Dong Hai Temple Relic (Co Bai Temple)
During the Nghe Tinh Soviet movement until the August Revolution in 1945, Dong Hai Temple was chosen as the location for activities and secret meetings of Dong Hai - Song Loc Party members such as Nguyen Duy Trinh, Hoang Don..., preserving the heroic tradition of Nghe Tinh Soviet 1930-1931.
Dong Hai Temple was built in the ancient Dong Hai commune to worship gods who have contributed to the country and the people. The temple also has another name, Co Bai, because the original place name of the relic was Co Bai hamlet, later changed to Co Bai village, Dong Hai commune, so the name of the relic has the meaning of indicating the place name. Currently, the relic belongs to hamlet 2, Phuc Tho commune, Nghi Loc district, Nghe An province.
Dong Hai Temple is about 10km east of Vinh city and 12km southeast of Nghi Loc district. To visit the relic, visitors can use many different means of transport. Starting from Vinh city, follow the direction of Vinh - Cua Hoi to Dong Muc bridge, continue for 1.5km to the intersection, turn right, continue for 2km to the sign "Dong Hai Temple", turn right about 100m to reach the relic.
Dong Hai Temple is a historical relic, a place of worship for many people who have contributed to the country and the people such as Yet Kieu (a general of Hung Dao Vuong Tran Quoc Tuan, awarded by the king the title "Tran Dynasty's First Commander-in-Chief of the Navy"), Hoang Ta Thon (awarded by King Tran Nhan Tong as "Sat Hai Dai Tuong Quan", after his death, the people posthumously awarded him "Sat Hai Chang Lai Dai Tuong Quan, Thien Bong Nguyen Soai Chi Than"), Pham Huy (a mandarin of "Cong Khoa Do Cap Su Trung" who was extremely honest, cared for the country, and loved the people during the Nguyen Dynasty), Nguyen Ngoc (a mandarin of "Tu Soan" during the Nguyen Dynasty), Nguyen Huu Chinh (a mandarin of "Toan Tu Su Quan" during the Nguyen Dynasty, participated in the Can Vuong movement, died in battle in 1887), Hoang Phan Thai (a "Tu Ho" of Nghi Loc district who gathered soldiers to raise the flag of uprising against feudalism and expel the French during the Nguyen Dynasty)...
The main deity of Dong Hai temple is Pham Huy, while other figures are worshiped together. The temple is not only a place for spiritual and cultural activities of the people of Dong Hai commune, Dang Xa commune and the people of the surrounding areas, but also a place where many historical events of the locality as well as the nation took place.
During the Van Than movement against the French, many patriots such as Hoang Phan Thai, Hoang Giap Chinh, Dang Thai Than... chose Dong Hai temple, a place with dense trees and near the river where escape was easy, to operate.
After the Communist Party of Vietnam was born on February 3, 1930, implementing the Resolution of the Party founding conference, comrade Nguyen Phong Sac (Member of the Provisional Executive Committee of the Communist Party of Vietnam) established the Central Party Branch in Central Vietnam in Vinh city to direct the establishment of Party Committees at all levels in the region. Vinh Provincial Party Committee including Vinh - Ben Thuy city and two districts of Hung Nguyen and Nghi Loc was quickly established.
Under the direction of the Central Branch and Vinh Provincial Party Committee, comrades Pham Duy Thanh and Nguyen Huu Co, together with comrade Nguyen Thuc Man (Secretary of the Tan Viet Party Committee of Nghe An Province), convened a meeting of Tan Viet Party members with communist tendencies in Nghi Loc District to discuss the policy of establishing the Communist Party of Vietnam and the call of comrade Nguyen Ai Quoc on the occasion of the Party's founding. The conference elected the provisional Executive Committee of the Communist Party of Vietnam District in Nghi Loc, including comrades Nguyen Thuc Man, Nguyen Huu Co, Nguyen Dinh Xuan, Hoang Van Tam... Comrade Nguyen Thuc Man was elected Secretary.
Thanks to the direct guidance of the Central Branch, Vinh Provincial Party Committee and the active activities of the Provisional District Party Committee, the Party's grassroots and revolutionary mass organizations in Nghi Loc District developed rapidly. The merged Party cells established early in Nghi Loc District Party Committee included: An Hau, Duc Hau, Kim Khe, Phan Thon, Dong Chu, Long Trao, Lo, My, Van Trung, Co Dan, Song Loc, Van Trinh...
During the Nghe Tinh Soviet movement to the August Revolution in 1945, the temple continued to be chosen as the location for activities and secret meetings of party members of the Dong Hai - Song Loc branch such as Nguyen Duy Trinh, Hoang Don...
During the revolutionary movement of 1930-1931, in Nghi Loc district, the movement developed strongly and continuously from May 1930 to May 1931. In that situation, the French colonialists tried every way to suppress the movement. A series of sieges, hunts down cadres, and destruction of villages occurred. Hundreds of cadres and revolutionary masses were arrested, imprisoned, and killed. Many villages were harassed and burned by soldiers.
On September 13, 1931, the local bandits and coolies surrounded the Nghi Loc district committee office. Comrade Nguyen Dinh Dien and a number of officials from the regional and district committees were caught in the enemy's net. This was a heavy loss for the Nghi Loc Party Committee. At that time, comrade Nguyen Duy Trinh, who had participated in the revolutionary movement in the South and had been expelled by the French colonialists since early 1931, was secretly operating in the locality and contacted comrades who had just escaped the enemy's siege. He organized a conference to establish the district committee and continue the Party's activities. Comrade Nguyen Duy Trinh was elected Secretary.
The Party organization had just been restored, the movement had just started, and had not been active for long before it was fiercely terrorized by the enemy. By November 1931, the Party chapters in Nghi Loc district had disbanded; most of the Party cadres and members were captured by the enemy. Comrade Nguyen Duy Trinh was one of the last people to be arrested in the terror attack on December 18, 1932. The Dong Hai Temple relic was one of the meeting places for Party members in Nghi Loc, including Comrade Nguyen Duy Trinh and many other comrades...
From 1946-1947, Dong Hai Temple was the place to gather, take oaths, and send troops to the South and other battlefields.
From 1965 to 1967, due to its favorable location, Dong Hai Temple continued to be chosen as the place to hide the weapons, military uniforms, military supplies, and ammunition depot of the Vietnam People's Navy. After being discovered by the enemy, because they did not know the exact location of the warehouse, they sent planes to bomb the area, near the temple area many times, causing damage to people and property...
Not only is it a relic marking many historical events, Dong Hai Temple is also a place for cultural and religious activities of the people.
In the past, many important ceremonies took place at the temple, typically three festivals. The ceremonies include the Khai Ha Ceremony held on the 7th of January, the Cau Yen Ceremony held from the 14th to the 16th of January, and the Phung Nghinh Ceremony held from the 14th to the 16th of the third lunar month.
The festival takes place from the 8th to the 16th of January. At the temple, many folk games are held at the beginning of the year such as wrestling, chess, swinging, boat racing between villages. The festival is held after the ceremony. In addition to the above folk games, the commune also organizes singing competitions, ca tru, top-spinning, human chess, etc., attracting a large number of people to participate.
Dong Hai Temple is located on a flat terrain, facing East, about 1km in front is the clear Lam River, on both sides of the temple is a residential area, behind the temple is a green rice field...
The temple has an area of 1,832m2, consisting of 2 buildings, the layout of the Chinese character Nhi includes: the three-entrance gate; the temple yard and garden; the worshiping hall and the harem.
The three-entrance gate was restored in 1998, in the style of overlapping 2 roofs made of bricks and mortar. The gate is limited by 4 pillars divided into 3 doors leading to the temple. The middle door is 3.4m high, formed by two pillars, the outside is decorated with a pair of parallel sentences in Chinese characters with the following content:
The phoenix holds a book, I worship the talented people.
Green dragon seal, East Sea land spirit.
Translation:The red phoenix holds a book in its mouth, Bai mountain gives birth to a great man.
The green dragon hangs the seal, the East Sea is a sacred land.
Connected to the main gate is a wall with two reliefs depicting two horses standing in a guarding position at the temple door. Next is the wall system surrounding the relic.
The temple yard has an area of 92.4m2.2Right behind the gate of the relic, there is an elephant in a kneeling position and a horse in a standing position. Two stone mascots stand guard at the temple door, their majestic demeanor as a reminder to visitors when they step into the sacred place.
Next is the Tac Mon, built in the style of a scroll, with a relief of a tiger facing outwards on the front. Behind the Tac Mon is a statue of a lion and a tiger in a sitting position, very unique and eye-catching. To the left of the Tac Mon is an ancient stone stele made during the Later Le Dynasty, both sides are engraved with Chinese characters but the content is no longer readable. In addition, in the middle of the yard is a stone incense burner, the body of the incense burner is round and cylindrical, with two raised dragons on both sides.
The temple garden has an area of 1000m2In the garden, many ornamental plants and fruit trees such as mango, areca, and banyan trees are planted, creating shade and a sacred space for the temple.
The worshiping hall has an area of 181.72 square meters, including 5 rooms, two sides are built with walls, the back is left open with the harem.
The worshiping hall is decorated with 3 worshiping rooms. The middle room worships the community, including 1 set of halberds, 1 incense table, 1 incense burner, 1 tea tray, 2 candlesticks, 5 trays. Behind the incense table is an ancient palanquin with the sides and base decorated with "four sacred animals, four noble animals" using openwork carving, creating sharp and sophisticated lines. On both sides are two stone statues with missing heads and arms in a kneeling position, wearing loincloths with a belt tied in the middle, these are ancient artifacts salvaged from the river. The right and left rooms worship the souls of heroic martyrs, decorated similarly. In addition, on the right side of the worshiping hall is an ancient palanquin, 1 drum and 2 parasols. On the pillars of the worshiping hall are hung 3 parallel sentences in Chinese characters...
The harem has an area of 67.77m2consists of 2 rooms and 2 wings, 3 sides are built with walls, the front is connected to the worshiping house, with 3 doors in the style of "upper double, lower plate". The roof system is covered with yin-yang tiles, consisting of 2 floors, forming a system of overlapping eaves, supported by a concrete frame system, without a roof truss structure. The rafters are formed from the middle frame, with the task of supporting the roof on the lower floor, and expanding the area on both sides to make the house more spacious, easy to arrange. The back palace has 4 columns, all placed on square stone blocks, the floor is paved with ceramic tiles.
The architectural decoration of the roof system of the harem resembles that of the worship hall. The harem is a solemn place to worship the gods of the temple. The middle room is where Yet Kieu, Hoang Ta Thon, and Doctor Pham Huy are worshiped. The innermost room is an altar with 3 levels...
The left room worships Dr. Nguyen Ngoc and Nguyen Huu Chinh, the innermost is a 2-level altar. The right room worships Hoang Phan Thai, decorated like the left room, except the outermost altar table has an incense burner...
Dong Hai Temple is a relic with many historical, cultural, scientific and aesthetic values, and is a bond that unites the community of the people of Phuc Tho, neighboring areas and tourists from all over.
Along with the relics in the neighboring communes such as Tria temple, Uong family church, Tran Quy Khoang temple... Dong Hai temple has become an attractive spiritual and cultural activity place, with educational value in terms of patriotic and revolutionary traditions, contributing to the preservation of traditional cultural values and the development of local tourism in the present and future.
