Evidence has been found of human habitation in the region from 3000 BCE. The earliest settlements at Thang Long were houses built on stilts at the edges of a swamp. Over time a series of dikes were built to protect against flooding and the populated area expanded toward the Red River on the east. There have been many capitals in the vicinity of present day Hanoi, each with a different name.


The Co Loa Citadel
This stronghold was built around 210 BC by King An Duong Vuong, the strongest of the overlords of the Kingdom of Au Lac. There is a legend surrounding the building of the citadel. The king's men worked on the walls by day, but at night a thousand year old white cock, who was the spirit of the son of the former king, would come down from the mountains and undo what had been accomplished. The god of the river sent a golden turtle to defeat the cock and guard the construction. When the citadel was finished, the turtle went back into the river, but he left one of his claws which was fashioned into the trigger of the king's crossbow. This bow was endowed with magical qualities that would enable the king to fend off any invaders from China. But the Chinese king had heard the story and arranged to have his son Trong Thuy wed My Chau, An Duong Vuong's daughter. Trong Thuy stole the crossbow and the Vietnamese were defeated. The king and My Chau committed suicide.

The Chinese controlled this area from around the third to the tenth centuries CE, calling the region "Dominated Annam" or "Protected South". They established their capital at Long Bien on the east bank of the Red River. During the Tang dynasty, the capital was moved back across the river and renamed Tong Bien. A citadel was built there during the 7th and 8th centuries called Dai La. During this period, the population grew to around 50,000.


The Chinese Defeated
In 939, general Ngo Quyen defeated the Chinese and after proclaiming himself King Ngo Vuong, moved the capital back to Co Loa. In 968, King Tien Hoang De moved his capital away from the Thang Long area to Hoa Lu, about 60 miles to the south. In 1010, King Ly Thai To moved his capital back to Dai La. On his journey north, the king had a dream in which a golden dragon rose from the Red River. Taking this as a good omen, he changed the name of the fortress from Dai La to Thang Long, which meant Soaring Dragon. Another version of this tale has the golden dragon flying off into the heavens from the top of the citadel.

This king also had problems with his construction plans. He attempted to rebuild the walls of the old Chinese palace, but his walls kept falling down. He beseeched the local earth god to send aid, which came in the form of a white horse which galloped out of the temple and headed west. The king took this as a sign to construct the walls of his citadel along the path which the horse took. He named the white horse as the city's guardian and built the Bach Ma Pagoda to honor the animal.


The Arrangement of the City
Modelled on Chinese cities, such as Chang'an, Thang Long was laid out in a square and divided into two main parts. The innermost Royal City, Hoang Thanh, was enclosed by brick walls and a moat. The king and his family resided in the royal palace, Cam Thanh. His closest advisors lived within the compound. Inside the gated walls were temples, lakes and gardens, and audience halls in which to receive visiting dignitaries.

The walled Civilian or Commoners City, Kinh Thanh, lay to the east, between the royal enclosure and the river. Home to the civilian and military leaders as well as the markets and Confucian and Buddhist temples, this area was divided into phuong (guilds) and pho (streets), each named for the specific item produced or traded there.

There were around one hundred small villages outside the walls, where over 100,000 farmers and workers made their homes. Though the city was constrained in its growth by the three local rivers and the West Lake, further enlargement and improvements were made by subsequent rulers. In 1397, the capital was moved to Thanh Hoa, renamed Tay Do, or the Western Capital, leaving Thang Long, now called Dong Do, as the Eastern Capital.


Later History
In 1407, the Chinese invaded Vietnam, once again occupying Thang Long, this time calling it Dong Quan. In 1428, Le Loi defeated the Chinese and renamed the capital Dong Kinh. It wasn't until 1527 that the city reclaimed its ancient name of Thang Long, but by this time the meaning of Long had changed from dragon to prosperity. In 1832, King Minh Mang renamed the city one final time to Ha Noi - Ha means river and Noi means within, a fitting name for a city in the bend of a river. By 1887, Ha Noi was the capital of French Indochina. When Vietnam claimed its independence from France in 1953, the country was divided and Ha Noi was made capital of North Vietnam with Saigon as capital of South Vietnam. In 1975, Ha Noi became the capital of the reunited Vietnam.



Ho Hoan Kiem (Lake of the Returned Sword)
The main image at the top left of this page is of a pagoda at the edge of this lake in the eastern part of Thang Long. Once called Luc Thuy or Green Water, this lake was renamed Ho Hoan Kiem in the early fifteenth century.

King Le Thai Tong had a most valuable sword with which he fought during his ten year struggle to free his land from the rule of the Chinese. After he had secured Vietnam's independence, the king was sailing on the lake when he saw a very large turtle. He drew his sword, only to have it seized by the turtle and dragged beneath the water. The king ordered the lake to be drained and dredged, but no trace of the turtle or his prized sword was found. The king concluded that his sword had been lent to him by the gods to free his country and had been taken back until it might be needed again.


Chua Mot Cot (One Pillar Pagoda)
The One-Pillar Pagoda is supposed to symbolize a giant lotus blossom. It was built by King Le Thai Tong, who had another dream in which he was led by Kwan Yin, the Buddhist bodhisattva of compassion, to a shrine in a lotus pond. When the king awoke, he knew he had been called to recreate this visionary shrine as a tribute to Kwan Yin.


Ho Tay (West Lake)
The largest of Thang Long's lakes, Ho Tay is located in the northwest of the city. A long time ago, there was a giant who was a most respected medicine man. He was often called to treat the royal family. So great was his fame as a healer that the Emperor of China sent for him and after his successful treatment of this august person, he was offered much gold as a reward. The healer refused, requesting only that the Emperor give him all the black copper in his royal vault. This boon was granted and once the medicine man got back to Vietnam, he had a huge bell made from the black copper, one which when rung could be heard all the way to China. Now also in the Chinese emperor's vault was a golden buffalo. When he heard the peal of the bell, he came to life and sped off south to Vietnam. Upon his arrival, he ran through the land next to the Red River, permanently altering the landscape so that the depression he made filled with water over the years, becoming the West Lake.

Ho Tay became a vacation retreat for members of the royalty who built palaces and pagodas along the lake's edges. The oldest pagoda in Thang Long is Tran Quoc, built in the early sixth century. It is situated on an island, reached by a bridge. In the gardens there is a Bohdi tree which is said to have grown from a cutting of the original tree in Bodh Gaya, under which the Buddha was sitting when he obtained enlightenment. At the north end of the lake are villages which grow flowers and fruit. The most famous of these is Nghi Tam village, the birthplace of the poetess Ba Huyen Thanh Quan.


Van Mieu (Temple of Literature)
This Confucian shrine was originally built in 1070 and within six years had become a school for the elite. Later, the school admitted commoners if they could pass the difficult regional examinations. In the late fifteenth century, King Le Thanh Tong declared that the temple would become a tribute to those scholars who had passed the four royal examinations and earned the title of Tien Si, or doctor laureate. Each would have his name and home village inscribed on stone stelae in a special garden there.

Passing through the Dai Thanh Mon, or Gate of Great Success, from the Garden of Stelae, one arrives in the Courtyard of Sages, to find the Great House of Ceremonies. Beneath a wooden panel bearing the inscription "Teacher of Ten Thousand Generations", new doctor laureates came to pay homage to Confucius. Further along is the Sanctuary which houses a statue of Confucius, companioned by his four closest disciples - Nhan Tu, Tu Tu, Tang Tu, and Manh-Tu (Mencius). In the last courtyard of the temple is the Quoc Tu Giam, or School for the Sons of the nation, in which were classrooms, dormitories and a print shop. When the school was later moved to Hue, Quoc Tu Giam was turned into a shrine to Confucius' parents and renamed Khai Thanh.

Explore the Temple of Literature



Sources:
Ha Noi
The History of Hanoi's Old Quarter
Hanoi Information
Vietnam's Ancient Past
Old Thang Long


Image Credits:
Temple of Literature image by Chuoibk used under the GNU Free Documentation License
One-Pillar Pagoda image by Thomas Schoch used under the Creative Commons Attribution ShareAlike 2.5 License