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WORLD HERITAGE HALONG BAYCultural value |
 "In the second month of the spring of the year of Ky Ty, the 10th year under the reign of Ly Anh Tong King (1149), the commercial port of Van Don was established and soon became a hosting venue of busy commercial and cultural exchanges between Vietnam and its South-East Asian neighbors". |
The beauty of Ha Long Bay is made up by its mountains, water, clouds, caves and grottoes. Many, however, do not realise that Ha Long was also the cradle of an ancient people who helped create the present Ha Long culture. At the end of 1937, a Swedish-national archaeologist named Anderson, together with two French archaeologist sisters named Conani, journeyed for months through the sea of Ha Long. They climbed mountains, visited caves and explored the coastline, finding many stone artefacts: axes, grinding tables, sewing needles and jewellery. They called the culture that formed these remnants "Ngoc Vung". In the months and years that followed, Vietnamese archaeologists continued their research and made many excavations that resulted in the discovery of more archaeological sites, such as Dong Mang, Xich Tho and Soi Nhu. Through an area of some hundreds of square kilometres, they discovered many stone artefacts and pieces of broken designed pottery. Throughout its development, Ha Long has had a particularly important position; being situated on the communication routes between China, Japan and Thailand. Gradually, it became the centre of cultural and commercial exchanges between these countries and ancient Vietnam. The book "Comprehensive History of Dai Viet" reads: "In the second month of the spring of the year of Ky Ty, the 10th year under the reign of Ly Anh Tong King (1149), the commercial port of Van Don was established." In the long period overlapping the Ly, Tran and Le dynasties, Van Don was a hosting venue of busy commercial and cultural exchanges between Vietnam and its South-East Asian neighbors. A remaining vestige of the ancient commercial port is Cai Lang Wharf (Quan Lan). Van Don is also a site that witnessed glorious feats of war against the invasion of the Yuan-Mongols aggressors. It was here that the enemy, General Truong Ho, had an entire fleet of food supply boats set ablaze by Tran Khanh Du. This contributed greatly to the victory of Bach Dang. Closely linked to this animated commercial centre were many religious architectural constructions; built to meet the requirements of both traders and the population that practiced Catholicism and Buddhism. At Soi Nhu, researchers found three fossilised human skeletons. In particular, in the central zone of the present UNESCO World Heritage Site area, there have been recent discoveries of fascinating archaeological finds Me Cung, Thien Long and Tien Ong grottoes. The quantity of ancient shellfish in the Melina Spring, indicated by the 1.5 m-thick heaps of shells, amounts to hundreds of cubic metres. The archaeological sites of the Ha Long culture are distributed everywhere, but are mostly visible on the sandy beaches of the coastline, and in these caves and grottoes: Ngoc Vung, Tuan Chau, Xich Tho and Dong Mang. There are also sites far from the coast, such as Thoi Gieng and Tien Ong. Wherever the remnants of the first peoples of Ha Long are found, they seem to bear a common characteristic: similar materials, techniques, forms and designs. Scientists have called it the "Ha Long culture in the late period of the new Stone Age." In Cai Lang Wharf, along to 200m-long coastline scientists had found broken pieces of pottery and china forming a 0.6 m-thick layer. Ages date from between the Ly and Tran dynasties. Here, there are also foundations of ancient houses once built along the wharf. Apart from here, many other ancient wharves have been found, such as: Cong Dong, Cong Yen, Ngoc Vung, Quan Lan and Cai Bau. They have featured similar artefacts. On Cong Dong Island alone, four pagodas were built. Among them, the Lam Pagoda is one of the most ancient in the area. It was built under the Tran Dynasty with three gates, a shrine to Buddha, anterior cult room and house of ancestors. On the north-east side of the pagoda was a tower, the remnants of which indicate it was a large and solemn construction. |
