When will the Trung Temple be restored?

(Baonghean) - Regarding the restoration of Trung Temple relic, in October 2017, Nghe An Newspaper received a petition from a representative of the Tran family (Hung Loc commune) requesting to determine and mark the boundary of the Tran family temple.

Fading traces

Coming to Hung Loc commune, Vinh city, following the request of the representative of the Tran family in Duc Thinh hamlet, the place we wanted to visit was the historical relic chain of Emperor Trung Quang Tran Quy Khoang including the Tomb, Tran family temple and Trung Temple. However, the Tomb and the temple are still there, but there is no trace of Trung Temple.

The tomb of Emperor Tran Quy Khoang in Duc Thinh hamlet, Hung Loc commune, Vinh city. Photo: Nhat Lan

When asking the elders of Duc Thinh village, they said that the ancient Trung Temple was located next to the tomb of Emperor Trung Quang. The temple was very large in scale with 3 buildings: Ha, Trung, Thuong, and full of statues, sacrificial objects, royal decrees... commensurate with the merits of a king.

During the war, the temple was destroyed by American bombs, so the buildings were damaged. Therefore, the Hung Loc commune government at that time used the temple's rafters, beams, columns... to build the cooperative's warehouse. As for the sacrificial objects, statues, royal decrees..., they were transferred to the Tran family temple for preservation, waiting for the day when Trung Temple was restored to be brought back.

Visiting the Tomb of Emperor Trung Quang, in Duc Thinh hamlet, in a quite scenic location next to the street named after him - Tran Trung Quang. The tomb was invested in and built quite impressively, in addition to the tomb there is also a gate, an altar, a fence, shady trees... But the vestiges of Trung Temple located next to the tomb as described by the elders of Duc Thinh hamlet are no longer there.

When asked, Mrs. Tran Thi Quyen, 77 years old, in Duc Thinh hamlet, pointed out a dense clump of bushes about 100m behind the mausoleum and said: After being damaged by bombs and bullets during the war, Trung Temple was demolished to build a cooperative warehouse in that area. But over time, the warehouse also collapsed. Currently, in the bushes, the wooden objects of the temple are still intact. Because the objects of the temple are sacred, no one dares to take them...

Together with Vice Chairman of Hung Loc commune, Mr. Le Duy Thanh explored the wooden objects of Trung Temple as Mrs. Tran Thi Quyen had pointed out. In that dense grove of trees, there were indeed many rafters, beams, columns... Although they had been damaged by time, the traces of wood carving art often seen in temples were clearly visible in these wooden objects...

Tran family's feelings

Meeting with the representatives of the Tran family in Hung Loc commune, they told us many related stories that happened more than ten years ago. From the cultural sector establishing a dossier for the relic "Tomb and Temple of Tran Quy Khoang", which was then recognized as a national relic by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism; to the land litigation related to the land of the Tran family's ancestral temple by a member of the family, which led to the central agencies discovering that the dossier for this relic had serious errors, and the historical relic "Tomb and Temple of Tran Quy Khoang" had its recognition certificate revoked by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism in 2010.

Then, because Tran Quy Khoang is a historical figure with great contributions to the country, the chain of relics associated with this king including the mausoleum, Tran family temple and Trung Temple are real, so the Provincial People's Committee directed the authorities of Vinh city and Hung Loc commune to have the responsibility to preserve and protect them.

The wooden objects are the remaining ruins of the Trung Temple. Photo: Nhat Lan

Representatives of the Tran family in Hung Loc commune, including Mr. Tran Cu Hai, Tran Dinh Dieu, Tran Thuc My... discussed that, up to now, the land dispute between two families in the family related to the church land has not been completely resolved.

Therefore, the land of the Tran Family Temple relic has not yet been determined by the Vinh City government for its boundaries and field markers. According to Mr. Tran Thuc My, there are many legal bases for determining the boundaries and marking the boundaries of the Tran Family Temple relic. These are the record of inventorying the current status of the Tran Quy Khoang relic, the record of delineating the relic's protection area, Decision 487 dated January 20, 2011 of the Provincial People's Committee assigning the Vinh City People's Committee to re-measure the land of the Tran Family Temple relic...

Therefore, along with the wish that Trung Temple be restored so that the chain of relics related to Emperor Tran Quy Khoang can be completed, we request the People's Committee of Vinh City to determine the boundary and set up field markers for the Tran Family Temple.

Mr. Tran Thuc My said: “The City Court is handling the land dispute between two families in the clan. But the Court determined that the separation of the land with the Tran family temple from the disputed land area is not considered. Therefore, the City People's Committee needs to carry out the field marking. This is also the direction of the Provincial People's Committee in recent years...”.

When will the Trung Temple be restored?

In Hung Loc commune and related agencies, there are many documents related to the relic of Trung Quang De Tran Quy Khoang. These documents show that the determination of boundaries and setting of field markers for the Tran family temple has been carried out many times by the People's Committee of Vinh city and related agencies but has not been successful, because the land plot with the Tran family temple is located in the disputed land plot; the map of the protected area of ​​the relic does not show the boundary markers and dimensions of all corners of the land plot, so determining the boundary and markers is difficult.

According to the representative of Hung Loc commune, the land dispute case related to the Tran family temple is currently being handled by Vinh City Court. Therefore, to determine the boundary and mark the Tran family temple, we need to wait for the results from Vinh City Court.

According to Mr. Nguyen Van Ha - Chairman of Hung Loc Commune People's Committee, the legal basis for the restoration of Trung Temple has been basically completed. However, to restore Trung Temple, it is necessary to call for funding from social sources. Hung Loc Commune authorities have called for social work to restore the temple, but still face many difficulties.

Trung Temple, as determined by the People's Committee of Hung Loc Commune, Vinh City People's Committee and the Department of Culture and Sports, is the place to worship Emperor Tran Quy Khoang, the leader of the movement against the Ming invaders in the 15th century; the restoration of Trung Temple is the wish of the descendants of the Tran family as well as the people of Hung Loc Commune.

In the documents of Vinh City People's Committee, Department of Culture and Sports and Provincial People's Committee related to the restoration of Trung Temple, the funding source, in addition to calling for socialization, also identified a part from the budget of Vinh City and Hung Loc Commune.

Therefore, it is hoped that the Vinh city government and Hung Loc commune, in addition to calling for socialization, will consider and develop a plan to allocate initial capital from the budget to partially restore the site; at the same time, call on descendants of the family living across the country to contribute, so that Emperor Trung Quang Tran Quy Khoang can have a place of worship commensurate with the contributions of this famous person to the country.

Nhat Lan