Prince Dinh Lien

For years the young man had waited to reach his father. Now, on the road to the capital at Hoa Lư, he reined in his horse and looked at the steep rocky mountains ahead. Beyond them was his father. The old accounts say he was Đinh Liễn, eldest son of Đinh Bộ Lĩnh, the hero who was then gathering the land into one country.

History records his full name as Đinh Khuông Liễn. In his youth he lived far from his father for many long years, at the court of the Ngô family in the citadel of Cổ Loa. Only around 965 did he come home to Hoa Lư and join his father among the rugged mountains.

In those days the land was still in pieces. Each region had its own strongman, 12 in all, and people remember the time as the turmoil of the 12 warlords. Villages were cut off from one another, and everyone longed for the day when they could live under one roof.

Đinh Liễn grew up inside that longing. He was a brave prince who followed his father everywhere and helped bring the scattered lands under one rule. His father led the army in front, the son came behind and shared the load, and step by step the two stitched the scattered pieces together. Little by little, the divided regions came back into one.

Then came the great turning point. In 968, Đinh Bộ Lĩnh took the throne as emperor and named the country Đại Cồ Việt. He chose Hoa Lư as its capital. The land now had an emperor, a name for the country and a capital of its own.

That same year, the son who had once lived far from his father received the title Nam Việt Vương. He stood right beside his father on the day the country was born. The boy who had once gazed toward Hoa Lư now shared in the great work of a young country.

Gathering the land into one was only half the story. Keeping it at peace for a long time was the hard part. This was where Đinh Liễn took up the most important role of his life.

Next to Đại Cồ Việt lay a vast neighbor, the Song. The Song were the dynasty then ruling China. For the country to stay at peace, the two sides had to understand each other and keep good relations. The task was heavy and delicate. It called for someone both skillful and steady. His father trusted it to his eldest son.

From 972 on, Đinh Liễn handled relations with the neighbor in his father's place. He led the envoy missions, crossed long roads, and carried the goodwill of a whole people. Not with swords and spears, but with fine words, solemn courtesy and a heart set on peace, the prince kept his homeland calm.

After many patient missions, the neighbor formally recognized Đại Cồ Việt. It also gave his father the title Giao Chỉ Quận Vương. This was Emperor Đinh Tiên Hoàng, the name history gives Đinh Bộ Lĩnh as emperor. Out on the frontier, the banners were no longer those of battle but of an envoy party. On roads that once divided people, travelers now moved in peace, and across the border a hand was held out in friendship.

The father built a country joined into one. The son kept that country living beside its neighbor in harmony.

Under the sky of Hoa Lư, an envoy came home from a long journey. Dust from the road still clung to his robe, but in his heart he carried good news of peace. Behind him the quiet roads stretched away, with not one sound of weapons.