Phù Ủng Temple

At No. 25 Lý Quốc Sư Street, Hoàn Kiếm District, Hà Nội, there is a rather ancient temple. Its three-entrance gate stands right next to the sidewalk and was built in the overlapping-eaves style with two tiers and eight roofs; on the front are four large raised Chinese characters: “Phù Ủng vọng từ”, so it is commonly called Phù Ủng Temple.

The main architecture includes: a three-bay Bái đường worship hall built in the “Vọng lâu” style, with a tiger-face motif in the center and dragons flanking it; next is the Hậu cung rear sanctuary, whose outer part is the “công đồng” and inner part is the “Cung cấm”.

Phù Ủng Temple is not large and seems swallowed by crowded residential areas, but the worship space here is still very sacred due to its arrangement and, moreover, because the figures worshipped in the temple are famous generals in the nation's history who were revered as Saints: Đức Thánh Trần (Trần Hưng Đạo) and Phạm Ngũ Lão, together with their household generals Yết Kiêu and Dã Tượng.

If one follows the name “Phù Ủng vọng từ” and studies the temple's history, this is a place of remote worship for Điện suý thượng tướng quân Phạm Ngũ Lão, a native of Phù Ủng village, Đường Hào district (now Ân Thi district, Hưng Yên). Because he rendered many services in assisting the king and the country, fighting the Yuan-Mongols, and quelling Ai Lao disturbances, after his death he was conferred the title of tutelary deity. The people of Phù Ủng village built a temple to Phạm Ngũ Lão on the site of his old house west of the village. Around the Lê dynasty, in the 18th century, people of Phù Ủng village went to Thăng Long to make a living and built a temple to the hero of their homeland, regarding him as the “village tutelary god” in their new place. That is the temple's name, but in the temple's Hậu cung today, the statue of Trần Hưng Đạo - Đức Thánh Trần - is placed in the highest and most solemn position; next are the statues of Phạm Ngũ Lão and two daughters of Trần Hưng Đạo; finally are the two deputy generals Yết Kiêu and Dã Tượng.

This has its roots: the relationship between Trần Hưng Đạo and Phạm Ngũ Lão was quite special and deep, a superior-subordinate relationship in many social and family spheres.

Everyone knows that Quốc công Tiết chế Hưng Đạo đại vương Trần Quốc Tuấn was a national hero who led the army and people of the Trần dynasty to victory over the Yuan-Mongols three times and protected the borders. He was not only a man of military strategy, full of wisdom and courage, but also always placed the interests of the nation and state above all.

The story of Hưng Đạo vương Trần Quốc Tuấn meeting Phạm Ngũ Lão by the roadside while he sat weaving baskets, so absorbed in thought that a spear pierced his thigh without his noticing... is a strange story recorded by Phạm Đình Hổ and Nguyễn Án in the book “Tang thương ngẫu lục”. It was also the fateful encounter through which Phạm Ngũ Lão was invited by Trần Hưng Đạo to Vạn Kiếp to be taught and entrusted with the important task of training soldiers; he was also loved by Hưng Đạo vương, who married his daughter Anh Nguyên Quận chúa to him and recommended him to the king as commander of the Cấm vệ, responsible for protecting the king and the Cấm thành. In the two resistance wars against the Yuan (the second and third), Phạm Ngũ Lão won many victories at Tây Kết - Vạn Kiếp and Bạch Đằng and was conferred the title Kim Nghiêu đại tướng quân, later reaching the title Điện suý thượng tướng quân. Like Hưng Đạo vương, he was loyal and filial and loved his soldiers, so he was beloved from the king to the troops. When he died (1320), the king suspended court for five days to express his grief, which was a special favor. Many places in the country built temples to him.

Thus, Trần Hưng Đạo's relationship with Phạm Ngũ Lão was not only that of benefactor and subordinate in the court but also that of father-in-law and son-in-law. In Phù Ủng Temple today, one of Trần Hưng Đạo's two children worshipped is Quận chúa Anh Nguyên (Phạm Ngũ Lão's wife) and the nun Cô Đệ nhất.

Phù Ủng Temple is the only place in the capital today that worships both Trần Hưng Đạo and Phạm Ngũ Lão together. Among the precious relics still preserved in the temple are the statues of Đức Thánh Trần, General Phạm Ngũ Lão, the statues of Trần Hưng Đạo's two daughters, and artifacts: “Phù ủng linh chung” (the sacred bell of Phù Ủng Temple), “Khánh Thuỵ tả thôn linh từ bảo chung” (the precious bell of the sacred temple of Tả Khánh Thuỵ village), a bronze chime, and various altars, long ngai, long án, đại tự, hoành phi, câu đối, historical records... dating from the 18th and 19th centuries. Notably, there are seven sắc phong royal edicts, the earliest from the 44th year of Cảnh Hưng (1783), which can tell us that the history of Phù Ủng Temple dates back at least to that time.

Phù Ủng Temple was ranked by the Ministry of Culture and Information as a historical and architectural-artistic relic in 1988./.

According to Hà Nội Danh thắng và Di tích, volume 01