Ideas on building Ngo Quyen temple in Co Loa

Hanoi (VNA) - Scientists hold that it is necessary to build a temple dedicated to Ngo Quyen in Co Loa to help honour the national hero and sufficiently identify the value of the Co Loa Special National Relic.

Ngo Quyen, as described by patriot Phan Boi Chau, is a national hero and the first king of the national restoration, second only to the nation founders Hung Kings. There are more than 80 places worshipping him all over the country but there has been no temple dedicated to him in the place where he established the state, proclaimed himself the king, and designated Co Loa as the capital.

The idea was raised by Prof. Dr. Nguyen Quang Ngoc from the Vietnam Association of History Science at the symposium on the king held on October 1 at the Thang Long Royal Citadel. The event came within the activities marking the 1010th anniversary of the capital held by the Hanoi People’s Committee and the association to honour Ngo Quyen and affirm his contributions to the building of the Ngo dynasty in the national history flow.

The symposium tabled scientific bases for the project on building a temple dedicated to Ngo Quyen in the Co Loa Special National Relic Complex and building a plan for making the festival on his coronation and designation of Co Loa as the capital an annual national one.

Temple at coronation site and capital designation a need

At the symposium, Party Central Committee member and Permanent Deputy Secretary of the Hanoi Party Committee Ngo Thi Thanh Hang recalled the history page, merit and resounding military exploits of Ngo Quyen that helped establish a sovereign and independent state and put an end to the millennium-long rule of Vietnam by the northern states.


Hang stressed that his victory on Bach Dang River is of great historical significance that put an end to the rule of the northern states that lasted for over a thousand years, and ushered in a new era in the national history – that of the development of an independent and sovereign feudal state in Vietnam. He proclaimed himself the king and selected Co Loa, the capital of the Au Lac state in the An Duong Vuong time, as the capital of the country.

Vice Chairman of the Hanoi People’s Committee Ngo Van Quy also highlighted that the state establishment and coronation by Ngo Quyen is one of the most important landmarks in Vietnam’s history. Over the recent past, a number of symposiums on him have been organised.

There are many relics worshipping the king in the northern region, from his home village in Duong Lam to Hai Phong - the site of his victory over the Southern Han army, Prof. Ngoc said. Yet in Co Loa, where he proclaimed himself the king and set up the capital, there has been no place worshipping him. The building of a temple dedicated to the king in Co Loa will complete the historical value of the relic complex and sufficiently honour his great merit, Ngoc added.

Echoing the view, Prof. Dr. Le Hong Ly from the Vietnam Folklore Literature and Art Association, said the legacies related to Ngo Quyen and the bringing into play their value is an important task to honor his great merit to the country.

Prudence with legacy

Dr. Le Thi Thu Huong from the Hanoi Capital University raised the idea of conducting tourism activities connecting historical relics worshipping Ngo Quyen in the Red River basin. Tourism always plays the role of bringing cultural and natural resources to visitors, an important bridge between the past and the present, she stressed.

Meanwhile, Dr. Dao Ngoc Nghiem, former director of the Hanoi Architecture and Zoning Department, raised the question on the place and the scale the temple should be built while agreeing with the idea of building it in Co Loa.


“We should learn the lessons from the restoration of other relics. The building of the temple must put into account the ideas of scientists from different disciplines.” Nghiem stressed./.