# Vụ Bản district

Vụ Bản [vṵʔ˨˩:ɓa̰ːn˧˩˧] is a rural district of Nam Định province in the Red River Delta region of Vietnam.

## History

Before the land where is now the North Vietnam gained autonomy (ki-mi), the entire area surrounding the Đáy River was called as Hiển Khánh District. It means "the great joy".
About the Lý–Trần dynasties, Hiển Khánh was broken down into many new districts, including Thiên Bản District. It means "the root of heavenly religion". Particularly, the commune where was used to be the center of Hiển Khánh District was allowed to keep the old name.
In the 5th year of Yongle, the Ming dynasty changed its name to Yên Bản District, which means "the root of the tranquility".
About the years of Hồng Đức, name Thiên Bản was restored. It existed until 1861, when the Emperor Tự Đức proceeded to repair Thiên Bản into Vụ Bản, Thiên Thư into Vũ Thư, Thiên Thụy into Thái Thụy, Thiên Quan into Nho Quan and Thiên Nguyên into Thủy Nguyên.
According to the historical process from the 18th century to the present, the boundary of Vụ Bản District has almost unchanged in general. However, some areas adjacent to Nam Định City have been cut to Mỹ Lộc District to build national highways and railways.

## Geography

As of 2003 the district had a population of 130,672. The district covers an area of 148 km$^2$. The district capital lies at Gôi (from Côi Sơn, means "the one hill").
From 2024, Vụ Bản District has divided as :
* 1 municipality : Gôi capital-township.
* 13 communes : Cộng Hòa, Đại An, Đại Thắng, Hiển Khánh, Hợp Hưng, Kim Thái, Liên Minh, Minh Tân, Quang Trung, Tam Thanh, Thành Lợi, Trung Thành, Vĩnh Hào.

## Culture

During the 1920s the area was administered by the Vụ Bản district mandarin.
The district includes the Vân Cát temple.
This is also the place of growth of many celebrities in many fields : Official Lương Thế Vinh, teacher Phạm Văn Nghị, writer Nguyễn Năng Tĩnh, politician Trần Tiến Đình, official Nguyễn Đức Thuận, poet Nguyễn Bính, scholar Trần Huy Liệu, composer Văn Cao, musician Văn Ký, vocalist Kim Tước, author Vũ Tú Nam. Besides, ministers Nguyễn Cơ Thạch, Song Hào, Phạm Bình Minh, Bùi Văn Nam.
The most famous specialty from Vụ Bản District is Siuchau candy (kẹo Sìu-châu), in there, Siu-chau means Seochew. This dish consists of white rice wrapped in malt, peanuts, sesame, banana oil and lots of sugar, so it is also known as "sausage sugar" (kẹo dồi) or "spun sugar" (kẹo kéo). In addition, there are buffalo meat pho (phở trâu) and honey jackfruit (mít mật). The jackfruit when ripe will be dark yellow as royal jelly and sweet will be like honey, even its scent can be detected from one kilometer.
In the years of crop failure, Vụ Bản residents have processed small lizard meat, a very popular animal in family gardens. Only their back and abdomen are used. The meat is deeply stuffed into the banana trunk. That banana body is then burned black, so the meat will absorb banana oil to become fragrant and flexible. In there, fire is made of straw or bamboo leaf. This specialty (thăn-lằn om chuối) now always appears in large restaurants with not pleasant prices. However, in hot months, the consumption of lizards often is surprisingly high.

## Economy

Vụ Bản District has since been praised by historians as a rare and beautiful terrain in the Red River Delta from the far past. Because there is no high mountain and not divided by many rivers, Vụ Bản has the most rich wet rice industry in the North Vietnam.
However, everything has changed permanently since the early 20th century when the French began to pilot local industrial clusters. Smoke and wastewater mixed with concentrated chemicals not only pollute the air but also destroy the soil structure. From Vietnam's leading rich agricultural region, Vụ Bản's agricultural output could not even satisfy local food security.
Besides traditional wooden furniture manufacturing villages, Vụ Bản also has a very exciting waste treatment and recycling industry since the late 1980s. But in the roadmap from 2018 to 2038, the People's Committee of Nam Định Province co-operated with Japanese experts to prepare for the transition to the green industry to save the environment.