Chu Thuong Yem Church - cultural and historical address

(Baonghean) - Located in the rice land of Yen Thanh with a rich historical tradition, the Chu Thuong Yem church relic in Hoa Thanh commune (Yen Thanh) has long been known as a highlight of the patriotic and revolutionary tradition and rich historical and cultural values ​​of the locality.

Chu Thuong Yem Temple is an ancient architectural work built hundreds of years ago, worshiping the ancestors of the Chu family, typically Mr. Chu Thuong Yem - who had great contributions in reclaiming the ancient Nam village, now Hoa Thanh commune; also worshiping are typical descendants of the Chu family such as: Chu Trac, a typical Can Vuong patriot; Chu Van Bien - a staunch communist party member.

Chu Thuong Yem, whose pen name was Chat Phac Phu Quan, was originally from Long An village, Hoang Truong commune, Dien Chau prefecture (now Dien Truong commune, Dien Chau district). He was born in 1722, a descendant of his ancestor Chu Hong Nguyen - a man who had great contributions during the early Le dynasty and was awarded the title of "Chinh vu uy linh thuy luc Dai Tuong Quan Do Chi Huy Su".

Born into a family with a lineage that had served as mandarins for generations in the royal court, Chu Thuong Yem was known from a young age to be intelligent, quick-witted, studious, and compassionate. However, when he grew up, he did not follow his family's official career but instead sought new lands to cultivate, establish villages, and gather the poor and scattered people to comfort and help them farm and make a living.

Chu Thuong Yem church relic in Hoa Thanh commune, Yen Thanh district.

In 1742, Mr. Chu Thuong Yem decided to choose a new settlement in the Nam village area of ​​Hoa Thanh commune, Yen Thanh district today. Here, he and the first residents of the Dau, Le, and Dao families actively reclaimed land, built dams to "bring water to the fields", organized production, dug wells to get water for daily life, and built roads for the villagers. Thanks to his intelligence, understanding, and ability to mobilize and organize, the work of reclaiming land to establish the village quickly achieved results. The cultivated land area was expanded, the yield of rice and crops increased, and the material and spiritual life of the residents became more and more prosperous. Many families and residents heard about this new land and came to live there.

When the daily life and production of the people of Nam village gradually stabilized, Mr. Chu Thuong Yem and his son Chu Thuong Son created a new craft in Nam village, which was growing sugarcane and pulling honey to make molasses. Thanks to his efforts in teaching, organizing and guiding, sugarcane fields and honey making machines were formed and put into operation. The honey products of Nam village were famous for their deliciousness and were known in many places. And a hamlet specializing in pulling honey to make molasses was born, called Nuong Che (this name is still circulated in the locality). Thanks to that, the life of the people of Nam village became increasingly prosperous, the village became prosperous and peaceful.

While the land reclamation and settlement work was achieving certain results, due to old age and poor health, Mr. Chu Thuong Yem passed away. To commemorate his contributions, the people of Nam village built a temple to worship him, honored him as the village's lucky god and remembered him forever. The feudal dynasties all bestowed upon him the title "Duc bao Trung hung Linh phu Ban canh Trieu co Chu Yem general Cong Chinh truc Toi linh Ton than".

The descendants of the Chu family in Nam village - Hoa Thanh chose a land with good feng shui here to build a 3-room house made of ironwood, roofed with sugarcane leaves on the land of Nam village to worship him and the descendants of the Chu family with the desire to continue the career of their ancestors and pass it on to future generations. In 1902, under the reign of King Thanh Thai the 12th, the church was renovated into 3 buildings: upper, middle, lower palace as it is today.

Not only a simple relic of ancestor worship, during the two resistance wars against French colonialism and American imperialism, Chu Thuong Yem Church was also a place that marked many important historical events of the locality, contributing to the construction and protection of the Fatherland such as: From 1946 to 1954, it was the workplace of the agencies of the Yen Thanh District Party Committee and District Military Command; from 1964 to 1972, the church was used as the administrative headquarters of the district agency, where many important meetings took place to direct the government and people to fight against the US. On July 13, 1988, Chu Dai Ton Church in Hoa Thanh was awarded the First Class Resistance Medal by the State.

Chu Thuong Yem Church, Hoa Thanh Commune is also an intact tangible cultural heritage remaining in Yen Thanh land with large-scale, ancient architecture, where many valuable documents and artifacts are kept for historical research and local history compilation such as: Genealogy, royal decree, parallel sentences, large characters, throne, memorial tablet, ancient incense table, ancient incense burner, ancient Long Dinh palanquin... Those artifacts have been carefully preserved by generations of descendants.

In addition, through spiritual cultural activities on holidays such as ancestor worship, peace and blessing ceremonies, death anniversaries, etc., the concern of descendants in honoring and remembering the contributions of ancestors to the homeland and clan has been shown. In particular, the ancestor Chu Thuong Yem is not only praised by descendants in the clan but also by people in the region.

Currently, the relic is being cared for, protected and promoted by the descendants of the Chu family, meeting the spiritual and cultural needs of the descendants of the family and a part of the local people. The Chu Thuong Yem church relic increasingly demonstrates the educational value of patriotism, national pride and self-respect for the descendants of the Chu family in Hoa Thanh commune in particular and Yen Thanh district in general.

With the great historical and cultural significance and value of the relic as well as to honor the contributions of Mr. Chu Thuong Yem in particular and the ancestors of the Chu family in general, on April 24, 2015, the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism issued Decision No. 1346/QD-BVHTTDL to rank the Chu Thuong Yem Church relic in Hoa Thanh commune, Yen Thanh district as a National Historical Relic.

The ranking of Chu Thuong Yem church relic, Hoa Thanh commune, Yen Thanh district as a National Historical Relic is the pride of the descendants of the Chu family in Hoa Thanh commune, and reminds the common awareness in preserving and promoting the heritage of ancestors and the cultural values ​​of the nation to educate traditions for the younger generations.

Manh Ha

(Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism)