Hoa Lu Ancient Capital

In 968, one man did what no one in this whole region had managed for decades. He subdued the twelve rival powers that were tearing the land apart, united the country, and took the throne as emperor. His name was Đinh Bộ Lĩnh. The name he gave his country was Đại Cồ Việt. And the capital he chose was this very ground, Hoa Lư.

The reason for that choice is all around. Limestone mountains rise sheer like natural walls. The river winds around like a moat, and rice fields open out in between. The builders raised stretches of wall to join one limestone mountain to the next, so that mountains and walls together shielded the capital on every side. According to the Hoa Lư Ancient Capital conservation center, the people of old used this rugged limestone terrain as a line of defense that any enemy would find very hard to break through.

The Hoa Lư Ancient Capital is a group of Special National Monuments, tied to three dynasties in a row. First came the Đinh and then the Former Lê. After them came the first years of the Lý. Three dynasties in about 40 years, from 968 to 1010. This was the founding period of the first centralized monarchy in the history of Vietnam. UNESCO includes Hoa Lư in the Tràng An Landscape Complex, a heritage site that is both cultural and natural. The complex was inscribed in 2014.

Inside the temple of Emperor Đinh Tiên Hoàng, the first story is about the emperor who ended the turmoil. Đinh Tiên Hoàng is the name history gives Đinh Bộ Lĩnh as emperor. History calls the years before 968 the time of the twelve warlords. The country was then split among twelve armed groups, each holding its own region. Đinh Bộ Lĩnh came from this same Hoa Lư region. He put down the warlords one by one. Then he took the throne, named the country, and set up a court with a full system of officials and laws. That is why this place is described as the heart of the first centralized monarchy of Vietnam.

The one thing not to miss at the Đinh temple is its pair of stone dragon thrones. A dragon throne is a platform set before the altar to show the power of the emperor. Both thrones here are carved from single blocks of stone. They are carved with dragons, with symbols linked to water, and with many fine patterns. The Ninh Binh Department of Culture and Sports reports that the Prime Minister signed the decision recognizing the two thrones as National Treasures. The date was December 25, 2017. When you look at those carved lines, you are looking at the skill of 17th-century craftsmen. They had no idea they were making a treasure for the centuries to come.

Next comes the temple of Emperor Lê Đại Hành, where the story picks up from the end of the Đinh dynasty. Lê Hoàn took the throne in 980 and founded the Former Lê dynasty. The Hoa Lư Ancient Capital conservation center credits him with two great deeds. He held the north against pressure from the armies of the Song, the dynasty then ruling China. In the south, he led a campaign against Champa, an ancient kingdom on the central and southern coast of what is now Vietnam. This temple was built in the 17th century. So two layers of time meet inside it, a story from the 10th century and wood carving from the 17th. The carved panels show dragons, lotus flowers and chrysanthemums. They show bamboo turning into dragons, and fish turning into dragons too. These are works that reward a long, close look.

The excavation area is where science fills in what the histories tell. According to the center, digs south of this temple found traces of palace foundations from the Đinh and Former Lê periods. The diggers also found floor tiles decorated with lotus flowers and phoenixes, and bricks stamped with the words Đại Việt quốc quân thành chuyên. The inscription names Đại Việt, an old name for Vietnam. This is physical proof. The capital of Hoa Lư survives not only in the history books, but right beneath this soil.

One stop carries a special meaning: the stele house in memory of Emperor Lý Thái Tổ. In 1010, he made a bold decision. He moved the capital out of Hoa Lư to the citadel of Đại La, on a wider plain. Then he renamed it Thăng Long. That is the Hanoi of today. From then on, Hoa Lư was the former capital. The stele house recalls that moment of farewell. It was built in 2000. It marks 990 years of the line of capitals from Hoa Lư to Thăng Long and Hanoi.

One more place stands in the central area: the Nhất Trụ Pagoda. It is a small pagoda, but it holds a remarkable piece of engineering. In the front courtyard stands a stone pillar inscribed with the Lăng Nghiêm sutra. The conservation center describes the pillar as six stone parts joined by mortises and round tenons, with no binding agent at all. The stoneworkers of the 10th century understood their material and its structure so well that they made a pillar that has stood for more than a thousand years without any cement.

If you have the strength and want to see the whole old capital from above, the route can end at the tomb area on Mã Yên Mountain. The mountain rises about 80 meters, the center says. More than 200 stone steps lead to the top. From there the view is the one the people of old saw every day: mountains, river, rice fields and villages, and the old capital tucked inside the limestone mountains of Ninh Binh.

This ground is where the name Đại Cồ Việt was born, inside the ring of stone mountains that sheltered the capital of Hoa Lư for more than 40 years. That is no small thing. Hoa Lư is not a backdrop of old temples for photographs. Here the 10th century still keeps its traces, in every brick, every stalactite, every stone step and every carved panel still alive before our eyes.