About Hai Duong

Temple of charity

DO QUYET • 06/09/2023 09:28

Dan Thien (Temple of Charity) was built in Phu Tai hamlet, Thanh Giang commune, Thanh Mien district, Hai Duong province in 1906 with marked architecture of the Nguyen Dynasty.

Dan Thien is located on a high land of about 500 m2, which was originally a collective grave of Phu Tai villagers. The temple was built to worship and pray for the soul of the deceased and admonish people to practice charity

According to inscriptions, an old person named Bui Huu Ai donated money to construct Dan Thien in 1906. The temple was initially called Van Nien

Dan Thien has three front, five middle, and five back compartments with marked architecture of the Nguyen Dynasty

There are many sophisticated carvings and reliefs in the temple. Typically, the main door to the front compartments was carved with four sacred animals: dragon, kylin, tortoise, and phoenix

Couplets, Chinese script, landscape paintings… with unique and striking colors were found behind layers of mortar during the repair of the temple

Dan Thien is the largest relic related to Truong Do, a doctor under the reign of King Tran Nghe Tong (1321-1394). The temple later also worships Hung Dao Lord Tran Quoc Tuan and first doctoral laureate Pham Hien

Dan Thien used to be a center of charity encouragement, which drew a lot of Confucian scholars and physicians coming for teaching and treatment. There, Bui Huu Ai also had thousands of prayer and medical books printed for distribution to other temples in Nam Dinh, Hai Phong, Thai Binh, and Hung Yen.

DO QUYET

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