Workshop 'Khai Long Temple - Historical and cultural values, solutions for preservation and promotion'

The workshop was attended by researchers from the Institute of History, the Institute of Han Nom, Hanoi National University of Education; managers and researchers in Nghe An; leaders of Do Luong district and Trung Son commune; representatives of the Ngo Family Council of Vietnam and representatives of the Nguyen Canh family.

Khai Long Temple is located at the foot of Ru Den, Dong Bich village, Thuan Trung commune, Thuan Trung canton, Luong Son district, Anh Son prefecture (now hamlet 1, Trung Son commune, Do Luong district, Nghe An province). The temple is the place to worship King Ngo Xuong Xi (946 - 967), the last king of the Ngo dynasty and Tan Quoc Cong.Nguyen Canh HoanThe temple has an architecture consisting of 3 buildings: Upper Hall, Middle Hall, Lower Hall and Nghi Mon, and is a famous and sacred spiritual and cultural work in the region.

At present, the exact time when the temple was built has not been determined. Through surveying the source of the royal decree, the earliest royal decree for the Khai Long lord is the royal decree dated Duc Long 5 (1633). From this, we can understand that Khai Long temple existed before 1633.

Over a long period of time, under the influence of nature and humans, it has been degraded and restored many times, including two major restorations at the end of the Nguyen Dynasty, in the 25th year of Tu Duc (1872) and the 13th year of Thanh Thai (1901).

During the two resistance wars against the French colonialists and the American imperialists, Khai Long Temple and some other structures had to be dismantled to serve the resistance and people's livelihood. Since then, Khai Long Temple has become a ruin, but in the memories of the people of 20 villages in Thuan Trung commune, Thuan Trung canton, Luong Son district, Anh Son prefecture, the image of the ancient Khai Long Temple with the Great Khai Long Linh Tu and the subconscious respect for Khai Long Su Quan is still preserved.

Although the temple has become ruins, but with the sacredness of the temple, the peopleTrung Son communebuilt a shrine on the temple grounds to continue worshiping. By January 2022, from socialized funding from organizations, businesses, the Ngo family council and contributions from the people of Trung Son hometown, the Trung Son commune people's government organized the restoration of the Upper Temple of Khai Long Temple.

Currently, Khai Long temple grounds have a total area of ​​1079.7m2.²In addition to the newly restored Upper Palace, there are still two pillars, some green stone bases and a plaque in Chinese characters engraved on August 19, the 25th year of Tu Duc (1872)….

The workshop Khai Long Temple - Historical and cultural values, solutions for preservation and promotion gathered 18 presentations focusing on 3 main topics: Introduction to Trung Son commune and characters related to Khai Long Temple; historical documents about Khai Long Temple; solutions for preservation and promotion of historical and cultural values ​​of Khai Long Temple.

Speaking at the closing ceremony of the workshop, Associate Professor, Dr. Dinh Quang Hai - Member of the Councilcultural heritageNational, former Director of the Institute of History, former Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Historical Research requested researchers to continue collecting ancient documents to make new discoveries in studying Khai Long Temple and the gods worshiped at the temple. Governments at all levels and cultural management agencies need to have plans to restore, plan and promote the value of Khai Long Temple. Strengthen education about Khai Long Temple to arouse the pride of all classes of people, contributing to socio-economic development.