Gate to Dong Dau Archaeological Site (Yen Lac – Vinh Phuc). Photo: Tien Dung. Lesson 1: Used to be the largest ancient Vietnamese residence in the Northern Delta Reviewing the historical process, Yen Lac is a land rich in potential for historical relics. In Binh Dinh commune, a relic of Go Gai (also known as Dong Gai) has been found in Coc Lam village, a site of Phung Nguyen culture. In Dong Cuong commune, there is Quan Doi (also known as Quan Doi Dong) at the junior high school area, with vestiges of Phung Nguyen culture. Also in Dong Cuong commune, there is Ma Hon, in Chi Chi village, with vestiges of the Metal Age. Right in Yen Lac town, there is a famous archaeological site of Dong Dau, with vestiges of the culture of Phung Nguyen, Dong Dau, and Go Mun. Also in this area was found the site of Go Chua Bien Son with vestiges of the Phung Nguyen culture. In Nguyet Duc commune, there is Dinh Xa site, in Dinh Xa village, Dong Dau cultural site has been discovered. In this commune, there is also a site of Hai Cay bronze with traces of the Metal Age… Archaeologists have initially sketched a panorama of ancient times in this place thanks to excavations, survey and reconnaissance in Yen Lac district and Vinh Phuc province. Panorama of Dong Dau archaeological site (Yen Lac – Vinh Phuc). Photo: Tien Dung. While the district has just formed 5 industrial clusters but has not yet formed an industrial park like other areas in the province, Yen Lac advocates exploiting its strengths in culture, especially historical and cultural relics to preserve , promote, first of all to serve sustainable tourism development in order to break out of the purely agricultural district. On the basis of information provided by leaders of Yen Lac district, at the beginning of the year of Tan Suu (2021), we went to survey Dong Dau archaeological relic which was ranked as a National Historical and Cultural relic by the State. from April 21, 2000. This relic is 1.5 Km east of Yen Lac district center, completely located on a mound about 6 m high compared to the surrounding lowland field, with a total area of ​​8.5 ha, in Dong village, Yen town. Lost. Since its discovery (in 1962) until now, Dong Dau archaeological relic has been protected, serving for excavations, research, study tours of specialized scientific agencies, scientists and researchers. domestic and foreign scientists and students from local schools. Stone axes and bowls were discovered at Dong Dau archaeological site in 1999. Photo: Vinhphuc.gov.vn/ Dong Dau relic has undergone 7 major exploration and excavation times in the years: 1965-1966, 1967, 1968-1969, 1984, 1987, 1999 and 2012, with a total area of ​​758m2, concentrated on the southern slopes. East, South, West and the top of the mound with an average thickness of cultural layer over 3m (up to 6m in some places). The 7th excavation was held in December 2012 with the participation of 3 agencies, namely the Department of Archeology, Faculty of History, University of Science and Humanities – Hanoi National University, the Vietnam Archaeological Association and the Department of Archeology. Culture Sports Tourism Vinh Phuc province. Bronze artifacts discovered at Dong Dau archaeological site in 1999. Photo: Vinhphuc.gov.vn Through 7 excavations, many archaeological remains have been discovered with thousands of specimens, tons of pottery pieces of all kinds, extremely rich in materials, types, diverse in types and designs. symbols of 3 cultures: Phung Nguyen – Dong Dau – Go Mun made of stone (axe, chisels, grinding tables, rings, jewelry beads), bronze (ax, file, arrow, hook, javelin) ceramic ( pieces of pots, jars, forks, stringers, ceramic balls and many tools made of bones and horns, animal remains such as pigs, deer, deer, buffalo, cows, dogs, tigers… and quite a few fish bones. At the same time, there are also images of buffaloes, cows, chickens and many animal bones found, for the first time, burnt rice grains have been found, proving that wet rice farming has existed for a long time and plays an important role. important in the life of ancient Vietnamese residents. Dong Dau Go is a precious relic, contributing to affirming in the historical process of the nation spanning about 2 millennia, the ancient Vietnamese people stopped and settled in Dong Dau, creating the Northern Delta. and created the Red River civilization, especially built a brilliant wet rice civilization. Compared to all other archaeological sites (usually with a cultural layer of about 40-50cm), Dong Dau has the thickest cultural layer up to 6m and has a bottom-up evolution over time. Archaeologists have discovered 4 cultural layers of this archaeological site. The bottom (oldest) layer unearthed many stoneware, pottery, horn tools and many animal remains. Notably, in 1999, the Vietnam History Museum in collaboration with the Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism of Vinh Phuc conducted the 6th excavation and discovered a burial tomb, still retaining human remains of the Phung Nguyen culture. This excavation, although only 25m2, but also discovered a tomb located at a depth of 3m. Archaeologists have found very clear tomb borders. The tomb is almost intact except for the missing left femur – possibly due to later people digging a hole to hit the grave and also not ruling out the destruction of the termite nest. The reason is unknown, but found evidence that the right fibula was broken but healed. In particular, there is the custom of dyeing the teeth black and the custom of extracting the upper front teeth and the entire lower front teeth. Obviously, this is not a lost tooth, because if it falls out, the arch must leave traces of tooth points. Meanwhile, this skeleton saw that the lower arch of the jaw where it was extracted had healed to form a sharp edge. The ancient human remains found in Dong Dau were dated by radiocarbon dating (C14) method, showing that the earliest class in Dong Dau dates back to 3,500 years ago. In the remaining three cultural layers, more bronze artifacts were discovered. From the discovered archaeological relics, through the research process, up to now, it is possible to recognize the basic Dong Dau archaeological relics: Dong Dau is the largest ancient Vietnamese residence site in the center of the Northern Delta region, the largest distribution area, the thickest cultural layer, containing a huge amount of archaeological artifacts. and rich. Overview of the excavation pit at Dong Dau relic, 1969. The stages of archaeological culture following the continuous progression at the archaeological site of Dong Dau have confirmed very clearly that: The earliest class was from Phung Nguyen, followed by Dong Dau, Go Mun and finally Dong Son. And because of that, from the Dong Dau relic, Vietnamese archaeologists have a scientific basis to determine the criteria for the stages of cultural development in the Red River basin: The earliest humans present here belong to the late stage of Phung Nguyen culture, they have reached the peak of primitive stone processing techniques, polished, beautiful, sophisticated stone jewelry, began to appear. copper metallurgy. Pottery made by turntable, elegant, balanced, beautiful, typical pattern is the project of carving lines, dots, and symmetry. Wet rice farming has developed, many rice grains and rice burned in coal ash have been discovered. Next is the Dong Dau period with typical elements of reduced stone tools, thick pottery, high calcination, decorative patterns with music staff motifs, brushed into projects: letter S, number 8, symmetry ; bones, horns develop; copper casting technique became the dominant factor. The third layer belongs to the Go Mun culture period, the remaining stone items are few, the horn bones are rare, the pottery is rough, the calcination is higher than the previous two stages, mainly the broken mouth, the main decorative pattern. on the mouth. The top layer belongs to the Dong Son culture period, because the surface of the site has been plowed since it has not been discovered, but the discovered relics are scattered in the scope of the site, mainly bronze artifacts: Axes. Xeo, spear, and knife are typical of Dong Son culture. With 4 periods of archaeological culture present on the same site, the development is continuous, representing a stable and long-term settlement process of ancient Vietnamese residents to form the first State of the people. Ethnicity- State of Van Lang in the Hung King era This is the greatest value of the archaeological site of Dong Dau, not only for Vinh Phuc but also for Vietnam and Southeast Asia. These are extremely valuable evidences to learn about the customs, practices and especially the anthropological composition of the ancient Vietnamese in the Red River basin. The discovery of ancient human remains in Dong Dau will contribute to scientific documents that gradually shed light on the issue of “Vietnamese origin” that many scientists are still trying to find and research. From that, it can be affirmed that Dong Dau along with other archaeological vestiges system in Yen Lac and Vinh Phuc province is from Phung Nguyen culture to Dong Son culture, which brought the process of opening the period of Hung Vuong building the country from the mythical age of Vietnam. history but is being forgotten, wasted, not studied, preserved and promoted to serve sustainable socio-economic development. (There’s more)

Dau pagoda was awarded as “the first great fame”, and still preserves the flourishing architectural style of the Le dynasty (17th century). Dau Pagoda is one of the four largest pagodas of worship (cloud, rain, thunder, lightning) in the North, possessing two full body statues of two famous Zen monks at home and abroad; Tam Quan Dau pagoda is also a two-storey bell tower with eight roofs. The roof is tiled with five comedy tiles, the pillars are carved with dragons, the pillar pedestals are carved with lotus flowers. (Photo source Dinh Lang Viet village) Recently, many items of Dau pagoda relic have deteriorated, so Tam Quan and Huu Mac house have been renovated. (in the photo: After the restoration, the Three Bodhisattvas put on a new paint color and sculpted poses that are no longer as sophisticated as before) From the position of Tam Quan looking at the pagoda, on the left hand side, also the entrance is a large lake, with giant solid works built, according to the diagram to visit Dau Pagoda, this location is the Tower of Guan Yin. Next to the Quan Yin Tower is the Mandala Stupa, Thuy Dinh Di Lac, newly built right next to Am Pagoda (one of the items in the overall architecture of the old Dau pagoda). These three floating structures are connected by a concrete bridge with two points adjacent to the area known as the Zen garden. From the position of the Three Bodies, looking at the pagoda on the right hand side also appeared a new building, with a monumental roof, a wall from Tam Bao. According to the diagram to visit the monument, this is the Lecture Hall Not only Quan Yin Tower, Mandala Stupa, Maitreya Water Palace, but also the door system, surrounding walls were also newly erected. Lame with the quiet look of the Tien Duong, Tam Bao, To …, is the category of ancient relics. The ancient temple was built with a very large overall scale, structured in the way of “internal public, foreign”. That is, in the temple grounds, the architectural works worshiping pre-Buddha and the post-saint are arranged like the word “work”. Surrounded by other architectural clusters forming the shape of the word “quốc” in the Chinese sense. Dau Pagoda was ranked as a national monument in 1964 Recently, the Department of Culture and Information has coordinated with other agencies to inspect the relic and noted that the garden on the right of the entrance to the pagoda has made the way to the relic and has signposts indicating the parking area; The entrance road in front of the Tam Quan category, at the front of Tam Bao, has been corrected and sealed the old passageway, the area in front of the pagoda. Many large-scale construction items show signs of violation of the Cultural Heritage Law as well as current regulations on the protection and promotion of the value of monuments. According to the reporter, the new construction took place in the last 2 years, the temple has built many new projects, 40 days of workers work continuously. During the weekend, there are still more than 10 workers surveyed at the pagoda, digging, digging; excavating machinery for making roads around the temple area Many tourists after 20 years returning to visit the relic are surprised with the new monument.

Satellite images recorded by the US company Maxar Technologies on March 23 showed that about 220 Chinese ships anchored near Ba Dau rock in Sinh Ton cluster, infringing upon Vietnam’s sovereignty over the Spratly archipelago. (Source: Getty Images) “Prelude” smooth? The incident of hundreds of Chinese ships gathered in Ba Dau Stone has been attracting the attention of domestic and international public opinion today, especially on China’s intentional motives. Philippine officials and scholars warn, this is a sign that China may be taking on new attempts in the South China Sea, possibly leading to the occupation of this rocky beach as it did with Hoang Nham in 2012. Former judge Antonio De Carpio said that the hundreds of fishing vessels gathered at Ba Dau Stone is likely to be “prelude” for China to occupy this beach as what Beijing did with the Ring Stone in 1995. Meanwhile, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Trieu Lap Kien affirmed that Chinese ships are only on this rocky beach to avoid bad weather, and this is a normal practice that has taken place for a long time. China. This spokesman also said that the Philippines calling the ships above as civilian fishing ships was not true. Meanwhile, scholars Andrew Erickson and Ryan Martinson of the US Naval War College analyzed AIS satellite data to prove that there are at least seven of the ships operating in the Sinh Ton island cluster, with the number the branding of each ship is clear, belonging to China’s “armed militia at sea” force. Besides, the group of ships here does not show that these are normal fishing vessels. Regarding the activities of Chinese fishing vessels in the South China Sea at Ba Dau Rock in the Spratly Islands of Vietnam, at a regular press conference on the afternoon of April 8, Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Le Thi Thu Hang said : It is necessary to reiterate that Vietnam has full historical evidence and legal basis asserting sovereignty over the two archipelagos of Hoang Sa and Truong Sa, in accordance with international law, as well as sovereignty, sovereignty right, jurisdiction over the relevant waters in the South China Sea, established in accordance with the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea 1982. All forms of propaganda and promotion of contents contrary to historical truth and international law is invalid, can not change the reality of Vietnam’s sovereignty over the two archipelagos of Hoang Sa and Truong Sa, as well as the reality of the South China Sea issue. China is against the law of nature Through analyzing satellite image data, observers said, there are at least 3 reasons to believe that the gathering of hundreds of Chinese ships in Ba Dau Stone is not the purpose of avoiding bad weather, and this is also not a long-standing custom of Chinese fishing vessels. first , satellite image data taken from Ba Dau Stone from 2016 up to now shows that hundreds of Chinese ships gathered at Da Ba Dau is a phenomenon that has only started to appear from February 2020. In previous years, Chinese fishing vessels had been anchored sporadically at Da Ba Dau but usually no more than 20 ships, and the ships had never been reassembled into such large structures. Monday According to satellite image data, the phenomenon of China massaging ships and boats mounted into structures at Ba Dau Stone since the beginning of 2020 has lasted for weeks or even months. Such a long gathering period was clearly not meant to avoid bad weather. Moreover, the mass gathering of ships only occurs at Da Ba Dau, while around the Sinh Ton island cluster there are many natural structures, also suitable for ships anchored to avoid weather. bad, but there were almost no ships anchored or sheltered there. Tuesday March and April each year is the quietest time of the year in the Trường Sa area of ​​the year. Vietnamese folk have a saying: “In March, the old woman goes to the sea”, this time is the calm sea season, even the old woman can go to the sea, so ships all choose this time to go fishing. The fact that China used the reasons for bad weather shelter is not only inconsistent with the satellite image data obtained, but also contrary to the natural laws of the area. New salami slicing strategy So what does China mean by gathering hundreds of fishing boats at Ba Dau Rock, with the number of years after the year being much higher than the previous year, as satellite image data shows? Maybe China’s goal is to establish a regular, large-scale presence in the Ba Dau Stone, turn this presence into a “normal” thing, gradually move towards fully taking control and possibly Illegally building and renovating this stone into a new military facility. This will be China’s new salami-sand tactic to effectively expand control of the South China Sea. It is likely that this tactic will use a large number of ships gathered in an area to obstruct the activities of countries, and at the same time, these ships can spread, encircle, harass or impede operations. of other countries in different structures. Professor Alexander L. Vuving of the Center for Asia-Pacific Security Research in Honolulu, USA, said that China may be using a tactic as used in Scarborough Shoal, to blatantly gain control. in the field at Ba Dau rock which has a strategic location. Beijing tried to take the stone in the 1990s, he warns, but with no success, but this time it may be different. Alexander reiterates that Vietnam was the first party to speak out about the Three Heads Stone, opposing China allowing troops to land on that entity in 1992, so China may have changed its tactics. It is also possible that another goal of China is to gather a large number of militia ships here to deter countries in the region during the sea season of fishermen, which is also the season when countries in the region deploy activities. oil and gas exploitation activities. Meanwhile, Grigory Lokshin, a Russian expert on the South China Sea, said that there is no doubt that this is a Chinese political action in response to the meeting of the new Quartet in Tokyo in March. by. And former director of the China Maritime Research Institute at the University of Maritime Warfare Peter Dutton said that Beijing is pressuring US allies in the South China Sea to send the implicit message: “China is strong and will do what Beijing wants, if needed, regardless of previous laws or commitments. Whatever the reason and the motive, China’s gathering of large numbers of ships in the Ba Dau Stone has once again raised concerns about China’s intentional goal in the region, undermining strategic confidence in when the region needs cooperation in economic recovery after the Covid-19 pandemic. This action is also unlikely to be considered a goodwill act in the context of ASEAN and China working to revive the negotiation process of the Code of Conduct in the South China Sea (COC). This behavior also violates the spirit of the Declaration of Conduct in the South China Sea (DOC), violates the principle of restraint not complicating the already increasingly complicated situation here, is the main cause of public opinion in the region. and international concerns and criticisms of China over the past time. (According to South China Sea Research)