Tien Cau Village, a land rich in sediments

(Baonghean) - Located along the Lam River, resting on Ha Mountain, stretching along the Nay Cape, Tien Cau village, Thanh Giang commune (Thanh Chuong) has long been famous as a countryside with a rich cultural and historical tradition...

The temple of Tham Hinh was built several hundred years ago, worshiping Doctor Phan Nhan Tuong (1514 - 1576) - a native of Bach Xa village (Thanh Ha), who served as an official under four Le kings and was promoted to the position of Inspector General and Criminal Court Inspector. He was the one who mobilized the local people and recruited people from other places to reclaim the land and establish many hamlets in the two communes of Thanh Ha and Thanh Giang today.

Tham Hinh Temple has 3 buildings: lower, middle and upper halls, located on a beautiful plot of land, overlooking a small river. The upper hall is a 2-room house with intact ancient features, on the large inscription are 4 Chinese characters: danh sac thien co (eternal reputation). In front of the temple is a spacious, fragrant lotus pond. After hundreds of years of restoration and embellishment, the temple has the appearance it has today. The temple still preserves many ancient sacrificial objects, 13 royal decrees granted to the temple and relics in the village by feudal dynasties, 7 ancient woodblocks... Tham Hinh Temple has long been a place for spiritual and cultural activities of the people of Tien Cau and neighboring areas. In front of the temple, under the lotus pond is a raised area shaped like an inkstone, opposite Nay hill is a long strip of land shaped like a pen. Local people believe that "pen mountain, inkstone mountain" are images symbolizing the tradition of studiousness of the village. Next to the “ink mountain” is But wharf, an ancient wharf. To preserve the ancient beauty that has become legendary, in 2012 the villagers rebuilt But wharf, creating railings and clean, spacious steps.

Mother Goddess Temple.

Along the Lam River, there are two temples, each with its own beauty. Huu Vo Temple is hidden under an ancient banyan tree, worshiping the local tutelary god Huu Vo - Nguyen Dinh Thang - the 19th generation descendant of Cuong Quoc Cong Nguyen Xi. The temple's genealogy shows that during his lifetime, Huu Vo was handsome, good at singing, good at sewing, good at whipping, boxing, and often led villagers into the forest to collect forest and local products. After he was mauled by a tiger at Thanh Mountain, Binh Son Commune (Anh Son), to show gratitude to the person who had helped the villagers fight the tiger and blessed the villagers to go to the forest to make a living, the people on both banks of the Lam River, especially the people of Hung Long Ward (Hung Nguyen), came to build a temple to worship him right in his hometown (1905). Currently, the temple still preserves many ancient sacrificial objects such as dragon thrones, swords, loudspeakers... and two royal decrees of the Nguyen Dynasty, the 2nd year of Khai Dinh (1917) and the 9th year (1924). For over a century, Huu Vo Temple has always been cared for by the descendants of the Nguyen family and local people.

Near Hoi Nay bridge, there is Thanh Mau temple, built in the first half of the 20th century, destroyed during the war, and restored in 1997. The temple consists of 3 buildings: lower, middle, and upper temples, located on the land of the river junction. The 3-storey temple gate is majestic, standing out in the middle of a green area. The temple worships a community of Buddhas and saints: Buddha, the three Holy Mothers, Cuu Thien Huyen Nu, Saint Tran, and Thanh Hoang. Every year, the temple has many important holidays such as Lord Lieu Hanh's festival (March 3), Saint Tran's death anniversary (August 20), Vu Lan festival (July 15) ... attracting visitors from all over to worship and pray for peace.

The village has 4 hamlets: Dinh, Chua, De, and Loi. The tradition of learning in the village has been fostered for hundreds of years. The Nguyen Tien family is famous for the Third Class Doctorate, Nguyen Tien Tai (1642 - 1698), who held the positions of Hai Duong Education Inspector, Censor, Left Minister of Public Works, Right Minister of Rites... In particular, he was talented in diplomacy, went to the Qing Dynasty as an envoy, contributed to disarming the Mac army, kept the northern border peaceful, and was awarded 5 words by King Le: loyal - can - dai - duc - nhan. His children also studied well. In 1993, Nguyen Tien Tai's church (right behind Tham Hinh temple) was recognized by the Ministry of Culture and Information as a National Historical - Cultural Relic. The Nguyen Sy family is famous for the Third Class Doctorate, Nguyen Sy Giao (1638 - ?), who held the positions of Censor, Inspector, and Academician of the Later Le Dynasty...

Coming to Phuong, visiting Tien Cau, we seem to be immersed in the historical space of churches, temples, shrines with many ancient legends; lighting up in our hearts the pride of a homeland, whose names of wharves and rivers also bear the names of scholars and doctors. Especially, we are happier when those traditional values ​​are being preserved and promoted by generations of villagers in the process of building their homeland.

Huy Thu