On the top of Truc mountain, Truc Phe village (now zone 3), Hung Hoa town, Tam Nong district, there used to be a Hung Hoa provincial Temple of Literature with a relatively large scale, a symbol of the teachings and tradition of respecting teachers of the local people at that time.
Although currently, Hung Hoa Provincial Temple of Literature only exists in historical documents, it will be an important guide for Tam Nong district to plan the restoration of this rare historical and cultural work.
Folklore researcher Nguyen Trong Binh and leaders of Hung Hoa town researched documents about the Temple of Literature in Hung Hoa province.
According to the book “Hung Hoa Ky Luoc” compiled by author Pham Than Duat in Chinese characters in the year Binh Thin 1856, Hung Hoa was one of the 13 provinces established under the Quang Thuan reign of King Le Thanh Tong. By the beginning of the Nguyen Dynasty, in the year Minh Menh 12, or 1831, Hung Hoa was a province with 3 prefectures, 5 districts, 16 provinces with a fairly large area including most of the land of the provinces of Phu Tho, Yen Bai, Tuyen Quang, Lai Chau and Son La today.
In the process of searching for documents and historical traces of the ancient Hung Hoa Provincial Temple of Literature, we met folklore researcher Nguyen Trong Binh. He is a member of the Hanoi City Folklore Association and a native of Hung Hoa. After retiring to his hometown, he and many seniors worked hard to collect documents proving that the Hung Hoa Provincial Temple of Literature is an architectural work that existed in history, one of 28 provincial-level Temples of Literature in Vietnam.
The location of the Temple of Literature in Hung Hoa Citadel is shown on an ancient map of Tam Nong district in Dong Khanh geography book (compiled in 1887 under the reign of King Dong Khanh of the Nguyen Dynasty).
According to documents published by the Institute of Han Nom Studies in 1998, the Temple of Literature of Hung Hoa province was built on the top of Truc mountain, northwest of Hung Hoa provincial capital (Hung Hoa town) in the 11th year of Minh Mang (1830), which was before the establishment of the province. The scale of the Temple of Literature was relatively impressive. By 1882, war broke out, the provincial capital was devastated and the Temple of Literature was almost completely damaged, with only a few main halls remaining, used by the province as a military base. Since then, the smoke and fire of war have gradually dimmed the incense of worshiping the saints.
In 1892, the governor Le (from Nhan Muc village, Tu Liem district, Hanoi) took office and led his subordinates to visit the old temple. Feeling moved by the scene of the Temple of Literature in ruins, Governor Le immediately planned a plan to restore it. The work was carried out urgently, starting in early June 1893 and completed in mid-July of the same year.
The scale of the Temple of Literature is completely based on the old campus, including: the main hall to worship the ancestors, inside the rooms are the throne of the holy teacher Confucius, the altar of the Four Pairs, the altar of the Seventy-two Sages, the altar of the local ancestors; on both sides are two rows of left and right wings; in the front are the three-door pavilion, the bell tower, the drum tower; behind is the water pavilion - the place for students to practice; all four sides are built with laterite brick walls. When the work was completed, the province immediately held an inauguration ceremony, and had a stone stele engraved to record the whole story. Unfortunately, today, the Temple of Literature no longer exists, the stele has been lost.
Historical documents about the Temple of Literature of Hung Hoa province are still quite complete and detailed.
In the Han Nom book “Sac van thi truong doi lien”, a handwritten book compiled by the Le family (the family of the Le governor who restored the Temple of Literature in Hung Hoa province) in 1893, there is a passage recording the content of the stele as follows: “I told my subordinates that: In this world, all things of success, failure, decline, rise and fall continue to happen forever without end. In the past, when the Temple of Literature was first built, who would have thought that later it would be deserted and ruined, and would be used as a place to garrison soldiers.
Who would have thought that now there would be enough strength to build a new Temple of Literature. The earth and sky rotate, all things change. In what should be celebrated, there is also something to be pitied. Our religion is immense and full of vitality, and cannot be changed by the rise and fall of fortune. The existence of our religion does not depend on whether a temple exists or disappears, or whether a temple exists or not. It is a place to express etiquette, and is closely related to the ritual of worship.
Therefore, in each locality, the construction of Temples of Literature is to maintain the world, and it is necessary to restore abandoned places. Temples of Literature are accidentally abandoned and dilapidated, so they need to be restored even more. So, the restoration of this Temple of Literature is said to be the responsibility of the land keeper, so who else can be entrusted? I have just come to this land and am able to take on this responsibility, it is truly an honor! Then, I ordered the stone carver to write down a few words, so that future people who have the opportunity to visit this Temple of Literature will know the general outline of the matter.
A copy of the book "Sac van thi truong doi lien" records the content of the stele of Van Mieu, Hung Hoa province.
The grand scale of the Hung Hoa Provincial Temple of Literature at one time was also shown in the number of 8 horizontal lacquered boards and 58 parallel sentences arranged in 13 places of worship. The book "Sac van thi truong doi lien" specifically recorded the location of the 58 parallel sentences as follows: "4 pairs of front hall, 1 pair of Khai Thanh temple, 6 pairs of Tien Thanh house, 20 pairs of East - West area, 4 pairs of main temple, 3 pairs of Khai Thanh temple, 1 pair of Ban Tu Phoi, Ban Thap Triet, 2 pairs of Ta Huu Vu, 2 pairs of Tam Quan, 1 pair of bell tower, 1 pair of drum tower, 10 pairs of water pavilion. Through the arrangement of parallel sentence hanging points in 13 separate areas, we can partly see the grandeur and grandeur of the Hung Hoa Provincial Temple of Literature at that time".
Folklore researcher Nguyen Trong Binh said: “The prosperity of the Hung Hoa provincial Temple of Literature only lasted 10 years. In 1903, under the order of the Governor General of Indochina, the provincial capital was moved to Phu Tho town and renamed Phu Tho province. The Hung Hoa provincial Temple of Literature, as well as a number of other architectural works, also passed into memory. During the process of moving the provincial capital, no one knows what was brought or left behind from the Temple of Literature, and whether it is still there or lost.”
Mr. Binh took me to the house of Mrs. Nguyen Thi Oanh (Zone 3, Hung Hoa town), which is the old foundation of the Temple of Literature. Mrs. Oanh said: “My family came here to live since 1954. When building the house, we discovered many large laterite blocks. Each block is half the length of an adult’s arm span. There is a very large frangipani tree at the gate.”
Mrs. Nguyen Thi Oanh - owner of the house built on the old foundation of Hung Hoa Provincial Temple
Many historical documents have proven that nearly 2 centuries ago, the architectural work of the Temple of Literature in Hung Hoa province existed. Tam Nong district is currently very interested and has established a research project to restore the Temple of Literature in Hung Hoa province. Comrade Nguyen Ngoc Kien - Vice Chairman of the People's Committee of Hung Hoa town, Tam Nong district said: "The locality has met with researchers and seniors to collect documents, reported to the district to come up with a plan to restore the architectural work with rare historical and cultural value such as the Temple of Literature. Thereby, contributing to educating the next generation about the tradition of respecting teachers, encouraging the strong development of education promotion work in the locality".
According to the documents of Associate Professor Dr. Nguyen Ta Nhi - Institute of Han Nom Studies, Professor Tran Ky - a local, the author of the parallel sentences at the main hall of the Temple of Literature in Hung Hoa province, commented as follows: "After being restored, the Temple of Literature in Hung Hoa province has indeed contributed to the revival of local education, encouraging students to study diligently for several consecutive Huong exams. People saw Hung Hoa students' names when they were posted on the exam boards at the examination hall."
Imbued with the idea that “Talents are the vital energy of the nation”, education has always been highly valued by all levels and sectors. Echoes from the distant past have urged Tam Nong district to research and plan to restore the Hung Hoa Provincial Temple of Literature in today’s Hung Hoa town. That way, future generations can go there to burn incense and pray for their ancestors to bless them with their studies, exams, and achievements, contributing to the country.
Thuy Trang
Source: https://baophutho.vn/van-mieu-tinh-hung-hoa-224872.htm
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