Turning off Lò Đúc Street into a narrow lane and walking about a hundred meters, visitors come upon an unexpectedly wide brick-paved courtyard tucked among rows of urban tube houses. Flanking the entrance to the main hall are two kneeling elephants carved of gilded and lacquered wood rather than the stone elephants typical of royal tombs. The dragon-carved stone steps leading up to the front hall have been worn smooth by generations of footsteps.
Standing side by side within this single compound are three distinct worship structures, with the temple to the Trưng Sisters in the center, Viên Minh Pagoda on the left, and Đồng Nhân Communal House on the right. This is the capital city's own temple to the Two Ladies, standing neither in their native homeland nor at the site of their final day, but founded upon a distinct legend of two stone statues drifting down the Red River to wash ashore at Đồng Nhân bank.
IThe capital's temple and the legend of the floating statues
The temple venerates the Trưng Sisters (Hai Bà Trưng), Trưng Trắc and Trưng Nhị, together with six female generals (Lục bộ nữ tướng) within the Vietnamese tradition of ancestor and forebear veneration. The historical reason for their worship is known across the country and needs no retelling here, as the two sisters led the uprising of the year 40 CE and were venerated as deities by the people from very early times. What deserves attention on this page is the distinctive mode of worship at Đồng Nhân Temple, which sets it apart from the other two major temples dedicated to them.
According to the spirit chronicle recorded on the 1840 stone stele and cited in the heritage dossier, in the third lunar month of the Nhâm Tuất year 1142 under King Lý Anh Tông, two stone statues drifted down the Red River to the Đồng Nhân alluvial bank, glowing luminously at night. The riverbank villagers brought out red cloth to welcome the statues ashore, and King Lý Anh Tông ordered a temple built on the spot.
This narrative belongs to the motif of drifting sacred objects, a familiar theme in Vietnamese riverine and coastal belief, where the object of veneration is not brought by human hands but arrives of its own accord, and that very arrival establishes its sanctity. Here that folk motif merged with figures who already held national stature, producing a temple that combines the character of a riverside village shrine with the standing of a royally decreed sanctuary.
Three major temples, three distinct roles
The library maintains three separate pages for the three principal temples of the Trưng Sisters because each fulfills a distinct ritual role rather than duplicating the others. Hát Môn Temple marks the site associated with their final day, preserving the Oath Altar and a liturgical tradition dominated by the color black. Hai Bà Trưng Temple in Mê Linh stands on their native soil, venerating the sisters as reigning monarchs within an inner sanctuary laid out like a royal court. Those two sites have their own dedicated pages.
Đồng Nhân, by contrast, is the temple of the capital. Rather than standing on land tied to the sisters' lifetime, it stands amidst the urban wards of Thăng Long, founded by decree of a reigning monarch and shaped by the worship habits of city streets rather than a farming village. For that reason it possesses features specific to the capital, including a compact compound uniting three separate worship halls, a Red River water procession returning to the old riverbank, and a festival calendar set in the second lunar month rather than the first or third.
The other two structures in the compound serve their own objects of worship. Viên Minh Pagoda on the left (east side) of the temple venerates the Buddha in the Northern Buddhist tradition while also maintaining an altar for Mother Goddess worship, exemplifying the urban Hanoi pagoda that integrates folk belief. Đồng Nhân Communal House on the right (west side) of the temple venerates the tutelary deities of Đồng Nhân village, namely Cao Sơn Đại Vương, Quốc Vương Thiên Tử, Đô Hồ Đại Vương, and water deities, preserving the communal affairs of the neighborhood. The three structures stand side by side without merging their altars or their rites.
A common misconception about this temple is that it has stood at its present street address since 1142. It has not. The original site of the 1142 temple was Đồng Nhân alluvial bank along the Red River (in the area of present-day Bạch Đằng Street), some distance east of the current compound. Only in the Kỷ Mão year 1819 under Emperor Gia Long, when riverbank erosion threatened the site, were the temple, pagoda, and communal house relocated inland onto the former Martial Training Ground (Cựu Võ Sở) of the Lê dynasty in Hương Viên hamlet, Thanh Nhàn canton, Thanh Trì district. The villagers of Đồng Nhân moved along with their shrines and carried their village name to the new land.
When reading the chronology of this site, visitors should therefore distinguish two layers, where 1142 marks the founding of worship on the riverbank while the standing architecture belongs from the nineteenth century onward, erected upon a plot that originally served an entirely different purpose. Another point worth noting is that the popular name Đồng Nhân Temple refers specifically to this sanctuary rather than serving as a generic term for all Trưng Sisters shrines in Hanoi.
IITwo relocations and a change of ground
The history of this sanctuary is a history of relocation. A temple built on an alluvial riverbank must sooner or later retreat from the water, and that is precisely what occurred here. What is remarkable is that worship never broke off when the temple moved, as the villagers moved with it, brought their village name along, and preserved their liturgical customs intact.
- 1142Founded on Đồng Nhân riverbankThird lunar month of the Nhâm Tuất year under King Lý Anh Tông. According to the spirit chronicle, two luminous stone statues drifted onto the riverbank, and the king ordered a temple built on the spot.
- 1819Relocated to Hương Viên hamletKỷ Mão year under Emperor Gia Long. As the riverbank eroded, the temple, pagoda, and communal house were moved inland onto the former Lê dynasty Martial Training Ground (Cựu Võ Sở) in Hương Viên hamlet, their present location. Đồng Nhân village moved along and kept its name.
- 1840Erection of the Trưng Vương steleIn the Canh Tý year, the 21st year of the Minh Mạng reign, Doctorate scholar Vũ Tông Phan composed the stone stele "Trưng Vương sự tích bi ký" recording the legend of the Trưng Sisters and the 1819 relocation, still preserved in the right stele pavilion.
- 19th to early 20th centuryFormation of the current architectural layoutThe gates, front ceremonial hall, incense-burning hall, and rear sanctuary, along with most of the crimson-lacquered and gilded ritual furnishings, date to this period.
- 1914Merged into the city of HanoiOn July 17, 1914, Đồng Nhân village (previously under Thanh Trì district, Hà Đông province) was incorporated into the city of Hanoi, placing the complex fully inside the urban core.
- 1962National heritage site designationĐồng Nhân Temple and Viên Minh Pagoda were ranked as National Historical and Cultural Heritage Sites in the very first batch of 1962.
- 2019Special national heritage siteThe Hai Bà Trưng Temple, Pagoda, and Communal House complex was ranked a Special National Heritage Site under Decision 1954/QĐ-TTg on December 31, 2019. Because the certificate reception ceremony took place on February 29, 2020 (7th day of the 2nd lunar month, Canh Tý year), some news reports cite 2020.
- 2025Festival inscribed as national intangible heritageThe Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism issued Decision 325/QĐ-BVHTTDL on February 19, 2025 inscribing the Traditional Hai Bà Trưng Temple Festival (in former Đồng Nhân and Bạch Đằng wards) on the National List of Intangible Cultural Heritage.
Two discrepancies among sources should be stated plainly. The first concerns the year of special national heritage ranking, as the Prime Minister's decision was signed on the last day of 2019 while the reception ceremony took place in early 2020, leading different publications to cite either year depending on whether they follow the signing date or the ceremony date. The library records both.
The second concerns the form of the sacred objects brought up from the river. Most heritage documents describe two stone statues, whereas several transcribed versions speak of two white stone slabs or two luminous stone blocks not yet carved into human likeness. This reflects variations across manuscript traditions rather than a numerical error, and the library notes both versions.
IIIThree worship structures within a single urban compound
The compound covers roughly 4,000 square meters, with the central temple arranged in the inner-Công outer-Quốc (nội công ngoại quốc) layout, where the central halls form the shape of the character Công (工) while two five-bay side galleries and an enclosing perimeter wall frame a rectangular court. This is a classic layout of major northern Vietnamese temples, and in an urban setting the perimeter wall serves the added purpose of shutting out street noise.
The central axis of the complex, leading through the outer gate and the inner gate bearing the Chinese plaque "Trưng Vương cổ miếu" into a Bát Tràng brick courtyard flanked by two stele pavilions, followed by the front hall, the two-tier eight-roof incense hall, and the rear sanctuary. A stone relief on the front steps depicts the Two Ladies riding elephants.
The innermost chamber houses crimson-lacquered and gilded earthen statues of the Trưng Sisters standing about 1.2 meters tall atop stone pedestals carved with carp transforming into dragons, flanked by statues of the Six Female Generals (Lục bộ nữ tướng) and shrines to posterior benefactors.
Two kneeling elephants of painted and gilded wood flank the entrance to the front hall, while a stone elephant donated in the early twentieth century stands in the left pavilion. These elephant figures immediately identify the temple from the courtyard.
Located on the left (east side) of the temple, worshipping the Buddha in the Northern tradition alongside a Mother Goddess shrine. Tradition holds that the two Dharma Guardian (Hộ pháp) statues in the pagoda were donated by Imperial Consort Ỷ Lan in 1142.
Located on the right (west side) of the temple, worshipping the village tutelary deities Cao Sơn Đại Vương, Quốc Vương Thiên Tử, Đô Hồ Đại Vương, and water deities, and preserving 17 royal decrees. Its presence inside the same compound testifies that the entire village community relocated with the temple in 1819.
The right pavilion houses the 1840 stone stele "Trưng Vương sự tích bi ký" composed by Doctorate scholar Vũ Tông Phan, alongside royal decrees, horizontal plaques, parallel couplets, dragon thrones, palanquins, and gilded wooden ritual vessels from the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.
One architectural feature merits special attention, namely that this compound originally served as the former Martial Training Ground (Cựu Võ Sở) of the Lê dynasty, a state administrative and military plot rather than religious land. That change of function left a clear imprint on the site plan, giving the temple an unusually spacious forecourt compared to other inner-city shrines and setting the main halls deep within the lot. Reading the ground plan reveals how the older foundation still shapes the space even though the buildings above it have completely changed.
Regarding the Chinese characters shown at the top of this page, the library provides the three-character rendering of the temple's popular name Đồng Nhân Từ, whereas the plaque above the inner ceremonial gate on site bears the four characters Trưng Vương cổ miếu (Ancient Temple of Queen Trưng).
IVThe lie of the land and orientation
This section presents the library's reading through the lens of traditional Vietnamese geomancy (phong thủy) rather than content drawn from stele inscriptions or official heritage dossiers. The library states this clearly so that readers may distinguish historical documentation from geomantic interpretation.
This sanctuary offers a rare case for geomantic reading because it changed its ground once, allowing two distinct sites to be compared side by side. The original site was an alluvial bank right at the edge of the Red River. The second site retreated deep into the urban fabric. Those two plots represent two contrasting principles of site selection.
In traditional geomancy, an alluvial riverbank is active ground (đất động). Where currents deposit silt, the land expands, and where currents scour, the land erodes, leaving no fixed dragon vein (long mạch). Placing a shrine on active ground matched the founding legend, since the river current itself delivered the sacred statues, yet it was ill-suited for permanence. The riverbank collapse of 1819 was something anyone familiar with alluvial land could foresee. In a sense, the early temple paid the price for the very riverine quality that gave birth to it.
The new site is the exact opposite, occupying high, firm ground whose foundation had already been consolidated, surrounded on four sides by urban dwellings and enclosed by walls. Traditional geomancy calls this a formation that shelters from wind and gathers qi (tàng phong tụ khí), which classical manuals regard as ideal for an enduring sanctuary. What was lost was the open river expanse before the gate, its natural bright hall (minh đường). What was gained was stability and longevity.
This geomantic shift also explains why the Red River water procession holds such central meaning here. Read through the lens of phong thủy, once each year, when the procession walks from the temple back out to the riverside shrine on Bạch Đằng Street and carries a porcelain jar of midstream water back into the temple courtyard, the river is invited back to the temple that moved away from it. That river water, boiled with fragrant agarwood, is used to bathe the statues, touching the very sacred objects that originally rose from the river. The ritual reconnects the sanctuary with the water vein that gave birth to it, bridging what the 1819 relocation severed geographically.
Regarding orientation, the halls align along a north-south longitudinal axis facing south, with the gate opening onto a quiet street and the rear sanctuary set at the deepest, most secluded point. Within a compound hemmed in by city blocks on all four sides, the builders compensated for the absence of an open landscape by using a wide brick forecourt as a crafted bright hall (minh đường), much as other urban temples use a small pond or screen wall. Though the complex stands in the middle of inner Hanoi, stepping into the rear sanctuary still feels remarkably still, thanks largely to that forecourt and the enclosing walls.
VThe second-month festival and the water procession rite
The temple festival takes place in the second lunar month, earlier than the Hát Môn festival in the third month and later than the Mê Linh festival in the first month, so that the three major temples of the Trưng Sisters celebrate their annual festivals at three different times of the year. The signature rite of Đồng Nhân is the procession to draw Red River water from the old riverbank to bathe the statues.
| Lunar date | Rite | Details |
|---|---|---|
| 4th day of the 2nd month | Opening the temple gates | Announcement rite (lễ cáo yết), incense offering, and preparation of ritual vessels and palanquins as ceremonial teams assemble. |
| 5th day of the 2nd month | Red River water procession | After a permission rite at the temple, the procession marches to the Trưng Sisters shrine on Bạch Đằng Street by the Red River (the site of ancient Đồng Nhân bank), boards boats to midstream to fill a porcelain jar, and carries the sacred water back to the temple. |
| Night of the 5th and 6th day of the 2nd month | Statue-bathing rite and main festival day | Red River water boiled with agarwood is used for the closed statue-bathing rite (lễ mộc dục) on the night of the 5th. The 6th is the main festival day featuring grand sacrificial rites by male elders and female incense-offering teams. |
| 7th day of the 2nd month | Thanksgiving rite (lễ tạ) | Closing thanksgiving ceremony, lowering of the palanquins, and putting away of ritual implements. |
| Throughout the festival | Folk performances | Traditional performances in the temple courtyard including the lantern dance (múa đèn, recalling the torches lit to welcome the statues ashore on the night of 1142), lion dances, wrestling, and guild games. |
| 1st and 15th of each lunar month | New and full moon rites | Regular twice-monthly incense offerings across all three worship structures without a procession. |
The statue-bathing rite (lễ mộc dục) deserves precise description. It is not a routine cleaning of temple furnishings, but a strictly ordered liturgical ceremony performed late at night by exemplary women chosen by the village, conducted behind closed doors and not open to outside spectators. The water used is drawn from the middle of the Red River off the ancient Đồng Nhân riverbank and boiled with fragrant agarwood rather than taken from a well or tap, and that specific detail forms the living thread tying today's urban temple to the riverbank of 1142.
Regarding the festival dates, seasonal press reports (such as Tiền Phong newspaper) often cite the 4th through the 6th of the second lunar month, whereas the 2025 national intangible cultural heritage dossier records the 5th through the 7th of the second lunar month. Counting from the temple-opening ceremony through the closing thanksgiving rite, the full festival spans from the 4th to the 7th of the second lunar month, with the water procession on the 5th and the main sacrificial rite on the 6th serving as the two principal days.
VILocation And How To Get There
- Address
- Số 12 phố Hương Viên, phường Đồng Nhân cũ, nay là phường Hai Bà Trưng, Hà Nội
- Getting there
- The complex is located at 12 Hương Viên Street, Hai Bà Trưng Ward (formerly Đồng Nhân Ward), Hanoi. It is within easy walking distance of Lò Đúc Street and Hôm Market, a short distance west of the Red River dike.
- Coordinates
- 21.0123, 105.8568
This is an active worship complex in the middle of a residential neighborhood rather than a museum. Visitors should dress modestly, remove hats when entering the interior halls, walk quietly and speak softly in the rear sanctuary, and refrain from touching the dragon thrones, palanquins, wooden elephants, and gilded ritual objects. Offerings should be placed at the proper altars of each respective structure, since the temple, pagoda, and communal house within this compound are three distinct sanctuaries rather than one. On the day of the water procession, visitors should stand clear of the procession path and not intrude upon the closed statue-bathing rite.
Nearby places in the library
VIIContribute To This Page
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Góp ảnh, thông tin hoặc video cho Đền Hai Bà Trưng (Đồng Nhân)Everyone is welcome to enrich this page: a photo you took, a detail the page misses, a short video. Every contribution is read and answered.
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?Quick Questions
Whom does Hai Bà Trưng Temple at Đồng Nhân worship?
The temple venerates the Trưng Sisters (Trưng Trắc and Trưng Nhị) together with the Six Female Generals (Lục bộ nữ tướng). Founded in 1142 from a legend of two stone statues drifting ashore at Đồng Nhân bank along the Red River, it shares its compound with Viên Minh Pagoda on the left (worshipping the Buddha and Mother Goddesses) and Đồng Nhân Communal House on the right (worshipping the village tutelary deities).
How does Đồng Nhân Temple differ from Hát Môn Temple and Mê Linh Temple?
Each of the three major temples fulfills a distinct role. Hát Môn marks the site associated with the sisters' final day, preserving the Oath Altar and a liturgical tradition dominated by black. Mê Linh stands in their native homeland, venerating the sisters as reigning monarchs. Đồng Nhân is the capital city's temple, founded from the legend of floating stone statues, featuring the Red River water procession and celebrating its festival in the second lunar month.
Why was Đồng Nhân Temple relocated?
Because the temple originally stood on an alluvial bank of the Red River, and when riverbank erosion threatened the site in the Kỷ Mão year 1819, the temple, pagoda, and communal house were relocated inland onto the former Martial Training Ground (Cựu Võ Sở) of the Lê dynasty in Hương Viên hamlet, where they stand today. Đồng Nhân village moved along and kept its village name at the new site.
When is the Đồng Nhân Temple festival held?
From the 4th to the 7th day of the second lunar month, with the 5th (Red River water procession and nocturnal statue-bathing rite) and the 6th (main sacrificial ceremony) as the two principal days. The festival was inscribed on the National List of Intangible Cultural Heritage under Decision 325/QĐ-BVHTTDL on February 19, 2025.
When was the Đồng Nhân complex ranked a Special National Heritage Site?
Under Prime Ministerial Decision 1954/QĐ-TTg signed on December 31, 2019, with the reception ceremony held on February 29, 2020, which is why some reports cite 2020. Previously, the temple and pagoda had been ranked National Historical and Cultural Heritage Sites in 1962.