Nguyen Sinh Cung followed his father to worship at Qua Son temple.

In the "An Tinh Co Luc" geography book by H.Le Bereton, it is said that: In An Nam, Nghe An has 4 most famous and sacred temples: Con temple, Qua temple, Bach Ma temple, and Chieu Trung temple.

The most sacred Con Temple worships "The Four Holy Ladies" in Phuong Can village, Quynh Phuong commune, Quynh Luu district.

Bach Ma Temple, whose Chinese name is "Bach Ma Tu", is located in Tan Ha village, now in Vo Liet commune, Thanh Chuong district. It worships General Phan Da - a young general of the Binh Dinh King Le Loi's army, "The Great Emperor Bach Ma, the supreme god of fortune".

Chieu Trung Temple on Long Ngan Mountain, Thach Ban Commune, Thach Ha District, Ha Tinh Province. The temple worships Chieu Truong Dai Vuong Le Khoi - a general of Binh Dinh King Le Loi.

In two unfinished manuscripts, writer Son Tung titled "Stories of Uncle Ho from a hundred years ago that are not easy to understand" and "Looking back from a hundred years ago by Dao Tan", mentioned the story of Uncle Ho's childhood when he followed his father to visit Qua Son temple in Bach Ngoc commune (Boi Son), Do Luong district, Nghe An province.

In early spring, in January, people who work as mandarins, teachers or work far away from home usually return to their hometowns to celebrate Tet and have not yet returned to their workplaces. Taking advantage of this cool weather, the Vice-Chancellor took his two sons, Nguyen Sinh Khiem and Nguyen Sinh Con (the name of Uncle Ho when he was young) to visit the benefactors and friends who had helped him in his recent studies. To learn about current events and also to give his children an opportunity to soon meet the great scholars of the era, progressive intellectuals, to learn about the lives of the people and enjoy the scenery of mountains, rivers, temples in the province... Another reason, the Vice-Chancellor wanted to go to Vo Liet (Thanh Chuong) to teach, at the invitation of families there, after they heard of the Vice-Chancellor. That year, Nguyen Sinh Khiem was 14 years old, Nguyen Sinh Con was 11 years old, Nguyen Thi Thanh was 18 years old. Miss Thanh had to stay home to take care of her grandmother and look after the house.

According to Mr. Nguyen Sinh Khiem's ​​story to writer Son Tung: "The three of us walked and translated each stage."

First, he went to a friend's house in Cau Ram - Vinh to contact the two brothers Nguyen Sinh Khiem and Nguyen Sinh Con to secretly study Quoc Ngu, and visit the Governor of An Tinh, Dao Tan. The next day, the three of them went to Dong Chu village, Nghi Loc district, Nghe An province to visit teacher Nguyen Thuc Tu, who passed the Bachelor's exam in Mau Thin year (1868), the same year as Ho Sy Tao. Passing Cam mountain to Dien Chau land, he admired the majestic Cuong temple on Mo Da mountain, and the Phu Dien citadel, built high, with deep moats surrounding it, outside and inside the citadel. On the citadel's surface, there were two-horse and four-horse chariots running on it...

Visiting the residence of the Deputy Grand Chancellor Cao Xuan Duc in Thinh My village to express gratitude, "If last year's Royal examination had not had Mr. Cao Xuan Duc as the Chief Examiner to review, the two candidates Phan Chu Trinh and Nguyen Sinh Sac would have failed again."

After saying goodbye to Mr. Cao Xuan Duc's family, Mr. Pho Bang Sac and his son went to Thanh Trai, turned down to Van Phan village to visit and stay at the house of Mr. Vo Tat Dac who had just retired to teach. The next afternoon, they passed through Kim Luy village and asked Mr. Tu Bui Xuan Phong to take them to Quynh Doi village, Quynh Luu district to visit Mr. Ho Sy Tao. The district governor and the first-ranking mandarin Ho Sy Tao was a close friend of Mr. Tu Hoang Xuan Duong, the teacher of the Grand Scholar Cao Xuan Duc and the Inspector of Education Tran Dinh Phong. Thanks to the advice of Mr. Ho Sy Tao, both of these students helped Nguyen Sinh Sac get into the Imperial Academy.

After a few days of playing and talking with the scholars of Quynh Doi village, the father and son of the Vice-Chancellor of Sac returned to Yen Thanh district, visited the family of the Governor of Education Tran Dinh Phong - a fellow doctor who graduated in the Ky Mao exam (1879) in Yen Ma village and visited fellow students such as Phan Tu Tri, Xuan Tieu commune, Nguyen Van Te, Quy Trach commune...

From Yen Thanh district, passing the "Headless General" mountain, the father and three sons of the Vice-Chancellor Sac went to Do Luong to take a boat to Thanh Chuong. Uncle Khiem recalled with emotion:

- The day the three of us passed through Bach Ngoc commune, we saw Qua Son temple, which was more majestic than Thuc Phan An Duong Vuong temple. Con was surprised and asked his father:

- Surely this god has great merit that people built a majestic temple for him, right dad?

- I think that's a bit rash. Among the officials, there are incompetent ones who exploit the people, but there are also talented and virtuous ones who benefit the people and are remembered by the people and built temples to worship them. You should remember that the Qua Son Ni temple is where Ly Nhat Quang is worshiped. He was the eighth son of King Ly Thai To and was given the title Uy Minh Hau. In the year of Tan Ty, King Ly Thai Tong appointed Ly Nhat Quang to be an official to guard Nghe An. He had the merit of expanding the territory and pacifying the enemies in the West and South of the country.

He was the one who killed the King of Champa, Sa Dau, when Sa Dau invaded our country. Agriculture, sericulture, silk weaving, fishing, and salt making soon flourished throughout Nghe An thanks to the efforts of Ly Nhat Quang. When hearing that the court invited Ly Nhat Quang to return to Thang Long, Nghe people flocked to the provincial office to ask him to stay and continue to care for the people. But he could not do otherwise than the court's orders. On his way back to Thang Long, flatterers tried to kill him because they were afraid that if he were at the court, they would be exposed... The people of Nghe An, upon hearing the bad news, voluntarily mourned him and built thirty-two temples to worship Uy Minh Hau Ly Nhat Quang.

After visiting Qua Son temple, the father and three sons of the Vice-Chancellor Sac took a boat to Thanh Chuong. Mr. Sac taught in Vo Liet village and left his two children at the house of an acquaintance in Nguyet Bong village. Thanh Chuong was also the place where Vice-Chancellor Nguyen Sinh Sac stayed to teach the longest. In the two villages of Nguyet Bong and Vo Liet, Uncle Ho also left many childhood impressions.

According to the writer Son Tung, Mr. Ca Khiem also added: It was in January of the year Nham Dan (1902). After visiting and resting at various places, when returning to Do Luong to pay homage at Qua Son Temple, he went to Thanh Chuong just a few days before or after the Qua Son Temple Festival.

- On that trip, in addition to teaching, my father wanted to meet the scholars in Quynh Doi, Thanh Chuong... to learn about the preparation for the second trip with Mr. Nghe Ngo (Ngo Duc Ke), Mr. Bang Dang (Phó bảng Đặng Nguyên Cẩn), Mr. Cu Vuong (Cuban Vuong Thuc Quy) to go to the North to find like-minded friends after the day Mr. Phan Boi Chau established a secret society.

During the second trip to the North in 1903, Nguyen Sinh Con was able to follow his father to Hanoi, while his uncle had a swollen lymph node in his groin and could not walk for long periods of time, so he had to stay in Quynh Doi with the Governor Dang Nguyen Can at the home of Mr. Ho Phi Thong. A later opportunity arose when the son of the Governor Dang Nguyen Can, Professor Dang Thai Mai, married Mr. Ho Phi Thong's daughter, Ms. Ho Thi Toan. Ms. Ho Thi Toan was the mother of the history professor Dang Thi Ha - the wife of the late General Vo Nguyen Giap./.

Source: Nghe An Culture Magazine