Dau Temple - A place to store secret documents and hold meetings in the years 1930 - 1931

Dau Temple is currently located on Dong Truoc mountain in hamlet 13, Thanh Ha commune.Thanh Chuong district, Nghe An. Over hundreds of years, the place name has changed many times but the location of the relic remains the same as the original.

In the 6th year of Canh Thinh (1798), the temple belonged to Bach Thach village, Hoang Xa commune, Vo Liet canton, Thanh Chuong district, Duc Quang prefecture, Nghe An town. During the Nguyen Dynasty, the temple belonged to Bach Thach village, Hoang Xa commune, Vo Liet canton, Anh Son prefecture, Nghe An province. After the August Revolution of 1945 to 1954, the relic belonged to Khanh Lac village, Kim Bang commune, Vo Liet canton, Thanh Chuong district, Nghe An.

Since 1954, Kim Bang commune was divided into 4 communes: Thanh Minh, Thanh Tan, Thanh Long, Thanh Ha; the temple belongs to Khanh Lac village, Thanh Ha commune. In 1969-1984, Khanh Lac village was changed to Kim Tuyen village; Thanh Long commune merged with Thanh Ha commune to become Quang Xa commune; the relic belongs to Kim Tuyen village, Quang Xa commune, Thanh Chuong.

From October 1984 to present, Quang Xa commune was divided into two communes Thanh Long and Thanh Ha; the relic belongs to hamlet 13, Thanh Ha commune, Thanh Chuong, Nghe An.

Dau Temple is the place to worship Duke Dau Ba Toan. He was born in the year of Canh Ty (1720) in Nhu Kinh commune, Gia Lam district, Kinh Bac region. Dau Ba Toan was the only son of Mr. Dau Ba Tuan, originally from Nhu Kinh, who served as an official under the reign of King Le Du Tong (1706-1728).

Born and raised in a wealthy family, his father was a mandarin in the court, so he had the opportunity to study and soon mastered literature and martial arts. In the year Canh Than (1740-1786), he joined the army. Being good at martial arts, he quickly joined the ranks of Hoang Ngu Phuc, a famous good general under Trinh Doanh. From then on, he had the opportunity to study, practice and was increasingly trusted by the Le-Trinh dynasty.

In the year of Quy Mui (1763), the Le-Trinh dynasty opened a martial arts examination to recruit talented people. Dau Ba Toan took the exam and passed. He became a powerful general of the court, trusted by General Hoang Ngu Phuc.

In June 1777, the court appointed District Governor Hoang Dinh Bao (adopted son of Hoang Ngu Phuc and son-in-law of Trinh Doanh) as governor.Nghe AnDuring this time, Dau Ba Toan was promoted to the position of General of the Southern Army, Admiral of the Right Palace, Admiral, and was specially appointed to command the army to defend Thanh Chuong land.

At that time, Thanh Chuong land was vast but famine and robberies were rampant, people had to wander everywhere, fields were abandoned... Faced with that situation, Dau Ba Toan was concerned with distributing rice to relieve hunger for the people, recruiting soldiers, reclaiming land to expand, increasing production...

With his military talent and good production organization, after a short time, he solved the famine, defeated gangs of robbers, stabilized production, and brought a peaceful life to the people. His military town grew stronger and stronger. His reputation spread far and wide, and more and more people from other places came to immigrate, from which many new villages were established such as: Tao Nha, Bau Quan, Ruong Na, Sai Dai...

During Quang Trung-Nguyen Hue's lightning-fast march to the North to destroy the Qing army, he stopped in Nghe An to recruit more troops and provisions. With his position as governor of Thanh Chuong region and having a history of stockpiling military provisions, Duke Dau Ba Toan supported and contributed a lot of food and soldiers to King Quang Trung's army. After defeating the enemy, he returned to his hometown to continue the work of reclaiming land, recruiting people, establishing hamlets, and building villages.

Due to old age and poor health, Dau Ba Toan passed away on January 28, 1798, at the age of 78. After his death, many villages in Thanh Chuong district built temples to worship him, including Bach Thach village, and honored him as a God, naming the temple Dau Temple. The feudal dynasties bestowed many royal decrees on him and assigned 9 villages to worship him.

Monuments are places that mark historical events:
In the movementNghe Tinh Soviet, Dau Temple was a meeting place and a place to hide secret documents of Thanh Chuong District Party Committee, Vo Liet General Department and Kim Bang Party Cell. This was where comrades Ton Thi Que, Ton Gia Chung, Hoang Thuyet... often came to hold meetings to discuss plans to mobilize and organize people to fight in 1930-1931.

The Party's secret documents were kept very safely by the comrades in the temple. To prepare for the district-wide demonstration on September 1, 1930, the party members and leaders of mass organizations held a meeting at Dau temple to assign tasks of printing documents, distributing leaflets, hanging flags, and gathering the masses to coordinate with the people of the communes in the district to march to the district headquarters to demonstrate.

The temple is also a meeting place for the Thanh Ha self-defense team to discuss training and fighting plans in punishing evil landlords, protecting people from taking rice from the rich, learning the national language, and participating in cultural and artistic activities... in 1930.

After the August Revolution in 1945, the temple was the place where "Popular Education" classes were held and where soldiers were recruited to serve on the battlefield.

During the resistance war against America, the temple was a place to hide food for the Vo Liet cluster.

Dau Temple is a place for spiritual and cultural activities of the village, a memorial site for those who have contributed to the people and the country, associated with the worship of gods of the people of Bach Thach village and Vo Liet commune. At the temple, every year there are 3 important ceremonies on the 25th of the 12th lunar month (the New Year's Eve ceremony), the 8th of the 1st lunar month (the peace prayer ceremony) and the 28th of the 1st lunar month (the death anniversary of Duke Dau Ba Toan).

When Dau Temple was first built, it was a single house, made of thatch, bamboo, reed, and covered with earth. Over time, the temple fell into disrepair, and in 1930, the villagers mobilized wood from each household to build the worshiping hall and the sanctuary as it is today.

The temple is located on high, airy land, in the position of "lying on the mountain, looking at the water"; in the area there are many relics such as: Vo Liet communal house, Bach Ma temple, Tran Hung Hoc temple, Nguyen Tien Tai temple, Nguyen Lam family church, temple and tomb of Doctor Phan Nhan Tuong...

The temple has a total area of ​​2257.7m2, including the following construction items in order from outside: festival yard, lake, well, gate, garden, worship house, open-air yard, and the back palace. In which, the worship house and the back palace have Nguyen Dynasty architectural structure.

The worshiping hall has an area of ​​70,125m2, including 3 rooms, 2 sides; the roof is covered with yin-yang tiles; the house frame is made of ironwood with 4 sets of trusses in the style of "gong rack, truss, overlapping beams, overlapping decks"; there are 6 main pillars, 8 military pillars and 2 hidden pillars; on the ridge and the edge, only straight ridges are built with bricks and mortar.

The wooden structures are carved with cloud patterns, flower and leaf strings, scrolls, the word Tho... combined with the simple and sturdy carving technique, but still showing the skillful hands of the craftsmen and the aspirations of the local people. The worship house is not decorated with worship, it is a place for preparation and ceremony.

The harem has an area of ​​59.34m2, including 3 rooms, 2 wings; the roof is covered with yin-yang tiles; the house frame is made of ironwood with 4 sets of trusses in the style of "gong price, ke truyen"; there are 16 columns including 8 main columns, 8 secondary columns; on the ridge and the eaves are straight ridges made of bricks, lime mortar; the wooden structures are carved with cloud patterns, flower vines, scrolls, the word Tho...

The harem has two layers of worship with many antiques such as altars, incense tables, thrones, tablets, wooden cranes... elaborately carved, lacquered and gilded for communal worship (outer layer) and worship of Duke Dau Ba Toan (inner layer).

Dau Temple was built in the Later Le Dynasty, and was extensively renovated during the Nguyen Dynasty. It is a relic that marks many historical events, contributing to educating the revolutionary tradition for the younger generation; it is a spiritual and cultural site for the Thanh Ha people; ancient artifacts have rich scientific and aesthetic values; ancient architectural works are preserved to show the artistic value, sightseeing and enjoyment of tourists. Currently, the relic is being cared for by the Commune's Ritual Committee and the people, with thoughtful incense offerings.