Thanh Dong's mark through photos

On October 17 and 18, on the occasion of the 220th anniversary of the founding of Thanh Dong (1804 - 2024) and the 70th anniversary of the liberation of Hai Duong city (October 30, 1954 - October 30, 2024), Hai Duong city organized many cultural, artistic, sports, display and exhibition activities.

I was particularly impressed with the exhibition and thematic activity “The Imprint of Thanh Dong” at the Xu Dong Cultural Center. This is one of the meaningful political activities, attracting the attention of many guests and people when coming to the Xu Dong Cultural Center.

At this exhibition, according to each theme, Hai Duong City has selected typical photos, arranged according to historical timeline. Whenever there are visitors, the tour guides take turns introducing each theme, the social context at that time and the circumstances of each photo from the founding of Thanh Dong to the achievements of socio-economic development of Hai Duong City today.

The land of Hai Duong, formerly known as the Eastern region with the center of Thanh Dong, has always been considered by dynasties as the eastern 'fence' of Thang Long Citadel. Because Hai Duong is located to the east of Thang Long Citadel, it is also the direction of the sunrise. Therefore, Hai Duong means "sunlight from the East Sea" or "light from the eastern coastal region". The tour guide opened like that to lead the story about Thanh Dong. Each story and each photo of Thanh Dong in the past - Hai Duong City today were introduced, recreating the heroic historical flow of Hai Duong City through the ages.

Many valuable photos about the city's history were displayed. These photos include: a map of the East Citadel in 1830, a panoramic view of the old East Citadel, the granary of the Hai Duong Wine Factory during the flood in 1926, people transporting rice to the Wine Factory in 1930, and two photos of the first primary schools in Hai Duong City, the Boys' Primary School (now To Hieu Primary School) and the Girls' School (now Vo Thi Sau Primary School).

Then there are images of soldiers taking over Hai Duong town in 1954, people giving flowers to soldiers taking over; Uncle Ho talking to cadres, party members and youth union of Hai Duong town in 1957 and photos of Uncle Ho visiting and encouraging cadres and workers of Hai Duong Porcelain Factory in 1962... All appear one by one, associated with each important historical milestone of the city.

I am a young citizen, not born and raised in Hai Duong City, but when visiting, looking at the photos and listening to the tour guide introduce the history of each photo, I understood more about the history of the formation and development of Hai Duong City. This way of doing things is more authentic, easier to understand, and easier to remember than reading each page of history.

In the current context, when the trend of accessing information through listening and seeing is more popular among young people and is faster than reading, this approach of Hai Duong City has brought about practical results. Thereby, each cadre, party member and all classes of people, tourists, especially the young generation, understand more about the historical tradition, the tradition of revolutionary struggle and the cause of building and defending the Fatherland of the people of Hai Duong City.

This is a good way of historical education. People and guests from the provinces and cities you visit all have their own feelings about Hai Duong City through the photos depicting the glorious and heroic history of the city.

Departments, branches, sectors and localities in the province can also refer to this method on important anniversaries.