The relic was built on a high mound at the beginning of Nguyen Xa village in a reciprocating position with a high mound in the middle, surrounded by a winding stream of water. The temple is located facing the East, towards the Thang Long citadel.
Dong Co Temple/Temple is the folk name after the deity worshiped as the god Dong Co. Although at present Dong Co temple/temple is just a relic, with a rather modest campus hidden in an ancient garden, but it contains profound historical and cultural values associated with the dynasty. Ly Dynasty in particular and national history in general.
Historical events and characters through folk legends and written records show that Nguyen Xa is a land with a long history of settlement. Here around the 1970s, archaeologists discovered and excavated the Ngoa / Ngoai Long relic – one of the few relics belonging to the Phung Nguyen culture, dating from about 4000 years ago in the area. Hanoi area. Stepping into historical periods, due to its location at the western gateway of Thang Long Citadel, this land was the place where many important events took place and was bestowed with pure customs and traditions affirming that it is a land of great tradition. history, pure customs…
Regarding the god to be worshiped, according to the content of the ordination, he is Duong Canh Thanh Hoang Giam Vuong Dong Co Son Than ie God Dong Co. Local folklore says that during the reign of Hai Ba Trung, Thanh Hoa martyrs on their way to Hat Mon gathered under the flag of Trung Trac and Trung Nhi brought their local deity (Dan Ne, Yen Dinh). , Thanh Hoa), when they passed Nguyen Xa, where there is a solemn and solemn space, they built a temple to worship the god.
In the Ly dynasty, King Ly Thai To on the way to visit Phuong Canh (about Canh crossroads), elephants were suddenly stuck in the ground, unable to walk. The king immediately ordered a review, went to Nguyen Xa village, saw Dong Co temple/temple immediately worshiped, elephants could walk again. Since then, the king often frequented Dong Co temple.
However, perhaps it was not until the reign of King Ly Thai Tong that Dong Co temple really received special attention, because it was Dong Co god who warned the king in a dream about the internal rebellion of the Three Kings (Dong Chinh, Duc Thanh and Vu Duc). Please reserve. Thai Tong woke up, immediately summoned the court god Le Phung Hieu to pay homage, rushed to the gate of Quang Phuc to kill Vu Duc Vuong, quelling the internal rebellion just like in a dream. Thai Tong then issued a decree to confer the title of God as the God of the Underworld , the God of the Underworld , and again conferred the title of a Royal Duke and decided to regularly perform the swearing-in ceremony in the temple. The courtiers from the East entered through the procession of the God of God, the blood killing ceremony (drinking blood and swearing). The king ordered a poem to engrave the name of the god in a dream and gave a couple of parallel sentences to record the merits of the god Dong Co (The great virtues of honoring the ancient Dong god, the ancient chi Kim Truyen exemplified the legend / Dai Phi Hoa chi saint dan Phai from ancient Ba Linh Thanh) . After that, the king went down to provide money, ordered the people to repair the temple/temple to organize the Ming Association with the oath of loyalty . Make me unfaithful, make my children unfilial, and destroy the gods. Perhaps this is the first Dong Co oath festival of international nature ( Festival held periodically by the court/state). In the oath specify: …before, through the three families Ngo, Dinh, and Le, the orthodoxy, discipline, and psychotic thief were not clear, and they competed to do the opposite, not completely loyal. Up to now, when worshiping the god king as a wise man, everyone is afraid that the gods will know in advance whether people’s hearts are right or wrong, so they don’t dare to act with two hearts.
Another theory is that: when King Ly Thai Tong was still Crown Prince, he was sent by Thai To to take troops to capture Champa, in the third watch the king dreamed of a mutant wearing a velvet robe, holding a sword claiming to be a mountain god. Ancient bronze, willing to help. Thai Tong happily followed his instructions, indeed won, and defeated the Chiem invaders. Thai Tong planned to choose the land in the sutra to build a temple, but not yet decided, the god announced a dream to set up on the right side of the inner city, behind Thanh Tho pagoda. King Thai Tong obeyed and filled his temple to the right of the citadel, where Tu An pagoda was.
Not only focused on the Ly kings, in later historical periods, the relics of Dong Co temple were still sacred places, the ancient Dong god was still respected and worshiped (shown in more than 40 religious documents). Phong) and especially has been bold in the folk consciousness.
In 1908, the relic was the place chosen by patriot Luong Van Can – the leader of the Dong Kinh Nghia Thuc movement as a place to lecture and enlighten the patriotic spirit. Then, during the resistance war against the French, this was the gathering point of the brave warriors who died before moving to Viet Bac to build a base for the long-term resistance.
The bronze drum is considered a “treasure”, associated with the famous Dong Son culture. It is both a symbol of authority, but very close, associated with the beliefs of agricultural residents. Therefore, the worship of bronze drum gods has become a part of folk beliefs. About the god and the story of Dong Co in general as well as with Dong Co (in Nguyen Xa) in particular are well recorded (Viet Dien u Linh and Linh nam Chich quai by Ly Te Xuyen; Dai Viet history book by Ngo Si). Lien…). Up to now, we have known 3 relics worshiping Dong Co god (Dan Ne – Thanh Hoa; Dong Co Temple in Buoi, Tay Ho and Dong Co Temple in Nguyen Xa). Deeply deposited and the soul of each relic is the Dong Co oath festival, at times it has become an important cultural and religious activity of the ancient Thang Long citadel.
In the archaeological research program towards the 1000th anniversary of Thang Long – Hanoi, in order to contribute to clarifying the historical – cultural values of the monument, at the end of 2007, the Vietnam History Museum coordinate with Hanoi’s cultural sector to investigate and excavate relics of Dong Co temple/temple.
Source: Collected internet.