During the past 23 centuries, with many ups and downs of the times, history and society, the residents of Huong Lan village have quietly preserved and protected the sacred temple.
According to “Ngoc genea communal house in Huong Lan village”, it is said that in the 18th Hung Kings period, the reign of Hung Due Vuong, from king to people, they were very interested in their children’s education, respect for their masters, religion, and self-improvement. People. Therefore, the 18th Hung King paid special attention to teaching letters and people.
At the same time, teachers and teachers Vu The Lang and Nguyen Thi Thuc opened a teaching class right in the capital city of Van Lang. Knowing the morals of the teachers, Hung Due Vuong invited the two to the palace to teach the two princesses that the king loved so much, Tien Dung and Ngoc Hoa.
The two princesses were taught literacy, taught by teachers Vu The Lang and Nguyen Thi Thuc, and quickly became gentle, skillful and resourceful princesses.
When the teachers died at the same time, on the same day of February 2, the year of the Rooster (288 BC), King Hung and the people of Huong Lan village mourned their merits, so they were buried at the place where the two opened a teaching class. buried in the same grave. The king also allowed Huong Lan village to set up a shrine to worship and burn incense.
Currently, the two teachers’ graves are still located in the middle of the main hall of the temple.
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| The tau tree casts shade on the ancient temple – Photo: NT Luong |
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| The altar to worship teacher Vu The Lang and two princesses in Thien Co Temple – Photo: NT Luong |
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| The graves of two teachers are located in the middle of the shrine – Photo: NTLuong |
Previously, Thien Co Temple was just a small temple and people still called it Hai Co Temple because it worshiped both princesses Tien Dung and Ngoc Hoa. For 23 centuries, the temple has not been moved or destroyed.
Thien Co Temple is located in the historical complex of Huong Lan Communal House, the tombs of the three imperial soldiers of the Hung Kings period and Thien Co Temple. In the temple, there is a statue of teachers Vu The Lang and Nguyen Thi Thuc, with statues of two princesses Tien Dung and Ngoc Hoa, statues of two maids of the two princesses.
In the shrine, there is a small horizontal painting inscribed: “Thien Co Mieu” with two wooden couplets about 1m long, written in Chinese characters: “Hung Chieu triumphal victory/Nam Thien chi chi Linh word” (Sacred temple) worshiping people with strong and great will of the South heaven).
When learning about the inscriptions on the horizontal paintings, the couplets, researchers have found that this is an ancient Vietnamese script, dating from BC, which is evidence that Western missionaries and other intellectuals have found that this is an ancient Vietnamese script. The Vietnamese formula has Latinized Vietnamese characters on the basis of this script.
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| Couplets in Thien Co Temple are written in ancient Vietnamese characters – Photo: NTLuong |
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| Ancient Vietnamese characters are stored in the temple – Photo: NTLuong |
The ancient temple is located in the shadow of two old “old people”, dating back thousands of years. Up to now, two old trees are lush and green, casting their shadows on the temple.
The people of Huong Lan village said that the strange thing about the two ancient trees is that although they are two trees of the same species, in May, the flowering season, one tree blooms with white flowers and the other with yellow flowers. Petals spread down the temple courtyard like a large carpet with two distinct white and yellow colors.
At one time, the village planned to cut down two trees for firewood, but the villagers were determined to keep and protect it. Two tau trees become sacred objects that are protected and cared for by the people of Huong Lan village. Recently, two tau trees at Thien Co Mieu have been recognized as Vietnam’s heritage trees.
To the right of Thien Co Mieu is a monolithic statue of Than Quy, weighing 4 tons. It is a symbol of study, examination and passing, a tradition that has been forged by Vietnamese residents for generations.
For more than 3,000 years, Thien Co Mieu temple has been a sacred symbol for the learning of Vietnam from the beginning, a relic inscribed with the Vietnamese tradition of “respecting the master and respecting the religion”.
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| Stone statue in Thien Co temple relic site – Photo: NT Luong |
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| Stele of Thien Co Temple – Photo: NTLuong |
Source: Collected internet.