Emagazine The historical and cultural space of Hoa Lu Capital is a unique value that defines the urban brand of Ninh Binh.

Ninh Binh Newspaper: Professor, as a dedicated person with many contributions to the research of Vietnamese history in general and Ninh Binh province in particular, can you tell us about the role of Hoa Lu Capital in national history?

Prof. Dr. People's Teacher Nguyen Quang Ngoc: Dinh Bo Linh was from Hoa Lu. In the context of the country having just escaped from the thousand-year domination of the North, which had been deeply mired in disintegration and chaos, he built his homeland into a base, a headquarters for the work of eliminating the situation of separatism, unifying the country, ascending the throne as Emperor, founding the Dinh dynasty and establishing Hoa Lu as the capital, opening up a worthy development step for the Dai Viet nation. For a long time, history books have often only relied on Nguyen Trai's Geography and Ngo Si Lien's Complete Annals of Dai Viet in the 15th century to implicitly acknowledge that our country under the Dinh - Le dynasty was Dai Co Viet.

King Dinh Tien Hoang Temple at the Hoa Lu Ancient Capital National Special Relic Site seen from above.

It is also possible that during the Dinh - Le dynasty, our country was also called Dai Co Viet (also known as Nam Quoc; Nam Viet Quoc...), but perhaps it was not the official national name (because there are no original documents confirming this). Meanwhile, Archaeology has discovered a series of "Dai Viet Quoc Quan Thanh Chuyen" bricks (bricks to build the military citadel of Dai Viet) which are real, original and absolutely accurate documents located right in the Hoa Lu citadel wall of the Dinh dynasty, clearly proving that Dinh Tien Hoang ascended the throne, named the country Dai Viet and chose Hoa Lu as the first capital. Hoa Lu was located in the optimal position of Dai Viet at that time, so it could simultaneously mobilize a high level of resources from all parts of the country, not only contributing to affirming the position of the first centralized government, elevating the national nation, but also protecting the safety of the dynasty and the country in complex and unpredictable circumstances.

Hoa Lu capital nurtured Ly Cong Uan's career, helped Ly Cong Uan broaden his vision and way of thinking, founded the Ly dynasty and devoted his heart and soul to completing the career of moving the capital to Hoa Lu and establishing Thang Long as the capital, building the capital forever and ever of the country still following the model of Hoa Lu ancient capital, carving the shape of Hoa Lu in each stage of development of Thang Long capital.

Ninh Binh Newspaper: Research shows that Hoa Lu was chosen as the capital at that time not only because of its "dangerous" location but also because of its "land of water, trade, forest and sea exchange". According to the Professor, how should Ninh Binh promote this foundation in the process of becoming a leading modern and civilized heritage city of the country and of international stature?

Prof. Dr. People's Teacher Nguyen Quang Ngoc: Many people only see Hoa Lu as a military citadel, but do not realize that this is a land of water, trade, forest and sea exchange. Since the early 80s of the last century, Professor Tran Quoc Vuong has pointed out that this is a "transitional", "hinge" and "adjacent" land, which Dinh Tien Hoang soon recognized and fully exploited these natural advantages to build a capital worthy of a centralized monarchy on the way to asserting its position.

View of Hoa Lu Ancient Capital during the festival.

Hoa Lu urban area thus gradually became the earliest and most typical medieval urban area of Dai Viet nation at that time. The identity value of that urban area continued to be promoted as long as the government and people were still interested and had the conditions to exploit the advantages of water transportation, trade, forest transportation, and sea transportation. Only when we switched to a centralized bureaucratic subsidy management mechanism following the model of monoculture agricultural production of wet rice did these advantages disappear and Ninh Binh became a remote rural area with underdeveloped agriculture.

It is very gratifying that since the re-establishment of Ninh Binh province (April 1, 1992) until now, Ninh Binh has highly concentrated its intelligence and efforts on the new construction on the basis of local advantages and traditional values established since the Hoa Lu Capital period. And reality has proven that over the past 30 years, Ninh Binh has been successful and has had very impressive development steps. The outstanding values of the capital - the first imperial capital of Dai Viet nation, as well as the first medieval urban - port city leaning on the mountain, overlooking the river, opening to the East Sea in the Northern region, have created the most distinctive identity values of the historical - cultural space of Hoa Lu Capital, as the main resource, strong driving force and fundamental advantage for Ninh Binh to be able to elevate to become a civilized, modern heritage city - a centrally-governed city representing the growth pole in the South of the Red River Delta.

Ninh Binh Newspaper: In recent times, Ninh Binh province has done a good job of preserving and promoting the values of the Hoa Lu Citadel heritage. However, according to the Professor, is there any room for Ninh Binh to further exploit the core values of the heritage to serve the purpose of socio-economic development?

It is true that Ninh Binh has done a very good job of preserving and promoting the values of the Hoa Lu Citadel heritage, but in fact, these are only the initial results. Most of the relics, artifacts, and miracles of our ancestors in the Hoa Lu citadel, especially in the Hoa Lu urban - port area, are still lying underground, waiting for the pickaxe of the archaeologist.

Although our perception of Hoa Lu Capital has improved a lot, it is still poor and monotonous, heavy on assumptions and predictions. The work of preserving and promoting the value of heritage cannot but be based on the principle of understanding correctly, fully, and accurately about heritage. Since 2014, Trang An Scenic Landscape Complex has been recognized as a World Cultural and Natural Heritage and Ninh Binh has taken advantage of this opportunity to develop tourism, opening up the cultural - tourism industry. The exploitation and protection of cultural and natural heritage is not really synchronous and not really effective.

Temple of King Dinh Tien Hoang during Hoa Lu Festival.

Foreign tourists learn about the historical and cultural values of the Hoa Lu Ancient Capital National Special Relic Site.

Ninh Binh is identified as a growth pole in the South of the Red River Delta, whose fundamental advantage is the strength of connection and linkage between regions; between mountains, forests, plains and rivers and seas; between unique nature and rich culture, all of which have outstanding global values; between heritage and tourism, tourism and cultural industry; between the past, present and future... These are extremely difficult synthetic and interdisciplinary problems, but it is impossible not to find satisfactory solutions as a premise for rapid, strong and sustainable development.

Ninh Binh Newspaper: From the perspective of a historical researcher, how does the Professor evaluate Ninh Binh's organization of the scientific workshop "Defining Ninh Binh identity associated with building local brands" at this time?

The 13th National Party Congress affirmed that "Culture is truly the spiritual foundation, endogenous resource and breakthrough driving force for socio-economic development and international integration", which has truly created strong, synchronous and substantial changes nationwide, in which Ninh Binh is one of the leading localities.

Art program at the 1050th Anniversary of Dai Co Viet State (968-2018).

Moreover, recently, localities have been rushing to complete the master plan, so Ninh Binh's organization of the scientific workshop "Defining Ninh Binh identity associated with building local brands" at this time is to meet the urgent requirements of practical life.

Art program at the 200th anniversary of Ninh Binh's name (1822-2022) and 30 years of re-establishment of the province (April 1, 1992 - April 1, 2022).

Spring night in Ninh Binh city.

I also know that after this Workshop, Ninh Binh will continue to organize a Workshop on Arguments for building Ninh Binh into a centrally-run city on the foundation of Hoa Lu Ancient Capital, promoting unique values, outstanding potential, competitive advantages, possessing world cultural and natural heritage, aiming for the goal of 2035, vision 2045.

The conferences all tried to find ways to revive the Hoa Lu Capital in its glorious peak, with the power to converge and spread beyond space and time, to create a solid foundation, foster confidence and will, and create enough resources for Ninh Binh to rise to new heights. This is an opportunity that may only appear once in a hundred years.

Ninh Binh Newspaper: Sincerely thank you, Professor!

Ninh Binh Newspaper (August 2023)

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