Traveling about ten kilometers east from the provincial center of Quảng Ngãi along the road toward the Cổ Lũy sea estuary, you arrive at Thu Xà village, which two centuries ago was one of the busiest trading ports in the Quảng region, crowded with merchant junks along the Phú Thọ River. Today the bustling merchant streets have receded into memory, yet standing serene amid the quiet village is a mossy yin-yang tiled temple crowned by a pair of green-and-gold glazed ceramic dragons flanking a flaming pearl.
This is Thu Xà Ông Temple (Quan Thánh Temple), also recorded on its stone steles as Đại Tự Quan Thánh or Minh Hương Quan Đế Tự, located in Thu Xà village, Tư Nghĩa commune, Quảng Ngãi province (prior to the 2025 administrative reorganization, Nghĩa Hòa commune, Tư Nghĩa district, Quảng Ngãi province). Built in the Tân Tỵ year (1821) under Emperor Minh Mạng by the four Minh Hương Chinese congregations alongside local Vietnamese residents, the complex is at once a classic guild temple honoring Guan Sheng Dijun and a distinctive embodiment of central Vietnam's 'Saint in Front, Buddha in Back' (Tiền Thánh Hậu Phật) syncretism.
IGuan Sheng Dijun and the 'Saint in Front, Buddha in Back' pantheon
Although residents of Quảng Ngãi popularly call the monument Chùa Ông (Ông Pagoda) following the southern central Vietnamese custom for Chinese community temples, in terms of its religious nature and its Chinese title Quan Thánh Tự, it is foremost a temple dedicated to Guan Sheng Dijun (Quan Thánh Đế Quân), the deified Three Kingdoms general Guan Yu (Quan Vũ), revered as a Holy Emperor within Taoism and the Three Teachings syncretic tradition. In the center of the Main Sanctuary, an imposing statue of Guan Sheng Dijun sits enthroned within an intricately carved wooden shrine, flanked on the left and right by his two loyal attendants, Guan Ping (Quan Bình, holding the imperial seal) and Zhou Cang (Châu Xương, grasping the Green Dragon Crescent Blade).
For the Minh Hương merchant community who settled at the port of Thu Xà between the 17th and 19th centuries, Guan Sheng Dijun embodied the five Confucian virtues of Benevolence, Righteousness, Propriety, Wisdom and Trustworthiness, while serving in Taoism as the supreme martial guardian who vanquishes evil spirits and upholds commercial good faith (chữ Tín). What makes Thu Xà Ông Temple distinctive is its Saint in Front, Buddha in Back (Tiền Thánh Hậu Phật) ritual arrangement: while the Main Sanctuary in front honors the Martial Saint of loyalty and righteousness, the Rear Palace opens onto the compassionate realm of Bodhisattvas and Mother Goddesses, enshrining South Sea Avalokiteśvara (Quan Âm Nam Hải), Heavenly Empress Mazu (Thiên Hậu Thánh Mẫu), the Mysterious Lady of the Nine Heavens (Cửu Thiên Huyền Nữ), and Lady Jin Dou with the Twelve Midwife Goddesses (Kim Đẩu và Mười Hai Bà Mụ). Combining the martial authority of Guan Di in the front hall with the maternal compassion of Avalokiteśvara and Mazu in the rear allowed port residents both to pledge commercial integrity in trade and to pray for calm seas and flourishing offspring in their new homeland.
The co-worship pantheon in the Rear Palace of Thu Xà Ông Temple offers a vivid historical record of how the Minh Hương community indigenized in Quảng Ngãi. Sailing from Fujian, Chaozhou, Guangdong and Hainan to settle in Đàng Trong, merchant guilds brought with them the maritime cult of Heavenly Empress Mazu, flanked by her two guardian generals Thousand-Mile Eye (Thiên Lý Nhãn) and With-the-Wind Ear (Thuận Phong Nhĩ). As they put down permanent roots and intermarried with Vietnamese women in Thu Xà, they incorporated the worship of the Mysterious Lady of the Nine Heavens (protectress of women's destiny) along with Lady Jin Dou and the Twelve Midwife Goddesses who preside over childbirth and child-rearing. In this way, a merchant guild temple evolved into a shared spiritual sanctuary for both Minh Hương descendants and ethnic Vietnamese villagers across the lower Trà Khúc and Vệ river basins.
Seeing the popular name Chùa Ông (literally Ông Pagoda) and the statue of Bodhisattva Avalokiteśvara in the rear hall, many visitors assume this is a purely Buddhist monastery presided over by resident monks. In central and southern Vietnam, however, locals traditionally use the word Chùa Ông for temples honoring Guan Yu and Chùa Bà for temples honoring Mazu. Thu Xà Ông Temple is cared for by a traditional Ritual Committee (Ban Khánh tiết) of the local community following Minh Hương ceremonial customs, rather than housing a permanent monastic sangha like Northern Buddhist pagodas.
IITwo centuries bound up with the ancient trading port of Thu Xà
The founding of Thu Xà Ông Temple belongs to the golden age of the Thu Xà river port. From the late 17th into the 18th century, as the port channel of Hội An in Quảng Nam gradually silted up, groups of Chinese merchants belonging to the four congregations of Fujian (Phúc Kiến), Chaozhou (Triều Châu), Guangdong (Quảng Đông) and Hainan (Hải Nam) moved south toward the Cổ Lũy estuary in Quảng Ngãi. They chose the river landing at Thu Xà to establish merchant streets trading in rock sugar, refined sugar, Trà Bồng cinnamon, silk and ceramics. In the Tân Tỵ year (1821), the 2nd year of Emperor Minh Mạng, the four Minh Hương congregations joined with local inhabitants to build the grand Quan Thánh Temple as both a sacred sanctuary and a community assembly hall.
Over the next two centuries, even after sandbars silted up the Phú Thọ River channel connecting Thu Xà to the Cổ Lũy estuary and caused the commercial port to decline in the early 20th century, Thu Xà Ông Temple was carefully preserved by Minh Hương descendants and the people of Nghĩa Hòa through successive restorations documented on six Chinese stone steles along the Front Hall.
- 1821The four Minh Hương congregations found Quan Thánh TempleIn the Tân Tỵ year, the 2nd year of Emperor Minh Mạng (1821), the four Minh Hương congregations (Fujian, Chaozhou, Guangdong and Hainan) and residents of Thu Xà pooled funds to construct the temple.
- 1881Major restoration under Emperor Tự ĐứcIn the Tân Tỵ year, the 34th year of Tự Đức (1881), exactly one sixty-year cycle after its founding, the merchant guilds and local donors restored the wooden truss frame and tile roofs.
- 1894 to 1895Grand restoration and stele erection under Emperor Thành TháiThe temple underwent a major restoration in the Giáp Ngọ year (1894, 6th year of Thành Thái) and erected carved Chinese stone steles recording donor contributions in the Ất Mùi year (1895, 7th year of Thành Thái).
- 1899Casting of the great bronze bell under Emperor Thành TháiIn the Kỷ Hợi year, the 11th year of Thành Thái (1899), the temple management board cast an ornate bronze bell to hang in the eastern bell pavilion.
- 1920Facade elevation and restoration under Emperor Khải ĐịnhIn the Canh Thân year, the 5th year of Khải Định (1920), a major renovation raised the facade of the Front Hall, added porcelain mosaic reliefs and erected stone steles listing the benefactors.
- 1991 to 1993Repair and ranking as a national heritage siteFollowing repairs in 1991, the Ministry of Culture and Information issued Decision No. 43-VH/QĐ on January 7, 1993 (based on the dossier submitted in late 1992) ranking Thu Xà Ông Temple as a national heritage site.
In cross-checking historical accounts of Thu Xà Ông Temple, the library notes two chronological details where sources differ slightly. First, regarding the late 19th-century restoration under Emperor Thành Thái, several general articles give the year 1894 (the Giáp Ngọ year, 6th year of Thành Thái), whereas the epigraphic study by the Vietnam National Museum of History cites the stele inscription date of the 7th year of Thành Thái (1895), in practice, construction work began in 1894 and the commemorative stele was erected upon completion in 1895. Second, regarding the national heritage ranking date, some local tourist guides mention December 2, 1992 (when the appraisal dossier was finalized), while the official ministerial act is Decision No. 43-VH/QĐ signed on January 7, 1993.
IIIThe chữ Tam three-hall layout, Sino-Vietnamese roof trusses and six ancient stone steles
Thu Xà Ông Temple is one of the most intact antique architectural monuments in Quảng Ngãi province, showcasing a seamless synthesis of central Vietnamese traditional carpentry and southern Chinese (Fujian and Guangdong) temple aesthetics. Set within a spacious walled compound, the complex progresses along a central axis from the triple-gate pillars, past a spirit screen (bình phong) sculpted with a dragon-horse on the front and a phoenix on the back, flanked by symmetrical bell and drum pavilions, to the main sanctuary complex laid out in the shape of the Chinese character Tam (三, three parallel halls) comprising the Front Hall (Tiền đường), the Main Sanctuary (Chính điện) and the Rear Palace (Hậu cung).
All three halls are covered with traditional yin-yang tiles, their main roof ridges crowned by a pair of two dragons contesting a pearl (lưỡng long tranh châu) crafted in green and amber glazed ceramic dating from the 19th century. Structurally, the wooden framing inside reveals a fascinating cultural hybrid: the Front Hall spans three bays and two side wings supported by 18 jackfruit and ironwood columns resting on blue stone bases, utilizing the central Vietnamese stacked-beam and false-bracket truss (chồng rường giả thủ), whereas the transitions into the Main Sanctuary and Rear Palace incorporate the southern Chinese pumpkin-boss stacked beam (chồng rường trái bí) alongside multi-layered openwork carvings of scrolling clouds, the Eight Treasures and floral baskets.
Inside the entrance gate stands a scroll-shaped spirit screen featuring a high-relief dragon-horse carrying the River Chart on the front and a phoenix on the rear. Flanking the Front Hall terrace are two brick pavilions holding the bronze bell cast in the 11th year of Thành Thái (1899) on the left and a great drum on the right.
A three-bay, two-wing hall supported by 18 timber columns, with an elevated facade rebuilt in the Canh Thân year of Khải Định (1920). Mounted here are six finely carved Chinese stone steles documenting the temple's history and donor congregations in 1895 and 1920.
The solemn central hall of the chữ Tam plan, housing a three-layered gilded openwork wooden shrine where the red-faced, long-bearded statue of Guan Sheng Dijun sits enthroned, flanked by Guan Ping holding the seal, Zhou Cang bearing the halberd, and the Red Hare and White horses.
The innermost hall arranged on the 'Saint in Front, Buddha in Back' pattern: the central bay enshrines South Sea Avalokiteśvara, flanked by Heavenly Empress Mazu (with Thousand-Mile Eye and With-the-Wind Ear), the Mysterious Lady of the Nine Heavens, and Lady Jin Dou with the Twelve Midwife Goddesses.
Preserves dozens of gilded calligraphic plaques (such as Nghĩa Khí Trung Thiên and Chí Đại Chí Cương), curved pillar couplets dated to the Daoguang, Tự Đức, Thành Thái and Khải Định eras, antique bronze censers, ceramic vases and Eight Weapons racks.
Looking up at the tie beams, eaves brackets and altar shrines in the Main Sanctuary and Rear Palace, visitors are struck by the depth of the multi-layered relief and openwork carving in precious hardwood. Motifs of phoenixes holding scrolls, carp leaping the dragon gate, lions playing with brocade balls, and pines with deer retain their bold chisel work and antique red-and-gold lacquer after more than two centuries of coastal winds.
IVThe lie of the land and the facing
This section is the library's own reading through the eyes of traditional landform feng shui. It is not something recorded in the temple's steles or heritage files. The library states this plainly so that readers can distinguish historical documentation from topographical interpretation.
Viewed within the hydrography of the Quảng Ngãi coastal plain, Thu Xà Ông Temple stands at 15.0955 degrees north latitude and 108.8790 degrees east longitude, in the historic port settlement of Thu Xà located in the lower alluvial plain between the province's two principal rivers, the Trà Khúc River to the north and the Vệ River to the south. Flowing directly past old Thu Xà town is the Phú Thọ River (also known as the Kinh Giang River), a connecting waterway that linked the Vệ and Trà Khúc river systems with the Cổ Lũy sea estuary. In the commercial port feng shui practiced by Minh Hương merchants under the classic maxim that mountains govern descendants while water governs wealth (sơn quản nhân đinh, thủy quản tài), a site where multiple waterways converge before meeting the sea estuary is prized as a gathering of three waters (thủy tụ tam giang), an auspicious configuration that gathers qi and commercial prosperity.
In terms of sitting and facing and the bright hall, the temple's main facade faces due south (the Li trigram, corresponding to the Fire element in the Later Heaven Eight Trigrams and resonating with the crimson countenance and Imperial Lord title of Guan Sheng Dijun). Directly in front of the temple, the broad courtyard opening toward the old merchant street and the former Thu Xà river landing forms the bright hall (minh đường), welcoming warm southern breezes and the flow of vitality from trading vessels. The large masonry spirit screen standing just inside the entrance gate serves as a crafted front screen (tiền án) that blocks direct rushing sha qi from the road while keeping vital energy circulating gently through the three successive halls of the chữ Tam layout.
VFeast days of Guan Sheng Dijun, Mazu and ritual life in Thu Xà
For more than two hundred years, Thu Xà Ông Temple has served as the most vibrant center of religious and cultural life in eastern Quảng Ngãi province. Because the temple venerates Guan Sheng Dijun alongside Bodhisattva Avalokiteśvara and Heavenly Empress Mazu, its annual ritual calendar weaves together Taoist, Buddhist and Minh Hương guild observances, drawing both local Vietnamese villagers and Chinese descendants from across central Vietnam.
| Lunar date | Rite or festival | Traditional ceremonial content |
|---|---|---|
| 15th day of the 1st lunar month | Upper Prime (Thượng nguyên) Lantern Festival and New Year blessing | Grand New Year prayer for national peace and family well-being, pilgrims offer incense, draw divination lots (xin xăm) before Guan Sheng Dijun and receive peace talismans for the year's trade. |
| 23rd day of the 3rd lunar month | Birthday of Heavenly Empress Mazu (Vía Bà Thiên Hậu) | Commemoration of Mazu's birthday in the Rear Palace, coastal residents of Cổ Lũy and Nghĩa Hòa present offerings praying for calm seas and abundant catches. |
| 13th day of the 5th and 24th day of the 6th lunar month | Feast days of Guan Sheng Dijun (Main annual sacrifice) | The 13th day of the 5th month (Lord Guan's single-blade feast and Crown Prince Guan Ping's day) and the 24th day of the 6th month (main feast day of Guan Sheng Dijun) feature solemn sacrifices by the Ritual Committee with classical Chinese eulogies. |
| 19th day of the 2nd, 6th and 9th lunar months | Three feast days of South Sea Avalokiteśvara (Vía Quan Âm) | Buddhist devotees and local villagers gather in the Rear Palace to present vegetarian offerings and chant sutras for peace in keeping with the 'Saint in Front, Buddha in Back' tradition. |
| 15th day of the 7th lunar month | Middle Prime (Trung nguyên) and Offering-Tower Requiem (Lễ Xô cộ) | Requiem offerings for wandering souls and the pioneer ancestors who crossed the sea to open the Thu Xà trading port, concluding with the distribution of food blessings to villagers. |
During the Lunar New Year, the Upper Prime full moon of the first lunar month and the feast of Guan Sheng Dijun on the 24th day of the 6th lunar month, the interior of Thu Xà Ông Temple glows beneath large spiral incense coils suspended from the Front Hall ceiling that burn day and night. After offering incense at the ancient temple, visitors to Thu Xà also savor mirror candy (kẹo gương), malt syrup and popped-rice cakes, the signature confections first developed by Minh Hương artisans during the heyday of the old river port.
VILocation And How To Get There
- Address
- Thôn Thu Xà, xã Tư Nghĩa (xã Nghĩa Hòa cũ, huyện Tư Nghĩa cũ), tỉnh Quảng Ngãi
- Getting there
- The temple is located in Thu Xà village, Tư Nghĩa commune (formerly Nghĩa Hòa commune, Tư Nghĩa district), Quảng Ngãi province. From the provincial center of Quảng Ngãi, follow Provincial Road 623B (or the southern bank route along the Trà Khúc River toward Mỹ Khê and Cổ Lũy beach) east for about 10 km to Thu Xà town to reach the temple gate.
- Coordinates
- 15.0955, 108.879
When visiting Thu Xà Ông Temple, you should dress modestly and maintain quiet respect while walking through the Front Hall, Main Sanctuary and Rear Palace. The six Chinese stone steles in the Front Hall, the 1899 bronze bell, the gilded openwork wooden shrines and the antique statues are national heritage artifacts between one and two centuries old, so please refrain from touching or leaning against them. When offering incense, visitors are asked to light only a single stick at the main censer to keep the interior air clear and protect the historic timber structure from fire hazards.
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?Quick Questions
Who is the main deity worshipped at Thu Xà Ông Temple?
Thu Xà Ông Temple (Quan Thánh Tự in Chinese) follows the 'Saint in Front, Buddha in Back' (Tiền Thánh Hậu Phật) arrangement. The Main Sanctuary in front is dedicated to Guan Sheng Dijun (General Guan Yu) flanked by his attendants Guan Ping and Zhou Cang. The Rear Palace enshrines South Sea Avalokiteśvara, Heavenly Empress Mazu, the Mysterious Lady of the Nine Heavens, and Lady Jin Dou with the Twelve Midwife Goddesses.
When was Thu Xà Ông Temple built and who founded it?
The temple was founded in the Tân Tỵ year (1821), the 2nd year of Emperor Minh Mạng, by the four Minh Hương Chinese congregations (Fujian, Chaozhou, Guangdong and Hainan) together with local Vietnamese residents of the ancient Thu Xà trading port. It subsequently underwent major restorations in 1881, 1894-1895 and 1920.
Which commune does Thu Xà Ông Temple belong to after the 2025 administrative merger?
Prior to July 2025, Thu Xà Ông Temple belonged to Thu Xà village, Nghĩa Hòa commune, Tư Nghĩa district, Quảng Ngãi province. Under Resolution No. 1677/NQ-UBTVQH15 of 2025 issued by the National Assembly Standing Committee, Nghĩa Hòa commune merged with La Hà town, Nghĩa Trung commune and Nghĩa Thương commune to form the new Tư Nghĩa commune in Quảng Ngãi province.
What makes the architecture of Thu Xà Ông Temple distinctive?
The temple is built on a three-hall chữ Tam (三) layout consisting of the Front Hall, Main Sanctuary and Rear Palace roofed with yin-yang tiles and crowned by green-glazed ceramic dragons. Its timber frame blends central Vietnamese stacked-beam and false-bracket trusses with southern Chinese pumpkin-boss trusses, alongside six carved Chinese stone steles and a bronze bell cast in 1899.
When was Thu Xà Ông Temple ranked as a national heritage site?
Thu Xà Ông Temple was officially ranked as a national architectural, artistic, historical and cultural heritage site by the Ministry of Culture and Information (now the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism) under Decision No. 43-VH/QĐ dated January 7, 1993.