King Le Temple is located in Temple village, Hoang Tung commune, Hoa An district, Cao Bang province, 11km from Cao Bang city center. Temple of King Le Thai To (ie Le Loi Cao Hoang De).
Temple of King Le in Cao Bang (Photo source: Cao Bang Newspaper)
King Le temple was built on Long mound (or dragon mound), a high mound north of Na Lu citadel. In the citadel, there are 4 raised mounds named respectively with 4 names: Long, Ly, Quy, Phuong. According to legend and historical documents, King Le Temple was originally the palace in Na Lu citadel. The citadel was built by Cao Bien. In the 11th century, Nung Ton Phuc (father of Nung Tri Cao), the leader of Quang Nguyen province, continued to build. Under the reign of Ly Thai Tong, year Thong Thuy, in the 6th year, ie 1039, Nung Ton Phuc proclaimed himself Emperor Chieu Thanh, renamed Quang Nguyen as the Kingdom of Truong Sinh; then built a citadel and a palace at Na Lu. In March 1039, Nung Ton Phuc was destroyed by the Ly court.
In 1414, the Ming invaders ruled our country, in Cao Bang, they stationed the Crown Prince in Dong Lan mound, Na Lu citadel, forcing the people to pay heavy taxes, oppressing and oppressing the people’s lives. extremely miserable. Faced with that situation, Be Khac Thieu – a rich patriarch in Cao Bang recruited troops to rise up insurrection, and at the same time, cooperated with Nong Dac Thai to organize a war against the enemy, won the victory after the dramatic battle in Na Khuoi. (September 1426). Be Khac Thieu proclaimed himself Be Dai Vuong, named Nong Dac Thai Marshal Nong Nguyen, stationed in Na Lu citadel, and ordered the army to repair and rebuild the palace in 1430.
In 1592, the Mac dynasty fled to Cao Bang, Mac Kinh Cung took over Na Lu citadel and established a palace. After living in Cao Bang for three generations, Mac Kinh Vu was defeated by the Le – Trinh army. The Mac dynasty abandoned the palace and Na Lu citadel and fled to China.
In the third Chinh Hoa year of King Le Hy Tong’s reign, ie 1682, the governor of Cao Bang, Le Van Hai, asked King Le to repair the old Na Lu citadel to worship King Le Thai To (present-day King Le Temple). ; take the robe and the sword to worship at the throne.
Before the August Revolution and during the resistance wars against the French and the Americans, the temple of King Le was a historical relic associated with the Party’s activities during the campaign for the national and democratic revolution. Here, in 1936, comrade Hoang Dinh Giong established the “Anti-Imperial Youth Union”.
Architecture of King Le temple
The temple was built in the shape of a triangle, including 3 houses, 7 compartments, walls built of brick, roof tiles, trusses, wooden diaphragms. Around the temple built a wall 600m long, in front of the temple there are two courtyards about 1,000m2. The temple is a place to organize festivals and focus on cultural and artistic activities of people in the region.
King Le Temple Festival is held on the 6th day of the first lunar month every year. In addition to the ceremony held from early morning in the presence of a large number of people in the region, the festival includes cultural and artistic activities, folk games such as chess, human chess, stick push, tug of war… attract a large number of people to participate.
King Le Temple is a relic of historical value, educating our people’s tradition of fighting against invaders, as well as a valuable cultural heritage in terms of architecture and art of the nation. This is also a place to affirm the value of cultural quintessence, the pride of the traditional history of the glorious revolutionary struggle of our nation in general and Cao Bang province in particular.
On April 20, 1995, King Le Temple was ranked as a national historical and cultural relic by the State.
Source: Collected internet.