Join hands to restore the sacred temple

Ancient vestiges

Visiting Duc Thinh hamlet, Hung Loc commune in November 2017, according to the elders, this place used to have the tomb and temple of Trung Quang Emperor Tran Quy Khoang - a king of the Later Tran Dynasty who had many contributions to the country and organized a resistance war against the Ming invaders. The elders said that Trung Temple, where Trung Quang Emperor was worshiped, was located next to his tomb. The tomb is still there, but the old temple only has traces.

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

The ancient Trung Temple was very large with 3 buildings: Ha, Trung, Thuong. Inside the temple, there were full statues, sacrificial objects, royal decrees of the Le and Nguyen dynasties... commensurate with his contributions. When the American invaders escalated their attacks on the North, the Trung Temple was destroyed by bombs, and the Ha, Trung, and Thuong buildings were all damaged.

During this period, the Hung Loc commune government temporarily used the temple's rafters, beams, columns, etc. to build the cooperative's warehouse. As for the sacrificial objects, statues, royal decrees, etc., they were moved to the Tran family temple (also in Duc Thinh hamlet) for preservation, waiting for the day when Trung Temple is restored to be brought back.

The tomb of Emperor Trung Quang in Duc Thinh hamlet is fortunately still intact. His tomb is in a rather splendid location, next to the street named after him: Tran Trung Quang. The tomb has now been invested in and renovated quite impressively. The tomb has a fence, a gate, an altar, elephants and horses, shady trees...

Coming to the tomb of Emperor Trung Quang Tran Quy Khoang, the scene was exactly as described by the elders of Duc Thinh hamlet, but all traces of Trung Temple were gone. Here, we met Mrs. Tran Thi Quyen (77 years old), a descendant of the Tran family of Duc Thinh hamlet.

When asked, Mr. Quyen talked about the nostalgia of the Tran family's descendants and the people of Hung Loc commune for the old temple. And he pointed to a dense bush behind the mausoleum about 100m and said:

“After the Trung Temple was damaged by bombs during the war, it was demolished to make a cooperative warehouse in that area. Over time, the warehouse also collapsed. Currently, the wooden furniture of the temple is still intact in the bushes. Because the temple is famous for its sacredness, no one dares to take it for use…”

Remaining wooden furniture of the ancient Trung Temple. Photo: Nhat Lan

Exploring the wooden objects of Trung Temple as Mrs. Tran Thi Quyen pointed out, in the dense vegetation there are indeed many rafters, beams, columns... Although they have been damaged by time, the traces of wood carving art often seen in temples are clearly visible in these wooden objects...

Coming to the headquarters of Hung Loc commune right after that, the officials here confirmed that the restoration of Trung Temple is the wish of the descendants of the Tran family and all the cadres and people of Hung Loc commune. Because this wish is completely legitimate, the Party Committee and the government of Hung Loc commune have sent a written request to the higher authorities for quite a long time.

In 2014, the Provincial People's Committee issued Official Dispatch No. 5113/UBND-VH agreeing to the policy of restoring Trung Temple with funding determined from socialization and part of the budget of Vinh City People's Committee and Hung Loc Commune People's Committee.

The plan to restore Trung Temple was later approved by the relevant departments and authorities. However, the restoration of Trung Temple encountered financial difficulties and was delayed, even though the Hung Loc commune government called for socialized work to restore the temple...

Join hands to restore the sacred temple

Coming to Hung Loc commune on this occasion, the local officials said that with the initial contributions of the descendants of the Tran family and the cadres and people in the commune, the Upper Palace of Trung Temple is being built. Thus, the wish of the descendants of the Tran family and all the cadres and people of Hung Loc commune to restore Trung Temple has begun to be realized.

The Upper Palace of Trung Temple is under construction. Photo: Nhat Lan

Arriving at the tomb of Emperor Trung Quang Tran Quy Khoang, the construction of the Upper Palace of the Middle Temple has reached the completion stage. The Upper Palace was located on the old land with a fairly large area, right behind his tomb area. The Upper Palace was built with concrete according to ancient architecture, with a sanctuary, 18 columns and 4 curved roofs.

According to Vice Chairman of Hung Loc Commune People's Committee, Mr. Le Duy Thanh, the Upper Temple has an area of ​​about 80 square meters, with a total construction cost of about 950 million VND. When the Upper Temple is completed, the commune government will use the adjacent land on the right side, managed by the commune, to make a parking lot for visitors; at the same time, there is a plan to expand the left side so that the temple grounds have more width facing Tran Trung Quang Street.

Also here, Mr. Le Duy Thanh also said that after completing the construction of the Upper Temple and auxiliary systems such as fences, parking lots, etc., the Hung Loc commune government will propose to functional agencies and all levels to consider and re-recognize the historical and cultural relic for Trung Temple.

Mr. Thanh said: "After being recognized as a historical and cultural relic, Hung Loc commune will proceed to completely restore the Trung and Ha palaces to satisfy the wishes of the Tran descendants and the people of the whole commune..."

The upper temple of Trung Temple seen from the tomb of Emperor Trung Quang Tran Quy Khoang. Photo: Nhat Lan

Regarding Trung Temple and the Tran family in Hung Loc commune, we have heard many stories about Trung Temple having its Certificate of National Historical and Cultural Relic revoked. This story happened quite a long time ago. At that time, the cultural sector established a dossier on the relic "Tomb and Temple of Tran Quy Khoang" and was recognized as a national relic by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism.

Then, from the land litigation related to the Tran family's temple relic land, the central agencies realized that the relic records had some inaccuracies.In 2010, the historical relic "Tomb and Temple of Tran Quy Khoang" had its recognition revoked by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism.

But because Tran Quy Khoang is a real historical figure, 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 be responsible for preserving them. By 2014, there was a policy to agree to restore Trung Temple.

In Hung Loc commune these days, we met some individuals who are descendants of the Tran family who contributed to the restoration of Trung Temple. Mr. Tran Trung Du, Vice Chairman of the Tran Family Council of Hung Loc commune, is one of them.

Mr. Du said that his father was assigned by the Family Council to preserve and maintain 3/12 royal decrees bestowed on Trung Temple by previous kings. After decades, these 3 royal decrees have been preserved intact by his family.

Mr. Tran Trung Du introduces the royal decree of the Le Dynasty for Trung Temple. Photo: Nhat Lan

Mr. Du showed us 3 royal decrees (1 royal decree from the Le Dynasty, 2 royal decrees from the Nguyen Dynasty) and told us about the descendants of the Tran family in Hung Loc commune from all over the country who donated to restore Trung Temple.

He said: “Tran Quy Khoang was the last king of the Tran Dynasty, who led the resistance against the invading Ming. Although the resistance failed, it was the foundation for the Le Dynasty to drive out foreign invaders and gain independence for the country. His famous mandarins such as Nguyen Bieu, Dang Tat... after their deaths all had a worthy place of worship. Why doesn't he have this until now? As his descendants, how can we bear to think about this? Therefore, during the difficult time of the country, we mobilized each other to donate to rebuild Trung Temple, so that he could have a place of worship. We also came here to gather and build solidarity within the family...”.

The words of Mr. Tran Trung Du, as a confession on behalf of the descendants of the Tran family in Hung Loc commune. I think that the efforts to restore Trung Temple are very meaningful. Because in the flow of history of the nation, Emperor Trung Quang Tran Quy Khoang is a historical figure worthy of being honored; and because of the efforts to restore Trung Temple, it further illuminates the morality of "When drinking water, remember its source" of the Vietnamese people...