The capital of Vietnam's first dynasty, now only two broken temples remain
As the only World Cultural and Natural Heritage in Vietnam, although the Chang'an Scenic Area is more impressive for its karst landscape known as 'Land Dragon Bay' by the locals, similar to Guilin's landscape, its cultural history is also not to be underestimated, that is, the ancient capital of Hualu.
Hualu was the capital of Vietnam from 970 to 1010 AD, and it has a history of more than a thousand years. In 1010 AD, Li Taizu of the Li Dynasty moved the capital to Shenglong (now Hanoi), changed Hualu to Chang'an Prefecture, and no longer used it as the capital.
Although Hualu was the capital of Vietnam for only 40 years, its historical significance is very important because it was the capital of Vietnam's first unified dynasty, the Ding Dynasty, and the former Li Dynasty. During this period, Vietnam had its first era name, Taiping, and requested to be canonized by the Northern Song Dynasty. It was canonized as the King of Jiaozhi County, and from then on, Vietnam was no longer a directly ruled territory of China, but a 'vassal'.
The ancient city of Hualu is the second stop of the Chang'an day tour. Nowadays, the main attractions are two temples built in the 17th century to commemorate this history in Hualu, which worship the founding emperors of the Ding Dynasty and the former Li Dynasty, respectively.
Crossing a small bridge similar to a moat, is the east gate of the ancient city of Hualu. There are many Westerners wearing traditional Vietnamese conical hats, riding bicycles to visit. Surrounded by green peaks and hills, the ancient capital looks like it is built in a basin. After entering, there is a spacious square, where you can see some scattered stone foundations, which are said to be the palace area of the former Ding and Li dynasties.
Continuing forward, there are two Chinese-style courtyards side by side. On the left is the ancestral hall of the first emperor of the Ding Dynasty, and on the right is the Li Huan Hall. The existing buildings were rebuilt in the 17th century and still retain ancient relics such as palace temples and dragon beds, especially the exquisite stone carved door lintels, which are the architectural style of the Nguyen Dynasty.
The first to visit is the Ding Temple. Past the mountain gate, the vegetation is lush, there are several big trees in the courtyard, and there are some towers and steles scattered around, many of which are Chinese couplets. It feels familiar to us, but the Vietnamese guide who accompanied us said that he only recognized the character 'horse', and he didn't recognize other Chinese characters. He only knew this 'horse' character because he played chess, which is sighing.
The hall of the Ding Temple is a five-bay Xieshan-style dragon ridge tile house, which is somewhat similar to the ancient buildings in Guangdong and Fujian in China, but slightly larger than the ordinary halls in China.
The adjacent Li Temple is a bit larger, probably because it was later repaired. The main entrance is a three-bay two-story gatehouse with red pillars and tiles, and on both sides are white double stone pillar horse head walls connected, which seems to have the taste of Chinese Huizhou architecture. The second door is a three-door three-tiered red eave archway with four green stone pillars, and the hall is similar to the Ding Temple, with simple lines, slight decoration, and the eaves are wider and longer.
🏞️Name | Ancient Capital of Hualu Hoa Lu
🎫Ticket | 20,000 Vietnamese Dong
⛳Address | Ninh Hai, Hualu County, Ningping, Vietnam