XA TAC OFFERING TOWER ARCHEOLOGICAL VESTIGE

The Xa Tac Offering Tower archeological vestige is located in Xa Dan 1 alley, Nam Dong ward, Dong Da district, Hanoi city. In the Le Dynasty, this site belonged to Xa Dan ward, Huu Nghiem sub-district, Tho Xuong district. In 19th Century, Huu Nghiem sub-district was changed to Yen Hoa sub-district, Tho Xuong district, Hoai Duc sub-province, Hanoi province.

Historical materials all said that Xa Tac tower was built in 1084 under the Ly Thai Tong reign. The book “Đại Việt Sử Ký Toàn Thư” (Complete Annals of Đại Việt) said: “In the Mau Ty Lunar year, 5th year of the contemporary reign (1048), autumn, September, the Xa Tac offering tower was set up in Truong Quang Gate, to pray for good crops through 4 seasons”. The above lines shows that Xa Tac tower, besides Nam Giao tower, was one of the two important offering towers of the Dai Viet feudal nation for kowtowing the God of Earth and the God of Agriculture, who were important gods in ancient agricultural society of the Viet people. All the offering protocols here were of National level and normally chaired by the King himself; sometimes, a high ranking mandarin was authorized by the King to chair the offering ceremony. In Nguyen Dynasty, when Gia Long King moved the capital to Hue, Xa Tac tower in Thang Long was no longer used and gradually became ruins.

In the book “Hanoi in first half of 20th Century”, scholar Nguyen Van Uan wrote about the location of Xa Tac tower: “Back to the Ly – Tran Dynasties, that city gate (Cho Dua gate) had the name Truong Quang gate; in Later Le and Nguyen Dynasties, it was called Thinh Quang gate. The Xa Dan village had such name because in this location in the past there was the Xa Tac offering tower built in Ly Thai Tong Reign. The ancient Xa Tac tower area was a square and high land area, with two big Bombax ceiba trees nearby in the north of the village, near Dai La dyke; the foundation of the Xa Tac tower was destroyed from 1930; the villagers built gardens which completely covered this area).

Xa Tac tower was described in historical materials as an outdoor embarked work, consisting of two floors in square shape; the front side headed to the north. Both floors had brick railings around the boundary. There were footsteps in the middle of all four sides. The tower’s side estrade was about 28cm high; the top floor was about 1.6m high and was the position where the King and mandarins perform offering to the Gods. There are 32 stone pedestals to hold processional parasols. The Xa Tac tower boundary was limited by brick walls in square layout. The north side had 3 entrances, while the others had 1 entrance each. Outside of the boundary wall in the south, there was a partition wall.

Through historical ups and downs, especially after the capital was moved to Hue by the Nguyen Dynasty, Xa Tac tower gradually became deserted and disappeared due to urbanization.

In 2006, during building the new Xa Dan street, the trace of the Xa Tac tower was uncovered in Xa Dan 1 alley, Nam Dong ward. Immediately, the Xa Tac tower remains was excavated in an area of 1,068m2 under the chairing by Institute of Archeology in collaboration with Hanoi city People’s Committee, Department of Culture and Information, Dong Da district People’s Committee. Many relics dated to the periods of Phùng Nguyên cultureof Vietnam (2,000 - 1,500 BC) and Chinese domination of Vietnam (the first 10 A.D. centuries), especially, the trace of Xa Tac tower, which was the line of foundation with glazed terra-cotta pieces (dated to Ly Dynasty), thin bricks and tiles (dated to Tran Dynasty), wall foundation, path, yard and yard foundation (dated to Le Dynasty) were discovered. This confirmed the Xa Tac tower of Thang Long citadel was located in the same position in Ly – Tran – Le Dynasties, where Ly Thai Tong king chose to build it in 1048.

Above discoveries are specific material evidences for the supposition of the Historians about the location and scale of the Xa Tac offering tower in Thang Long – Hanoi; it can also be confirmed this is a special architectural form which played a critical role in spiritual life of Dai Viet feudal nation. Scholar Dao Duy Anh analyzed in his “Chinese – Vietnamese dictionary”: “Xa Tac refers to founding the country. If the country is lost, Xa Tac is lost. So, Xa Tac means the Country”. Historian Le Van Lan supposed: “In the old days, Xa Tac offering tower held a very holy position not only to the people but also to the royal dynasties and capitals of Vietnam and China; maintaining and conserving the Xa Tac tower means protecting the Country”.

Xa Tac offering tower was classified as National Archeological Vestige on 7th February 2007.