Land Situation around the Tay Do Citadel (Through Some Land Registers under the Minh Mang Reign)

Abstract

The erection of the Tay Do citadel in 1379 by Ho Quy Ly turned the district of Vinh Loc in Thanh Hoa Province into a political and military centre of the country. Despite its short-lived function as the capital of the kingdom of Dai Ngu (1400-1407), Tay Do capital has brought many changes into this area, especially in term of the land situation in the surrounding villages such as Tay Giai, Phuong Giai and Dong Mon. According to the land registers of the above-mentioned villages preserved at the National Archival No.1, until the early nineteenth century, there still remained remarkable marks of this once politico-military centre. This area had little cultivation land. Consequently, land possession was far from developed and land was mainly used to build public works.