From the foot of Phượng Hoàng mountain, visitors pass the outer gate, cross the lower courtyard and start up the long flight of stone steps, which people count at 112. The pine forest on either side grows thicker, and the mountain wind is cooler than on the plain. At the top of the steps is the upper courtyard, and ahead stands a temple with two tiers of eight roofs and curved roof corners. Inside the rear sanctuary is a bronze statue of the man honored here.
He is Chu Văn An, the teacher whom generations of Vietnamese students have taken as their model. He is not honored here for services to a village or a clan. He is honored here because this is where he left official life behind, opened a school, wrote books, and was laid to rest on the summit behind the temple.
IThe teacher honored here
Chu Văn An was born in 1292 in Quang Liệt village, in the former Thanh Trì district, now part of Hanoi (Báo Hải Phòng). His pen name was Tiều Ẩn, meaning a recluse living as a woodcutter. He opened a school while still young and was invited by King Trần Minh Tông to become Director of Studies of the Imperial Academy and tutor to the crown prince. Under King Trần Dụ Tông he submitted a petition remonstrating with the king, and when it went unheeded he resigned and withdrew to Phượng Hoàng mountain. Later generations call that document the Petition of Seven Beheadings (Thất trảm sớ). On the mountain he taught, wrote books and studied medicine (as copied on the commune information pages of Lạng Sơn province). He died in 1370.
The four Chinese characters at the top of the page are the temple's name in Sino-Vietnamese as given by the library, not copied from a horizontal board at the temple.
The library places this site in the Confucianism group, alongside the page on the Nguyễn Bỉnh Khiêm Temple. The reason lies in the standing of the man honored. Chu Văn An is honored as a master of learning, and he is one of the very few Vietnamese Confucians worshipped as an associate (tòng tự) at the Temple of Literature and Imperial Academy in Hanoi (Dân trí). At Mao Điền Temple of Literature of the Hải Dương garrison, his name heads the eight notable figures honored together with Confucius.
Mao Điền honors him as an associate in a garrison temple of literature. Here he is the principal figure, in a temple of his own, on the very ground where he died. The two places complement each other rather than overlap.
Many visitors read the four characters Vạn thế sư biểu along the stone steps and think it is a title the court conferred on Chu Văn An alone. The four characters mean the exemplary teacher of ten thousand generations, a form of praise originally used for Confucius in temples of literature. Later generations borrowed it to honor Chu Văn An, which shows he was placed very close to the master of the Confucian way, but it is not a documented royal title.
Second: the temple visitors see is not Trần dynasty architecture. The old temple was damaged, and the present one was rebuilt from the 1990s and completed in 2008, in the architectural style of the Nguyễn period (Dân trí, Báo Hải Phòng).
IIFrom the school on Phượng Hoàng mountain to today's temple
The year the temple was first built has not been established. Local records say the temple was founded after Chu Văn An died in 1370, on the land where he had lived and taught. The firmer dates belong to the recent rebuilding.
- 1292Chu Văn An is bornHe was born in Quang Liệt village, in the former Thanh Trì district. Dân trí gives his birth date as the 25th day of the 8th month of the Nhâm Thìn year.
- Reign of Trần Minh TôngDirector of Studies of the Imperial AcademyHe was invited to become Director of Studies of the Imperial Academy, teaching the crown prince and the children of the nobility.
- Reign of Trần Dụ TôngResigns and withdraws to Phượng Hoàng mountainHe submitted a petition remonstrating with the king, and when it went unheeded he resigned, settled on Phượng Hoàng mountain, took the pen name Tiều Ẩn and opened a school.
- 1370He dies, and the people found a templeHe died on Phượng Hoàng mountain. Local records say the temple was founded afterwards. His tomb is traditionally said to lie on the summit.
- 1990sThe temple is rebuiltThe old temple had been damaged, and rebuilding began in the 1990s (Báo Hải Phòng).
- 1998 or 2008Ranked as a national heritage siteBáo Hải Phòng and VinWonders give 1998, Dân trí gives 2008. The library has not found the decision number.
- 2008Two restoration phases completedThe main temple in the shape of the character 二, with two tiers of eight roofs, was completed together with its courtyards and stone steps after two phases of restoration.
The clearest disagreement is the ranking year. Báo Hải Phòng and VinWonders say the site was ranked as a national heritage site in 1998, while Dân trí gives 2008. 2008 is also the year the restoration was completed, so one source may have merged the two events. The library has not found the ranking decision to settle it.
On the year of his death, the Lạng Sơn commune pages and VinWonders give 1370, while Dân trí gives only his year of birth. 1370 is the figure in wide use, and the library follows it, noting here that not every source gives it.
As for what he left in writing, the old histories record that he compiled the Tứ thư thuyết ước, a summary of the Four Books that form the core of Confucian learning, and two collections of poetry, the Tiều ẩn thi tập in classical Chinese and the Tiều ẩn quốc ngữ thi tập in Nôm script. Most of this is lost, and only a few of his poems in classical Chinese survive, copied into later anthologies. His fame therefore rests mainly on his standing as a teacher and on what the chronicles record, rather than on texts he wrote.
Also according to the old histories, when he died the Trần court had him worshipped at the Temple of Literature, alongside the earlier worthies of the Confucian way. That is the earliest mark of his worship at court level. The temple on Phượng Hoàng mountain is the worship of the people of the area where he lived, and the two layers of worship have existed side by side for many centuries.
IIIThe main temple, the tomb and the Lưu Quang hall
The site has three main places, arranged by height on the mountain: the temple on the slope, Lưu Quang, which the sources call the Lưu Quang hall, where he taught, and the tomb on the summit, about six hundred meters from the temple (Dân trí). The main temple is built in the shape of the character 二 (two), that is, two parallel buildings, with a five-bay front hall of worship and a one-bay rear sanctuary, two tiers of eight roofs, and decoration of dragons and phoenixes among clouds (Báo Hải Phòng, Lạng Sơn province pages).
Two layers of gates divide the temple grounds into a lower, a middle and an upper courtyard (Báo Hải Phòng).
The flight of stone steps leading from the lower courtyard to the main temple, with the four characters Vạn thế sư biểu along the way.
A five-bay front hall of worship joined to a one-bay rear sanctuary, under two tiers of eight roofs. The bronze statue of Chu Văn An stands in the rear sanctuary.
The place where he taught on the mountain. Dân trí and VinWonders call it the Lưu Quang hall (điện Lưu Quang) and say people come here to ask for calligraphy each spring. The sources read do not say when the present structure was built.
His tomb, as tradition holds, lies on the summit, and near it is a small well where visitors often stop to drink (Chí Linh quê tôi).
Set beside the nearby sites, the roles are easy to tell apart. Côn Sơn Pagoda, about 3.5 kilometers away, is an ancestral seat of the Trúc Lâm Zen school. Kiếp Bạc Temple, about 3.6 kilometers away, honors Prince Hưng Đạo (Hưng Đạo Đại Vương) in the Trần Triều tradition, quite different from the worship here. The Nguyễn Trãi Temple at the foot of Ngũ Nhạc mountain honors a Confucian scholar and writer of the 15th century. This temple honors the teacher of the 14th century, the earliest layer of Confucian learning in the Chí Linh area.
IVThe lie of the land and the facing
It should be said first that this is the library's own reading by the traditional art of geomancy, not found in any document of the temple. Only the idea that the tomb lies at the phoenix's head is a local tradition, repeated in many sources, and the library marks it clearly as tradition.
The mountain's name is already a way of reading the land. People here call it Phượng Hoàng, the phoenix, because its shape resembles a phoenix spreading its wings, and tradition says Chu Văn An's tomb lies exactly at the phoenix's head (Dân trí, VinWonders). In reading mountain land, the head of an animal form is where qi gathers most strongly. Placing the teacher's tomb there and the temple on the slope means that the living climb up while the departed rest at the highest point.
The temple here follows the backed by the mountain (tựa sơn) form very clearly: its back rests against the mountain, the pine forest wraps both sides like two arms, and in front the land falls gradually to the plain. The 112 stone steps turn the slope into a path with a rhythm. Each courtyard, lower, middle and upper, is a place to pause, so that those climbing to the temple shift gradually from the pace of the plain to the pace of the mountain. The sources consulted do not record the temple's facing by compass direction, so the library does not give it.
There is one more layer of meaning. People of old who withdrew to the mountains usually chose a secluded spot, but not too far from others. Phượng Hoàng mountain is high enough to be quiet and close enough to the plain for students to find their way. Placing the Lưu Quang school there was choosing land to fit the work of teaching: a place set apart from the world yet still connected to it.
VThe first writing of spring and the teacher's death anniversary
Rites at the temple follow the custom of honoring a master of learning. The most recognizable custom is the first writing of spring: on the 6th day of the 1st lunar month, students and local people come to the temple to write their first characters of the year and ask for calligraphy. His death anniversary is the most important day of the year.
| Lunar time | Rite | Content |
|---|---|---|
| 6th day of the 1st lunar month | First writing ceremony | Students and local people come to the temple to offer incense, write their first characters of the year and ask for calligraphy (Báo Hải Phòng). |
| 1st to 25th day of the 8th lunar month | Autumn festival | The Lạng Sơn commune pages record an autumn festival running through this period, with the main day on the 25th. |
| 26th day of the 11th lunar month | Death anniversary of Chu Văn An | The day of his death, with a commemorative incense ceremony at the temple, also called the festival of returning to the source (Mekong ASEAN). |
The custom of asking for calligraphy here is best understood as what it has always been: a custom of honoring teachers and respecting the written word, in which the person asking takes home a written character as a reminder to keep learning. That custom suits the man honored here, someone who left official life to hold on to the work of teaching.
VILocation And How To Get There
- Address
- Núi Phượng Hoàng, phường Chu Văn An (phường Văn An cũ, thành phố Chí Linh cũ, tỉnh Hải Dương cũ), thành phố Hải Phòng
- Getting there
- On Phượng Hoàng mountain, Chu Văn An ward, Hải Phòng city, in the former Chí Linh area. About 3.5 km from Côn Sơn Pagoda and about 3.6 km from Kiếp Bạc Temple, so the three are often visited on one trip.
- Coordinates
- 21.1279, 106.3587
The way up to the temple is 112 steep stone steps, so visitors are advised to wear sturdy shoes and to climb slowly. The custom of a place honoring a master of learning is that visitors dress modestly, remove hats on entering the front hall of worship and the rear sanctuary, do not bring meat offerings and do not burn votive paper before the altar. At the tomb on the summit, visitors are expected to keep quiet and leave no litter around the tomb or the well.
Nearby places in the library
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?Quick Questions
Who is worshipped at Chu Văn An Temple in Chí Linh
Chu Văn An (1292 to 1370), pen name Tiều Ẩn, Director of Studies of the Imperial Academy under the Trần dynasty and the model teacher of Vietnamese Confucian learning. His bronze statue stands in the rear sanctuary. He is honored as a master of learning, on the very Phượng Hoàng mountain where he came to teach and where he died.
How many stone steps are there at Chu Văn An Temple
The way up to the main temple has 112 stone steps, according to Báo Hải Phòng and VinWonders. Along the way are the four characters Vạn thế sư biểu, meaning the exemplary teacher of ten thousand generations. The steps divide the temple grounds into lower, middle and upper courtyards.
Where is Chu Văn An's tomb
His tomb, as tradition holds, lies on the summit of Phượng Hoàng mountain, about six hundred meters from the temple, at the spot tradition identifies as the phoenix's head. Near the tomb is a small well. The mountain also has the Lưu Quang hall, where he taught in his last years.
When is the first writing ceremony at Chu Văn An Temple
The first writing ceremony is held on the 6th day of the 1st lunar month, when students and local people come to the temple to offer incense, write their first characters of the year and ask for calligraphy. Chu Văn An's death anniversary falls on the 26th day of the 11th lunar month, with a commemorative incense ceremony at the temple.
When was Chu Văn An Temple ranked
The sources differ. Báo Hải Phòng and VinWonders give national heritage status in 1998, Dân trí gives 2008. The present temple was rebuilt from the 1990s and completed two restoration phases in 2008, so one source may have merged the two dates.