Chi Lang echoes with victory

Tourists visit Quan Tran Ai Temple (Quy Mon Temple) in Quan Thanh village, Chi Lang commune

Chi Lang is a land of important strategic position, the "Northern gateway" of the Fatherland - the place that all invading armies from the North wanting to go deep into Dai Viet must pass through.

Layers of history, layers of achievements

In the historical process of Lang Son in particular and Vietnam in general, Chi Lang is a sacred place, a place of outstanding people, a source of pride, forever preserving the heroic historical and cultural values of the nation. Because through thousands of years of history, Chi Lang has always left its mark with great battles, glorious and resounding victories.

Especially in the Chi Lang victory in 1427, our army and people achieved a resounding victory, destroying the reinforcement army of more than 100,000 Ming troops commanded by Lieu Thang.

Official history records: in early 1427, the Ming Dynasty sent two armies to rescue the siege in the citadels, in which the army commanded by Lieu Thang went from Guangxi; the army commanded by Moc Thanh went via Yunnan. In order to destroy these two armies, Le Loi advocated "siege the citadel and destroy the reinforcements", strengthen the siege of Dong Quan citadel, and take down the citadels along both sides of the enemy's route. On October 8, 1427, Lieu Thang's army gradually advanced to Pha Luy pass, General Tran Luu fought and retreated to Khau On. The enemy continued to advance, Tran Luu continued to retreat to Ai Luu (Chi Lang, Lang Son). On October 10, 1427, Lieu Thang led an army to charge forward to open the way to Chi Lang. General Tran Luu led his army to intercept and then continued to pretend to be defeated and flee. Lieu Thang pursued and fell into our army's ambush south of Chi Lang pass. Here, Lieu Thang died on the side of Ma Yen mountain.

The Chi Lang victory represents the will for independence, the strength of national unity and the excellent military art of our ancestors. The Chi Lang victory strongly encouraged the fighting spirit of our army and people, increasing the determination, confidence and premise for our army to gain consecutive victories, ending the domination of the Ming Dynasty, opening a glorious page in the history of building and defending the country of our nation.

The tour guide of Chi Lang Victory Exhibition House introduces the significance of documents and artifacts about Chi Lang victory to visitors.

Promoting the heroic tradition, the army and people of Chi Lang - Lang Son bravely stood up and actively participated in the resistance wars against the French, typically the Hoang Dinh Kinh uprising in the years 1882 - 1888; then in the resistance war against the US to save the country with the event of female guerilla Quang Lang shooting down an American plane.

The Chi Lang historical relic site currently consists of 52 relic sites, belonging to two main types: historical - cultural relics and legendary - spiritual relics, located in the Chi Lang basin, which is more than 20km long. That is where the battle took place, the base of the insurgents, the warehouse of weapons and food, the village where the soldiers were fed. However, at present, through actual surveys, only 46/52 relic sites have been identified, and 6 relic sites have lost their traces and cannot be identified, including 24 special national relic sites and 22 national relic sites.

With many special values in history, culture, science, education, tourism, military and diplomacy , Chi Lang Historical Relic Site was ranked as a National Monument by the Ministry of Culture - Information (now the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism) in the first phase in April 1962. In 2019, this relic site was ranked as a Special National Monument by the Prime Minister.

Heroic spirit in today's flow

Deeply aware of the great value of the Chi Lang historical relic site, in recent years, all levels and sectors of the province have devoted much effort to the work of preserving, embellishing and promoting the heritage. Accordingly, in 2012, the Provincial People's Committee issued Decision No. 1697 approving the Master Plan of the Chi Lang historical relic site at a scale of 1/2000. In 2018, the Provincial People's Committee issued Decision No. 652 approving the project of construction and development of the Chi Lang relic site until 2025, with a vision to 2035, to organize and plan a central area with a large space, converging and concentrating works and items to meet the requirements of organizing cultural and tourism services. More importantly, the relic site will be a place where people from all over the country come to remember and honor national heroes and those who sacrificed their lives in the cause of building and defending the country.

In particular, in the period of 2021 - 2024, the People's Committee of the old Chi Lang district has coordinated with relevant departments, agencies, agencies and units to organize activities to restore, preserve and restore relics in the area, including the Chi Lang Historical Relic Site with a capital of nearly 30 billion VND. Typically, in May 2019, Chi Lang Temple was started to be built in Bai Hao village, Chi Lang commune. To date, the temple has been inaugurated and put into use with a total investment of more than 60 billion VND.

In parallel, artifacts and documents related to the Chi Lang Victory are being kept and preserved at the Chi Lang Victory Exhibition House with nearly 500 photos, documents and artifacts with 3 main themes: Chi Lang - history of the country and people; Chi Lang - history; Chi Lang - promoting tradition. On average, each year, this place attracts thousands of visitors to visit and research.

Ms. Trinh Thi Kim Hanh, a tourist from Thanh Dong ward, Hai Phong city, said: In mid-June 2025, I had the opportunity to return to Chi Lang land and visit the relics. I saw that the relics were invested in more spaciously than before. At relics such as Devil's Face Mountain, Dau Dong Quan, Devil's Gate Temple, and the ramparts... I learned more about the historical stories and heroic fighting of our ancestors in the past. I will come back here many more times.

Promoting the tradition of previous generations, the people of Chi Lang today continue to promote the spirit of vanguard, actively competing in socio-economic development to contribute to building a rich and beautiful homeland. In particular, from July 1, 2025, the old Chi Lang district was arranged from 20 communes and towns into 6 new administrative units including: Chi Lang, Quan Son, Chien Thang, Nhan Ly, Bang Mac, Van Linh. After operating the new government model, socio-economic development work continues to be focused on by all levels and sectors.

Chi Lang commune was established on the basis of merging Dong Mo town, Chi Lang commune and Chi Lang town. Currently, the commune has a total natural area of 80.74 km2 with a population of 28,192 people. After the merger, the economy in the commune continued to develop, maintained a good growth momentum, the economic structure shifted in the right direction; the potential and strengths of the commune continued to be promoted. The total budget revenue of the commune in the period of 2020-2025 reached 24,022 million VND, the budget revenue growth rate compared to the beginning of the period reached 23%.

In preparation for the 598th anniversary of the Chi Lang victory (October 10, 1427 - October 10, 2025), recently, communes have developed plans to organize activities, creating an exciting competitive atmosphere to celebrate the anniversary.

Ms. Dinh Thi Thao, Deputy Head of the Department of Culture and Society of Chi Lang commune, said: In the past time, we have advised the People's Committee of the commune to develop a plan and implement a variety of commemorative activities such as: organizing the "Heroic Spirit of Chi Lang" speech contest to learn about the Chi Lang Victory on October 10; organizing sports and cultural activities; sli, luon, then singing festivals; traditional lion dance festivals... This is an opportunity to improve the quality of spiritual life of the people, promote the image of Chi Lang commune to tourists inside and outside the province.

The victory of Chi Lang is not only a historical event but also a symbol of the spirit of self-reliance and self-improvement, a torch that lights the way for many generations of Vietnamese people today. From that heroic tradition, the Party Committee, the government and the people of all ethnic groups in the communes of Chi Lang always strive to build their homeland to be more and more developed and prosperous.

Source: https://baolangson.vn/chi-lang-vong-mai-khi-phach-anh-hung-5061222.html