Visiting relic of Nguyen Gian Thanh's ancestral house

17/03/2025 09:52

(BNP) - Located in the middle of Huong Mac quarter, Huong Mac ward, Tu Son city, the Nguyen Gian Thanh temple used to be a 3-compartment house made of xoan wood. In 1926, Mr. Tu Trung, a member of the family, donated land to build the temple at its current location. The temple is a place to educate the tradition of studiousness and academic achievement for the descendants of the family and local people.


 

The first-ranked scholar, Nguyen Gian Thanh, was born in the year of the Cat (1483) in Ong Mac village, Tu Son district, Kinh Bac town.  He was the son of Doctor Nguyen Gian Liem and an outstanding student of Doctor Dam Than Huy.  From a young age, he was known as a child prodigy with quick reflexes.  At the age of 26, he passed the royal examination in the year of the Cat (1508) under King Le Uy Muc, worked as an official in both the Le and Mac dynasties, and was sent as an envoy to the Ming Dynasty.


 

Today, the ancestral house has a Chinese "Nhi" letter architecture, including the Tien te and Hau duong.


In front is a green stone screen.


Tien te has 3 compartments.


Hau duong has 3 compartment and 2 wings.



 

Currently, the Nguyen Gian Thanh ancestral house still preserves many valuable artifacts of the Nguyen Dynasty: memorial tablets, incense tables, incense bowls, eight treasures, swords, horizontal lacquered boards, parallel sentences...


 

In the ancestral house, there is also an altar for successful people who have contributed to the family.


Map of the area and introduction to the relic.


 

The teachings of Dr. Nguyen Gian Liem and first-ranked scholar Nguyen Gian Thanh are still preserved in the ancestral house.


 

Next to the ancestral house is the national monument of Dr. Dam Dinh Cu temple.



 

The tomb of the first-ranked scholar Nguyen Gian Thanh is located at the end of the neighborhood, surrounded by a long, airy field.


 

Nguyen Gian Thanh is better known as Trang Me since he hailed from Ong Mac village, also known as Me village.  He passed away in the year of Nham Ty (1552), at the age of 70.  Every year, on the fourth day of the 12th lunar month, his descendants perform a Trang memorial service in the church.  The church and first-ranked scholar Gian Thanh's grave are designated as National Historical and Cultural Relics by Decision No. 100/VH-QD, dated January 21, 1989.