Quán Thượng, Thượng Nội Village, Hồng Sơn Commune, Hà Nội City

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Introduction

Quán Thượng faces south, adjacent to the village fields. The overall site includes the following components: the Well, the Nghi Môn – Cannon Gate, the Front Hall, the Great Hall, the Rear Sanctuary, the Left Corridor, the Right Corridor, the Lady Temple, a screen wall, and a garden courtyard.

According to accounts by village elders and the village Elderly Association, Quán Thượng has existed for a long time. Previously, Quán Thượng had an open architectural structure; the main building was a three-bay transverse house—the current Rear Sanctuary of the shrine—with a small courtyard and a small pillar gate. Over many historical periods, people’s lives became more prosperous. From 1995 to 2005, the locality repaired the shrine’s Rear Sanctuary, restored the Central Hall, Front Hall, Left Corridor, and Right Corridor, expanded the shrine courtyard, and rebuilt the Nghi Môn. According to legend, the Thượng Village shrine worships Mr. Cả, Cao Sơn Dũng Lược Khâm Thuận Hải Vận Linh Ứng Đại Vương, one of four Cao-family generals who fought the Song and Champa armies to protect the independence of Đại Việt in the 11th century. According to the elders of Thượng Village, the village’s tutelary god is worshipped mainly at Thượng Communal House and worshipped in absentia at the shrine. In 1948, the French burned Thượng Communal House entirely, so Quán Thượng became the main place of worship for the tutelary god. The former Xuy Xá Commune had five villages, but only Đoài Village and Thượng Village had communal houses. Since ancient times, Đoài Communal House has been regarded as the general communal house of the five villages; Nghĩa Village had a religious temple, but on the festival day of 6/2, the villagers still came to Đoài Communal House to perform rituals. Thượng Village worships Mr. Cả among the four deities, so it built its own communal house but still participates in religious activities at Đoài Communal House.

Quán Thượng currently preserves typical artifacts dating from the Nguyễn era, such as a dragon throne, spirit tablets, ceramic incense bowls, fruit trays, and a statue of the Lady... The shrine also has many ritual objects of historical, cultural, and artistic value, such as horizontal plaques, parallel sentences, palanquins, and the Eight Treasures...

With its outstanding historical, cultural, architectural, artistic, and religious values, Quán Thượng was ranked as a City-level Historical Relic by the Hà Nội City People’s Committee under Decision No. 4553/QĐ-UBND dated 02/09/2025

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Story

01Description of the architecture and arrangement of worship objects

02Well

From the main road, following the small path (the site’s access path), one reaches the Well of the shrine. The large round well in front of the shrine has clear blue water, creates a feng shui position, and is planted with lotus and water lilies to create a landscape for the shrine.

Nghi Môn – Cannon Gate

Passing the Well, one reaches the shrine’s Nghi Môn, whose structure consists of two large ceremonial pillars in the center and two cannon gates on either side. The ceremonial pillars are structured in the traditional style: the tops are four phoenixes facing inward; below are four-sided open lantern panels; the pillar shafts have raised edges and line grooves and are decorated with Chinese characters; the bases are waisted. From the two ceremonial pillars, low walls connect to the two cannon gates on both sides. Dragons and elephants facing inward are molded on the low walls. The cannon gates are designed with overlapping tiered roofs and are decorated with tubular tiles in masonry. On both sides of the cannon gates, small pillars are connected, topped with nghê lions facing inward, with four-sided open lantern panels, grooved shafts, and waisted bases. Over time, the Nghi Môn has been covered with a patina of moss. Past the Nghi Môn is the courtyard paved with bat tiles.

03Front worship hall

From the courtyard, passing through a five-step staircase, one reaches the Front Hall. The Front Hall is a three-bay, two-wing transverse house with closed gable-end walls, roofed with local tiles, with bamboo purlins and rafters, hinged doors, and a floor paved with floral tiles. The truss structure is of the tie-beam-on-wall type.

At the Front Hall are arranged horizontal plaques praising the deity: “Sơn Hải Trung Linh”, “Bách Thế Lưu Phương”, and “Thiên Thu Danh Tướng”. Central Hall:

Past the Front Hall is the Central Hall, a few steps away. The Central Hall is a three-bay transverse house with concrete trusses. In the central bay are an incense altar, a scroll-shaped plaque, a horizontal plaque, a ceremonial arched door curtain, and parallel sentences. The side bays hold the Eight Treasures and palanquins. On the gable-end walls next to the Rear Sanctuary are statues of door guardian generals, followed by doors leading into the Rear Sanctuary.

04Rear sanctuary

For the architecture of religious works such as communal houses, temples, and shrines, the Rear Sanctuary is the most solemn component, the dwelling place of the worshipped deity. Therefore, the Rear Sanctuary of Quán Thượng has a closed structure, separated from the Central Hall by three sets of doors. The central door is always kept closed; the side doors are opened daily only by the temple keeper for incense and lamps. The Rear Sanctuary has closed gable-end walls and a three-bay transverse house... It is roofed with local tiles, with wooden purlins and rafters, and the truss structure is of the tie-beam-on-wall type. This is a component that retains many architectural traces of the 19th century. In the central bay of the Rear Sanctuary is arranged a brick altar, above which are placed a set of dragon throne and spirit tablet and a writing-brush stand; further outside are bronze fruit trays and ceramic incense bowls of 19th-century artistic value.

05Left and Right Corridors

In front of the Front Hall are the Left and Right Corridors, built symmetrically on both sides. The Left Corridor is a five-bay structure with tie-beam-on-wall trusses. Here is placed an eight-bearer palanquin.

The Right Corridor is a four-bay structure, with a truss of the stacked-purlin-with-secondary-beam type; the end bay has a gong-frame-type structure. The Right Corridor still preserves a truss with strong wooden components carved with refined and soft lines and patterns. This is probably a truss from another relic that the locality collected for repair and restoration. However, the Right Corridor’s number of bays is not appropriate, and the Left and Right Corridors are not symmetrical according to the traditional architectural “tay ngai” layout.

06Lady Temple

The Lady Temple faces west, to the right of the Front Hall and Central Hall of the shrine. According to the village elders, the Lady Temple was built long ago, about nearly 200 years ago. Today, the temple still retains its former architecture and has been covered with moss over time. The Lady Temple has a đinh-shaped layout and a small scale. The Front Hall is a one-bay structure with four curved roof corners, roofed with local tiles; below, there are no enclosing walls, and the four sides are left open, in the style of a viewing pavilion. The purlins and trusses are made of wood. Connecting to the rear of the Front Hall is the Rear Sanctuary, a one-bay structure with a closed-gable truss. The Rear Sanctuary is separated from the Front Hall by an arched passageway, with hinged doors inside separating the space from the outside, creating a solemn worship space.

In the Rear Sanctuary of the Lady Temple is arranged an altar; above is a scroll-shaped plaque, with parallel sentences on both sides; on the altar are placed the statue of Lady Phạm Hoa Công Chúa and a number of traditional ritual objects such as incense bowls and lamp stands. The Lady’s statue is carved seated cross-legged on a pedestal, with a full, round, benevolent face, gentle eyes, red lips, a high neck with three folds, and large ears. The statue’s head wears a red gilded hat, and the body is draped in a red robe.

The former Xuy Xá Commune is located in the riverside alluvial land along the Đáy River, so it has a long history of formation and development. Since ancient times, the people of the villages in the commune have built settlements along the Đáy River. Therefore, the religious and belief works of former Xuy Xá were also built early. Today, the four villages Thượng, Nội, Đông Đoài, and Tân Độ—now the villages of Thượng Nội, Đoài, and Tân Độ—still preserve communal houses and shrines worshipping the four tutelary gods, four Cao-family brothers who were born from one sac and died on the same day. Thượng Village worships the eldest brother, Cao Sơn Dũng; Đoài Village worships the second; Tân Độ Village worships the third; and Nội Village worships the youngest. The legend of the birth of the four deities reminds us of the legend of Lady Âu Cơ giving birth to a hundred children from a hundred-egg sac. This affirms the close, brotherly bond among the people of the three villages. For this reason, the villages jointly organize a major festival on 6/2 to commemorate the birthday of the four tutelary gods.

Quán Thượng, Thượng Nội Village, Hồng Sơn Commune, Hà Nội City

Introduction

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More Other places

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01|Description of the architecture and arrangement of worship objects

02|Well

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02Well

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04Rear sanctuary

05Left and Right Corridors

06Lady Temple