Hanoi is the capital of Vietnam and marked its thousand year old anniversary to be the center of nation's culture, economics & politics in 2010. Trip to Hanoi will be more interesting to understand Hanoi history, together with visiting Hanoi's attractions
Different noteable stages of Hanoi history
Hanoi was an ancient land located in the center of Red River Delta where pre-historic Vietnamese resided, did their farming production along the Red River and developed Hanoi as the cradle of Red River Civilization (the basic Vietnamese culture of rice cultivation) to the new era of present Hanoi development.In this article, we will mention about some noteable stages of Hanoi history worth for your brief understanding of the past of Hanoi capital
Pre- Thang Long Period
According to the facts & legends narrated ,back to 3rd century BC, An Duong Vuong led his group to defeat the Hung Kings’rule of Van Lang, set up the Au-Lac Kingdom and moved the capital to Co Loa- a small area belongs to present Hanoi now. .The ancient Hanoi, with Co Loa capital, started to enter the Vietnamese history as a national socio-political centre. You can see the vestiges of Co Loa citadels, bronze arrows and stories about king An Duong Vuong & his family when doing your trip to Co Loa citadel.
The ancient Hanoi history
Then a big tragedy for Au Lac kingdom happened in 197 BC when Chinese successfully invaded Au-Lac kingdom and set up their 1000 year domination till 938.During this period, Hanoi with its ancient names as Tong Binh, La Thanh, Dai La citadels was often chosen as a political centre by Chinese conquerors.They tried to build up ancient Hanoi as big & centered citadels to defeat increasing uprisings of Vietnamese People to regain the country’s independence.
Thang Long’s Period (1010-1802)
In 938, Ngo Quyen defeated Chinese in Bach Bang river and completely ended Chinese domination of thousand years. The capital was again located in Co Loa areas for few years,then the country faced up with cival wars fighting between rebellions for decades until 980 when Dinh Tien Hoang reunified the nation of Dai Co Viet and located his capital in Hoa Lu which lasted for 41 years under Dinh & Le dynasty.
The declaration to remove the capital to Hanoi
In 1010,Ly Thai To ascended the throne, established Ly dynasty (1009–1225) and decided to move the capital from Hoa Lu to Dai La citadel.The story said that on boat trip to remove the capital along the red river, the king Ly Thai To saw a golden cloud shaped like a drogon flying up.He thought of it as a good omen for the new capital and its country.That was why he renamed Dai La into Thang Long ( Ascending Dragon) with his expectation of capital & country’s long-lasting prosperity.Thang Long kept its position as political & economic center of Vietnam until 1802, then Gia Long (the first king in Nguyen dynasty) removed the capital south to Hue.Howerver, Thang Long was still known as a big commercial & economic center of northern area of Vietnam. In 1831, King Minh Mang set up Thang Long as a province and renamed it Hanoi as it is today! In your trip to Hanoi, you can visit many ancient tourist sites related to Thang Long’s historical period, to be listed as One Pillar Pagoda (1049), Imperial Royal Palace (11th century), Temple of Literature (1070), Quan Thanh Temple (11th century), Hanoi ancient town (11th century)……
Hanoi during French domination period (1883 - 1945)
Although Hanoi was no longer the nation’s political centre, it remained the greatest economic and cultural centre of the whole country.
In late 19th century, the people all over the country uprised against the French colonial domination. In Hanoi, Governor Nguyen Tri Phuong and his successor Hoang Dieu led the people twice defeating the French attacks. However, the Nguyen Dynasty was so coward that they signed a “Peace Treaty” in 1883 and officially recognised the French domination.In July 1888, the French President passed a decree to establish Hanoi City.
Hoa Lo prision in Hanoi
In early 20th centrury, the French applied the colonial exploitation policy in a big scale that made a lot of changes for Hanoi infrastructures such as road systems, railways, bridges, villas, head offices….You can see many of them available in Hanoi now, namely Hanoi Opera House, Long Bien Bridge, Hanoi railway station, Big Church..etc…
Although the French colonialists carried out a brutal policy of repression and terrorism, the revolutionary forces of the Hanoi people, especially after the leadership of Vietnam Communist Party since 1930, together with people did increasing struggles against the French.In August, 1945, following the Japanese surrender, the Viet Minh under the leadership of Ho Chi Minh seized power successfully in entirely Vietnam and Hanoi was again chosen as the capital of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam
Hanoi in the new era
On September 2nd 1945,President Ho Chi Minh read the Declaration of Independence, proclaiming to the world the birth of the Republic Democratic of Vietnam with its capital Hanoi. The French, however, reasserted their control over Hanoi from 1946 until their defeat at Dien Bien Phu on May 7, 1954.Shortly thereafter Hanoi became the capital of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam (North Vietnam),entered its period of economic reconstruction and supported the Sorthern Vietnam for the wars against the United States.
One-pillar pagoda in Hanoi capital
From 1965 to 1968 , the US imperialists escalated the war to Hanoi capital by using B52 to drop bombs.Vietnamese people were expediently overcoming the consequences of the destructive war with bomb shelters & misile system to proctect Hanoi sky. However, the most destructive ones happened in 1972,Hanoi again became a target of the US second air raid in April 1972. At the end of the same year, within only 12 days and nights (from December 18-29, 1972), 40,000 tonnes of bombs (the destructive capacity of which were equal to two atomic bombs released by the US on Japan’s Hirosima city in 1945) were dropped on the Hanoi area. The people and soldiers of Hanoi, manifesting the spirit of the “Capital City of Human Dignity”, created a “Dien Bien Phu in the Air”, shooting down 23 B52 flying fortresses, two F111s and five other aircrafts. This victory contributed to forcing the US to sign the Paris Agreement in January 1973 and withdraw all their troops home. On September 30, 1974, the Supreme Commandership of the anti-US resistance war approved a strategic plan for liberating the southern region. With the wholehearted and all-round support from the army and people in the northern region including Hanoi, the historic Ho Chi Minh campaign won complete victory on April 30th, 1975.
The southern region was completely liberated and the whole country was reunified. In April 1976, Hanoi was approved by the National Assembly of the whole country as the capital city of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam.
The achievement after open door policy in 1986
Since the end of 1986, the capital entered a new stage full of challenges and opportunities as it shifted from a State-subsidised to a market-oriented economy. As a result, in the last decade of the 20th century, Hanoi’s economy overcame the recession and recorded a continual growth in all sectors. In 1999, Hanoi was awarded the title “The City of Peace” by the UNESCO and chosen as a venue for launching the “International Peace Year – 2000”.
Overcoming difficulties and taking advantage of new international opportunities (Vietnam becoming the 150th member of the World Trade Organisation and a non-permanent member of the United Nations’ Security Council in 2007). Hanoi is striving to bring into full play its internal strength to continue realising the all-round renewal policy along the orientation of industrialisation and modernisation of the capital city
Festival to celebrate Hanoi history
Your Hanoi trip to get view of Hanoi new era, you can pay a visit to Ho Chi Minh Complex with Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum, the place where he worked and lived from 1954 till 1969 & Ho Chi Minh Museum; Women’s museum; the army museum, Hoa Lo Prision of Hanoi….!
Travelling to Hanoi, to discover Hanoi attractions, you can do walking tour by your own to visit different sights. If you would like to get full understanding of Hanoi history, visiting different attractions, we have Hanoi group-shared tour that you can join us with budget price & guide along your trip.If you would like to have better services, your own flexibility between your group, Hanoi Private Tour is a great option for an enjoyable Hanoi trip with our experienced tourguide.If you have other questions of Hanoi or other destinations in Vietnam, please,feel free to drop us your questions to bluewaytourist@gmail.com,we are happy to support you for more details.
