Opening of the exhibition 'Ngo Quyen - Outstanding national hero'

King Ngo Quyen, with his glorious victory over the Southern Han army in the famous Bach Dang battle in 938, ended more than 1,000 years of Chinese domination and resistance against Chinese domination, opening a long period of independence for the Vietnamese people. In the spring of 939, he moved forward to build a completely independent government, abolished the position of Governor that the Khuc and Duong families had previously held to reconcile with the North, proclaimed himself King, established the capital in Co Loa, and continued the national tradition.

The great achievements and career of King Ngo Quyen have gone down in our country's history as one of the greatest heroes in Vietnamese history. Le Van Huu, the historian who founded the history of Dai Viet under the Tran Dynasty, wrote in Dai Viet Su Ky Toan Thu: "Tien Ngo Vuong was able to use the newly raised army of our Viet nation to defeat the million troops of Liu Hong Thao, established the country and proclaimed himself King, making the Northerners not dare to come again. It can be said that he was able to calm the people in one moment of anger, and was both good at strategy and fighting. Although he only proclaimed himself King, and had not yet ascended the throne, and had not changed the reign title, the legitimacy of our Viet nation was almost restored."

Within the framework of the exhibition, the Organizing Committee has selected and filtered from the research works of scientists; documents and images collected by organizations and individuals to introduce and promote to the public, domestic and international tourists, and the local community about the merits of King Ngo Quyen as a tribute to ancestors. Thereby, contributing to educating the tradition of patriotism, the morality of "When drinking water, remember its source", arousing the pride and national self-esteem of the people.

The exhibition includes 3 themes: (1)The chief of Duong Lam land, a general introduction to the historical land of Duong Lam, the background and lineage of King Ngo Quyen. (2)Bach Dang Waves,Introduces the great naval battle at Bach Dang estuary, in which King Ngo Quyen won the battle, defeating the Southern Han army, ending 1000 years of Chinese domination. (3)Co Loa Citadel opened the foundation of independence, introducing the work of establishing the capital, building independence and the vestiges and legends of King Ngo Quyen at Co Loa; the achievements of King Ngo Quyen were recognized by Vietnamese historical dynasties and people through the construction of temples, communal houses, shrines, carving of stone steles, royal decrees, bestowing of beautiful names, worshipping and organizing festivals in many provinces and cities across the country.

The exhibition is an activity of profound political and cultural significance, promoting the morality of "remembering the source of water when drinking", "reviewing the past and learning the new", taking historical traditions and cultural values ​​as resources to develop the homeland and the country, aiming to build the special national relic site of Co Loa, the capital of the Au Lac nation in the first nation-building era, into a World Cultural Heritage; highly promoting the values ​​of outstanding global cultural heritage and the country's leading cultural heritage, building Dong Anh district into a heritage city, elevating the capital Hanoi into a cultured - civilized - modern city.

Ngo Si Lien, a famous historian of the Le Dynasty, affirmed: "The rise of the pre-Ngo (king) not only had the merit of victory, but also the appointment of hundreds of mandarins, the establishment of court ceremonies and uniforms, which showed the scale of the emperor". The 18th century historian Ngo Thi Si was right when he closely linked Ngo Quyen's career of restoring the country with his heroic feat at the Bach Dang estuary. The outstanding patriot of the early 20th century, Phan Boi Chau, honored Ngo Quyen as the "Ancestor of restoring our country", second only to "the founder of the country, Hung Vuong". In 1941, returning to Cao Bang to write the book History of our country to prepare forces for the August Revolution, Uncle Ho praised the hero of Duong Lam, Ngo Quyen, for "saving the people from the sand and mire of a thousand years". General Vo Nguyen Giap, looking back on the historical heights of the Ho Chi Minh era, repeatedly affirmed that the victory of Bach Dang in 938 marked a great turning point in the history of the Vietnamese nation.