Of the eight locations getting the honored designation, three are citadels, dating back to Vietnam’s dynastic age. And many of the sites have great geographical and historical significance, such as Ha Long Bay and the monuments complex in Hue.
But the Ho Citadel, the most recent location to join the UNESCO list in 2011, is almost unknown. It sit in the rural backwater province of Thanh Hoa in the north-central part of the country, between the Ma and Buoi Rivers, which flow on either side of it.
The historical significance of the Ho Citadel
There is really not much left of the Ho Citadel, just four walls. But before you turn away with disinterest, UNESCO will tell us that its historical significance is justified. Let’s go back 6,000 years in history. Thanh Hoa province was one of the earliest destinations for the ancient Vietnamese. Archaeological excavations have revealed the first culture represented there was the Đa Bút Culture, a culture located along the Sông Đáy river and the Sông Mã river.
It was 1,000 years ago that wet-rice cultivation was developed along the Song Ma and Red River floodplains. It was during this time that the early kingdoms of Văn Lang and Âu Lac appeared. By 275 BC, the first of the dynasties, the Hồng Bàng dynasty of the Hùng kings appeared, but for the next 1,000 years or so, Vietnam remained under Chinese rule.
The short-lived Ho Dynasty
We now are coming to the 1400s and the very short-lived Ho dynasty. According to historians, here is what happened.
By 1398, the reigning Tran dynasty had fallen into disarray. Ho Quy Ly, a regent in the court of Emperor Tran Thuan Tong in Thang Long (Hanoi) devised a plan to usurp the throne. Ho had workmen to build a new citadel, and it only took three months to construct because it was built without the use of mortar, an amazing feat in a time before power tools.
But I digress. Ho had the citadel built using the principles of feng shui, testimony to the advent of neo-Confucianism of the period. The structure was built on a site of great beauty, with the axis joining the Tuong Son and Don Son mountains in a plain between the two rivers. It was a new style that was to represent on Asian Imperial city.
Ho then invited the emperor to inspect his new “western capital,” called Tay Do. Ho imprisoned Tran Thuan Tong and executed him, making himself the new emperor of the Ho dynasty. He only ruled for one year, and then turned rule over to his son, Ho Han Thuong, but he only lasted six years. The Ho dynasty ended when it was overrun by the Ming dynasty of China.
Ho Quy Ly didn’t last very long, but he is credited with introducing paper money, limited land ownership, opening ports to foreign trade and expanding the educational curriculum to include mathematics and agriculture. From 1398 to 1407 Ho Citadel was the capital of Vietnam, and also the political, economic and cultural centre of North Central Viet Nam from the 16th to the 18th century, according to UNESCO.
The story behind the Ho Citadel is rather interesting because, for years, thoughts of Vietnam brought not-so-good memories of another time when war reigned supreme in the now peaceful and bucolic countryside surrounding the historic site only 150 kilometers south of Hanoi.
Corn and rice fields replace the ravages of war, children pass by on bicycles, coming home from school. And in the middle of it all sits a solid limestone block structure, 600 years old.
