VGP - The Tô Lịch River is a natural branch of the Red River whose silt has raised the level of the fields in the two inner-Hà Nội districts of Thọ Xương and Vĩnh Thuận as well as the two outer districts of Từ Liêm and Thanh Trì and of communes in Thanh Oai District where it converges with the Nhuệ River. The name Tô Lịch has been in history since the 6th century when Lý Nam Đế ordered his troops to build the Tô Lịch rampart and vanquished the Liang invaders and officially named the fatherland Vạn Xuân.
The
votive portrait of King Lý Nam
Đế (503-548)
The Tô Lịch River has
been with Hanoians since the beginning of the first villages and hamlets, and
it bears vestiges from the era of Lý Nam Đế (503-548) who led his army
and people to destroy the Liang dynasty troops and founded the first
independent state in ancient Hà Nội in 544. He called his new state Vạn Xuân
and proclaimed himself king, placing his regime on par with those of the
Chinese Han and Tang dynasties.
Lý Nam Đế
established his capital at Long Biên (modern-day Hà Nội), surrounded himself
with effective leadership in military and administrative scholars. Lý Nam Đế was also strongly supported by excellent
military generals such as Phạm Tu, Triệu Túc, Tinh Thieu, and Triệu Quang Phục.
Lý Nam Đế built many
fortresses at strategic locations throughout Vạn Xuân to fend off potential
threats from the feudal dynasties in the north and from the ChampaKingdom
in the south. He also established the first national university for mandarin
scholars, implemented land reforms, and promoted literacy amongst the
population. He laid the foundation for many reforms that modeled after the
Chinese social structure.
Under the orders of King
Lý Nam
Đế, copper money was minted so the people did not need to depend on Chinese
currency. He built An Tri Pagoda (Khai Quốc Tự) to move away from the influence
of Confucianism, thus beginning a Buddhist monarchy concerned with altruism and
kindness that was continued in the following Lý and Trần dynasties. Khai Quốc Pagoda,
which was later renamed Trấn Quốc, now still reflects quietly off West Lake.
In October 544, the Liang
Dynasty retaliated against Vạn Xuân by sending 120,000 imperial troops to
re-occupy the region. The Liang emperor sent one of his generals Chen Baxian
and granted him sole command of the invading Liang forces. By spring of 545,
Chen had marched his army into Vạn Xuân territory and laid siege and
devastation to many cities. Lý Nam
Đế ordered his troops to build a rampart at the mouth of the Tô Lịch River to
repel the Liang invaders. Chen’s initial invasion was stalled by Lý’s imperial
forces for months. However, in the winter of 545, Chen laid a surprised attack
on the capital during the monsoon season. Lý Nam
Đế's imperial forces were caught off guard and the imperial administration was
forced abandoned Long Biên and flee westward into neighboring kingdom of Laos.
The Lý imperial forces were becoming weary and exhausted and Lý himself was
increasingly ill due to months of being exposed in the wilderness. In February
548, Lý Nam
Đế relinquished imperial authority and transferred his power to his older
brother Lý Thiên Bảo (co-ruler from 548-until his death in 555) and Triệu Quang
Phục (r. 548-571), who was his best lieutenant and general.
By April 548, after
suffered from serious diseases for months, Lý Nam
Đế died in Laos.
His immediate successor was Triệu Quang Phục (thereafter known as Triệu Việt
Vương). The new king continued the resistance and eventually drove the Chinese
colonialism from Vạn Xuân in 550.
Lý Nam Đế was
far-sighted in fighting the enemy and founding the country. He foresaw the
strategic importance of ancient Hà Nội near the Tô Lịch River and he was the
first to raise Hà Nội to a special position in history. He laid the first
bricks on the grounds of the Tô Lịch rampart on which King Lý Thái Tổ would
later construct the Thăng Long Citadel in 1010.
