was also built. When Mac Dang Dung abdicated to Mac Dang Doanh and became the Supreme Emperor, Mac Dang Doanh ordered the construction of a majestic palace in Co Trai for Mac Dang Dung to live in, and twice a month he led his ministers to pay their respects. In addition, after the Mac dynasty was founded, in Duong Kinh there were also architectural works of the tombs of the ancestors of the Mac family and the tomb of Mac Dang Dung. Historical documents show that the Mac dynasty took a piece of land in Hai Duong to make Duong Kinh. Hai Duong mentioned here was an administrative unit of the Le - Mac period, including a large area of land in the East of Thang Long from Hai Duong to Hai Phong today. According to the stele documents, Duong Kinh included first of all Co Trai village, the hometown of Mac Dang Dung and the surrounding areas. The stele of Truc Am pagoda (Du Le - Kien Thuy - Hai Phong) states: "Du Le land, Nghi Duong district is the land of Duong Kinh". Many other stele erected in the old Nghi Duong district and neighboring areas clearly indicate the location and scope of Duong Kinh. For example, the stele of Duong Tan pagoda (Thuy Nguyen - Hai Phong) erected in 1589 states: "This pagoda borders the inner city to the north, Duong Kinh to the south, the road is open in all directions. Passengers, traders, going anywhere is convenient, farmers going to the fields, scholars going to the capital all pass through this place". As the second capital, Duong Kinh was also organized according to the model of Thang Long capital. If in Thang Long there was a national school for the children of mandarins and selected students, then Duong Kinh also had a school reserved primarily for the children of the royal family. Here, there was the title of Sinh Duong Kinh as recorded in some stele inscriptions, there was a Tu Van association organized by Confucian scholars to promote the title of Confucian scholars and encourage studying and taking exams. But later, most of the architectural works in Duong Kinh were completely destroyed by the Le - Trinh army when the Mac dynasty collapsed. Le Quy Don said that in 1592, when pursuing the Mac army in Thanh Ha district, "houses in Ha Hong, Nam Sach and Kinh Mon were almost completely burned down (by the Le - Trinh army). When Lord Trinh helped King Le restore the capital, he "brought troops to destroy the entire Co Trai palace, destroyed the stone steles at the tomb, and cut down all the trees planted in the mausoleum"...
The ancient Duong Kinh was quite bustling under the Mac Dynasty, but today in Co Trai (the hometown of the Mac Dynasty and the center of Duong Kinh), there are almost no traces of the capital in front of the sea. All that remains are villages and vast rice fields. Looking at the map today, the ancient Co Trai has a fairly flat location and is especially convenient for waterway traffic. In front of the village, there is a dike of the Da Do River built under the Mac Dynasty, so it is called the dike of the Mac Dynasty. Not only is it convenient for waterways, but it is also close to the sea, near the mouth of the Van Uc River, so the Co Trai area has a lot of fish. In those conditions, the people of Co Trai village mainly live by fishing. The first king of the Mac Dynasty, Mac Dang Dung, came from this village. Currently, there are still traces of the Bo well, which is said to be the land of the Dragon's Navel, where the house of Mac Dang Dung's father was located. Not far from there is the Co Trai wharf. Legend has it that at this wharf, there was a tea shop of Mac Dang Dung's mother. During the Duong Dynasty, she lived a gentle life, not greedy for wealth, and did not take gold from a Chinese person. That Chinese man was a good geographer who repaid the favor by placing the tomb of Mac Dang Dung's father in Go Gao, which they considered the land where the dynasty originated.
Co Trai was originally Thang Moc hamlet of the Mac Dynasty, the center of the second capital of the Mac Dynasty. In 1520, Mac Dang Dung was appointed as Dong Quan Admiral, commanding 13 naval and land forces, and he was allowed to open a palace in his hometown. The traces of this palace are at the border of Cam Hoan - Co Trai, only the name Phu Cao remains.
According to our history and the history of the Ming Dynasty of China, Duong Kinh of the Mac Dynasty, although it was the second capital after Thang Long, still held an extremely important position because in order to avoid the prying eyes of the elements loyal to the Le Dynasty, all military and national affairs, important matters were not discussed in Thang Long but in Duong Kinh. Therefore, the history of the Ming Dynasty called Duong Kinh Do Trai. On the outskirts of Duong Kinh, the Mac Dynasty also built palaces and camps in Voi Mountain, Dau Mountain, and Thiem Khe Mountain to protect the Thanh Moc land. The Mac Dynasty also had special favors for the people of Duong Kinh such as building dikes, digging rivers, developing agriculture, handicrafts, commerce, and education.
In 1592, the Mac dynasty was defeated by the Le Trung Hung dynasty and had to retreat to Cao Bang as instructed by Trang Trinh Nguyen Binh Khiem. Trinh Tung commanded his troops to destroy the Duong Kinh area, burned down the palace, smashed tombstones, and cut down trees in the mausoleum area. In particular, the Le Trinh dynasty massacred the Mac family, the loyal civil and military mandarins of the Mac dynasty. Therefore, the Mac family in Co Trai, except for some who fled to Cao Bang, had to change their names, hide their whereabouts, and disperse everywhere.
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2.4. 8 Go Gao relic
Go Gao relic belongs to the National Defense region (Co Trai has 7 regions). Legend has it that this is an imperial land. At the same time, local people often call it the location of Hung Quoc palace of Mac dynasty.
Over the past few decades, Go Gao has been leveled to make two schools for the commune. During the excavation process, two stone bases carved with lotus petals, traces of house foundations, ceramics, jars, copper coins, and many architectural materials were found. Unfortunately, due to lack of attention from the government, both the relics and artifacts have been almost completely destroyed or lost. Currently, there are many broken bricks and tiles scattered on the ground and underground.
2.4. 9 Wall Monuments
The Ben Tuong relic is the Tuong Quang palace, where Mac Dang Dung lived after he abdicated the throne to his son and continued his fishing career. The Ben Tuong relic is a high land that has now been leveled into rice fields. Within a range of thousands of square meters, bricks, tiles, and broken pottery are scattered everywhere. There are also a series of place names reflecting traces of architectural complexes such as Hau Dam area, Chu Cong mound, Quang Thieu mound, Vuon Thi mound, Phu Tin mound... this entire area is located in Moc Hoang area of Co Trai village. The traces of the ancient palace are only the foundations underground, broken bricks, pieces of glazed pottery, and some stone relics, 2 bronze unicorns that are cast very perfectly, hollow, cast separately from the head and the body.
The body can be easily disassembled and assembled conveniently. Both chimeras have the same sitting posture, and are shaped and decorated quite elaborately: the head is slim and strong, similar to a lion's head, the nose is big, and the top of the head has a 12-petal lotus flower. The body is covered with spiral hair, on a raised background, there are two loops around the neck, from the neck two loops of rope-like rope hang down, braided at the nape and hanging to both sides. The whole body of the chimera is covered with a thin layer of gold glitter, but now it has almost peeled off.
2.4.10 Tomb Monument
Ma Lang belongs to Trung Lang area, located southwest of Hung Quoc palace, where the tombs of the Mac dynasty were located. Until now, Ma Lang area no longer exists, all that remains are houses and ponds. Recently, the local people found a stele broken into many pieces under the pond, the stele was blurred and unreadable, but the stele was decorated with dragons in the style of the Mac dynasty.
2.5. Value of relics
2.5.1 Artistic value
The Mac Dynasty relics in Kien Thuy, Hai Phong, have a quite typical and unique artistic style for a Vietnamese feudal dynasty. Although not like other feudal dynasties, it also has its own distinct features that make people remember it forever.
The common point is that the temple architecture is wooden architecture, the front hall, incense burner, upper hall and 7 back halls are arranged according to the connection between internal and external.
The unique feature is right in its name, the art of the Mac Dynasty. The Kien Thuy area has Duong Kinh, the second capital of the Mac Dynasty. The Mac Dynasty built temples, pagodas, palaces, and tombs here, making Duong Kinh a prosperous center. This is the unique feature that creates a unique nuance for the art of the Mac Dynasty.
Mac. Right here we can see unique marks that cannot be found anywhere else: the bronze statue covered with gold at Tuong Quang temple, the stele at Ma Lang is large in size and decorated entirely with dragon images. Kien Thuy area also has pagoda relics that preserve the large-scale marks of a Mac dynasty pagoda. The pagodas no longer have wooden architecture, but there are pagodas that still preserve large stone steps, elaborately decorated with dragon carvings in the middle and clouds and leaves on the sides. The worship statue is made of jackfruit wood, covered with red lacquer and gilded, simple with soft but very strong lines creating solemnity like the statue of Quan Am sitting on a mountain at Dai Tra pagoda. The art of stone stele is also unique like the stele at Tra Phuong pagoda. The dragon statue is made of a single block of green stone, with a bearded shape and a pointed tail (Nhan Trai pagoda), the dragon's tail has 5 arcs: birth, old age, sickness, and death. The dragon statue has the soft shape of the Ly dynasty. The clouds rolled from above and gradually got smaller, above was the shining sun, the clouds looked like blooming flowers.
These relics help us to learn and evaluate the artistic position of the Mac Dynasty in the history of Vietnamese art. At the same time, they also provide many documents on the continuity of Mac art with the art of the early Le Dynasty, Ly Dynasty, Tran Dynasty and later Le Trung Hung Dynasty. Thus, before and after the Mac Dynasty were great artistic periods and had a long development period. Historically, Mac art was between two great artistic periods, which means there must be a continuation of tradition, innovation and creating a premise for the next art. That's right, the Mac Dynasty learned from the previous ones, created to assert itself, opening the way for the development of the next period.
* Sculpture value
There are many types of sculptures in Kien Thuy that are not found in other relics. First of all, the material. Basically, the Mac sculpture relics in the pagoda are stone. That proves that this type of material is more popular here than in other places. The sculptures here also have many themes that have not been found elsewhere, such as bronze statues, carved walls with dragons, clouds, flowers and leaves. Famous
The most prominent are the statues of kings and Guanyin. The decorations on the statues' robes and pedestals are countless variations of dragons, unicorns, crocodiles, horses, turtles and other themes such as the sun. These images are decorated on bricks and stones, on steps, but most commonly on steles and worship statues.
2.5.2 Historical value
The historical and cultural relics of the Mac dynasty contribute to the study of the Mac dynasty. We see that the Mac dynasty built Duong Kinh as both a second capital and a solid rear base to serve as foreign aid for other places. The remaining Mac relics in Duong Kinh show us that during the entire conflict between the Mac dynasty and the Trinh-Le dynasty, the land of Duong Kinh was almost free of war, so the relics had the conditions to develop like that.
Also through here we see evidence of a developed and open economy. Only with a developed economy and a peaceful life, the state and the people have the conditions to build temples, paint statues, and cast bells. The development of architecture, worship statues, and bronze relics including enamel have shown us the development of handicrafts at that time. Through the steles, the statue of Quan Am Nam Hai, and the currency, it shows that trade during this period was quite developed. The system of Buddha statues in the relics is very unique, proving the strong revival of Buddhism. These relics also contribute to assessing the position and role of the Mac dynasty. Today, from archaeological documents in Kien Thuy, people have seen significant progress in culture, economy, and society of the Mac dynasty, proving that the Mac dynasty had achieved new achievements in the country's construction.
2.5.3 Human values
By the 16th century, under a somewhat democratic dynasty, the pagoda was given widespread attention. This was a rule of Vietnamese history. From the 11th to the 19th century, the Buddhist and Confucian philosophical systems took turns dominating the ideological superstructure, although neither system was completely suitable for the Vietnamese people. When Confucianism had conditions, Buddhism declined, when Confucianism declined, Buddhism flourished, sometimes these two systems combined to dominate society. Under the Mac dynasty, the pagoda regained its position in society, the Buddhist temple gradually became more crowded with statues of the Three Worlds, Guanyin, and the Four Dharmas. These were Buddhist temples with statues of saints of the Buddhist supernatural world or natural forces associated with agricultural life that were Buddhistized.
The statue of the three worlds, also known as the three worlds of eternal dharma body, means the beautiful truth of the Buddhas in all three times of the past, present, and future, existing eternally, not dependent on the visible world, space, and time. Almost all the statues have general features according to the general rules of Buddhism, but every face exudes a feminine portrait, gentle, not exaggerated, but gentle, and close. The head of the statue is painted in dark mahogany with small spiral hair interspersed, which is the integration of folk beliefs into Buddhist image. The dark color of the hair is a symbol of the happy sky containing a source of abundant water, and the spiral hair is a symbol of the swastika, of fire, thunder, and the call of fertility. The yellow-painted Buddha statue has the meaning of liberation, expressing reverence.
The statue of Guanyin hears the cries of suffering beings in life to come and save them. Guanyin can transform into many different forms to adapt to every situation to save all cases of suffering. With an infinite, boundless power and authority, along with absolute wisdom, with a thousand hands and a thousand arms, he saves all.
Buddha statues mostly reflect the ideology of the times, full of vitality, creating a deep awakening of humanity, comfort, close to life so that through it people's hearts can blend with Buddha's heart. Those statues, those real people, pure, innocent, kind, without pain or anxiety, are the product of the rustic devotion in the way of respecting the world and upholding Buddhism.
Entering the temple, the Buddhist devotee respectfully puts aside all evil and wholeheartedly worships, recalling the Amitabha realm. In silence, before the Buddha altar, people can easily drift off to the eternal realm, then use the smoke of incense to communicate and send prayers from the heart to the infinite.
Chapter 3.
MAC DYNASTY'S HISTORICAL AND CULTURAL RELICS CONTRIBUTE TO THE DEVELOPMENT OF HUMAN-WIDE TOURISM
3.1 Forming thematic tourist routes
Kien Thuy is a land of beautiful mountains and rivers with many historical, cultural and legendary relics. In the center of Doi mountain district, Che mountain stands tall reflecting on the Da Do river and still bears the mark of the love story between the god of Do Son mountain and a village girl named Che in the ancient land of Duong Kinh. From 1527-1592, Nghi Duong district (today's Kien Thuy) was considered a solid base of Mac Dang Dung, the Duong Kinh of the Mac dynasty. Located near the sea and convenient to the river, Duong Kinh has many paths leading to Pho Hien, Hoi An, Thang Long. Therefore, this land was one of the cultural, economic, political and commercial centers at that time. In archaeological relics or folk tales, there are still the shadows of ancient Duong Kinh with many architectures, palaces, mausoleums.