LOCATION OF HIEN T RUNG TEMPLE ON THE MAP OF GIA DINH Citadel
In 1788, there were many internal changes in Tay Son, causing Nguyen Anh to regain Gia Dinh and proclaim himself king, building a center of power here. In 1790, Lord Nguyen Anh built Gia Dinh citadel - Quy citadel - Bat Quai citadel as the capital before the great national settlement moved to Phu Xuan, Hue. In October 1791, Lord Nguyen Anh built Hien Trung temple in the west of Gia Dinh citadel to worship meritorious mandarins to honor and glorify the names of loyal subjects because Lord Nguyen Anh regained the Nguyen dynasty in Dang Trong.
In addition to the name Hien Trung Temple, this construction also has other names such as Temple of the Grands Dignitaires, Hien Trung Pagoda (Pagode de la Fidelite Eclatante), Ao Pagoda (Pagode des Mares)...
Location of Hien Trung Temple on the 1815 drawing of Gia Dinh citadel by Tran Van Hoc
DOCUMENTS OF LUONG CHANH TONG
The location of Hien Trung Temple was shown by the Imperial Commissioner, Chief of the Citadel, Tran Van Hoc, on the map of Gia Dinh Citadel in December 1815. On this map, Hien Trung Temple is located in the west of Gia Dinh Citadel, between two relics: Kim Chuong Pagoda (left) and Thanh Mieu (right) with the note Cong Than Mieu. It is now a plot of land on Nguyen Trai Street (Nguyen Cu Trinh Ward, District 1, Ho Chi Minh City).
In June 1804, King Gia Long ordered the Ministry of Rites to determine the place to worship the meritorious mandarins at Hien Trung Temple - Gia Dinh, a total of 1,015 people, and sent them to the Governor to make tablets for worship: The main hall worships the Commander-in-Chief Vo Tanh, the Ministry of Rites District Duke Ngo Tong Chau, and the Commander Nguyen Tien Huyen. On the left and right sides, worship Chau Van Tiep, Ton That Hoi, Tong Viet Phuc, Mai Duc Nghi, Vo Di Nguy...; Nguyen Huu Thuy, Nguyen Dinh Thuyen, Nguyen Kim Pham, Tran Xuan Trach...
Continuing the gratitude of the late emperor, King Minh Mang (1820 - 1840) continued to organize many activities to direct the sacrifices at Hien Trung Temple, and at the same time built a number of other works such as Trung Hung and Trung Tiet temples in Hue capital to worship and honor the meritorious mandarins who had contributed to the Nguyen dynasty's career in history, including those who were already worshiped at Hien Trung Temple.
The note accompanying the explanation of the destruction of Hien Trung Temple from the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Vietnam
In 1832, after King Minh Mang implemented administrative reforms, abolished Gia Dinh citadel, and divided it into Luc Tinh, many conflicts occurred. The rebellion of Le Van Khoi lasted from 1833 to 1835, making the royal court exhausted and the position of the old Gia Dinh land was no longer as important as before, the care for worshiping Hien Trung temple was increasingly seriously reduced.
When the French captured Phung citadel in Gia Dinh in 1859, they successively captured Khai Tuong pagoda, Kim Chuong pagoda, Hien Trung temple, Thanh Mieu, Cay Mai pagoda to establish a defense line surrounding the Chi Hoa citadel, called the Pagode defense line (Pagoda defense line). Thanks to this defense line, the French army continued to destroy the Chi Hoa citadel in 1861.
THE HORRIFYING STORM IN THE YEAR OF THE DRAGON IN SAIGON
Hien Trung Temple gradually became a French military barracks and a shelter for the expeditionary force and the families of the generals who followed them, called Camp aux Mares.
The architecture is believed to be a structure belonging to Hien Trung temple photographed by the French.
The French planning, construction, and functional zoning of the O Ma camp turned it into a military barracks, not allowing local people to visit and worship, which gradually caused the relic to deteriorate over a long period of time. That was also one of the reasons why Hien Trung temple was wiped out in a storm on the night of October 20, 1952. In the minds of many elders, there is still the reminder of the storm in the year of Nham Thin, which destroyed many structures and landscapes of Saigon.
Scholar Vuong Hong Sen, when writing about Hien Trung Temple in Saigon in the past, also accused the French of destroying this relic, not knowing that it was the hurricane of the year Nham Thin (1952) that wiped out the Hien Trung Temple relic. This is evidenced by the report of the French army to the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs, which sent a diplomatic note to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Vietnam on January 24, 1957, when before that, the local government, in response to the obliteration of Hien Trung Temple relic, had strictly requested the French to explain.
After taking over O Ma citadel from the French, the old government changed its name to Cong Hoa citadel in 1956. Although it was very interested after taking over the Hien Trung temple area, due to the lack of traces, lack of original documents and many objective historical reasons, the dedication to restore the Hien Trung temple relic did not become a reality. No one could visualize the architectural details as well as the interior space of Hien Trung temple. Therefore, up to now, the Hien Trung temple relic - Cong Than Mieu - an ancient relic considered to have the greatest value among the architectural works of worship in the ancient Gia Dinh land only exists in the memories of very few elders and few records in historical documents, there are still many mysteries waiting to be solved.
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