Diễn Châu district Huyện Diễn Châu | |
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 People's Committee of Diễn Châu district. | |
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| Nickname: "The Land of Learning" (Đất học xứ Nghệ) | |
| Motto: "Peace on the big waves" (Bình yên trên ngọn sóng cả) | |
 Interactive map of Diễn Châu district | |
| Country |  Vietnam |
| Region | North Central Coast |
| Province | Nghệ An |
| Establishment | May 22, 1969 |
| Central agency | Block 3, Diễn Châu Township |
| Government | |
| • Type | District People's Committee |
| • Chairman | Tăng Văn Luyện |
| • Vice-Chairmen | Phan Xuân Vinh Phạm Xuân Sánh Lê Mạnh Hiên |
| Area | |
• Total | 33,262 km2 (12,843 sq mi) |
| Population (2018) | |
• Total | 284,300 |
| • Density | 857/km2 (2,220/sq mi) |
| Time zone | UTC+07:00 (Indochina Time) |
| ZIP code | 425 |
| Website | Dienchau.Nghean.gov.vn Dienchau.Nghean.dcs.vn |
Diễn Châu is arural district ofNghệ An province in theNorth Central Coast region ofVietnam.
Diễn Châu is respected as one of the oldest lands inVietnam, where theVietnamese people have begun to form. It has at least 1,500 years from the historic records.
Before theSui dynasty, this area was almost abandoned and was the intersection between theChinese empire and theChampa kingdom. Afterward, theTang dynasty created the Diễn Châu place in their most prosperous period, but this land was only considered a non-important area ofHoan Châu. However, this land became especially famous for an unusual event. It was theshipwreck in 676 related to the poetWang Bo. Currently, his grave (Vương Bột chi mộ) is located in the border between Diễn Châu andNghi Lộc.[1] In that place, the people set up the temple, even sculpt Wang Bo and his father Wang Fuzhi. This area was once an important spiritual place for authors and scholars fromNghệ An andHà Tĩnh.[2][3]
During a thousand years ofAnnam'smonarchy, Diễn Châu has grown rapidly to become one of the elite lands of the empire. It has many people passing theimperial exams,royal officials,scholars,poets andwriters. That is why Nghệ An people have given it the nickname "the land of learning".
Besides, Diễn Châu is also known as the residence of the Trần clan,[4] those who are the descendants ofLater Lê dynasty martial mandarinTrần Nguyên Hãn. According to thegenealogy, when EmperorLê Thái Tổ began to doubt Trần Nguyên Hãn's loyalty, the general took the initiative to take his wife and three sons fromThanh Hoa prefecture to the beach where is present Diễn Châu to flee. They had the merit of reclaiming and built the village, then became theancestor of a large clan inNghệ An province.
In the meeting took place on themorning of August 16, 2023, the People's Committee ofNghệ An province issued thedecision to approve the planning for construction of Diễn Châu rural district, Nghệ An province, in the time of 2021-2030, with vision to 2050, in which the orientation of Diễn Châu construction becomes a town at the town level before 2030.[5] The purpose of this project is to make Diễn Châu a new center offinance,economy,trade,culture andtourism of the whole province.
Diễn Châu's area is located on the most important road (đường cái quan) ofVietnam since theMiddle Ages, so it possesses a treasure of extremely special and equally complicatedcustoms andtraditions.
According to what has been handed down for a long time, Peacock Temple (đền Cuông) is the place to worshipAn Dương Vương, who has chosen Diễn Châu beach as a place to kill himself when losing the country. Inside the behind palace of the temple there is a headpiece statue, which is said to be princessMaechau, who was executed by her father to be guillotine because she accidentally helped her husband to harm her father. In a distant yard of the temple, there is a deepwell, which is said to symbolize regret, because royal's groomTrọng Thủy committed suicide there because of his wife missing his wife. The reason is called the Peacock Temple because Maechau wore a shirt woven withpeacockfur to be able to spread them on the fleeing path, and that helped Trọng Thủy found once again found her and her father. The temple is located in Diễn An commune, 1A National Route fromVinh toHanoi. Its festival takes place on the 13-14-15th oflunar calendar every year.
Besides, this rural district is also famous for its activities such asfolk songs, tellingjokes,wrestling,tugging,modeling competitions...
The other feature of Diễn Châu is the richness of the units called as thetrade village (làng nghề), which is similar to theHanseatic League. Accordingly, eachvillage has its own basic profession, accompanied by traditions in the code of conduct and professional secrets. Some examples : Bronze casting, iron forging, lime, silkworm raising, weaving, sedge carpet, molasses, rice noodles...
According to a report from theNghệ An Provincial Party Committee in 2021,[6] Diễn Châu has 34,058 people who areCatholic, in addition, there are 11,000 people claiming to beBuddhist followers. Đông Tháp Parish is part ofVinh Diocese, what has all 10 parish areas. Its current shepherd isBishopAntôn Nguyễn Văn Đính.
Diễn Châu is adjacent to the rural districtsYên Thành (West),Nghi Lộc (South) andQuỳnh Lưu (North). The East of this rural district looks out of the Diễn Châu Bay (vũng Diễn Châu), which is a part of theTonkin Gulf.
As of 2018 the district had a population of 284,300.[7] Of which, up to 15% of the population is theCatholic. The district covers an area of 331.62 km2. The district capital lies at Diễn Châu Township.[7]
19°00′00″N105°33′00″E / 19.000°N 105.550°E /19.000; 105.550
Districts ofNorth Central Coast of Vietnam | ||
|---|---|---|
| Thanh Hóa province |  | |
| Nghệ An province | ||
| Hà Tĩnh province | ||
| Quảng Bình province | ||
| Quảng Trị province | ||
| Huế |
| |
※ denotes provincial seat. | ||