A place to preserve the cultural and historical values ​​of the Great Physician honored by UNESCO

Huong Son, Ha Tinh is the land associated with the life and illustrious medical career of the great physician Hai Thuong Lan Ong Le Huu Trac. At the end of 2023, UNESCO honored him as a cultural celebrity.

The Hai Thuong Lan Ong Le Huu Trac relic complex in Huong Son district (Ha Tinh) includes a tomb and monument in Hai Thuong village, Son Trung commune; a church and memorial in Bao Thuong village, Quang Diem commune. This is where the cultural and historical values ​​of this great physician are preserved.

This is the only original relic, closely associated with the life and medical career of Le Huu Trac in Huong Son, Ha Tinh as well as the whole country in general. The tomb and monument area has an area of ​​45,000m2 with 48 items, including: Hai Thuong Lan Ong stone tomb, square house, reception house, garden, stone paved road leading to the monument 629m long with 231 steps and 51 landing systems, Le Huu Trac marble monument...

According to legend, during his lifetime, Le Huu Trac often flew kites on the mountain tops near his house. Before he died, he told everyone that he should be buried where the kite fell. That is the current location of his tomb. Le Huu Trac's tomb is located near the foot of the mountain, with its head facing the highest peak of Minh Tu mountain range and its feet pointing straight to Truong Son mountain range. Next to the tomb, there is a small bamboo clump planted, with the purpose of indicating where the kite fell, while also showing Le Huu Trac's upright and noble character. Although there have been several renovations and embellishments, the location, direction, and form of the tomb have not changed. In Ha Tinh province, this is a very rare and unique tomb complex, with no similar form.

From the tomb, cross the 629m long stone paved road with 231 steps to the Le Huu Trac monument on the top of Minh Tu mountain. The statue is made of marble, over 16m high, weighing 350 tons. The location of the monument is also the place associated with the life of practicing medicine and enjoying the mountain scenery of the Great Physician.

About 7km west of the tomb is the church and memorial site of Le Huu Trac, in Bao Thuong village, Quang Diem commune.

The church area is located next to Ngan Pho River, with a construction area of ​​13,500m2 with 18 items such as church, reception house, ceremony yard, stele house, medicinal garden...

Le Huu Trac's church (the main hall in the memorial area) is also an original relic. The house is where Le Huu Trac lived, rested, and prescribed medicine to cure and save people all his life. Notably, in this house, Le Huu Trac wrote the entire Hai Thuong Y Tong Tam Linh.

The memorial area still preserves a number of important restored documents and artifacts such as medicine preparation tools, copies of the Hai Thuong Lan Ong Complete Book of Medicine, Y Gia Tam Linh, Hai Thuong Y Tong Tam Linh, etc. These documents and artifacts are extremely valuable and useful for research on Le Huu Trac in particular, as well as research on traditional medicine in general.

The Le Huu Trac memorial area also preserves many precious medicinal plant species, which can be considered an important genetic reserve for traditional medicine today.

Tuong Son Pagoda in Village 1, Son Giang Commune (Huong Son) is also a place associated with Hai Thuong Lan Ong Le Huu Trac. The pagoda was built during the Later Le Dynasty, Le Du Tong Dynasty (early 18th century), by the great physician's maternal grandmother, Mrs. Dang Phung Hau - wife of the Left Governor, Deputy Governor Bui Tuong Cong. During the years 1760-1786, Hai Thuong Lan Ong spent most of his time at the pagoda, opening a clinic to treat people. Here, he also completed the works: Y tong tam linh (including 28 volumes, 66 books), Y trung quan kien (1780), Y hai cau nguyen (1782), Thuong kinh ky su (1783), Van khi bi dien (1786) and other works.

According to the People's Committee of Ha Tinh province, the Le Huu Trac Tomb and Memorial Site was ranked as a National Monument by the Ministry of Culture and Information (now the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism) in 1990. In 2023, the People's Committee of Ha Tinh province directed the Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism to preside over and coordinate with relevant ministries, branches, agencies, units and the People's Committee of Huong Son district to prepare a scientific dossier to submit to the Prime Minister to rank the Le Huu Trac Tomb and Memorial Site as a Special National Monument. At the end of November 2023, at the 42nd Plenary Session, the UNESCO Council officially passed a resolution with a list of 53 cultural celebrities, including the great physician Hai Thuong Lan Ong Le Huu Trac.

Le Huu Trac's real name is Le Huu Huan, born on November 12, 1724, the seventh child in a family of great intellectuals in Lieu Xa village, Duong Hao district (now Yen My district, Hung Yen province). He took the name Hai Thuong Lan Ong. Hai Thuong is the first two letters of Hai Duong province and Thuong Hong district, his father's hometown, which is also Bau Thuong, his mother's hometown. Lan Ong means "lazy man", implying laziness, hatred of fame, freeing himself from the constraints of fame, power, freedom to study medicine, and pursue his favorite aspirations. As a child, Le Huu Trac followed his father to study in Thang Long capital, and soon became famous for his intelligence, knowledge of Confucianism, medicine, philosophy, and numerology. Living in a time of turmoil and chaos, at the age of 26, he decided to leave the officialdom and return to his mother's hometown in Bau Thuong village, Tinh Diem commune (now Son Quang commune, Huong Son district, Ha Tinh) to take care of his old mother. For more than 40 years hiding in the deep mountains, "The Lazy Old Man" still tirelessly searched, researched, cultivated indigenous medicinal plants, wrote poems, taught, wrote books, cured people, etc. Le Huu Trac was invited by the royal court to return to the capital many times. However, each time, he tried to complete his duties and then returned to his hometown Huong Son - where he did not care about fame and fortune. Instead, nature, people, intelligence, diligence, and rusticity... molded him into a great physician, a cultural celebrity of the country. Le Huu Trac left behind a shining example of medical ethics, medical theory, and medical skills. He made great contributions to Vietnamese traditional medicine, including traditional medicine when he excellently inherited the career of "Nam Duoc Tri Nam Nhan" of Zen Master Tue Tinh. His work "Hai Thuong Y Tong Tam Linh" (28 volumes, 66 books) is considered the most outstanding medical work in the Vietnamese Middle Ages. Besides, his books such as "Ling Nam Ban Thao" and "Thuong Kinh Ky Su" not only have medical value but also literary, historical and philosophical value./.

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