Hoang Xa Shrine, Khanh Van Village, Thuong Tin Commune

Speaking of the land of Thuong Tin, Nguyen Trai once remarked: '... It is a high, flat area, with fields among the best. Suitable for rice cultivation, the people work harder than in other areas, and the courts' military provisions all relied on this place...' Indeed, in Thuong Tin, besides rice and crop farming, the people are inherently diligent, intelligent, and eager to learn, so they early learned to process agricultural products they produced for daily life, such as salting fish, pickling vegetables, making cakes, distilling wine, and crafting tools and utensils from bamboo and wood... to serve production and exchange within the village community of a natural, self-sufficient economy. Gradually, craft villages specializing in famous attractive products formed, such as the horn craft in Thuy Ung Village, Quat Dong embroidery, Tran Phu net weaving, carpentry in Gia Phuc and Gia Khanh, embroidery and lace in Gia Khanh and Dinh To, confectionery in Me Son, wood turning in Nhi Khe...'

Khanh Ha is a land in the Red River Delta, enriched by alluvium from the Red River, Nhue River, and To Lich River, making it very fertile and suitable for wet rice and crop cultivation. This land was gained through the efforts of generations of Khanh Ha people who successively reclaimed it, leveling high mounds and filling hollows into fertile, flat fields convenient for irrigation during droughts and floods. Since ancient times, the people of Khanh Ha, with their diligent and labor-loving nature, built dikes to block the waters of the Nhue and To Lich Rivers to increase production on their homeland's fields. There has long been a folk verse:

Do Ha, Hoang Xa, Khanh Van;

In those three villages, feet are muddy all day long.

In addition, local people also developed many handicraft and fine-art crafts such as bamboo and rattan weaving, serving production and household utensils, and trades serving the local self-sufficient economy.

Along with economic development, the people of Khanh Ha also saved carefully to build village roads, lanes, and cultural works of the village such as communal houses, pagodas, shrines, roadside temples, and literature temples... Many historical and cultural architectural works are still preserved, such as Khanh Van Communal House and Dan Nhiem Communal House, which have been ranked at the national level.

According to local people, formerly the villages of Xuan Ne, Khanh Van, and Hoang Xa had a common communal house built in the Later Le period on Duong Lon mound, called Ba Cha Communal House (the communal house of the three villages). It worships the village deity Quach Gia Suy; the deity's background is recorded in the legend kept at Khanh Van Communal House as follows: The Binh Ngo Dai Cao records: 'From Trieu, Dinh, Ly, Tran establishing independence, alongside Han, Tang, Song, Yuan each claiming one side. Though strength differed at times, every era has had heroes.' Recently, because the Ho family's administration was troublesome, the people in the country resented it. The mad Ming army took the opportunity to run rampant; the treacherous even sold the country to seek glory. They roasted the black-haired people on the fire of cruelty and buried the innocent children under the pit of disaster.' I, 'from Lam Son Mountain raising the righteous cause, sheltered myself in the wilderness...'

Gazing at the rivers and mountains, hating the enemy's actions, determined to die together with the rebel army. Heartbroken and furious, already more than ten years of sun and rain, tasting honey and lying on thorns, not just one or two mornings and evenings.' In that historical context, Lam Son produced a hero who raised the flag of uprising while the enemy was still strong. He was deeply committed to restoring the country and recruited talents from all directions. In Thanh Hoa there was a general who also had the aspiration to restore the country. His name was Quach Gia Suy.

Quach Gia Suy asked to join the Lam Son insurgent army and was assigned to command the lightning march from the mountainous area of Ninh Binh (Tam Diep territory) toward liberating Dong Quan citadel. These were the years of preparation for the resistance war against the Ming. Although the Lam Son army was strong, the enemy concentrated in Thang Long with up to 400,000 troops commanded by General Wang Tong, so the Lam Son insurgents suffered heavy losses. General Quach Gia Suy, later granted the title 'Linh Thanh Dai Vuong' by the court, attacked the main army south of the capital Thang Long, but many soldiers died. Faced with this situation, General Quach Gia Suy had to withdraw his troops and concentrate in a small village beside the To Lich River. The village had good terrain, and that night he and the insurgent soldiers set up an altar to pray. While the ceremony was taking place, a strange cloud drifted over and covered the place where the insurgents were stationed, like an omen of good fortune. Indeed, the next day he led his troops to march into Dong Do citadel, and the advance was completely victorious. After the country was unified, the triumphant song was sung, Le Loi ascended the throne and organized a victory celebration to reward meritorious officials. General Quach Gia Suy recounted the incident of the auspicious cloud to the king. The king then bestowed the name Khanh Van on that village.

After General Quach Gia Suy passed away, to commemorate his merits, Hoang Xa Village honored him as the village deity for worship. Through successive dynasties, he was granted royal edicts. Hoang Xa Communal House still preserves 07 royal edicts for the deity Quach Gia Suy. The earliest edict is one dated Canh Hung 44 (1783), with the following content:

Sino-Vietnamese transliteration: Edict to the local tutelary deity Quach Gia Suy Linh Thanh Ton Than Dai Vuong, which states: The Emperor, the Most Exalted, the revered spirit, together with the Three Mountains, Seven Rivers, and Queen Lady A Hong Nuong Princess. Qi gathers in rivers and mountains, virtue harmonizes with yin and yang, great is Qian, ultimate is Kun, assisting the transformations of the two realms, peace like... as if fire and ink, supporting the foundation of talent, fostering the generals' remembrance, manifesting the noble wind and clear rites... Han rank. We, from the rank of king advancing, confer the royal title, presiding over the government office, rites have ascending rank, deserving the beautiful title of three characters, may be conferred: Local Tutelary Deity, manifestly efficacious, assisting the country and benefiting the people, Quach Gia Suy Linh Thanh Dai Vuong, which states: Hong Te Thuong Si Ton Linh, together with the Three Mountains, Seven Rivers, and the village's Te Te Linh Tue Queen Lady A Hong Nuong Princess. So decreed!

The twenty-eighth day of the seventh month of the forty-fourth year of Canh Hung.