Hoan Chau - Outpost of Dai Viet

PLACE NAMES AND BOUNDARIES

During the Ly Dynasty (1009-1225), Ly Thai To divided the country into 24 regions, prefectures, districts and finally communes and communes. Nghe An and Thanh Hoa were called Trai. In the year Canh Tuat 1010, Hoan Chau and Dien Chau were called regions. In 1025, Ly Thai To established Dinh Phien camp, including land from the South to Hoanh Son. According to some documents, in the year Canh Ngo (1030), Ly Thai To changed Hoan Chau to Nghe An district. In the year Tan Ty (1101), Ly Nhan Tong again upgraded Nghe An district to a prefecture.Nghe AnAt this time, Dien Chau was still an independent administrative unit from Nghe An.

During the Tran Dynasty (1225 - 1400), Nghe - Tinh today still included 2 prefectures Nghe An, Dien Chau and Dinh Phien camp. In the year Tan Mao (1231), Dinh Phien camp was changed to Nhat Nam district. In the year Binh Thin (1256), Nghe An was changed to a camp. In the year Giap Dan (1374), Dien Chau was changed to a road. In the year At Mao (1375), "Hoan Chau was changed to Nhat Nam road and the roads Nghe An Nam, Bac, Trung; Dien Chau was changed to Dien Chau road"; A short time later, according to Dai Nam Nhat Thong Chi, it was changed to a town..In the year Dinh Suu (1397), Nghe An town was changed to Lam An town and Dien Chau prefecture was changed to Vong Giang town. Later, Ho Quy Ly changed Dien Chau prefecture to Linh Nguyen prefecture.

BORDER VITALITY

Continuing the career of the Early Le Dynasty, the Ly - Tran Dynasty with many progressive policies, the political, economic and cultural situation of the Hoan - Dien/Nghe An region had changes and developments.

Politically, during the Ly Dynasty, the court reached all the way to the villages and communes (huong and giap). During the Tran Dynasty, the court gradually built and consolidated the administrative apparatus into a solid system. Roads and prefectures had the position of prefect, districts had the position of transport envoy, communes, depending on their size, had the positions of grand chancellor, petty chancellor, commune chief, commune supervisor, and commune historian. Because these were important areas, the courts often sent royal relatives or talented people to govern, such as the Ly Dynasty sent Ly Nhat Quang to collect taxes and then became the governor of Nghe An...

In terms of economy, the most notable thing during the Ly - Tran period was the land reclamation and expansion of residential areas. Along with the reclamation, expansion of cultivated areas, and building dikes to prevent floods, there was a process of settlement, forming many new villages in all the midlands, plains, and coastal areas, especially in the central areas of the districts of Do Gia (Huong Son), Nha Nghi (Nghi Xuan), Phi Loc (Can Loc), Chi La (Duc Tho), Tho Du (Thanh Chuong), Dien Chau... Some large, prosperous, and densely populated villages appeared such as: Ngoc Son (Duc Thuan - Hong Linh town), Trao Nha (Dai Loc - Can Loc), Ta Ao (Xuan Giang - Nghi Xuan), Phat Ke (Da Son - Do Luong), Cao Xa (Dien Chau), Trai Dau (An Phu - Vu Quang)...

The northern "gateway" area of ​​Nghe An today. Photo: Ho Long

During this period, irrigation was focused on construction. Some rivers and canals were cleared and dredged, and many new dikes were built. Thanks to this, not only was water transportation convenient, but agriculture also developed.

Handicrafts during this period also had progressive changes. Metallurgy and iron forging in Nho Lam (Dien Chau) developed, some new craft villages appeared such as forging in Trung Luong, Van Chang (Hong Linh town); bronze casting in Dien Chau, Thach Ha...; salt making in Nghi Loc, Thach Ha; Mulberry growing and silkworm raising were popular in many places in Nam Dan, Thach Ha, Can Loc, Huong Son... with many famous products. Many new occupations appeared following the migration from the North.

Trade also increased during this period. Markets sprung up and there were many famous large markets such as Sa Nam market (Nam Dan), Luong market (Do Luong), Trang market (Hung Nguyen), Phu Luu market, Truong Luu (Can Loc), Ha Hoang (Thach Ha)... Seaports such as Cua Hoi, Cua Con (Nghe An), Cua Sot (Ha Tinh)... had many domestic and foreign ships coming to trade.

In terms of culture, according to ancient documents, since the Ly Dynasty, Buddhism had penetrated quite deeply into this region. Many Buddhist architectural works were built. The Tran Dynasty continued to build many religious works such as Huong Tich Pagoda, Dien Quang Pagoda, Con Temple... At the same time, Confucianism developed rapidly, and a Confucian scholar class began to form. In the year Binh Thin (1256), Bach Lieu (Nguyen Xa - Yen Thanh) passed the exam at the top of the Trang Nguyen exam. In the year At Mao (1275), Dao Tieu (Chi La - Duc Tho) passed the exam at the top of the Doctorate exam; followed by Ho Tong Thoc, Su Hy Nhan, Su Duc Huy, Nguyen Bieu... At this time, literary talents also appeared such as the third prize winner Dang Ba Tinh...

Outpost of Dai Viet

During the Ly - Tran dynasties, Nghe An was the frontier of Dai Viet, often having to deal with Champa, which was at that time a powerful country in Southeast Asia. Nghe An was the place to supplement and provide human resources and materials for the disputes and wars between the court and Champa. In Hoan - Dien / Nghe An, during the Ly dynasty, there were about 10 clashes and wars between Dai Viet and Champa. Nghe An became the front line against Champa's attacks, a springboard for counterattacks and expansion of the court's territory.

In the years of Nham Ty (1252) and Tan Hoi (1311), the Tran Kings personally led generals to attack Champa. During the last 30 years of the Tran Dynasty, when the Dai Viet army was no longer as powerful as before, Dai Viet and Champa fought a total of 13 times, of which Champa marched to plunder Thang Long 4 times. Most of these battles were directly or indirectly related to Nghe An and Dien Chau, consuming a lot of human and material resources of this land.

Also during the Tran Dynasty, the Ai Lao army often came to harass and rob in Nghe An and Thanh Hoa. Kings Nhan Tong, Anh Tong, and Minh Tong personally led many troops to suppress the bandits.

View of Cam Bridge (Nghi Loc). Photo: Nguyen Thanh Hai

TOGETHER WITH THE WHOLE COUNTRY TO FIGHT THE YUAN-MONG INVADERS

Hoan - Dien during the Tran Dynasty was also associated with the nation's resistance wars against the Yuan-Mongol. The most direct and significant was the second resistance war (in 1285). At that time, the Yuan-Mongol army had Toa Do send a navy to invade Champa in advance (1282) to create a pincer from the South against Dai Viet.

Correctly assessing the important position of Nghe An - Dien Chau, after the first resistance war (1258), the Tran Dynasty sent many generals to guard and build forces in this land.

In the beginning of the year At Dau (1285), the Yuan army massively attacked Dai Viet from two directions: Thoat Hoan attacked from the North, Toa Do attacked from the land of Chiem. To deal with this, the Tran Dynasty sent Tran Nhat Duat to guard Nghe An. On January 28, 1285, Tran Quang Khai was sent as reinforcement. From the end of January 1285, Toa Do attacked Nghe An. At this time, Tran Quang Khai's reinforcements had not arrived in time, but the army and people of Nghe An and Dien Chau, under the command of Tran Nhat Duat and Tran Quoc Toan, fought back bravely. Facing a very strong enemy, Tran Kien surrendered, Tran Quang Khai could not resist, and the Nghe An front was broken. Although broken, the Nghe An front had exhausted the enemy's strength and held back the enemy's advance, creating conditions for the Dai Viet army to break the siege and counterattack successfully.

In this victory, and in all three resistance wars against the Yuan-Mongol of the Tran Dynasty, Nghe An and Dien Chau had great contributions. Hoang Ta Thon, Le Thach, and Ha Anh were among many outstanding Hoan Dien people who contributed to that victory. Tran Nhan Tong once wrote a poem:"The old military commander of Coi Ke is in charge of the army/Hoan Dien still has one hundred thousand soldiers."(You should remember the old story of Coi Ke/Hoan Dien still has hundreds of thousands of troops).