Through the records of the Nguyen Dynasty Woodblocks - World Documentary Heritage, we can better understand the construction process as well as the scale and architecture of Quang Nam citadel.
Story of building a citadel
The history of Quang Nam province is recorded, initially the citadel was built in “Thanh Triem commune, Dien Phuoc district, but later had to be abandoned due to chaos. When the restoration and recovery of Quang Nam were just completed, it was temporarily located in Hoi An…”.
In the year of Dinh Mao (1807), King Gia Long moved the citadel to Thanh Chiem commune, Dien Phuoc district. In the year of Quy Ty (1833), realizing that the old location was no longer suitable for building a citadel, King Minh Mang moved Quang Nam citadel to another location.
The woodblock of Dai Nam Thuc Luc Chinh Bien, Volume 90, engraved on page 18, recorded this event as follows: “The old citadel was in Thanh Chiem commune, the terrain was narrow and low. The King thought it should be moved to another place. First, he sent the citadel supervisor to examine the terrain and chose a place in La Qua commune (Thanh Chiem and La Qua are both in Dien Phuoc) with a wide plain, moderate roads, and close to the river, convenient for transportation (...) The King immediately sent an edict to the acting Governor Do Khac Thu, to hire 6,000 people to work. He also thought that building the citadel was a huge task, so he specially sent the Left Wing Commander-in-Chief Nguyen Van Trong to oversee everything.”
By June of that year, the citadel of Quang Nam province had been completed. King Minh Mang was delighted and issued an edict to reward those involved: “The construction of the citadels of Quang Nam, Quang Tri and Ha Tinh has been completed. The Dong Ly Tong Phuoc Luong and Ton That Bang, who were sent by the Kinh, and from the Doc, Phu, Quan Ve down, were all given ranks, records, silk and silver. He also ordered the provincial officials (provincial officials - NV) to take money from the treasury to reward the hired laborers: Quang Tri 4,000 quan, Quang Nam and Ha Tinh each 6,000 quan”.
The role of the citadel
Like many other provinces and cities, Quang Nam citadel was built in the style of Vauban citadel - a type of defensive military architecture that was popular in France and Western Europe in the 17th and 18th centuries.
Regarding the scale and architecture of Quang Nam ancient citadel, the wooden block of the book Kham dinh Dai Nam hoi dien su le, volume 209, engraved on page 30, also recorded: "Quang Nam provincial citadel is located in Dien Phuoc district, Dien Ban prefecture, with a perimeter of 489 truong 6 thuoc, a height of 1 truong 1 thuoc 3 tac, built with laterite walls, 4 gates, 1 flagpole. The moat is 4 truong 5 thuoc wide, built in the 14th year of Minh Mang".
After being built, Quang Nam citadel held a particularly important military and political position, not only for Quang Nam province but also in the defense line protecting the capital Hue.
Under the reign of King Thieu Tri, Quang Nam province remained in the same state as in the reign of his father King Minh Mang. It was not until the reign of King Tu Duc, in the year Canh Tuat (1850), that the king ordered the renovation of Quang Nam province. However, this renovation was not recorded in detail but only briefly recorded in the wooden block of Dai Nam Thuc Luc Chinh Bien, Volume 5, engraved page 6, that: "Repairing Quang Nam province".
In the year of Binh Dan (1866), Pham Phu Thu, a native of Quang Nam, reported to King Tu Duc that Quang Nam province had suffered from crop failures for several years. Someone said, "Because the province is located in a low-lying area, it is not good, so please find land to move the province to another place."
In April of the year At Hoi (1875), King Tu Duc sent people to inspect the location to move the citadel of Quang Nam province.
This event was recorded in the Dai Nam Thuc Luc Chinh Bien, Volume 4, Volume 53, a passage here: "Sent Lang Trung Cao Huu Sung to bring two painters to supervise the city along with Linh Dai Lang Ma Trinh to Quang Nam to inspect the waterways of that province and city.
Previously, Pham Phu Thu said: "The province was established, and the Vinh Dien River was dug, which was not in accordance with feng shui, and the people were not at peace. The Quang Nam envoy Nguyen Tao submitted a petition to move the province to Que Son or Duy Xuyen. He also requested to fill in the Vinh Dien River and open up the Ai Nghia River..."
However, the intention to move the ancient citadel of Quang Nam to another place under the reign of King Tu Duc was not realized. The citadel of Quang Nam province remained at the location previously chosen by King Minh Mang.
Through many ups and downs of history, the ancient citadel of Quang Nam has now been completely destroyed. Although the traces remain only in history books and a few ruins, it is enough for us to be nostalgic about a special citadel with solid architecture built on the ancient land of Quang Nam.
Source: https://baoquangnam.vn/thanh-co-quang-nam-qua-di-san-moc-ban-trieu-nguyen-3146904.html
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