Emperor Le Long Dinh

In a wooden house in the capital of Hoa Lư, more than a thousand years ago, a small child bends over a new book. The pages smell of ink and paper. Each character has been carved, printed or copied out in a neat row. The child runs a finger along the characters and quietly spells them out. These are precious books, brought home from a place very far away, to teach people what is good and right. The man who had them brought home was Emperor Lê Long Đĩnh.

Lê Long Đĩnh was a son of Emperor Lê Đại Hành. He was born in 986. He was the last emperor of the Former Lê dynasty. Its state was called Đại Cồ Việt, and its capital was Hoa Lư. He reigned from 1005 to 1009. That was not long, yet the emperor managed to do things that left their mark on later times.

In those days a fine set of books was a treasure. Books had to be carved letter by letter into wood and then printed, or copied by hand with great effort, so not every place had them. The emperor understood that if people were to learn what is good and right, and if the country were to grow, there first had to be books to learn from.

So he turned to the great books of the north, in the land of the Song, the dynasty then ruling China. In 1007 he sent his younger brother Minh Sưởng, together with the chief secretary Hoàng Thành Nhã, to the Song court. The mission carried gifts and a written petition to the Song emperor. It asked for two precious sets of books, the Cửu kinh and the Đại Tạng kinh.

The Cửu kinh are nine books that teach how to be a good person, how to behave, and what is right and wrong. The Đại Tạng kinh is a very large set of Buddhist scriptures that teach compassion and a gentle way of life. The Song emperor agreed to the request. He gave both sets and let the envoys carry them home. The road back was long, with high mountains and wide rivers, but the party handled every volume as carefully as a treasure.

This was something worth remembering. It was one of the first times that books and scriptures on such a scale were officially brought into the country. From Hoa Lư, the light of written words began to spread. Adults had books to read and reflect on. Children had letters to learn from. A seed of learning had been planted.

But the emperor did not think only of books. He thought of daily bread and clothing, and of the trade that kept people going. He worked to widen trade with the Song along the northern border. He asked to set up a trading place deep inside Song land, at Ung Châu. The Song refused Ung Châu. Trade was allowed only at Liêm Châu and the town of Như Hồng. Even so, the fact that he dared to ask for a market so far away shows an emperor with an early and wide understanding of trade.

Once the border markets were open, goods passed back and forth. People carried forest products across to trade for cloth and household goods. The markets along the border grew busy with sellers and buyers. Trade brought people plenty, and with plenty they had more heart for study.

The emperor looked to the roads as well. In many places the roads of that time were muddy, rivers blocked the way, and travel was hard. From about 1008 to 1009, he had roads built, rivers dredged and stations set up in the Ái Châu region. That is the land of today's Thanh Hóa. The works ran from Chi Long to Vũ Lũng. Rivers were cleared so boats could go up and down. Roads were built up so people and horses could pass. With stations where travelers could rest, getting around and moving goods became easier than before.

At court, too, he put things in order. In 1006 he reset the system of offices, the dress for each rank, and the rules of the court, so that everything had its proper place. Above, the court stood straight. Below, roads ran open and rivers ran clear, border markets traded, and fine books were there to learn from. Little by little, the country opened up.

The mission that went to bring home the scriptures is long gone. Emperor Lê Long Đĩnh, too, belongs to a time more than a thousand years back. But the precious books he had brought home kept being copied and printed again, handed from one pair of hands to another, from father to child. Each time a child bends down, runs a finger along the characters and quietly spells them out, the light of those pages is lit once more, and it shines on through all the seasons.