Temple of the 'ancestor of silkworm breeding and weaving' in Nghe An

Unique thousand-year-old statue of “human head carrying Buddha” in Nghe An

(Baonghean.vn) - In the system of Buddha statues in Nghe An, there is a nearly thousand-year-old ancient statue carved with a very unique "human head carrying Buddha". This statue is currently at Ba But Pagoda in Lam Son Commune, Do Luong District.

The front of Nguyen Van family temple with a tiger statue blocking the path. Photo: Ngoc Phuong

Originating from the thought: The ancients had such merit, shouldn't their descendants spare some effort to light the lamp of merit? Therefore, the ancestral temple of the Nguyen Van Dai Ton family was established in 1849.

The church is currently located on a campus of over 800m2, with places of worship including: the worship hall, the sanctuary; a beautiful, airy garden. The ancient church architecture is in the style of Tam Oai Bay Chuyen, beautifully carved with art, many rare and precious sacrificial objects are preserved by descendants and people such as: signs, palanquins, thrones, parallel sentences, especially 3 royal decrees and 2-sided stone stele recording the merits of the Later Gods.

The main hall of Nguyen Van Dai Ton's family temple. Photo: Ngoc Phuong

In addition to worshiping the ancestor Nguyen Van Man, Nguyen Van Temple also worships Nguyen Van Kinh and Nguyen Van Duan. Nguyen Van Kinh was a virtuous and tolerant person, always respected by everyone. In 1762, he was appointed by King Le Hien Tong to hold the position of "Thiem su Vien thiem su". That same year, he and his two wives were elected by the people of Ri Chau as Hau Than of the village because of his contributions in helping the villagers during times of crop failure and famine. He also taught poor children, donated money, fields, and sacrificial objects to the village.

In the stone stele of the ancient village of Ri Chau erected to honor him, it is written: "Heaven has given you great virtue in helping people, so everyone must take care of repaying it. Everyone thought that they should tie grass in their mouths and say to each other: Give me the peach dream, I must take care of repaying the jade quynh dao. Therefore, everyone together elected the former village chief and deputy bishop Kinh Vu Ba and his two wives as the village's Gods". In the 9th year of King Khai Dinh (1924), he was granted the title: Linh Phu Duc Bao Trung Hung, Ban Canh Phuc Than.

Mr. Nguyen Van Duan was the 13th generation descendant of the Nguyen Van family. He was born into a large family and had extraordinary health as a child. In the 21st year of King Tu Duc, he passed the military examination in Mau Thin (1868), and was then appointed as a Captain of the 10th Captain in Hai Duong province. In the 23rd year of Tu Duc (1870), the king issued a decree to him and approved him as the captain of the 10th Captain in Hai Duong. He had a patriotic spirit against the French and was later executed in Vinh.

The church still retains many of its sacrificial objects intact. Photo: Ngoc Phuong

Silent over time, the Nguyen Van family temple witnessed a heroic period of resistance of the nation. During the fierce resistance war against France and America, the temple was a place for weapons storage and meetings of departments and branches.

In 2010, Nguyen Van Dai Ton family temple was ranked as a provincial historical-cultural relic.