Long Bien is a newly created district, formed by detaching part of the territory and the population of the district of Gia Lam, situated between the left bank of the Red River and the right bank of the Duong channel. It is the administrative point of view, as for the historic/cultural point
Long Bien is a newly created district, formed by detaching part of the territory and the population of the district of Gia Lam, situated between the left bank of the Red River and the right bank of the Duong channel. It is the administrative point of view, as for the historic/cultural point of view, Long Bien is a rather famous place, tied to many historic personnages and events since the time of the sisters Trung. Long Bien is a place where “the land is sacred and the people are heroes”.
This place conserves the trace of Ly Nam De, the hero victor of the Luong agressors, founder of the state Van Xuan, who is considered as the first to have the idea of choosing the capital at Thang Long, with the construction of the pagoda Khai Quoc. Now, the communal house of Tinh Quang (Giang Bien) is still conserving decrees and the genealogical booklet, recording the deeds of the genius, and the popular tradition is transmitting anecdotes in this region.
Long Bien conserves still the name of Ly Thuong Kiet with the sacred poem “The South state (Vietnam) is the place where is the throne of South Emperor (of Vietnam)” - first declaration of independence of the vietnamese people. He is a native of the district of Co Xa, but moves afterwards to the northern bank of Red River (Bac Bien, Ngoc Thuy). Now there remains still vestiges of worship in the communal house of Bac Bien.
The camp Bo De is the place where Binh Dinh Vuong Le Loi and Nguyen Trai have chosen as the command post for the siege of the capital Dong Quan in 1426. In this place, Nguyen Trai has issued “heart letters” which destroy the morale of the Minh and lead them to surrender. There are legends on Le Loi, Nguyen Trai and the military commanders of the Le, such as the legends on Dao Duy Trinh who leads an embarcation to render assistance to Le Loi at Cu Khoi.
The communal house of the village of Le Mat is dedicated to the worship of Hoang Qui Cong who has had exploits in the resistance against the Tong and the pacification of the Chiem, in developing production and in services to the population. As a reward from the king, he requires only the permission of creating farms for the population, and he has created the quarter “Thap tam trai” (thirteen farms) at the west of Thang Long.
Tu/Tu Dinh is an ancient village, bound to the fight against the northern agressors, with the famous commander Thanh Cong Tuong Liet, to whom the Sisters Trung have offered this village as a reward. Beside the military occupation, he likes to tour the region to teach the population to cultivate the land and to raise up silk worms. Passing by Co Linh, attracted by the beautiful landscape and the labour of the population, he decided to live there. He died in the fight against the Han agressors and was worshipped as tutelar genius of the 5 hamlets of Co Linh. Now there still remains decrees and worship places…
Another commander under the Sisters Trung is worshipped in the communal house of Xuan Do Ha, it is Khoa Ba Son. After the victory upon To Dinh, he took his army back to the rose garden of Hoa Dong to celebrate the victory. After his death, the grateful population has worshipped him as their tutelar genius.
The population of Thanh Am is proud to conserve traces of the first laureate Trinh, Nguyen Binh Khiem, a great cultural personnage of the 16th century. He was a native of Vinh Bao (Haiphong), was first laureate in the year At Mui (1535). After being a mandarin fort a short time, he returned to Thanh Am, built the chapel Bach Van, built the house Trang Tan to teach pupils. The worship of Trang Trinh Nguyen Binh Khiem at Thanh Am is a proof of the respect of culture, of the literate and of education of the population in this place.
At Ngoc Tri (Thach Ban) is situated the temple of Tran Vu. The tradition reports that King Le, in his expedition in the South, has had a dream at night and has a temple constructed when awaked. At Thang Long, Tran Vu is considered as one of the 4 geniuses Tu Tran, but at Ngoc Tri, he is a genius who fights against floods and inundations, favours timely rains and winds and harvests.
On the territory of actual Long Bien, there are many vestiges worshipping other national heroes such as : the prince Linh Lang along the left bank of Red River from Ngoc Thuy to the end of Cu Khoi, King Bo Cai and other cultural personnages; Tran Hung Dao, the princess Ngoc Han (temple de Genh, communal house of Tinh Quang… )
The vestiges of this territory as well as the architectural works are proofs of the ups and downs of the historical periods. The sculptural works are expressions of the aspirations of the people before natural life, production life and reflect faithfully the life of the contemporary feudal society at the temple of Tinh Quang, Thanh Am. In each vestige and for each personnage, there are many legends and anecdotes as well as vestiges reflecting important marks of national history: the Tam The set at the pagoda Hoi Xa (Phuc loi), the pagoda Le Mat, the collection of decrees and genealogical booklets at the communal house of Tho Khoi, Mai Phuc. The ceramics, extremely sophisticated with the couple of candelabriums of the Mac at the communal house of Mai Phuc, the stone steles with special decorations at the pagoda of Le Mat, the bronze bell of the Le (1690) and of the Tay Son with the inscription remaining intact and without any trace of chisel… Particularly, the bronze statue of Tran Vu, of large stature, is the crystallization of the art of bronze moulding of the ancient handicraftsmen.
Twice a year, in the communes of Long bien, take place festivals, which are immaterial cultural patrimonies, which are extremely precious, that one must conserve: the presentations of agricultural rites, of epopees, the popular games: cock fighting, swing, blindman’s-buff, duck-catching, eel-catching, cord-fighting… especially the festivity of Le Mat with the Giao long dance, showing the strength in the fight against the floods, and the popular songs of quan ho, chau van, traditional cheo…
You are invited to Long Bien this spring.
Nguyễn Văn Đoàn