Bach Y Cong Chua - The sacred temple at the foot of Hon Thang

The exterior of the main temple.

Spiritual legend

This temple was built during the Le Trung Hung period by a man named Ho from another place who came to recruit people to establish a hamlet and reclaim the land north of Gam hill and south of Hon Thang cave. The person who founded the temple was also the god of the founding of Ke Gang village, also known as Phuc Tang village, an ancient village of the old Quan Hoa commune, now part of Tang Thanh commune, Yen Thanh district (the name of the person who founded the temple is recorded in some books as Ho Lam, and in other books as Ho Truat).

The book on worshipping gods and legends of Nghe An, the genealogy of the Ho family written in Chinese characters as well as the history of the Ho family in Vietnam wrote that: Princess Bach Y, also known as Princess Thai Duong, was the daughter of Ho Quy Ly with both talent and beauty. The large inscription at the temple of the god in Hon Thang clearly states "Bach Y Tien Co", below is a small line "Ho Thi Hi Le dynasty decree letter of the highest rank god".

Statues of civil and military mandarins at the temple.

It is said that when Ho Quy Ly was the Grand Tutor of the Tran Dynasty and when he ascended the throne in 1400, he implemented many reform policies, including building many high walls, deep moats, and repairing roads, especially waterways, to prevent Ming invaders.

In Nghe An, he ordered the construction of Dai Hue citadel, Bau Dot base, and the dredging and expansion of Nha Le canal. The dredging of Nha Le canal, especially the section through Nghe An, had to be done urgently. Thousands of soldiers and laborers took turns to work hard. When digging to the section of Sat canal in front of Thuc An Duong Vuong temple, in Dien Chau prefecture, they encountered a section of hard rock because there was a lot of iron ore, the soldiers and laborers could not dig, and they encountered the scorching Lao wind.

Hunger and brutal beatings, cries of grievances were heard throughout the area, some people died of exhaustion by the canal. Many high-ranking officials in the court were sent by King Ho Quy Ly to supervise and command, but the work did not progress, the king had to send the princess to encourage and motivate.

When she arrived, the princess first picked up the zither to play some high and low tunes to encourage the laborers, but the sound of the zither was lost among the laborers' cries of grievance, so she went here and there to examine the situation, and everywhere she looked she saw hunger and misery everywhere. She thought that the work her father had proposed did not meet the people's wishes.

Feeling sorry for the people who had to work hard, she listened to the advice of a local herbalist and told the workers to pick dog fat leaves and throw them into the canal at night where there was iron ore. The dog fat leaves found the land where there was iron ore and leaked out a red water like blood that spread over a long stretch of the canal. She then spread the news that while digging the canal, she had encountered a bleeding Dragon's neck and had touched a dragon vein, and asked her father to stop the canal digging.

Tiger Statue and Temple Lower Hall.

The incident was discovered, Ho Quy Ly ordered the killing of his daughter to maintain strict law. That year, the princess was just 18 years old. Pitying the daughter of a noble family who had to suffer an unjust death because of her love for the people and soldiers, people in many villages in Thanh Hoa and Nghe An built temples to worship her.

Every night, along the canals where the princess used to pass through, and also in places where there are temples dedicated to the princess, the villagers often see the figure of a girl wearing white clothes passing by, as if her image had returned to bless and protect the villagers as when she was alive.

The sacred soul of Princess Bach Y not only protects and saves the people, but also assists heroes in times of danger.

The legends of the temples of Princess Bach Y in Thanh Hoa and Nghe An record a similar story as follows:

When the hero Le Loi rose up to fight the Ming invaders, in the early days of the uprising, he encountered many difficulties, there were many victories but also defeats. In a battle with the Ming invaders, he and his soldiers were defeated, Le Loi had to run into a forest, at first there were people protecting him, but later there was no one left, he had to run into a bush to hide.

When the Ming army surrounded the bushes and used spears, Le Loi had to wipe the blood off with his shirt, but the Ming army sent dogs to search. Suddenly, from a nearby bush, a white fox (some say a white weasel or a white stork) ran out. The whole pack of dogs chased after the white fox. The Ming army was so angry that they grabbed the dog and said, "I brought you here to hunt people, not foxes," and then killed the dog. Thanks to that, Le Loi escaped. That white fox was actually Princess Bach Y who had incarnated to help Le Loi.

Pack horse statue at the temple.

Love the people and build temples

In Nghe An, especially in the villages in the midlands, almost every village has a temple to worship Princess Bach Y. According to incomplete statistics, in Nghe An districts there are dozens of temples to worship Princess Bach Y, although the titles and names are different.

Accordingly, in some places it is the Bach Y Goddess, in others it is the Thai Duong Princess (Den Ne Temple on the Sat canal of Dien An, Dien Chau), in others it is the Bach Y Dai Vuong (Mai Hung, Hoang Mai), in Mau Long (Lien Thanh, Yen Thanh), popularly called Ba Ruoc Bach Y Princess.... the Le and Nguyen dynasties based on the miracles bestowed many royal decrees on the temples of Bach Y Princess.

Some places confer the title of Middle-class god and Upper-class god. People in Dien Chau and Yen Thanh regions still recite a verse expressing the people's love for the god who "protects the country and governs the people":

Why is there Tran Quoc Cong (Ho Quy Ly)?

Killing a noble lady is an injustice to a child.

Pity her young fate

Just eighteen years old, just full moon

Hand holding a cup of wine three moons

The lute she plays, sometimes lifting, sometimes moving

I love you so much my dear

Because the Iron Canal was not completed.

Kill the child to gain prestige

I suffered injustice but the river did not form.

So build a temple on the cliff

Worship from all directions has always been a tradition.

From the second princess, named Ho Thi Hi, daughter of King Ho Quy Ly, with a noble act, dared to stand up to protect the people, shelter the people but had to suffer an unjust death, entering the legend and folk literature, Princess Bach Y shines brightly in the spiritual life of the people.

But through the ups and downs of time, through the ups and downs of the times, most of the temples and shrines worshiping Princess Bach Y have been damaged, some only remaining in ancient village documents.

The temple of Bach Y Cong Chua at the foot of Hon Thang also suffered the same fate, at one point it became a ruin, but the strange thing is that even when the temple was severely damaged, with only the altar and four walls remaining, in war or peace, this temple has never been without people coming to burn incense and visit.

The entrance gate and ancient well of the temple.

The Bach Y Cong Chua Temple in Hon Thang is located next to a small stream, on the way to the forest entrance, in the middle of a lush green area. The temple still retains the remains of four old walls built of mountain stones and an ancient well, north of the temple. The old temple grounds are a two-room house, built along the mountainside, in the style of a front-edge and back-edge. The upper part of the river is 4 m wide, the lower part is 4.5 m wide, and 9.4 m long. In the 90s of the last century, Mr. Tran Van Chi - a retired engineer of Yen Thanh forestry farm, together with the villagers restored the temple, built walls, raised beams, tiled roofs, built two temple gate pillars, repaired the ancient well, and volunteered to burn incense and protect the temple for nearly 30 years.

In 2002, due to the increasing number of visitors and worshipers at the temple, especially on the first and fifteenth days of each month, especially on the Princess's death anniversary (February 13 of the lunar calendar) every year, nearly a thousand people from near and far came here to worship, pray for blessings, pray for children... so the temple keeper and villagers built a sanctuary in the back.

At the most solemn altar in the middle of the sanctuary is a statue of the goddess Bach Y Cong Chua. Above the statue is a large four-character inscription: "Bach Y Tien Co", below is a line of words "Ho Thi Hi, Le Trieu sac thu thuong dang than". (The content of this main entry is also recorded in the sacrificial text of Tong Quan Hoa, currently preserved at Gam pagoda, Xuan Thanh commune, Yen Thanh).

Altar of the goddess White Princess.

Tablet of Princess in White Robe.

From the temple gate to the main temple and the sanctuary, there are still many parallel sentences written in Chinese and Vietnamese characters:

- Incense of ten thousand spirits/Heroic spirit of thousand ancient temples

- The righteous protect the middle heaven/The intelligent support the filial piety

- Thanh Son scenic spot of eternal spring/Phuong Linh scenic spot of eternal ancient temple

(Thanh Son is Hon Thang, Phuong Linh is Ru Gam)

- The spirit protects the country's princess/The supreme god who saves the people

According to the elders, these parallel sentences have existed since the temple was built and have been passed down among the people, and have only recently been restored.

Over hundreds of years, from the Le Dynasty through the Nguyen Dynasty and up to now, the sacred temple of Bach Y Cong Chua still exists with the history and legend of the princess with a patriotic heart and love for her people. This is also a sacred address in the relic complex of Temple - Gam Pagoda in Yen Thanh.

In recent days, when Mr. Ho Thanh, a cultural officer of Tang Thanh commune, led me to visit the temple, I happened to read a few lines written on the wall of the temple: "Nam mo a di da phat. Currently, the lower shrine is seriously degraded. Waiting for the government will take a long time, so the temple must be repaired urgently, so I respectfully ask for the support of believers, many and few."

When asked about Mr. Tran Van Chi, who has volunteered to be the temple's guardian for decades, he said: "Except for days of heavy rain and strong winds, people come here to burn incense every day of the year. Now seeing the temple is severely damaged, I am so anxious that I write these lines hoping for a noble person to help me."

Panoramic view of the temple.

Indeed, among dozens of temples worshiping Princess Bach Y, only the temple in Hon Thang Tang Thanh remains. I think that the cultural authorities, authorities at all levels and descendants of the Ho family everywhere should come here to survey and have a plan to rank the relic, manage, restore and repair the temple to preserve a historical, cultural and spiritual relic worthy of a patriotic and people-loving god.