Hac Thanh in the past - Thanh Hoa City today

Thanh Hoa City today, the land of the ancient Vietnamese hundreds of thousands of years ago, throughout its history, is not only the culture, land and people but also the sacred air of mountains and rivers, the convergence of quintessence. Those endogenous resources are the driving force for the development of tourism culture on this land.

Hac Thanh in the early 20th century. Photo: Document

Cultural sedimentary zone

220 years ago, after the first trip to the North, King Gia Long chose a favorable location to locate the capital of Thanh Hoa province. He moved Thanh Hoa citadel from Duong Xa village (Thieu Hoa, now Thieu Duong ward, Thanh Hoa city) to Tho Hac village (Dong Son district, now Thanh Hoa city), called Hac Thanh. Because, in terms of feng shui, Hac Thanh was built on a precious type of land. "The Ma River in the North flows like a hug, like a wrap around the land. The Bo Ve River in the South is called "ton thuy" which is also very good. Hac Thanh, a non-battlefield, is a land of eternal peace. Because to the West are the mountains Phuong Linh (Pine Forest - Son Vien), An Hoach (Nui Nhoi - Nhue Son), like a phoenix spreading its wings, like elephants and horses meeting. The citadel has four gates: the South gate is the Tien gate, with Long mountain and Ho mountain as the front screen. That land is no different from "Dragon - Tiger meeting together like friends living together. The country is as solid as a stone palace, the rivers and seas never have waves or storms.

Hac Thanh is not only a relatively flat land, but more importantly, it is a "clear land" type of land - with convenient waterways and roads in all four directions - good for building citadels, driving nails, and setting up camps.

Right after moving the citadel, also in 1804, King Gia Long moved the Le Dynasty mausoleum in Thang Long to Thanh Hoa. Then, in 1805, he built a school and in 1807, he established a regional examination school in Tho Hac. From 1807 to 1915, Thanh Hoa school organized 31 examination sessions and 439 Thanh Hoa candidates passed the bachelor's degree.

The birth of Hac Thanh Center meant the opening of a provincial market and a buffalo and cow market to circulate goods. Craft guilds gathered to build Hang Thao Street, specializing in selling paper, pens, and hats for candidates in the examination area; Hang Dong Street, specializing in selling bronze products; Hang Theu Street, specializing in selling embroidery for mandarins and worship; Hang Than Street, a street of Chinese people; Hang Huong Street, where Nam Dinh people specialized in producing black incense in Bac Bien hamlet...

The creation of that cultural center was also due to the spirit of solidarity and killing the enemy. In the 13th century, Chu Van Luong obeyed the order of King Tran to reclaim land and open the country. When he reached the land on the banks of the Ma River, he stopped to reclaim land, opened a class and established the Nam Ngan camp. He also selected more than 500 young men in the village and thousands of young men from all over who were healthy, proficient in water and martial arts to come here to practice and march to Hai Duong to fight the Yuan-Mongol invaders. Legend has it that after a period of fighting, although he was rewarded by King Tran and kept in the court as an official, Chu Van Luong asked to return to Nam Ngan in Thanh land to live with the people.

About 700 years later, during the glorious resistance war against foreign invaders in the 20th century, Ham Rong was an important traffic junction on the North-South route. This place used to be the "fire coordinate", the "bloodline" of the strategic transport route to support the Southern battlefield. In 1965 alone, the US imperialists attacked Thanh Hoa town and Ham Rong in 73 battles, dropped 1,047 bombs, fired 437 missiles and rockets, killing 93 people, injuring 119 people, and collapsing 159 houses. However, Ham Rong bridge still stood tall, proudly reaching across the Ma River, the people of Thanh Hoa town still fought bravely and steadfastly while working hard to support the Southern battlefield.

The spirit of solidarity has created an unparalleled strength so that Thanh Hoa, despite suffering, can still steadfastly rise up, and Thanh Hoa people, despite many difficulties, still strive to stand up.

Development motivation

I have stopped many times on Ham Rong Bridge connecting the two banks of Ma River. In the midst of that vast space, taking a deep breath, I am proud to be a citizen born on a land rich in cultural sediments, a place of heroic feats, a place where the army and people of Thanh Hoa united to fight against foreign invaders...

Also from Ham Rong bridge, going deep into the city, through Ham Rong historical and cultural relic site, I came to Dong Son village, met Mr. Nguyen Van Ve, who understands every inch of land, every story and every character in Dong Son ancient village. Mr. Ve said: In the four alley names, Nhan and Nghia symbolize civil mandarins; Tri and Dung symbolize military mandarins. In the middle of the four alleys is Mieu Nhi alley leading to the temple of the Second God Hoang Trinh The Loi (Cam Hoa Thi Ve of the Le dynasty, who had the merit of founding Dong Son ancient village) as civil mandarins and military mandarins stand on both sides. That dragon vein, that identity is the character and culture of our villagers".

Not only the ancient village of Dong Son, among the hustle and bustle of the city, stepping into Bo Ve village (Dong Ve ward, Thanh Hoa city) is peaceful in the traditional cultural space. There is the Thai temple of the Later Le dynasty, worshiping the kings, queens, queen mothers, Trieu To, Hien To, Tuyen To and the princes and mandarins of the Later Le dynasty. It is not by chance that King Gia Long ordered the construction of the Thai temple right on the land of the Chieu Hoa palace, which was the temple of Tuyen Tu Nhan Y Chieu Tuc Hoang Thai Hau Nguyen Thi Anh (wife of King Le Thai Tong, mother of King Le Nhan Tong) which was ruined; in addition to its political significance, this place is also located on the convenient North-South highway, with many beautiful and majestic landscapes. Bo Ve, along with Ve Yen, Tanh Xa, Mat Son are long-standing wet rice farming villages, both bustling and lyrical.

The administrative boundaries of Thanh Hoa city today compared to Hac Thanh town 220 years ago have changed a lot in terms of scale, not only affirming the strength and great potential of a provincial capital, the political, economic, cultural and social center of Thanh Hoa province, an important traffic hub of the North and the whole country, but also creating momentum for development, bringing the city into a new period, with a larger stature.

Seeing the potential and strengths for Thanh Hoa City to exploit and develop tourism, on January 31, 2018, the Provincial People's Committee issued Decision No. 441 approving the project to develop tourism in Thanh Hoa City until 2025, with a vision to 2030. In particular, tourism product development focuses on the following groups: Cultural - spiritual tourism products; sightseeing and historical research tourism products; entertainment and weekend tourism products, combining medical treatment and health care, shopping; conference and seminar tourism products (MICE tourism); developing new tourism products (adventure tourism; countryside tourism experiences; mountain climbing tours, cave tours, hot air balloon tourism, high-speed slides)... With the main tourism development spaces, including: city center tourism space; tourism space along Ma River; Ham Rong - Do Mountain tourism space; Nhoi Mountain tourist space (An Hoach); Long Mountain - Mat Son Mountain tourist space: developing activities such as mountain climbing, sightseeing, other entertainment and sports activities (Western slope)... with a system of tourist areas, routes, and spots...

In response to the requirement of building and developing Thanh Hoa City into a smart, civilized, modern urban area, worthy of its role as a political, administrative, economic, cultural, scientific, educational - training, medical and sports center of the province, a driving force for the development of the Southern Delta and North Central regions in the new development period of Thanh Hoa province, on October 25, 2021, the Standing Committee of Thanh Hoa Provincial Party Committee issued Resolution No. 05-NQ/TU on building and developing Thanh Hoa City to 2030, with a vision to 2045 (Resolution No. 05). It clearly states that the merger of Dong Son district into Thanh Hoa City must be associated with the construction of synchronous and modern infrastructure, accelerating the pace of urbanization.

On October 24, 2024, the National Assembly Standing Committee issued Resolution No. 1238/NQ-UBTVQH15 on the arrangement of district- and commune-level administrative units of Thanh Hoa province for the 2023-2025 period. This Resolution takes effect from January 1, 2025. Accordingly, the entire area and population of Dong Son district will be merged into Thanh Hoa city. After the arrangement, Thanh Hoa city has 47 commune-level administrative units, including 33 wards and 14 communes; with a natural area of ​​228.22 km2 and a population of 615,106 people.

The adjustment of administrative boundaries, area size and population has been constantly increasing, creating resources, space and opening up opportunities for the city to develop faster and more sustainably. In recent years, the cultural and social fields in Thanh Hoa city have made progress; many large, unique political, economic and cultural events with wide-reaching influence in society have been organized. The campaign "Building civilized urban areas, friendly citizens" continues to be focused on; social security is taken care of; the material and spiritual life of the people has been significantly improved... The average income per capita in 2023 of the people reached 84.67 million VND, 1.53 times the average income of the province.

From the ancient Hac Thanh to Thanh Hoa City today, it has gone through many historical periods with many changes, joys and sorrows of many generations of people. However, what everyone can see is that Thanh Hoa City today has made remarkable and proud developments. Because the Party Committee and the People of the city have known how to arouse and promote the spirit, self-reliance, revolutionary tradition, and development aspirations; as a driving force, endogenous resources, realizing the aspiration for prosperity, bringing Thanh Hoa into the "New Era of Development - The Era of the Vietnamese people's rise".

KIEU HUYEN

Source: https://baothanhhoa.vn/hac-thanh-xua-tp-thanh-hoa-nay-233979.htm