishing Thang Long as the capital and the appearance of Thang Long - Hanoi from the Ly, Tran, Le dynasties to the Ho Chi Minh era when Hanoi became the capital of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam and the Socialist Republic of Vietnam. In fact, each chapter can be presented as a separate monograph, but here the authors all wish to gather them together and aim at a wide range of readers, trying to present the topics and in-depth content in the simplest and most concise way.

Chapter I: Ly Thai To and the establishment of the capital Thang Long: This is the opening chapter, summarizing the founding of the Ly Dynasty by Ly Thai To, which opened a period of comprehensive renaissance of the country, implementing domestic and foreign policies that were both suitable for the immediate requirements of national construction and "creating a plan for future generations". Ly Thai To's decision to move the capital and establish a new capital in Thang Long was a major event, laying the foundation for the entire process of remarkable development of the Ly Dynasty, of the Dai Viet nation, opening a glorious era in Vietnamese history. "Responding to the will of heaven, following the will of the people, and taking advantage of the opportunity to create good fortune, Ly Thai To became the first and greatest Emperor in Vietnamese history, with a vision and a career for millennia.

Chapter II: Thang Long Capital under the Ly Dynasty: Chapter II describes the appearance of Thang Long Citadel under the Ly Dynasty, consisting of three walls, in which the Forbidden City and the Long Thanh inside were the central brains of the dynasty. This is a collection of hundreds of majestic and splendid palaces, temples, pagodas and towers, mainly Buddhist architecture and architecture in the Buddhist style. Here, the relationship between the royal court and the people, the relationship between the city and the countryside, the economic and cultural relationship took place regularly, directly and strongly, making Thang Long quickly become the largest political, economic and cultural center, with the strongest attraction and influence, raising Thang Long urban area to become a typical urban area in all fields of Dai Viet nation.

Chapter III: Thang Long Capital under the Tran Dynasty: Chapter III focuses on clarifying the establishment, planning, construction and management of Thang Long Capital under the Tran Dynasty; the appearance of economic life and urban culture of Thang Long under the Tran Dynasty. This part also includes Dong Do - Dong Quan under the Ho Dynasty and the Ming Dynasty.

Chapter IV: Dong Kinh in the early Le Dynasty: Chapter IV has clarified the planning of Thang Long Capital in the early Le Dynasty as a relatively common model in East Asian countries. Through the description of the street and residential areas, it can be affirmed that under the early Le Dynasty, Thang Long continued to have a strong attraction for residents from all over the world to gather and produce, trade and study... creating a city that developed brilliantly in many aspects.

Chapter V: Thang Long Capital during the Le Dynasty - Trinh Lords: Chapter V clarifies that Thang Long - Ke Cho during the Le Dynasty - Trinh Lords, followed by Bac Thanh during the Tay Son Dynasty, was a period of more than two centuries full of turmoil and paradoxes in the final stage of a city transforming from the position of Dai Viet capital to a regional capital. In general, these were both centuries of political and ideological decline and centuries of economic and cultural development, in a complex interweaving.

Chapter VI: Thang Long - Hanoi under the Nguyen Dynasty: Chapter VI affirms that Thang Long - Hanoi under the Nguyen Dynasty had spent nearly eight hundred years as the capital of Dai Viet. During the Nguyen Dynasty, the capital was moved to Phu Xuan - Hue, but in the first thirty years of the 19th century, Thang Long - Hanoi still played the central role of the Northern Citadel. Along with those changes, the large-scale rampart system through the dynasties was also demolished, replaced by a much smaller-scale citadel. However, in Thang Long - Hanoi, the economy, especially industry and commerce, still developed strongly with a fairly high level of specialization. In cultural life, Thang Long - Hanoi was still a major center of the whole country in education and examinations, in literary life, architecture, religion, and beliefs.

Chapter VII: Hanoi - Capital of the Indochina Federation during the French colonial period: The content of Chapter VII clarifies that from the mid-nineteenth century, Hanoi gradually transformed from a declining feudal city into a modern city following the Western model. Not only a major economic center, Hanoi is also a place where the cultural values ​​of the nation and the era converge and spread. Education along with new ideological trends became the support and conditions to promote the development of a new culture. During this period, Hanoi was the center of formation, reception and spread of patriotic and revolutionary movements, with the peak being the victory of the General Uprising to seize power in Hanoi in 1945, opening a new development period for the city in particular and the whole country in general.

Chapter VIII: Hanoi - Capital of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam: Chapter VIII affirmed the great role of the army and people of Hanoi in a new period of the city, the resistance war against the French colonialists and the invading American imperialists to protect the independence and freedom of the Fatherland, to preserve the peace and happiness of Hanoi, the heart of the whole country, the thousand-year-old capital of the heroic Vietnamese people.

Chapter IX: Hanoi - Capital of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam: Chapter IX highlights Hanoi's achievements in the fields of politics, economics, culture, society, and foreign affairs during the unification period, implementing the country's renovation policy, and steadily moving forward on the path of industrialization, modernization, and international integration. Hanoi continues to affirm its position as the center of politics, economics, culture, science, and education of the whole country, with the titles of Heroic Capital, City for Peace, Creative City, and 1010 years of civilization.

Chapter X: Hanoi - Capital of culture, heroism, peace and friendship: This is the chapter that connects and summarizes the topics and issues raised in the book. On the threshold of the third decade of the 21st century, Vietnam in general and the capital Hanoi in particular are facing new historical opportunities and challenges of the era of digital civilization and globalization in the context of the 4.0 industrial revolution. This is the time for the Party, State and people of Vietnam in general, the leaders and people of Hanoi in particular to look back and evaluate the achievements and look to the future from the intellectual and humanistic heights of the thousand-year-old capital, in order to exploit the values ​​of tradition, promote the material and spiritual resources of Thang Long - Hanoi, creating a strong driving force to continue building and developing the capital to a new height.

The book is the result of cooperation between the Department of Information and Communications, Hanoi Publishing House, Hanoi Center for Hanoi Studies and Capital Development, Institute of Vietnamese Studies and Development Science, VNU. On the occasion of the 1010th anniversary of Ly Thai To establishing Thang Long as the capital, we respectfully introduce the book Establishing Thang Long - Millennium Vision to readers interested in and loving the History and Culture of the Capital.