An Duong Vuong Temple (Thuong Temple)

An Duong Vuong Temple is part of the Co Loa relic complex, including Thuong Temple, Co Loa communal house (still commonly called Ngu Trieu Di Quy), Am Ba Chua (Am My Chau), and Co Loa Pagoda (Bao Son Tu). In 179 BC, Trieu Da invaded our country, and Co Loa Citadel lost its central position. Until the 6th century, Ly Phat Tu chose Co Loa Citadel as his capital. Especially in 938, after the victory over the Southern Han army on the Bach Dang River, Ngo Vuong Quyen chose Co Loa as the capital of the Ngo dynasty, with the meaning of continuing the tradition of nation-building and national defense of An Duong Vuong in earlier times.

Currently, at Co Loa Temple there is a couplet about Ngo Quyen building palace chambers here:

The mountains and rivers of the Thuc kingdom were originally ancient Viet. The palace chambers of Loa Citadel continued the precedent from the early Ngo era.

Meaning:

The mountains and rivers of the Thuc kingdom were originally ancient Viet. The palace chambers of Loa Citadel continued the precedent from the early Ngo era.

Upper Temple:

King Thuc An Duong Vuong is worshipped in the villages of the Bat Xa Loa Thanh: Co Loa, Mach Trang, Cau Ca, Thu Cuu, San Gia, Van Thuong, Ngoai Sat (Van Loc), and Dai Bi. Among them, the main temple is in Co Loa, also called the 'King' temple or 'Thuong' temple. Thuong here means 'first/highest'.

To compare with other places in the Co Loa area that also worship An Duong Vuong: Thuong Temple was built on a high plot of land in the southwest of the Inner Citadel, in the area of Chua Hamlet. The temple is about 300 m west of the 'Ngu Trieu Di Quy' communal house and Am My Chau; to the east is Cho Hamlet, and to the north is Lan Tri Hamlet. Thuong Temple has an area of 19,138.6 m2 and faces south. Its architecture lies on the Dung Dao (Than Dao) axis, in the 'trung thiem diep oc' style (admired for thousands of generations), with many buildings and many steps, passing through five gates before reaching the forbidden sanctuary. In front of the temple is Ngoc Tinh Lake, with the Jade Well in the center. Next is the outer ceremonial gate (outer gate or three-entrance gate), built in two tiers; the upper tier has an upper pavilion with stacked eaves and curved blades, surrounded by a flower wall and balustrade; below are three arched doorways, with a stone-paved foundation, and in the center above the arch is the Han inscription 'Phu nguong thien co'. On a wide stone-paved yard in front of the ceremonial gate are three stone incense trees erected in the open air. The four sides of the stone incense trees are carved with Han characters and relief decorations of dragons and water waves. On both sides of the steps to the main gate are a pair of stone dragons, dating from the Le Trung Hung period (1732). The dragons are carved from a single block; the step balustrade of Co Loa Temple is the only step balustrade in the country associated with the Thuong Temple relic worshipping King An Duong Vuong. The pair of stone dragons at Thuong Temple symbolizes the energy of heaven and earth, expresses the power of the king - the presiding deity, King An Duong Vuong - and is a sacred object bringing vitality to the temple. In 2023, this pair of dragons was recognized as a national treasure.

Passing through the outer ceremonial gate is the lower Dragon Courtyard, paved with Bat Trang bricks; in the middle of the courtyard is a stone-paved path running straight to the main door of the inner ceremonial gate. Because of the belief that the temple was built on the 'dragon's head', two small wells called 'dragon's eyes' were created on both sides of the lower Dragon Courtyard, facing each other, with two high mounds of earth beside them called the 'dragon's jaws'.

Nha Tien Tu has three bays with curved blades, a roof covered with tubular tiles, a large main door in the middle, and two small side gates serving as paths up to the Dragon Courtyard, where annual festival rituals are held.

The inner ceremonial gate is placed higher than the courtyard; the approach has seven blue stone steps, and on both sides of the steps are a pair of dragons made of compound mortar.

Passing through the inner ceremonial gate is the upper Dragon Courtyard, paved with Bat Trang bricks; in the center is a blue stone-paved path leading to the Tien Te hall, also called Dai Bai or Tien Bai. Tien Te is an imposing structure with a roof covered in shoe-nose tiles, sharply curved corner blades, and relief figures of ne chau. The two side corridors, left and right vu, are built with gable walls connecting Tien Te and Trung Duong; between the two corridor paths is a Phuong Dinh (also called Vuong House, Thieu Huong House), forming a ground plan in the shape of the character 'hoi'. This style is also called 'tu thuy quy duong'. Behind Phuong Dinh is Trung Duong, a three-bay building with two narrow side bays, a floor paved with Bat Trang bricks, and a roof covered with shoe-nose tiles; the doors are lacquered and gilded with decorative motifs of 'luong long chau nguyet' and 'tu linh' with very refined lines. Here is placed the altar of the god Kim

Quy, the deity who, according to legend, helped King Thuc build the citadel.

The rear sanctuary is a building of the 'chuoi vo' type, with its roof joined to Trung Duong, walls enclosing three sides, and the king's altar placed in the central bay. There is a statue of An Duong Vuong cast from copper alloy using the lost-wax (beeswax) casting technique, very refined, with very elaborate decorative patterns, weighing nearly 200 kg, dated 1897. This date is engraved on the back of the statue's right shoulder: Year Dinh Dau 1897. This statue is a precious, unique artifact never seen at any other relic worshipping An Duong Vuong, so it was recognized as a national treasure on January 31, 2023. In front of the king's shrine there is currently an altar with a pair of ceremonial boots and a dragon hat. At the end wall of the rear sanctuary are two altars with thrones and spirit tablets: the queen's altar on the west and the king's parents' altar on the east. Beside the main temple area there are also two Giai Vu houses (guest houses), located close to the two ends of the east and west sides of Tien Te hall; in addition, the temple architecture also includes a stele house.

The stele house is located within the overall architecture of the temple, built on a high plot of land to the west of the upper Dragon Courtyard, facing the temple. The stele house has a foundation size of 9.3 m x 10.46 m. This is a small architectural work in the form of a Phuong Dinh, with two tiers and eight roofs - a wooden structure with a roof covered in shoe-nose tiles, quite harmonious and pretty, with curved corner blades extending strongly to the four sides, with ne statues placed at the four corners of the lower roof tier, and the top of the upper roof tier embossed with a bud shape that gives a graceful look to the roof composition. From below up to the outermost corridor are three-step stairs; the sides of the steps are built in the cuon thu style, and the balustrade consists of two stone ne chau statues with a length from base to tail of 3 m; details of mane, crest, and claws are carved in very lively relief.

There are five large and small stone steles of different sizes erected inside the stele house. Notably, in the center is a large pillar stele, with a stele cap in the mui luyen style. This is a square stele about 2 m high and 0.8 m thick, beautiful in both form and decoration. All four sides of the stele are carved with Han characters. The main side facing north is inscribed 'Tao lap thach bi', erected in the second year of Thanh Duc (1654).

The four surrounding steles record a number of rules and regulations on land reserved for worship and rituals by some kings of the Le - Trinh and Nguyen periods concerning worship at this temple: The stele in the northeast corner is named 'Dong thanh bi ky'; the stele in the northwest is 'Tue thu giap dan', both erected in the eighth year of Duy Tan (1914); these two steles have writing on only one side. The small stele in the southwest has two sides; the north side is named 'Cung phung sac lenh ton phong chuan cap', recording a decree conferring a beautiful title on An Duong Vuong in the fourth year of Chinh Hoa (1683). The south side is named 'Nhien thue to dich khac chi', erected in the seventh year of Chinh Hoa (1686), engraving four decrees concerning land serving rituals and exemption from corvee; the oldest decree, in the fifth year of Hoang Dinh (1605), is by Do nguyen soai Tang quoc chinh Thuong phu Trinh Tung; the decree in the fourth year of Duc Long (1632) was issued by Dai nguyen soai Thong quoc chinh Thanh Do Vuong Trinh Trang; the decree in the sixth year of Phuc Thai (1648) is by kham sai cac su tiet che thuy bo chu dinh Chuong quoc, quyen binh ta tuong Thai uy Tay quoc cong. The stele in the southeast also has writing on two sides. The north side is 'Chinh phap dien thach bi', with unknown date; the south side is 'Mo nhi tinh linh', erected in the tenth year of Chinh Hoa (1689). These two sides of the stele record the worship of An Duong Vuong at Thuong Temple and the contributions donated for building the temple

Currently, An Duong Vuong Temple still preserves many valuable artifacts such as: the shrine in the rear sanctuary, the incense altar in Tien Te; beside the incense altar there is a rather beautiful pair of red horse statues, life-size, made in 1715. Nearby there is a set of bat cong palanquin and a fairly large van palanquin; couplets, large characters, bat buu, various candlesticks, and old lamps are also artifacts of long standing, elaborately made and artistically valuable. In addition, there are 14 royal conferral edicts, including 12 from the Le period, 1 from the Quang Trung period, and 1 from the Quang Toan period; 17 decrees and ordinances, including 8 from the Le period, 8 from the Nguyen period, and 1 from the Quang Trung period. The Ngoc pha Co Luc, Co Loa thanh tich collection is recorded and kept at the temple.

An Duong Vuong Temple in Co Loa is an important historical relic preserved and respected by many generations because Co Loa is a vivid manifestation of the tragic and heroic pages of Vietnamese history. The Co Loa relic complex, including An Duong Vuong Temple, was signed by the Prime Minister for recognition as a Special National Historical Relic in 2012.