What does the 1010 Edict on the Relocation of the Capital say about the land of Dai La?
According to the introduction and translated meaning published by the State Committee for Overseas Vietnamese portal (scov.gov.vn), the Edict on the Relocation of the Capital, or Thien do chieu, is a document attributed to King Ly Thai To, issued in the spring of 1010 to move the capital from Hoa Lu (now in Ninh Binh) to Dai La citadel (now Hanoi). The passage about the land in the translated meaning published by this source states: Dai La citadel was the old capital of Cao Vuong, situated at the center of heaven and earth, possessing the posture of a coiling dragon and crouching tiger, already correctly oriented north-south-east-west, and convenient for looking toward rivers and leaning on mountains; the terrain is broad and level, the land high and open; the population escapes miserable flooding, and all things are exceedingly abundant and fresh; surveying all our Viet land, only this place is a winning site, truly the crucial meeting point of the four directions of the country, and also the foremost capital of emperors for ten thousand generations.
One thing must be said at once to avoid misunderstanding: this is a political and literary document. The praise of the land is the writer's argument aimed at persuading courtiers to agree to the relocation of the capital, not a survey report of terrain. What stands behind to verify that praise is the real geography of the region and later archaeological evidence. This article reads the Edict in that spirit: examining what each phrase in the Edict corresponds to in reality, and how terms like "coiling dragon, crouching tiger" are understood by the phong thuy tradition.
Why does the Edict discuss the relocation of the capital before praising the land?
The opening of the Edict uses the past deeds of the Shang and Zhou dynasties as arguments. According to the translation by scov.gov.vn: the Shang dynasty up to King Pan Geng moved the capital five times, the Zhou dynasty up to King Cheng Wang moved it three times; this was not because the kings of the Three Dynasties followed their own private will and moved at whim, but only because they wanted to establish the capital at a central place, to plan great undertakings, to calculate for ten thousand generations of descendants, above to obey heaven's mandate, below to follow the people's will, and to change when they saw convenience. Conversely, the Dinh and Le dynasties kept the capital fixed in the old place, causing their dynasties to be short-lived, their fates brief, the hundred families exhausted, and all things unsuited.
Placing this argument first and only then praising Dai La is a deliberate sequence. The writer does not begin with terrain, but with precedent and consequence, so that when the passage praising the land arrives, the reader is already placed in a comparative frame: staying put in a hazardous place has caused harm before, while moving to a favorable place is what prosperous dynasties have done. In other words, the passage praising Dai La is the conclusion of an argument, not an isolated observation.
What does "situated at the center of heaven and earth" mean on the ground?
This is a sentence easily read as a metaphysical assertion, but placed beside real geography it has concrete content. An article by architect Hoang Xuan Thuong and Quynh Giao in Dak Lak newspaper (phuyen.baodaklak.vn) describes the relocation of the capital from Hoa Lu, a region with rugged terrain suited to defense, to Dai La citadel in the Red River delta with a developed economy and wet-rice civilization. Choosing lowland to build a capital, in this article's view, expresses the strategy of building a state that masters a vast and fertile plain.
So "center" here should be understood as a favorable position within a populous and fertile plain, not some sacred geometric point. The same article cites the Edict passage with the phrases "center of heaven and earth", "coiling dragon, crouching tiger", "looking toward rivers and leaning on mountains", "broad and level", "high and open" as features that Ly Cong Uan observed to write the Thien do chieu.
Is "coiling dragon, crouching tiger" a phong thuy measurement?
No. This is an old idiom of Han-character literature used to praise a region with a beautiful posture, and in loan dau texts it is used to describe the posture of two wings of mountain and earth embracing the main plot, not a measurement formula yielding auspicious or inauspicious results.
The book Nhap mon loan dau: tam long diem huyet (source 5) states clearly: "Long cuon Ho ngoi" means Thanh Long moves while Bach Ho is still. In this book's view, the two sides of the huyet field are likened to two cicada wings embracing the huyet, the left being Thanh Long, the right Bach Ho, and between the two wings is the minh duong. The book also cites an old saying that whether called Thanh Long or Bach Ho, the essence is the embracing posture that holds qi. Bach Ho "should be still, not moving", so saying "coiling dragon, crouching tiger" describes one side moving flexibly and one side still and firm, not scoring a plot of land.
It should also be noted where books disagree. The book Tuyen tap bai viet Phong Thuy chon loc so 1 (source 4) presents a different direction: viewed from the huyet direction, the left with winding mountains and meandering water creating an embracing posture is good Thanh Long, the right with similar terrain, firm and protective, is ideal Bach Ho; the shape of Thanh Long is often likened to a dragon flying in soft curves, while Bach Ho is strong and firm like a crouching tiger. Thus source 4 attaches "crouching tiger" to the Bach Ho wing itself, while source 5 uses the whole phrase "Long cuon Ho ngoi" to say one side moves and one side is still. The two explanations do not contradict in spirit, but differ in whether the phrase is assigned to both wings or only one. This article follows the reading of Nhap mon loan dau, that is, reading the whole phrase as a description of land posture, and notes source 4's reading as a variant.
It is worth noting that even within loan dau texts, the criteria are not a fixed scorecard. Source 5 cites an old saying that sa son Long, Ho far from the huyet field may be slightly high with no harm, what matters is "having sentiment"; the more tiers the chao son has, the better. That is, what is emphasized is the embracing posture and harmony, not a number. Therefore, when the Edict writes "coiling dragon, crouching tiger", we are reading a literary praise rooted in loan dau language, not a measurement conclusion.
Comparison table: phrases in the Edict, actual geography, loan dau reading
| Phrase in the Edict (per scov.gov.vn translation) | Corresponding actual geography per source | Loan dau reading |
|---|---|---|
| "Situated at the center of heaven and earth" | Red River delta region, broad and fertile plain, unlike the rugged terrain of Hoa Lu (phuyen.baodaklak.vn) | Favorable position amid a populous region, not a sacred geometric point |
| "Possessing the posture of a coiling dragon and crouching tiger" | Hanoi terrain descends from west to east, from north to south; the north and west have high mountains such as Ba Vi, Thien Tru (phuyen.baodaklak.vn) | Thanh Long moves, Bach Ho is still, two wings embracing the minh duong (Nhap mon loan dau) |
| "Correctly oriented north-south-east-west" | Hanoi borders eight provinces, with hills, mountains, rivers, plains; it is the administrative, political, cultural, scientific and technical center (phuyen.baodaklak.vn) | Direction and relative position of the four sides around the main plot |
| "Convenient for looking toward rivers and leaning on mountains" | Red River and the Duong, Da, Nhue, Cau, Day, Ca Lo rivers; inner city has To Lich River, Kim Nguu River, West Lake, Hoan Kiem Lake (phuyen.baodaklak.vn) | Posture of leaning back on heights and looking out to water, i.e. son hau and minh duong |
| "Terrain broad and level, land high and open" | Delta plain, terrain descending, elevation 5 to 20m above sea level (phuyen.baodaklak.vn) | Minh duong broad and flat, with water gathering or flowing gently (Tuyen tap bai viet Phong Thuy chon loc so 1) |
| "Population escapes miserable flooding" | High land within the delta, avoiding frequent flooding | High dry land is the base condition for establishing a capital |
| "Crucial meeting point of the four directions of the country" | Road, rail, waterway, airway systems reaching all regions and countries (phuyen.baodaklak.vn) | Transport convergence point, i.e. the advantage of posture and position |
Why was Hoa Lu no longer suitable as capital according to the Edict's reasoning?
The Edict states that the Dinh and Le dynasties kept the capital fixed in the old place, causing their dynasties to be short-lived, the hundred families exhausted, and all things unsuited. Placed beside the geographical description, this reason has its own basis: Hoa Lu is a region with rugged terrain suited to defense, while Dai La lies in the Red River delta with a developed economy. In other words, the criteria for choosing land had changed: from taking hazardous posture for defense to taking broad posture and convenient transport to master a large plain.
It should be noted that this is the argument of the Edict's writer. Attributing the brevity of the Dinh and Le dynasties to the location of the capital is an argumentative move to persuade, not an independently verified historical conclusion. This article notes it in its proper place: one link in the argument of the document, with real geography as its background.
What do the remaining traces today confirm?
According to English Wikipedia on the Imperial Citadel of Thang Long (source 3), the central sector of the Thang Long Imperial Citadel was inscribed on UNESCO's World Heritage List on 31 July 2010, at a session in Brazil, under the name "The Central Sector of the Imperial Citadel of Thang Long – Hanoi". Construction of this area began in 1010 and was completed in early 1011 under Ly Thai To. Also per this source, most of the surviving structures date from the major restoration under Gia Long in 1805, while most of the Imperial Citadel was later destroyed by the French to take land for offices and barracks, so what remains is mainly archaeological relics and reconstructed items.
Regarding the archaeological layer, source 3 states that architectural relics and foundations of the Imperial Citadel were discovered at the former Ba Dinh Hall area at 18 Hoang Dieu when this building was demolished in 2008 to make way for a new national assembly building. Among the artifacts, this source mentions a terracotta floor tile decorated with a chrysanthemum, dated around the 11th to 12th century, considered a sign of court decoration. The source also notes that the remaining material of the original structure consists only of foundations, a large-scale drainage system and court architectural decorations, and that to date only a small part of Thang Long has been excavated.
This is where two kinds of evidence should be distinguished. The Edict is a document about a decision that was made, while archaeology shows the scale and extent of actual human intervention on that land across many dynasties. The two kinds of evidence do not replace each other: the Edict cannot prove that the region has a long mach, and archaeology does not need long mach to explain why people chose that place.
How should the Edict be read today?
There are two common readings, each with its own harm. The first is to read the Edict as a phong thuy document, turning phrases like "coiling dragon, crouching tiger" into evidence that Dai La has a long mach, then inferring auspiciousness or inauspiciousness for the whole region. The second is to dismiss the geographical language in the Edict as mere flowery speech, thereby ignoring the fact that those criteria are quite concrete: position amid a populous region, posture leaning on heights and looking to water, land broad and level, not flooded, convenient for transport in four directions.
The reasonable reading lies between the two extremes. Those phrases are both literary language and land-selection criteria in the understanding of their time, and each criterion can be compared with the real natural conditions of Hanoi. The Edict's use of loan dau language does not make its content superstitious, nor does it make it scientific evidence. It is a political and literary document, written in the language of its time, and its core content still stands when viewed through geographical eyes: a fertile plain, with a large river and waterway system, high and broad land, suited to establishing a capital and keeping it for the long term.
For today's reader, the greatest value of that passage perhaps lies in showing how people of old observed terrain, water flows and transport position before making a decision that could affect many generations. The loan dau terms of that time were tools to describe and persuade, and the comparison table above shows that most of those descriptions have their counterpart on the ground.
