Philadelphia hosts int’l conference on Hanoi’s history

The Association for Asian Studies (AAS), which is an academic, professional organization open to people interested in studying Asia, held an international conference in the US city of Philadelphia on March 28 to feature Hanoi’s first millennium.
At the conference, Truong Quang Hoc from the Hanoi National University gave a presentation on Hanoi’s development over the past 1000 years from an ecological perspective.
Mr Hoc, who heads the Committee on Climate Change under the Vietnam Association for Safeguarding Nature and the Environment, said that Hanoi’s rivers and lakes have characterized the city, which is part of the wet rice civilization along the Red River.
However, he said, the number of lakes in the city had dropped from more than 600 in the early 20th century to only 44 in 2002. The surface area of these lakes has ‘shrunk’ and most of them have been polluted heavily, negatively affecting city people’s lives and threatening the city’s sustainable development.
Mr Hoc told reporters after the conference that King Ly Cong Uan’s decision to move the capital from Hoa Lu to Hanoi 1000 years ago was of strategic importance and paved the way for the country’s rapid development in the future. However, he stressed, the environmental issue has not yet been properly addressed. The recent expansion of Hanoi’s boundaries has made it easier to tackle the problem, but planners still need to make a greater effort to protect the city’s ecology and environment.
Meanwhile, researcher Chu Tuyet Lan from the Han-Nom Script Institute introduced Thang Long-Hanoi’s developmental history through various periods. In her speech, she emphasized that Hanoi has always remained the country’s cultural, political and economic centre despite being transferred many times. Hanoi’s historic and cultural heritage sites have been well preserved and the city has closely associated itself with the country’s long history.
Phan Phuong Thao, also from the Hanoi National University, spoke about the old quarter in Hanoi in the mid 20th century. Using detailed research on Hang Buom and Hang Bac streets, she described the main features of the ancient streets as well as their changes in appearance over the years.
An independent scholar, Truong Huyen Chi, delivered a presentation on changes in the language, lifestyle and culture of Hanoians and people originally from Hanoi who relocated to other localities or overseas. Her presentation suggests the thoughts of Hanoians who lived far from their homeland for many years through the story of a Hanoian man and woman who did just that.
This year's AAS meeting, held from March 25-28, helped foreign scholars know more about Thang Long-Hanoi on the occasion of its 1000th anniversary.
The AAS is the largest organization of its kind, with about 7,000 members, representing all the regions and countries of Asia and all academic disciplines.