Promoting the value of the historical relic of Duc Vua Temple

(Baonghean) - In September 2014, the King's Temple in Nghi Xa Commune (Nghi Loc District) was recognized as a provincial historical relic. However, the temple's construction items are currently seriously degraded and need to be restored and renovated soon to preserve and promote the cultural, scientific and artistic values ​​of this relic.

Duc An Duong Vuong Temple was built during the Later Le Dynasty and is currently located in Hamlet 2, Nghi Xa Commune. It is a place to worship Thuc Phan An Duong Vuong, a historical figure who unified the country, built the Au Lac government, built Loa Thanh, forged weapons to protect the country, etc. In gratitude for his contributions, people in many places have worshiped him as a god and built temples to worship him. Nghi Xa used to be a coastal area. From the time when King An Duong Vuong's horse hoofs first came here until now, more than 2000 years have passed, history and geography have changed a lot, but the location of the temple is still a flat, spacious area in the center of Nghi Xa Commune today.

King Temple in Nghi Xa commune (Nghi Loc district)

According to historical documents, the King's Temple in Nghi Xa was initially built by the people with only a simple three-room house roofed with bamboo. Gradually, the temple was renovated and built on a larger scale. By the beginning of the Nguyen Dynasty, the temple had a massive scale with Tam Quan, Ha Dien, Thuong Dien, Ta - Huu Vu, and Hang Well. The King's Temple faces the Northwest, and within the temple grounds there are currently the following structures: garden, front yard, Hang Well, Worship House, and Hau Cung. The temple gate in particular was very large and beautiful, made of two pillars, with parallel sentences written in Chinese characters on the body of the pillars, and a pair of majestic lions on top. The Hang Well relic is said to be the horse footprint of King An Duong Vuong.

Later, people used laterite to build a well that never ran out of water. People in the area often went to Hang well to ask for water to cook rice and make delicious drinking water. The Bai Duong house consists of 3 rooms, 2 gables, the roof is covered with Western tiles, but the 4 corners of the roof are curved and decorated with motifs; the altar is arranged in the middle room. Through the Bai Duong house is an open-air yard, with a system of roads connecting the Bai Duong house and the Hau Duong house. The Hau Duong house is built with bricks and cement mortar, the upper part is covered with tiles, on the walls on both sides are embossed red and white horses. The Hau Cung house of the temple was built according to Nguyen Dynasty architecture, consisting of 3 rooms, 1 gable, the wall is covered with Western tiles, the floor is smooth with cement, on the pillars there are Nghe Chau, the edge is decorated with a pair of dragons, the wind panels on both sides are decorated with winding dragon motifs and Chinese characters record the year the temple was renovated.

The King's Temple has long been the cultural center of a large area. Every year, the villagers from the surrounding villages come to worship at the temple. Usually every 3 years, the King's Temple holds a big festival at the beginning of summer and early spring called "Lễ kỳ Phúc" (praying for blessings). The opening ceremony is the procession of the Thanh Hoang from Thien Cuong Temple in Yen Long Village - the place to worship the military and generals of King An Duong Vuong and the procession of gods from surrounding temples such as Mai Lam Temple, Vuc Temple, Dong Vong Village Temple, Ngoc Boi Village Temple, etc. The festival at the temple is very solemn, lasting 2-3 days, the main ceremony takes place on January 15. The festival is very bustling with many games, singing, and plays. In addition to "Lễ kỳ Phúc", whenever there is an epidemic or disaster in the village, a worship ceremony is held at the temple called "Lễ kỳ Yên" (praying for peace). In years of prolonged drought, people hold a "praying for rain" ceremony at the temple, which is very effective. These are very unique cultural features of this land.

This temple also recorded many important historical events and marks during the revolutionary struggle of the nation. During the period of 1945 - 1947, the temple with its large campus was used to organize "popular education" classes. In 1947, following the general "scorched earth" policy against the French, all communal houses and temples in the villages of Nghi Xa commune today were demolished except for the Upper Temple worshiping Thuc Phan An Duong Vuong. The deities and offerings were dismantled and moved to Lu Son pagoda and Xuan Ang village temple; the house frame was used as a warehouse to store food. Only the Rear Palace was kept intact for worship. During the years 1954 - 1955, the Upper Temple of the King's Temple was chosen as the meeting place of the Xa Linh Commune Party Cell (a common cell of the three communes of Nghi Quang, Nghi Hop, Nghi Xa). Since 1983, the temple has been the workplace of Nghi Xa Cooperative.

With such a long tradition, despite many ups and downs and events, the King's Temple is still preserved and protected by the people of Nghi Xa area, being a place for cultural activities, festivals, and unique ceremonies of both Thuong Xa and My Xa areas, with traditional educational value for the locality. Therefore, this temple has been contributing to enriching the precious cultural heritage system of the nation: From the selection of the location to build the temple as well as the arrangement of architectural works, the structure of the house frame in the ancient architectural style of the Vietnamese people shows the harmony between scientific calculations and spiritual factors.

Talking to us about the degradation of the temple, Mr. Vo Van Dinh - Chairman of Nghi Xa Commune People's Committee said: "The locality has a plan to protect, research, and restore the Upper Palace, the Middle Palace, the courtyard, the Tam Quan gate, ... to restore and maintain the traditional festival at the temple, but so far nothing has been done because there is no funding". The locality is calling for socialization, charitable contributions, inviting investment from children from all over the country, philanthropists and contributions from officials and people to gradually restore the relic; identifying this as a practical work, promoting the traditional cultural identity of the homeland and country with profound educational value for all classes of people, especially the young generation. On the other hand, promoting the restoration of the King's Temple Festival is also a condition for exchange and integration between Nghi Xa commune in particular, Nghi Loc district in general with all regions of the country.

Article and photos:Le Thanh