The name of the land of Thang Long through historical periods

06/09/2021

Thang Long-Hanoi is the oldest capital in Vietnamese history. Since its establishment until now, Thang Long-Hanoi has many different names recorded in the history books of Vietnam.

The official names of Thang Long-Hanoi through history

The official name is recorded in history books by the feudal dynasties, the State of Vietnam officially set:

Tong Binh: Tong Binh citadel was the seat of the Northern rulers of the Sui (581-618) and Tang (618-907) dynasties. Previously, their headquarters was in the area of ​​Long Bien (present-day Bac Ninh). In the Sui dynasty, they moved to Tong Binh.

Long Do: Legend has it that when Cao Bien of the Tang Dynasty, in 866, built Dai La citadel, a god appeared and claimed to be the god Long Do. Therefore, in history books often call Thang Long the land of Long Do.

Dai La: Dai La or Dai La citadel was the name of the outermost citadel surrounding the ancient Thang Long Imperial City. According to the ancient architecture, ancient capital often has “three layers of citadel.” The innermost is the Forbidden City (ie the burgundy wall) where the king and royal family live, the middle is the Imperial City and the outermost is Dai La Citadel.

In 866, Cao Bien expanded Dai La citadel to be wider and more stable than before. From then on, this citadel was called Dai La citadel. The decree to move the capital of King Ly Thai To (in 1010) wrote: “…, Dai La citadel, the old capital of Cao Vuong (ie Cao Bien) was in the middle of heaven and earth…” (Book “Toan Thu”, Volume 1, Hanoi 1993, p. 241).

Thang Long (The Dragon takes off): The Dai Viet History Book wrote: the reason for this name’s formation as follows: “Autumn, in the year of Canh Tuat (1010), the king moved from Hoa Lu citadel, moved the capital to the capital to Dai La city. , temporarily parked the boat under the citadel, a golden dragon appeared and taken off, so the name was changed to Thang Long citadel, which means the land where the dragon takes off”.

Dong Do: The book “Dai Viet History” writes: “In the summer of April, in the year of Dinh Suu (1397), assigned Deputy General Ho Han Thuong to manage Dong Do” (or the eastern Capital). Ho Quy Ly ascended the throne and established the capital in Tay Do – or the Capital of the west (Thanh Hoa), Thang Long changed the name to Dong Do.

Dong Quan: This is the name Thang Long called by the military mandarins of the Ming Dynasty with the connotation of discrimination against the capital of Vietnam, just likened to the “east gate” of the Chinese feudal state. The old history book said that in 1408, the Ming army defeated the father and son of Ho Quy Ly, stationed the capital in Dong Do citadel, and renamed it Dong Quan.

Dong Kinh: The book “Dai Viet History” writes about the origin of the name “Dong Kinh” as follows: “Summer, April in the year of Dinh Mui (1427), King (ie Le Loi) entered and stationed in Dong Kinh (or the Citadel in the east), the amnesty changed the era name to Thuan Thien, established the national name as Dai Viet, and stationed the capital in Dong Kinh. On the 15th, the king ascended the throne in Dong Kinh, that is, Thang Long citadel. Because Thanh Hoa has Tay Do, Thang Long wass called Dong Kinh”.

Bac Thanh (or the northern citadel): “During the Tay Son Dynasty (Nguyen Hue-Quang Trung 1787-1802) because the capital was located in Phu Xuan (Hue), Thang Long was called Bac Thanh –the northern citdel (in opposite with Phu Xuan in the south). At the beginning of Gia Long’s dynasty, he set up the “Governor of Bac Thanh,”.

Thang Long (Prosperity): The book “History of Hanoi Capital” writes: “In 1802, Gia Long decided to live in the old place, Phu Xuan (Hue), not going to Thang Long, appointing Nguyen Van Thanh to be The governor of the North and changed the capital Thang Long to the citadel of the North. Since this land was no longer the capital of the country, but because the name Thang Long has been around for a long time, familiar to the people, King Gia Long found it inconvenient to change the name immediately, so he decided to keep the name Thang Long, but changed the word “Long” for Dragon to “Long” for Prosperity, under the pretext that the dragon is a symbol of the king, now that the king is not here, so must not use the word “long” as “dragon” [Tran Huy Lieu (editor), History of Hanoi Capital, Hanoi 1960, p.81] .

The above change happened in 1805, then King Gia Long also ordered to partially demolish the old imperial citadel to reduce the size.

Hanoi: History book of Hanoi capital writes: “In 1831, King Minh Mang brought the old Thang Long citadel with several surrounding districts such as Tu Liem, Ung Hoa, Ly Nhan and Thuong Tin to form Hanoi province, taking the old Thang Long citadel as the capital of Hanoi” [Tran Huy Lieu (editor). History of Hanoi capital. Hanoi 1960, Tr82].

Names in the literature of Thang Long-Hanoi

In poetry, folk songs, speech…, Thang Long-Hanoi citadel is associated with many different names: Trường An; Phượng Thành (Phụng Thành); Long Biên; Long Thành; Hà Thành; Hoàng Diệu

Source: baoquocte.vn

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