Hanoi

“ About 6 o'clock in the evening the open cafés and restaurants along the sidewalk are lined with groups of men and women playing cards and dice and drinking gin and bitters, vermouth or absinthe. There is an air of happiness and life about Hanoi which is typically Parisian and even during war time it is a city of gayety. An immense theater stands in the center of the town, but has not been opened since the beginning of the war. ”

“ An earlier version of Hanoi, the dominant delta-region settlement for the Red River in what is now northern Vietnam. The route would almost certainly have involved descending to the Red River, probably down one of the valleys in the general vicinity of Jianshui or Gejiu, probably after moving south from the lakes of central Yunnan via Tonghai, then following the Red River either by foot and mule or perhaps even descending by boat. ”

“ If you will so greatly honor me, pray come at your convenience. We live simply, cozily, going nowhere. The railroad is finished, and you may come to Hué either from Hanoi or from Saigon. As the seat of government is in the northern capital at this season, you may find Hanoi more convenient.
I am, dear colleague, your very humble letter-friend,
Jean Marie Marquet.
Kent whistled thoughtfully over this letter. Then he went down to the information desk and made some inquiries.
The result of these inquiries was fairly astonishing. Yes, Dr. Marquet was quite a famous man. He lived in Hué. ”

“ While Hanoi's environs were extremely wet — in fact essentially swamp-like — this is not present in the text, which literally says (city) (pond or lake) . Hanoi's water bodies have reduced significantly over time as drainage has occurred — these developments are reviewed cartographically in Jim Goodman's A Dragon Still Ascending: 1000 Years of Hanoi, Thé̂ Giới Publishers (2010) , ISBN: 9786047700967 (paperback; 260 pp., ill., maps) .↑ ie. ”

“ The Asiatic population of Hanoï is very dense, and in 1902 consisted of 100,000 Annamese and 3,500 Celestials. According to the returns, there were 6,110 native houses in the city, covering a total area of about 165 acres.
The French may well be proud of the European quarter of the capital of Tonquin, for its fine, well-laid-out boulevards and streets, handsome public buildings, big shops, comfortable hotels and well-appointed cafés would do honour to the prèfecture towns of Southern France, such as Arles, Avignon, or Montpelier. ”

“ Though the principal thoroughfares of the town do not present the busy appearance of our Eastern commercial centres, such as Singapore or Hong-Kong, and one does not meet the hurrying throngs that give to these two cities the characteristics of Anglo-Saxon activity, yet the prospect of the Rue Paul Bert, the principal street at Hanoï, at the hour of the aperitif, is extremely pleasing, and reminds one of the Parisian boulevards. ”

“ The French resumed their work of conquest in 1882, again taking the city of Hanoi, and in December, 1883, a strong expedition advanced up the Red River against the stronghold of Sontay, which, with the neighboring Bac Ninh, was looked upon, in a military sense, as the key to Tonquin. The enterprise seemed a desperate one, the expeditionary force consisting of but 6,000 soldiers and 1,350 coolies, while behind the strong works of the place were 25,000 armed men, of whom 10,000 were composed of the valiant Black Flags. But cannon served the place of men. ”

“ The primary question concerning Hanoi's role in the origins of the insurgency is not so much whether it played a role or not — the evidence of direct North Vietnamese participation in subversion against the Government of South Vietnam is now extensive — but when Hanoi intervened in a systematic way. Most attacks on U.S. policy have been based on the proposition that the DRV move on the South came with manifest reluctance, and after massive U.S. intervention in 1961. ”

“ On the return of Dupuis to Hanoi, the Tongkingese general at that place wrote to the king of Annam, begging him to induce the governor of Cochin-China to remove the intruder. An order was thereupon issued calling upon Dupuis to leave the country. This he declined to do, and, after some negotiations, Francis Garnier with a detachment was sent to Hanoi to do the best he could in the difficult circumstances. ”

“ But the decree of the 8th of August 1898 established one court of appeal for French Indo-China: two chambers sitting at Saigon and the other two at Hanoi. Three tribunals of commerce are established at Saigon, Hanoi and Hai-Phong. There are courts of first instance at Saigon, My-Tho, Vinh-Long, Ben-Tre, Chau-Doc, Kantho, Soc-Trang, Tra-vinh, Long-Xuyen for Cochin-China, at Pnom-Penh for Cambodia, and at Hanoi and Hai-Phong for Tongking. These courts are supplemented by juges de paix in Cochin-China, and there are juges de paix at Nam-Dinh (Tongking) and Tourane ”

“ I emphasized that we had nothing particular to gain in Cambodia but that we could not simply abandon our friends. I stated that we had nothing against Sihanouk but thought he should lead a balance of forces and not be a figurehead completely dependent on forces controlled by Hanoi. ”

“ The Route Mandarine, beginning at Saigon, hugs the shores of the China Sea and, after traversing twelve hundred miles of jungle, forest and mountain land in Annam and Tongking, comes to an end at Hanoi, the capital of Indo-China. The entire length of the Route Mandarine may now be traversed by auto-bus—an excellent way to see the country provided you are inured to fatigue, do not mind the heat, and are not over-particular as to your fellow passengers. A motor car is, of course, more comfortable and more expensive; a small one can be rented for ninety dollars a day. ”

“ More recently, a differing interpretation has been offered, which holds that the Hanoi leaders were in those years motivated primarily by their concern for internal development, and that they, therefore, turned to the Soviet Union as the only nation willing and able to furnish the wherewithal for rapid economic advancement. ”

“ Early in 1886 he was appointed resident-general in Annam and Tonkin, and died of dysentery at Hanoi on the 11th of November of that year. But he was more distinguished as a man of science than as a politician or administrator. ”

“ In the centre of the European quarter of Hanoï there is a lake. The borders of this are covered with trees and shrubs and laid out with paths framed in verdure, so that the effect of the whole is charming. There are two small islands on the lake, and on each of these is a small pagoda. On the largest island, which can [Pg 369] be reached by a fine native bridge, about 30 yards long, built of ironwood, is a beautiful, though small, specimen of a native temple, known as the pagoda of the isle of Jade, and for the last five hundred years it has been the rendezvous for the literati of the capital. ”

“ Proponents of both interpretations conclude that Hanoi's predilection for the USSR was ipso facto a deferral of support for the insurgency in the South. But the evidence supports a third interpretation. It is quite possible that the DRV leaders sought and won Soviet support be cause they found it impossible amicably to set priorities between internal and external national objectives. ”

“ The religion of the majority is Buddhism, but the educated classes hold the doctrines of Confucius. The principal towns are Hanoi, the capital of Tonquin, and Huë, the capital of the kingdom and formerly of the whole empire. Annam was conquered by the Chinese in 214 B.C., but in A.D. 1428 it completely won its independence. The French began to interfere actively in its affairs in 1847 on the plea of protecting the native Christians. By the treaties of 1862 and 1867 they obtained the southern and most productive part of Cochin-China, subsequently known as French Cochin-China ”

“ The French name is Tonquin," (and he gave the French pronunciation) . "It is larger than Cochin China; and we apply this name to what you designate as French Cochin China, for it has an area of 34,740 square miles, and a population supposed to be about 9,000,000. Its chief town is Hanoï, consisting of a number of villages, with 150,000 inhabitants; and its chief seaport is Hai-Phong. There has been war going on against the people of this country for many years." ”

“ From the delta northward and westward rise plateau districts, while westward of 103 E. long, there stretches a forest region about which very little is known, but which is said by the natives to be inhabited only by savages and wild beasts.
Politically the country is divided into sixteen provinces, of which the following seven are in the delta mentioned: Bac-ninh, Sontay, Hanoi, Hai-Dzuong, Hung-yen, NamDinh, and Ninh-Binh. Five provinces constitute the upland districts, viz., Cao-Banh, Lang-son, Thai-Nguyen, Tuyen-Kwan, and Kwang-yen; while the forests form the province of Hung-hoa. ”

“ Hami, China. 43N. 94E. Described in the 'Travels of Marco Polo.'
Hang-Chau, China. 30N. 120E. Capital of Che-kiang. Visited by Marco Polo and Barrow. Successfully stormed by Taiping rebels, 1861; open to foreign trade and res., 1896. (See 'Travels of Marco Polo,' Little's 'Far East.')
Han-kau ('Han-mouth') , China. 31N. 114E. Greatest commercial city of empire; mentioned by F. J. Little in 'The Far East.'
Hanoi ('within the river') , Indo-China. 21N. 106E. F. by a Chinese governor, c. 767, became capital of Annam. Citadel built in 808. Contains a colossal Buddha, also statue to Paul Bert. ”

“ The pueblo called Hano is one of three villages on the East Mesa of Tusayan and contained, according to the writer's census of 1893, a population of 163 persons. It was settled between the years 1700 and 1710 by people from Tcewadi, a pueblo situated near Peña Blanca on the Rio Grande in New Mexico. Although only six persons of pure Tanoan ancestry are now living at Hano, the inhabitants still speak the Tewa dialect and claim as kindred the peoples of San Juan, Santa Clara, San Ildefonso, Pojoaque, Nambe, and Tesuque. ”

“ In more ways than one Hankow is a remarkable town. It is, according to the members of the Blackburn Commercial Mission, "the greatest centre of distribution in the empire." Its position is certainly unique. Situated at the junction of the Han river with the Yang-tsze, 600 miles from the coast, it is nevertheless visited by ocean-going steamers at certain seasons of the year, and is at all times in communication with Shanghai and the sea through the medium of a perfect flotilla of river steamers of considerable speed and size. ”

“ The Tewa of Hano call the Hopi Koso, and the Hopi speak of the Hano people as the Towa or the Hanum-nyûmû. The word "Moki," so constantly used by white people to designate the Hopi, is never applied by the Hopi to themselves, and they strongly object to it. The dead are said to be moki, which enters into the formation of verbs, as tconmoki, to starve; tcinmoki, to be very lonesome, etc. The name Hano or Hanoki is, I believe, simply a combination of the words Hano and ki, "eastern pueblo." ”

“ Hankow also derives great advantage from its position—denoted by its name—at the mouth of the Han, one of the Yangtse's greatest tributaries, itself navigable for native cargo boats for no less than 1,200 miles. Finally, Hankow is at present the terminus of China's only trunk railway, that by which I travelled from Peking, and it will soon be similarly connected with Canton in the south. It is perhaps no exaggeration to say that there is hardly a city in the whole world that has a greater commercial and industrial future before it than Hankow. ”

“ A casual visitor to the East Mesa would not notice any difference between the people of Hano and those of Walpi, and in fact many Walpi men have married Tanoan women and live in their village. The difference of idiom, however, is immediately noticeable, and seems destined to persist. Almost every inhabitant of Hano speaks Hopi, but no Hopi speaks or understands Tewa. ”

“ And other memories recur and struggle with one another; the crowded river-streets of Canton, the rafts and houseboats and junks innumerable, riding over inky water, begin now to twinkle with a thousand lights. They are ablaze in Osaka and Yokohama and Tokio, and the swarming staircase streets of Hong Kong glitter with a wicked activity now that night has come. I flash a glimpse of Burmese temples, of villages in Java, of the sombre purple masses of the walls of the Tartar city at Pekin with squat [Pg 222] pagoda-guarded gates. ”

“ To the imagination of the ignorant populace of Korea, who can have no conception of what real civic beauty and decency are in these modern days, and who are accustomed to express themselves with Oriental hyperbole, Han-yang is the "Observation of all Nations," the King's city in the clouds," "a city that spirits regard and ghosts conceal" ”

“ The missionaries at Hankow inform me that for months they are compelled to use canoes for travel on their streets. It was the busiest season (May) when I reached Hankow, which until recently was the most interior treaty port of the Empire. It is separated from Han Yang and Wa-Chang by the Yang-tse-Kiang and Han rivers, and each of them is an immense city. There are some two hundred foreigners here. The Bund (River) St. has houses only on one side, and is the finest in China. It stands 50 feet above the river, which for half a mile is faced with splendid stone masonry. ”

“ The official name of the new empire is Dai Han or Ta Han, that is, the Great Han, single and sovereign, as contrasted with the three (San Han) of ancient history. With this royal act vanished from history the strangest anomaly in diplomacy, and one of the last of the dual sovereignties in Asia. Furthermore, from this time forth, the whole tissue and complexion of Corean politics altered. The native scholars began to seek a new intellectual climate and the culture of the West. Scores of students were sent abroad and many foreigners were employed, as in the new Japan of 1868. ”