Hung Hoa Provincial Temple of Literature

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 education 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Although currently, Hung Hoa Provincial Temple of Literature only exists in historical documents, it will be an important guide for Tam Nong district to plan the restoration of this rare historical and cultural work.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 studied 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 13 provinces established under the Quang Thuan reign of King Le Thanh Tong. By the beginning of the Nguyen Dynasty, the year Minh Mang 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 Folklore Association and a son 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 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 the 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 is before the establishment of the province. The scale of the Temple of Literature was relatively large. By 1882, war broke out, the provincial capital was devastated and the Temple of Literature was almost completely damaged, with only a few main rooms remaining, used by the province as a military base. Since then, the smoke of war has 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. 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 entirely 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 is the three-entrance 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. 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) compiled 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. Heaven and earth rotate, all things change. In what should be celebrated, there is also something to be pitied. Our religion has immense vitality, and cannot change because of the prosperity or decline of fortune. The existence of our religion does not depend on whether a temple exists or not, or whether a temple exists or not. It is a place to express etiquette, and is closely related to worship rituals.

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 ruined, 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 now able to take on this responsibility, it is truly an honor! Then, I ordered a 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 inscription of the Temple of Literature in 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 58 parallel sentences as follows: "Front hall 4 pairs, Khai Thanh palace 1 pair, Tien Thanh house 6 pairs, East - West area 20 pairs, main temple 4 pairs, Khai Mieu 3 pairs, Ban Tu Phoi 1 pair, Ban Thap Triet 2 pairs, Ta Huu Vu 2 pairs, Tam Quan 3 pairs, Bell tower 1 pair, Drum tower 1 pair, Thuy Dinh 10 pairs. Through the arrangement of parallel sentence hanging points of 13 separate areas, we can partly see the grandeur and grandeur of 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 knew what was brought or left behind from the Temple of Literature, and whether it was 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 values ​​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, author of the parallel sentences at the main hall of the Temple of Literature in Hung Hoa province once 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 board".

Imbued with the idea that “Talents are the vital energy of the nation”, the education cause 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, generations of descendants today and tomorrow can go there to burn incense and pray for their ancestors to bless their studies, exams, and achievements to contribute to the country.

Thuy Trang

Source: https://baophutho.vn/van-mieu-tinh-hung-hoa-224872.htm