In its heyday in the 17th century, Pho Hien, in the Hai Hung province, ranked with major city centers like Thang Long and Hoi An. Hai Hung lies at the center of the Red River Delta, between Hanoi and Haiphong. Pho Hien was a foreign trade center, actively trading with countries in Southeast Asia and East Asia, as well as Holland, England, France and Portugal.

This book is a compilation of reports given at a seminar held in December 1992 in Hung Yen town, Hai Hung province. It focuses on the birth, growth and gradual decline of the area from the 13th through the 17th centuries. At this two day seminar 30 reports were presented by scientists from Vietnam and foreign countries dealing with Pho Hien from different angles including historical, archeological, ethnological, cultural, and research in archives and conservation.

The reports are classified in four chapters: the birth of Pho Hien, the socio-economic foundation of Pho Hien and its populations structure and cultural life, the relations of Pho Hien with the other areas in Vietnam and with foreign countries, the process of decline of Pho Hien and the preservation of existing vestiges.