The Millennial Anniversary of Hanoi ( vi, Đại lễ 1000 năm Thăng Long – Hà Nội) was celebrated from 1 to 10 October 2010, the 1,000th anniversary of the foundation of the capital

Thăng Long Hanoi or Ha Noi ( or ; vi, Hà Nội ) is the capital and second-largest city of Vietnam. It covers an area of . It consists of 12 urban districts, one district-leveled town and 17 rural districts. Located within the Red River Delta, Hanoi is ...

by the emperor

Lý Thái Tổ Lý Thái Tổ ( vi-hantu, , 8 March 974 – 31 March 1028), Vietnamese name, personal name Lý Công Uẩn, temple name Thái Tổ, was a Vietnamese people, Vietnamese emperor, the founder of the Lý dynasty of Vietnam and the 6th ruler of ...

. Many events were held in 2009 and 2010 to commemorate the anniversary, including cultural and traditional festivals as well as inaugurations of major projects in Hanoi.

Myth

According to the ''

Đại Việt sử ký toàn thư The ''Đại Việt sử ký toàn thư'' ( vi-hantu, 大越史記全書; ; ''Complete Annals of Đại Việt'') is the official national chronicle of the Vietnamese state, that was originally compiled by the royal historian Ngô Sĩ Liên under ...

'',

, the first emperor of the

Lý dynasty The Lý dynasty ( vi, Nhà Lý, , chữ Nôm: 茹李, chữ Hán: 李朝, Hán Việt: ''Lý triều'') was a Vietnamese dynasty that existed from 1009 to 1225. It was established by Lý Công Uẩn when he overthrew the Early Lê dynasty an ...

, decided to move the capital of the country from Hoa Lư to

Đại La Đại La (), means ''the Citadel of the Great Dike'', or La Thành (羅城, means ''the Citadel of the Dike'') was an ancient fortified city in present-day Hanoi during the third Chinese domination of the 7th and 8th centuries, and again in the 11t ...

in the seventh month of the

lunar calendar A lunar calendar is a calendar based on the monthly cycles of the Moon's phases (synodic months, lunations), in contrast to solar calendars, whose annual cycles are based only directly on the solar year. The most commonly used calendar, the Gre ...

, 1010. When the convoy of Lý Thái Tổ arrived in Đại La, a golden dragon rose beside the emperor's boat, hence Lý Thái Tổ changed the name of the new capital from Đại La to Thăng Long ( 昇龍, literally "The Rising Dragon").

Commemorative projects

Many major projects in the city of Hanoi were built as part of the millennial anniversary. Amongst them, several projects were inaugurated between the 1 and 10 October 2010: In February 2010, a project was announced in which 1,000 objects would be buried with a message for future generations 1,000 years hence. They included 63 representative items for the 63

provinces A province is almost always an administrative division within a country or state. The term derives from the ancient Roman ''provincia'', which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire's territorial possessions outsi ...

of Vietnam and another 937 items from ordinary life, suggested by the people of Hanoi. All objects would be kept in a container of 1,000 liters that symbolizes 1,000 years of Thăng Long – Hanoi, and would be buried on the site of the

Hanoi Museum The Museum of Hanoi ( vi, Bảo tàng Hà Nội) is located in Nam Từ Liêm district of Hanoi, Vietnam. The museum displays artifacts from Hanoi's 1000-year history and the history, culture, heritage, and architecture of Vietnam. It showcases ...

Events

The Millennial Anniversary of Hanoi was officially celebrated from 1 to 10 October 2010, with the great celebration (''Đại lễ kỉ niệm'') held on Sunday, 10 October, which is also the Liberation Day of Hanoi (1954). The ceremony is considered to be one of the most important events in Vietnam in the year 2010, after the official instruction No. 32-CT/TU of the

Politburo of the Communist Party of Vietnam The Political Bureau (Politburo) of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Vietnam ( vi, Bộ Chính trị Ban Chấp hành Trung ương Đảng Cộng sản Việt Nam), formerly the Standing Committee of the Central Committee from 1930 ...

, to organize the event. A committee was established with members from the Politburo, the

Government of Vietnam The Government of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam (), also known as the Vietnamese Government or the Government of Vietnam (), is the executive branch and body of the State administration of Vietnam. The members of the Government are appoi ...

, and the City of Hanoi. The main purpose of the ceremony was to express gratefulness to generations of Vietnamese in the past who contributed to the defence and development of the country, and passing this tradition on to future generations. Exactly 1,000 days before the official ceremony, a countdown clock 17 meters high and 8 meters wide was inaugurated at the Bà Kiệu Temple, in front of Hoan Kiem Lake, on 13 January 2008. The 2010 Millennial Anniversary of Hanoi Football Championship was held from 20 to 24 September.

Surrounding events

Commemorative events were organized not only in Hanoi but also in other provinces, from

Phú Thọ Phú Thọ () is a district-level town in Phú Thọ Province, Vietnam. As of 2003, the town had a population of 63,333. The town covers an area of 64 km². Geography Phú Thọ is bordered by Phù Ninh to the north, Thanh Ba to the south ...

Huế Huế () is the capital of Thừa Thiên Huế province in central Vietnam and was the capital of Đàng Trong from 1738 to 1775 and of Vietnam during the Nguyễn dynasty from 1802 to 1945. The city served as the old Imperial City and admi ...

and

Ho Chi Minh City , population_density_km2 = 4,292 , population_density_metro_km2 = 697.2 , population_demonym = Saigonese , blank_name = GRP (Nominal) , blank_info = 2019 , blank1_name = – Total , blank1_ ...

. For example, in

Bắc Ninh Bắc Ninh () is a city in the northern part of Vietnam and is the capital of Bắc Ninh province. The city is the cultural, administrative and commercial center of the province. The city area is 82.60 square km, with a population of 501,199 in N ...

, the native land of Lý Thái Tổ, an incense-offering ceremony at the Lý Bát Đế Shrine and other festivals were held during the ten days from 1 to 10 October 2010, while Ho Chi Minh City organized its own festival, named "Thang Long – Hanoi: 1000 Years of History".

Main events

On 10 June 2009,

Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is not ...

Nguyễn Tấn Dũng Nguyễn Tấn Dũng (born 17 November 1949) is a Vietnamese politician who served as the Prime Minister of Vietnam from 2006 to 2016. He was confirmed by the National Assembly on 27 June 2006, having been nominated by his predecessor, Phan Văn ...

issued a decision approving the detailed scheme of the Millennial Anniversary of Hanoi as following:

Fireworks at My Dinh National Stadium

Following the cancellation of celebratory fireworks in 29 locations around the country due to flooding in

Central Vietnam Central Vietnam ( vi, Trung Bộ or ), also known as Middle Vietnam or The Middle, formerly known as by South Vietnam, and Annam under French Indochina, is one of the three geographical regions within Vietnam. The name Trung Bộ was used by ...

, at 9:00 pm, 10 October 2010, a fireworks show began in Mỹ Đình National Stadium.

References

External links

Archived official Millennial Anniversary of Hanoi website
�� {{DEFAULTSORT:Millennial Anniversary Of Hanoi 2010 in Vietnam 2010 festivals in Asia 21st century in Hanoi Culture of Hanoi History of Hanoi

Hanoi Hanoi or Ha Noi ( or ; vi, Hà Nội ) is the capital and second-largest city of Vietnam. It covers an area of . It consists of 12 urban districts, one district-leveled town and 17 rural districts. Located within the Red River Delta, Hanoi is ...