Legend of Ho Dynasty Citadel

• DNUM_BHZAGZCABC 18:47

(Baonghean.vn) – On the occasion of last night's event, June 16, 2012, Thanh Hoa province solemnly held a ceremony to receive the Certificate of recognition as a World Cultural Heritage...

(Baonghean.vn) –On the occasionLast night, June 16, 2012, Thanh Hoa province solemnly held a ceremony to receive the World Cultural Heritage Certificate at the Ho Dynasty Citadel relic site (Vinh Loc district, Thanh Hoa). We would like to introduce some thrilling legends surrounding this relic.

Feng Shui and Prophecy

The Ma River and the Buoi River flow here (Vinh Loc district) to form a fairly flat area of 10,000 hectares. Ho Quy Ly chose this land to build the citadel because, according to him, it has good feng shui: To the southeast is Don mountain as a front screen; to the northwest are Song Tuong mountains lying side by side, facing the land called Mam Xoi mountain or Canh Phuong mountain. One elephant turns to the north, another turns to the south to guard Mam Xoi mountain. To the southwest are 5 limestone mountains, An Ton cave area - 3 mountains are called Kim Ngo (golden horse); 2 mountains are called Kim Nguu (golden buffalo). This citadel is also called An Ton because it was built on the land of An Ton ancient village during the Tran dynasty. Regarding Long Mach, Ho Quy Ly thought thatThe land of dragons and snakes can build a long-lasting empire, at least 60 years.However, Ho Han Thuong (the second son), who was very knowledgeable in feng shui, told Ho Quy Ly:"Father, I have examined this land carefully. It is indeed a land of dragons and snakes, but it is still young, so it is only a "dragon and snake drinking water, a 6-year host", and can only be lived in for about 6 years."

As expected, in the year Canh Thin (1400), Ho Quy Ly ascended the throne and after only 3 months he abdicated to his son Ho Han Thuong. In 1406, exactly 6 years later, Ho Han Thuong was invaded by the Dai Minh army and the citadel fell. In 1407, Ho Quy Ly and his son could not resist and fled to Ha Tinh province, were captured by the Ming invaders and taken back to China. The people mourned and lamented the short reign and consoled themselves: it was predestined.

Banging her head to cry out for her husband's injustice until she sinks into the rock!

On the sunken wall there is an ancient temple called Ba Binh Khuong Temple. Inside the temple there is a large flat stone slab (2 m long, 0.4 m wide), with a depression the size of a human head and the imprint of two hands deeply engraved in the stone.

Temple of Ba Binh Khuong

It is said that: the work of building the citadel was extremely urgent in the face of the threat of invasion by the Ming army, but the section of the citadel wall near the eastern gate (next to Dong Mon village, in Vinh Long commune, where the temple was built) kept piling up rocks and they kept sinking. (Nowadays, people have verified that there was a large underground water source underneath, so the rocks piled up heavily and sank.) However, at that time, there was a slanderer, Tran Cong Sy (one of the officials assigned by Ho Quy Ly to build the citadel) deliberately sabotaged it, and the Ho Dynasty also believed it. To deter the military and laborers, Ho Quy Ly ordered Tran Cong Sy to be buried in the sun for several days and then executed him. Only his wife, Mrs. Binh Khuong, knew about this injustice. She banged her head on the "censor's platform" rock to express and plead, but could not change Ho Quy Ly's decision.

The stone slab has a depression the size of a human head and the imprint of two hands.

Her loyalty was carved in stone, and there is a folk song:

Binh Khuong slapped rocks and cried out for justice.

The head and hands leave behind countless surpluses…

Today, on that collapsed section of the wall, there is a tombstone engraved with her husband's name. The tombstone has the sentence "Tran Cong Sinh chi mo chi" written in ancient characters. Next to it is a temple to worship Mrs. Binh Khuong.

Tran Khat Chan Temple and the "dead" lychee tree bearing fruit again!

Tran Khat Chan Temple and Tam Tong Temple both worship the talented 29-year-old general Tran Khat Chan of the Tran Dynasty. Both temples are located next to Hoa Nhai Avenue, (Hoe Nhai), the road from the Ho Dynasty Citadel gate to Don Mountain. Tran Khat Chan is worshiped because he had the merit of killing Che Bong Nga, ending the great disaster of the King of Champa who came to disturb Dai Viet. Moreover, he died unjustly at the Don Son Oath. That day, the former mandarins of the Tran Dynasty saw Ho Quy Ly usurping the throne, so they formed a gang to assassinate him. When they were about to start, Tran Khat Chan gave them a signal not to act, causing the plan to fail. Ho Quy Ly was angry and ordered the execution of 370 people at once, including Tran Khat Chan. All were buried in the same hole, which the local people called the Banh Day Tomb. Tran Thu Huong, daughter of Tran Khanh Chan, was the only one who escaped, but when she heard that her father was killed, she also hung herself from a tree branch to repay her filial piety.

On the Tran Khat Chan Temple, there are many ancient trees, including a lychee tree with its top cut off. The tree has two branches pointing straight up to the sky like two arms. In the nineties of the last century, the tree lost its leaves, the two bare branches pointing up to the blue sky could still be seen from afar. Everyone thought the lychee tree was dead. Suddenly, in 1995 and 1999, the two temples worshiping Tran Khat Chan were ranked as National Historical Monuments by the Ministry of Culture and Information, the lychee tree grew green leaves, bloomed and bore fruit. People in the area flocked to see, the temple caretaker informed local officials to witness, take pictures and record. Collector Pham Van Chay also recorded this event in the book "Ho Dynasty Citadel and stories of building the citadel and ramparts(Thanh Hoa Publishing House).

The world cultural heritage of Ho Dynasty Citadel is therefore more attractive and interesting to visitors from all over the world.

Hoang Chinh