Nghe An during the Nguyen Dynasty

Fate and place name

On June 1, Nham Tuat year (1802), Nguyen Anh ascended the throne as Emperor, under the reign name Gia Long, and chose Phu Xuan as the capital (present-day Hue city). At this time, Nghe An was still called a town, consisting of "9 prefectures, namely Duc Quang, Dien Chau, Ha Hoa, Anh Do, Tra Lan, Quy Chau, Tran Ninh, Lam An, Ngoc Ma; ..." (Complete Annals of Dai Viet).

During the reign of Minh Mang, in 1831, the whole country was divided into 30 provinces; Ha Hoa and Duc Tho prefectures of Nghe An town were separated into Ha Tinh province. In 1853, Tu Duc abandoned Ha Tinh province, Duc Tho prefecture was merged into Nghe An province and Ha Thanh prefecture (including Thach Ha, Cam Xuyen, Ky Anh) was taken as Ha Tinh province, headed by a district governor, under Nghe An province. In 1864, Tu Duc again separated Ha Tinh province under the authority of Governor An Tinh. In 1875, Tu Duc abandoned Ha Tinh province and re-established Ha Tinh province.

After suppressing the Vu Quang uprising (1896), Nghe An had 5 prefectures and 6 districts. In 1899, the French established an administrative agency in Cua Rao, and in the same year established Vinh town. In 1914, Ben Thuy town was established, and in 1917, Truong Thi town was established. In 1927, 3 towns were merged into Vinh - Ben Thuy city.

Image of Ben Thuy recorded by the French in 1908.

Since 1884, in addition to the ruling apparatus of the Southern Dynasty, the French colonialists established a consulate, under which were specialized departments such as Luc Lo, Doan, Ranger, Health, Veterinary, Agriculture, Secret Service and prison guards.

More than 100 years of fighting against internal and external enemies

Due to the Nguyen Dynasty's policy of oppression and exploitation after establishing its rule, in Nghe An from the early 19th century there were many riots against the royal court.

In 1811, Nguyen Tuan, who proclaimed himself Ho Uy Do Thong, rose up and occupied the Thanh Chuong, Nam Dan, and Dong Thanh regions. Le Duy Phan, who claimed to be a descendant of the Le dynasty, rose up in Thanh Hoa and then led his troops to Nghe An to operate in the Quynh Luu, Dien Chau, and Yen Thanh regions. At the end of 1818, Le Huu Tao (Hau Tao) rose up in Huong Son. In 1823, Le Quang Chan rose up in Nam Dan, Thanh Chuong. All these uprisings were suppressed by the Nguyen dynasty and soon failed.

Nghe An Citadel in 1927. This was the place where the Southern Dynasty government was located from 1804 to 1945. Photo courtesy of Air France

On September 1, 1858, the French colonialists opened fire at Cua Han (Da Nang), officially launching a war of aggression against our country. The court did not dare to resolutely resist, and in addition, its forces and weapons were inferior, so it gradually surrendered, signed the Nham Tuat Treaty (1862) ceding 3 provinces in eastern Cochinchina, and then the Giap Tuat Treaty (1874) ceding 3 provinces in western Cochinchina to France.

In 1859, after Gia Dinh citadel was captured, in Nghe An, Van Duc Giai, Duong Doan Hai and many other scholars submitted a petition to resolutely fight against the French and then organized a militia to go to the South to support patriot Truong Dinh.

In 1873, the French invaded Hanoi. Governor of An Tinh, Ton That Triet, gathered with the literati of Nghe - Tinh to discuss plans to fight the French and assigned Tran Tan and Dang Nhu Mai (Nghe An) and Nguyen Huy Dien and Tran Quang Can (Ha Tinh) to prepare. In 1874, an uprising broke out in Thanh Chuong, but was eventually brutally suppressed and failed.

In 1885, Ton That Thuyet attacked the French army in Hue, King Ham Nghi issued the Can Vuong Edict. Nghe An and Ha Tinh took the lead in responding. Le Ninh's uprising (Trung Le, Duc Tho) became the trigger for the anti-French movement in Nghe - Tinh and the whole country. In Nghi Loc, there was the uprising of Dinh Van Chat and Ngo Quang; Thanh Chuong, Do Luong had Tran Khac Kiem, Nguyen Huu Chinh, Tran Van Bieng, Ho Van Phu; Nam Dan had Vuong Thuc Mau, Vuong Thuc Quy; Quynh Luu had Phan Duy Pho, Ho Duc Thac, Ho Trong Mien, Ho Trong Hoan, Phan Ba ​​Nien. In Anh Son, Con Cuong, there was Le Doan Nha's army; in Nghia Dan, Quy Chau, Que Phong, there was Lang Van Thiet...

The uprising of Nguyen Xuan On (Dien Thai, Dien Chau) broke out in early 1886 and was the largest-scale uprising, gathering the resistance forces against the French in the whole Nghe An province, linking with the uprising of Phan Dinh Phung to bring the anti-French movement to its peak. The uprising and the Can Vuong movement failed but it fostered the patriotism and will to fight against foreign invaders of the people of Nghe An, serving as a spiritual support for the following struggles.

Patriotic scholar Phan Boi Chau (left photo); Some students studying abroad in the Dong Du movement. Photo archive

In May 1904, patriot Phan Boi Chau founded the Duy Tan Association, advocating violent resistance against the French. He initiated and led the Dong Du Movement to send young people abroad to study and return to serve the armed struggle, but in September 1908 he was expelled by the Japanese government because of French intervention. In 1912, Phan founded the Viet Nam Quang Phuc Association with the aim of restoring Vietnam's independence, becoming a Republic. In January 1914, he was arrested by the Chinese Nationalist government and released in March 1917. In June 1925, he was brought back to Hue for house arrest.

At the same time as the Dong Du movement, in 1908 the anti-tax movement spread to Nghe An and developed very strongly, receiving the response, participation and leadership of patriotic scholars, most notably the patriots Nguyen Hang Chi, Trinh Khac Lap, Nguyen Danh Phuong, Le Van Huan, Pham Van Ngon, Chu Trac...

Also during this time, patriot Dang Thuc Hua went abroad to Siam (Thailand) and then to China. In 1909, he established a Farming Camp in Siam - a form of business cooperation between overseas Vietnamese to propagate patriotism and train for struggle. Hundreds of young people from Nghe An and Ha Tinh came here and from there were sent to China. Here they attended Nguyen Ai Quoc's training classes and became the first core nuclei of the later proletarian revolutionary movement.

Enhancing Nghe An culture

The nearly 150 years under the Nguyen Dynasty were a period of political and social upheaval in Vietnam in general and Nghe An in particular. The Nguyen Dynasty ended in 1945, but from 1884 the actual power was mainly held by the French. Therefore, from that time on, the economic and cultural life of Vietnam was greatly influenced by French policies.

Northern railway factory in Vinh city (Nghe An) during the French colonial period. Photo archive

If in the period before 1858 when the French colonialists had not yet invaded, although there were some new policies, but in general the economy was still very poor, not developed. The people were poor because of the exploitation policy to consolidate the newly established state of the Nguyen Dynasty. Only from after the Vu Quang uprising to the beginning of the 20th century, with the first colonial exploitation of the French, the people were still exploited extremely heavily.

Most notably, Nghe An has begun to take shape and gradually become the largest industrial center in the Central region. Along with that is the process of urbanization and the formation of the working class, bourgeoisie, and petty bourgeoisie. This is the premise for important changes in economics, culture, education... and the foundation for the emergence of an increasingly large group of modern intellectuals. It is this group that has changed the cultural face of Nghe An, contributing to the cultural movement of the whole country. They are the core to receive and spread new ideas to make Nghe An a center of the biggest political events in the whole country.