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Hanoi old quater was formed in early 15th century, limited by Hang Dau street to the north, Phung Hung street to the west, Tran Nhat Duat and Tran Quang Khai streets and to the east and south are Hang lines Cotton, Hang Gai, Cau Go and Hang Thung.
Hanoi Old Quarter is also often called “Hanoi 36 streets”. This is just a way of estimating the streets and wards located both inside and outside the old town today. Today trading in the old town is restored, developed and busier than before. Many old houses are renovated, many rebuilt with many styles. Many temples, and pagodas were repaired. Activities of the old town became bustling because of the high number of tourists. Some houses in the Old Quater have been renovated into hotels, restaurants, tourist offices, shops selling souvenirs.
Coming to Hanoi Old Quarter, visitors have the opportunity to immerse themselves in daily life of Hanoians, experience the walking streets and Dong Xuan night market on 3 nights from Friday to Sunday every week.
This is the land of Thai Cuc ward of Le dynasty, then belonged to the land of Dong Lac ward, Dai Loi, Tien Tuc and Tho Xuong old districts.
Hang Dao Street dates back to the time of the French domination, after the French called rue de la Soie (Silk Town), in 1945 regained the ancient name of Hang Dao Street, the name changes after the name remained Hang Dao street.
In the early fifteenth century, Nguyen Trai wrote the name of this street in the book Du Dia Chi: “Hang Dao street dyes fabric”. That means that this ward, at that time, had a dyeing career and specialized in dyeing red, pink, peach color … But in the 17th century, this street dyed many other colors, and made white even whiter . The book Thuong kinh phong nhat chi said: “Hang Dao Ward did dyeing professionally, white as snow, red as blood, black as ink… Yellow is the main color. The color is mixed, there is the color of black, celestial, peach blossom, no color is like any color … ”
Today the relics of the two old wards are the remaining temples:
+ Dong Lac temple at number 31: not yet clear who to worship
+ Dong Lac communal house at number 38: worshiping the gods Bach Ma, Linh Lang and Cao Son gods – number 38 Hang Dao.
+ Dai Loi temple is also called Bach Bo temple (white cloth) at house number 47, worshiping Bach Ma. As for Dai Loi communal house, which was in the end of the street, beside Hang Gai, due to the opening of the road, moved to the place where now is 50 Gia Ngu street, also worshiping three gods Bach Ma, Linh Lang and Cao Son.
+ Hoa Loc temple (house number 90A) is built here by Dan Loan villagers in Binh Giang district (now in Hai Hung province) moving to here. Because the Dan Loan people worked in dyeing and trading silk, this temple worshiped the one who started the dyeing job, a man named Trieu Xuong and his wife Phuong Dung.
Until the French colonial period, Hang Dao Street was a place to focus on selling silk. The two sides of the street are shops selling all kinds of goods made of silk. Also here each month has six fairs on the street on the 1st and 6th days, called Hang To market. People of La Khe and La Ca villages sold the- a kind of silk. People from Mo village sold Dui. Van Phuc and Ke Buoi people bring linh, another kind of silk … Except for the brocade, which is woven with dyed silk, everything else is dyed free. People from Hang Dao bought the silk and dyed it red themselves, or handed them to people in Dau Dinh Bang market, in Tay Ho village, in Hang Tho Nhuom to dye them in the darkish color, or asked the Cau Go villagers to go white … That day in Hang Dao There are also some cloth shops, but this item has a separate street called Hang Vai Street.
By the beginning of the twentieth century, some Indians went to open stores selling Western woolen fabrics. Also in this period, there were some grocery stores, gold, silver, hats … but mainly Hàn Dao was still a silk street. For the history of modern revolution, this street has some noteworthy houses: house No. 10 in the period from March to December 1907 is Dong Kinh Nghia Thuc school(by Luong Van Can, who is in Nhi Khe , Thuong Tin and his colleagues set up here, where Phan Chu Trinh lived for a short time and gave many speeches. Another facility, house number 63, is also a large house with many internal spaces, the back gate goes to Dai Loi temple and connects with Gia Ngu street. The influence of Dong Kinh Nghia Thuc spread rapidly. Many places in the suburbs of Hanoi came to ask for educational materials and also opened classes in their hometown following the form of Dong Kinh Nghia Thuc Hang Dao.
On the liberation day of the Capital 10-10-1954, a branch of our army went from Gia Lam passed Long Bien bridge into the city, through Hang Dao street in the middle of a ocean of flags of the people celebrating.
This was originally the land of Dien Hung Village, Huu Tuc ward (after that was Dong Tho ward), Tho Xuong old district.
Hang Ngang Street dates back to the French colonial period, after the French called “rue des Cantonnais”, meaning “Quang Dong street”, in 1945 it regained the Vietnamese name of Hang Ngang street as people used to call. The following name changes still retain this name.
From the Le dynasty, Chinese people were allowed to reside in Thang Long. They live in a number of streets, according to the state line (for example, Quang Dong people lived in Hang Buom Street, Hang Ngang Street … Phuc Kien lived in Lan Ong Street, Cua Dong Street …). Hang Ngang Street is mostly Chinese from Quang Dong, but the province has an ancient name of Viet, so the old geo books call this street Viet Dong street.
Nobody knows the true identity of the name Hang Ngang. A theory that means that in the old days, there were two gates on the two sides of the street blocking the road, and it was closed at night. There was a guard guarding it, so it became a name.
In the book Vu Trung Tuy But, Pham Dinh Ho wrote: “Dien Hung ward and Dong Lac ward are Hang Ao street, selling silk and cloth stuff”. So perhaps before the Chinese people came here to build a business, Hang Ngang (which is Dien Hung ward) and the beginning of Hang Dao street (which is Dong Lac ward) our people sold clothes and even bibs (because Dong Lac ward was also called Bib commune house). Previously in Hang Ngang street, more than half of the population was Chinese. Many people changed their clothes to Vietnamese custom, so people called them Minh Huong (the Vietnamese native whose homeland is Minh-Chinese). Hang Ngang Street, until the beginning of the twentieth century, many large silk shops of Minh Huong people had relatives: Phan Duc Thanh (house No. 2), Phan Thai Thanh (No. 4), and Phan Hung Thanh (No. 26), Phan Van Thanh (No. 40), Phan Du Thanh (No. 56), Phan Hoa Thanh (No. 60), etc. Vietnamese people who were large silk traders- Trinh Phuc Loi (No. 7), Loi Quyen (No. 27). Later Phuc Loi’s son, Trinh Van Bo moved to the 48th house along the street.
Chinese people in Hang Ngang also open many tea shops “Tau(chinese)”: Sinh Thai, Chinh Thai, Ninh Thai … Tea contained in porcelain jars, tin jars, or paper packages … Chinese characters but most of them are Phu Tho tea is processed at Hang Ngang and branded as Vu Di Son and Phuc Kien.
Today, there is a house in this street that is associated with the glorious revolutionary history of the nation. It was the house number 48, and had a door that connected to house number 35 Hang Can. This is the home of Mr. Trinh Van Bo and his wife, Hoang Minh Ho, a great bourgeois at the time. Uncle Ho Chi Minh and the members of the Central Standing Committee are in the second storey. Here, he chaired the first meeting of the Standing Office in Hanoi, decided on a number of important issues: organizing a meeting for the Provisional Government to launch the nation and making the Declaration of Independence, a document with great importance in the history of our nation. This house has now become an important revolutionary resistance relic, ranked nationally in 1979 in Decision No. 54 VHTT / QD April 29, 1979.
This is the former part of Vinh Thai village (the beginning of the street) and Dong Hoa Noi Tu village (the end of the street), the total of Hau Tuc, Tho Xuong district old. By the middle of the nineteenth century, Vinh Thai village was changed to Vinh Hanh, and Dong Hoa Noi Tu village merged with the two villages Dong Hoa Mon and Hau Dong Hoa and became Duc Mon village (Hau Tuc also was renamed Dong Xuan).
Traces of these old villages are temples left to now: Vinh Hanh temple, Duc Mon temple and Dong Mon pagoda.
Hang Duong Street dates back to the French colonial period, after the French call it rue du Sucre, and in 1945 it regained the Vietnamese name of Hang Duong street, the following name changes still retain the name of Hang Duong street.
Vinh Hanh temple is now on the third floor of 19B house, Duc Mon communal house is now house 38, worshiping Ngo Van Long, a famous general of Hung Due Vuong (18th) where the main worship is Ham Long pagoda. And Dong Mon Pagoda is often called Nom Dong Temple, now is the house number 38B, it still retains many old steles, records the location, the process of building the temple … These are the steles carved in the years 1624, 1639, 1711, 1816. There is also a bell with the words Dong Mon Tu Chung (Dong Mon pagoda bell) was made in the Tay Son period, the 8th Canh Thinh year (1800). In the past, To Lich River from the mouth of Cho Gao went to Nguyen Sieu, Ngo Gach Streets, across Hang Duong Street and crossed to Hang Luoc Street and went to Buoi Street. To go through the To river section in Hang Duong, there’s a stone bridge, called Cau Dong (bridge of Dong Hoa Mon village). Legend has it that there was a Buddha stone statue set on an open platform on the bridge. The statue made of stone siting in a round shape, the Buddha is smiling, so it is called the Tieu Phat statue (Buddha laughs).
This is the former land of Vinh Thai village (the eastern part) and An Phu village (the western part), Hau Tuc ward (later changed to Dong Xuan), the old Tho Xuong district. In the French period, this street was named Hang Dong street (êrue du Cuivre), but the people still called to distinguish the two streets: Hang Ma street from Hang Duong street to the beginning of Hang Dong street today and Hang Dong street from the beginning of Hang Dong now go to Phung Hung street, because there are also some shops selling bronze.
In 1945, it was unifiedly called Hang Ma street, to avoid confusion with the existing Hang Dong street in the north of Bat Su street. The people of this street had a number of Tan Khai village families (Hang Sat and Cong Duc) moving to open a small paper and paper shop, which was a piece of paper for decoration and a code to worship.
Communal house in Vinh Thai village (later changed to Vinh Hanh) at house number 19, Hang Duong street. In An Phu village, the house is located at 56 Hang Ma street (this communal house is connected to Hang Rach street, the house number is 17).
Hang Ma street specialized in making the paper items: flower branches, paper clips, paper hat, paper cremation … used for worship, hence the name. During the Mid-Autumn Festival, there are also selling paper toys for children: folding lights, military pull lights, carp turning to dragon lamps, lion heads, paper elephants, paper horses, paper doctor .. .
Hang Ma is also famous for the typical architecture of Hanoi Old Quarter with Ong-tubular houses and Chong diem houses. Tubular houses with limited width, but people have cleverly combined living space, worship, rest, production and business. A chong diem house is a two-storey house with a fake door or a small window that opens to the side of the street, houses like this apart from a tile roof are tilted out to the street, and there is an extra roof to cover the rain and sun.
Today, Hang Ma Street is still one of the bustling streets of Hanoi, especially one month before mid July the lunar calender, the Mid-Autumn Festival and from December 24 right after the Kitchen God’s holiday to noon on the 30th day of the Lunar New Year. People are eager to shop for all kinds of paper goods for family for worshiping, shopping for toys on Mid-Autumn Festival for children all come to Hang Ma to choose the best items.
Hang Bac street under the Le dynasty belonged to Dong Cac guild, was also the setting of “Meo Lua” (A trick), a short story from Vu Trung Tuy But (Collection Written on Rainy Days) by scholar Pham Dinh Ho (1768 – 1839). The story proclaims that Dong Lac guild in the 18th century was trading center of silver ingots. In the early 19th century, the street ran through two villages that were Dong Tho (the eastern part) and Dung Han (the western part), Huu Tuc canton, Tho Xuong district. By the mid-19th century, these two villages merged into one and took the name of Dong Tho village (Huu Tuc, the name of the canton was also changed to Dong Tho).
In the French colonial period, this street was called the Street of Silver Exchangers (rue des Changeurs). The current name Hang Bac has been formalized since the August Revolution in 1932.
Hang Bac street heretofore had three different trades including silver casting, jewelry and currency exchange. The silver casters were from Trau Khe village (present-day Binh Giang district, Hai Duong province). Legend has it that under the reign of Lê Thánh Tông (1460-1497), the Minister of Personnel, Luu Xuan Tin, was granted royal permission to set up a silver ingot factory in the citadel. Tin brought craftsmen from his home village to work in the factories. Since then, the villagers from Trau Khe’s five hamlets settled in Hang Bac Street and worked at silver casting “Trang” or workshop at present-day No.58 Hang Bac street. Trau Khe villagers in Hanoi built two communal houses to worship their patron saints (the founder of their craft) which are the Upper communal house or “Truong” communal house located at No. 50 Hang Bac street and the Lower communal house or Kim Ngan communal house located at No.42 Hang Bac street.
The jewelry making combines three different crafts, namely the carving to engraves figures, patterns on jewels or silverware; the silversmith to drag hot melted silver as a thread until it is as thin as a strand of hair; and the smoothing to polish products
Besides those from Trau Khe, jewelers from Dinh Cong Thuong village (present-day Hoang Mai district, Hanoi) also settled in Hang Bac street.Legend has it that under in the King Ly Nam De’s reign, three brothers of the Tran family living in the village of Dinh Cong Thuong learned the jewelry making craft by chance and taught it to the villagers.
Dinh Cong Thuong jewelers migrating to Thang Long also settled in Hang Bac street after Trau Khe silver casters, thus their houses were built on the street section which is Hang Bo street today. They also set up a temple honoring their craft founders (three brothers of the Tran family) in Hang Bo street.
There are another jewelry making village named Dong Sam in Kien Xuong district of Thai Binh province where dwellers also migrated to Hang Bac Street. Here, they also did carving, silversmith and specialized in carving large silver items such as urn, precious vessel, betel pot, tray, silver kitchenwere while Dinh Cong workers mainly make small jewelry such as earrings, bracelet, necklet and ring.
There’s one building in Hang Bac street which is the pride of the capital’s war history. It is the Golden Bell Theater at No. 72 where the suicide squad of Vietnam’s Army swore “to fight to the death” during the fiercest days of the anti-French resistance, in the morning of January 14, 1947.
Today, Hang Bac Street is still crowded and bustling with trades, being one of the core streets of Hanoi’s Old Quarter.
|Read more: Hanoi Travel Guide