Vo Liet Communal House - Thanh Chuong District Temple of Literature

(Baonghean) -To Thanh Chuong, follow Highway 46 connecting Ho Chi Minh Road, cross Ro Bridge, turn right 500 meters and you will see Vo Liet Communal House standing out on a high mound in Re field. The location is almost central with the residential mounds of Vo Liet commune.

Previously, the communal house was called Van Quan, Quan Thanh Hang Tong, with an area of ​​nearly one mau of Central Vietnam.

Panoramic view of Vo Liet Communal House - District Temple of Literature.

24 years ago (1986), the communal house was honored to receive a visit from the son-in-law of the hometown - General Vo Nguyen Giap, Deputy Prime Minister of the Government, along with provincial and district officials (his wife is Professor Dang Thi Ha, daughter of Writer-Culturalist Dang Thai Mai). When visiting and reading the stele of the relic, the General happily said: "This is the Temple of Literature of the district". Two years later, in 1988, Vo Liet communal house was recognized by the Ministry of Culture and Information as a National Historical and Cultural Relic.

On January 26, 2007, in a letter to the Party Committee and people of Vo Liet commune, General Vo Nguyen Giap wrote: "In a commune or district, there are few places with historical relics like this one. I said: This is a very proud district temple of literature in our hometown, the generations of children and grandchildren must continue to promote the tradition of studiousness of our ancestors."

One of two rows of steles recording the names of successful candidates.

Why did the General twice affirm that Vo Liet Communal House is the "District Temple of Literature". Let's learn about the birth of the "unique, one-of-a-kind" cultural relic in Nghe An. According to the Hoang family genealogy: "Mr. Hoang Chinh Truc, whose name is Co Duy, was born in the year of Canh Dan, the 11th year of Minh Mang (1830). His father was an official in Hau Loc district, Thanh Hoa province. From a young age and while studying, he was taken by his father to Thang Long to visit many famous landscapes, including the Temple of Literature - Quoc Tu Giam. At the age of 28, Mr. Truc passed the Bachelor's exam and had the idea of ​​building a structure similar to the Temple of Literature in his hometown to promote learning. The Thanh Chuong District Literature Association approved his idea and assigned him to design and supervise the work. The Hoang family genealogy recorded: "The temple was built in Vo Liet according to the architectural style of the Ly Thanh Tong period in Hanoi". Thus, 151 years ago, in 1859, Vo Liet Communal House was built in Vo Liet commune.

From the outside, the communal house gate has two high pillars, on the left and right are two side gates. In front of the two sides of the communal house yard, there are two rows of steles consisting of 6 large stone slabs recording the names, addresses of 455 graduates from bachelors, bachelors, doctors... of Vo Liet commune from the Le dynasty to the Nguyen dynasty. The communal house has a "mouth" shape architecture, through the communal house yard are 4 rows of connected houses and 54 columns connected horizontally and vertically and closed with ironwood boards in a frame. The front row of houses has five main rooms and two side rooms, 5 meters high, connected to the two rows of houses on the left and right, each with three rooms, four pillars 4.3 meters high, in the middle is the sky yard, connected to the double-diêm building behind, including five main rooms, two side rooms, 7 meters high.

The courtyard of the temple.

Since the establishment of the communal house (District Temple of Literature), it has become the place for worship and meetings of the Thanh Chuong Literary Association in the 8th lunar month. Patriotic scholars such as Phan Boi Chau, Dang Nguyen Can, Nguyen Sinh Sac, and Ho Si Tao used to come to the communal house to discuss. Several months before leaving for the exams, candidates often gathered at the communal house to review their writing and often achieved high results.

When our Party was born in 1930, on June 1 of the same year, a large number of people from Tong Vo Liet and Tong Bich Hao, Xuan Lam, Dai Dong often gathered at the district office to fight and make demands. In particular, on September 1, 1930, the demonstration attracted tens of thousands of farmers to participate in the district office and won, smashing the apparatus of the feudal colonial government. The opening milestone marked the birth of the Soviet government in Nghe Tinh. September 1 became the traditional day of Thanh Chuong and this year the district enthusiastically celebrated its 80th anniversary.

The architecture of the back row of houses is in the matchbox style, seen from the south.

Ten years later, in 1940, Dinh witnessed the reorganization of the Vo Liet Communist Party cell. Vo Liet was also the place where the district Viet Minh government worked for a while after the successful August Revolution. In 1947, the Inter-Zone IV Party Committee held a congress at the Temple of Literature with the presence of General Nguyen Chi Thanh, Major General Nguyen Son, and revolutionary Ho Tung Mau. Since the day spiritual culture was given attention, the communal house was the place where village festivals took place.

Through the vicissitudes of time and history, with the state's investment of nearly ten billion VND in restoration and upgrading, the "District Temple of Literature" - Vo Liet communal house was completed on the occasion of the 80th anniversary of Thanh Chuong tradition. Located 50 km from Vinh city, Vo Liet has now become a cultural and tourist destination for visitors from near and far.

Phan Nguyen