In the sixth lunar month, along the riverside road in former Hà Trung where the Mã River branches into the Lèn River at the Bông confluence, pilgrims arrive in groups, wearing white more often than in any other season. They come to Hàn Sơn Temple, a sanctuary set amid hills and water about thirty kilometers from central Thanh Hóa. Beyond the gate lies the grand courtyard, with the Đức Ông shrine on the lower side and the main Mother Goddess sanctuary above, flanked by the Lady Pavilion (lầu Cô) and the Young Lord Pavilion (lầu Cậu).
The presiding deity is Mẫu Đệ Tam Thoải Phủ (Third Mother Goddess of the Water Palace), whom local residents affectionately call Mẫu Hàn Sơn. She is the third figure in the Three Palaces Mother Goddesses (Tam Tòa Thánh Mẫu), the Mother who governs rivers and waters. Together with Cô Bơ Temple, which honors her attendant Lady at the Bông confluence about two kilometers to the west, Hàn Temple forms the Hàn Sơn heritage complex, two temples sharing one festival season.
IThe Third Mother Goddess of the Water Palace
The principal deity is Mẫu Đệ Tam Thoải Phủ, called for short Mẫu Thoải (Mother of Water), belonging to the Mother Goddess rank and presiding over the Water Palace (Thoải phủ), the realm of rivers and waters represented by the color white. Văn Hóa Newspaper, Dân trí, and Thanh Hóa Newspaper all refer to the shrine as the Temple of the Third Mother (Đền Mẫu Đệ Tam). According to Thanh Hóa Newspaper, beside the Third Mother Goddess, the temple also co-worships Holy Mother Liễu Hạnh, Cô Bơ, and Grand Tutor Duke of Sùng Lê Thọ Vực, a Lê dynasty general tied to the founding legend of the temple.
The two Chinese characters at the top of the page write the name Hàn Sơn in its ordinary reading, where hàn means cold and sơn means mountain. These characters are inferred by the library from the place name rather than copied from a horizontal plaque inside the temple. The Buddhist Studies Review records that Cô Bơ once served at Quảng Hàn Palace, and the character hàn in the two names may be the same, though the library only notes the phonetic overlap without further speculation.
The presence of a historical Lê dynasty figure in a Mother Goddess temple complex reflects a familiar pattern across Thanh Hóa shrines, where the Four Palaces pantheon does not stand in isolation but welcomes historical figures of the region under the same complex. According to Dân trí and Thanh Hóa Newspaper, local people erected a separate shrine to Lê Thọ Vực called Đức Ông Temple (or Mandarin Temple, Đền Quan Lớn) directly below and in front of the Mother Temple across the grand courtyard. The library notes his name so visitors know whom the lower shrine honors when standing in the courtyard, without recounting his military campaigns, which lie outside the story of Mother Goddess worship.
In the pantheon arranged by practitioners of the tradition, the Three Palaces Mother Goddesses (Tam Tòa Thánh Mẫu) comprise three figures, namely Mẫu Thượng Thiên governing the Sky Palace in red, Mẫu Thượng Ngàn governing the Mountain Palace in green, and Mẫu Thoải governing the Water Palace in white. Because Mẫu Thoải is the third, she is titled Mẫu Đệ Tam (Third Mother). Above the Mother Goddess rank stands the Father King (Vua Cha), and the Father King of the water realm is venerated at Đồng Bằng Temple. Chanted hagiographies (văn chầu) recounting the life of Mẫu Thoải exist in several variants, and this article does not privilege one version over another.
Because she presides over rivers and waters, Mẫu Thoải is regarded as the keeper of water for rice fields and the protector of riverfarers. A temple to Mẫu Thoải placed beside the Mã River and its Lèn branch, near the Bông confluence where the river divides, occupies a setting suited to her realm.
Legend holds that during the Hồng Đức reign, a young woman appeared at the Bông river confluence to aid people crossing the waters, after which the royal court and local villagers built a temple in gratitude. Văn Hóa Newspaper writes that the Third Mother Goddess and Cô Ba (Third Lady) were credited with opening and founding this land. That belongs to the layer of oral legend, and the library summarizes it strictly as reported in the sources.
As for why this site is regarded as a principal seat of worship, Đạo Mẫu accounts consider Hàn Sơn one of the primary centers of Mẫu Thoải in Thanh Hóa, where legend says the Mother manifested. The library has not found any academic source asserting that this is the sole original temple of Mẫu Thoải, and therefore records it simply as one of the principal seats of worship.
One detail can easily cause confusion when skimming press articles about the deities of the temple. The article in Dân trí opens by calling the shrine Đền Mẫu Đệ Tam (that is, Mẫu Thoải, or Mẫu Hàn Sơn), then in its closing paragraph on the festival mentions a solemn rite honoring Holy Mother Liễu Hạnh. Thanh Hóa Newspaper clarifies this point by noting that Hàn Sơn Temple worships the Third Mother Goddess as its main deity while co-worshipping Holy Mother Liễu Hạnh. Liễu Hạnh is commonly identified with the First Mother of the Sky Palace (Mẫu Đệ Nhất Thượng Thiên), whereas the presiding deity of Hàn Sơn remains Mẫu Đệ Tam Thoải Phủ.
IIFive hundred years in oral tradition
The exact year of foundation has not been verified by epigraphy. Văn Hóa Newspaper and Dân trí write that the temple is over five hundred years old, dating from the early Hồng Đức era of King Lê Thánh Tông, while Thanh Hóa Newspaper gives the Hồng Đức year 1470. Those dates follow the founding legend of the temple, and the library has not seen any stele inscription or royal decree cited as documentary proof.
- 1470Legendary dateThanh Hóa Newspaper gives the Hồng Đức year 1470 for the founding story of the temple. This is a date from oral tradition without stele evidence.
- UnknownFoundation and relocationNo contemporary document is cited for the construction year. Dân trí notes that the Mother Temple originally stood high on Thạch Bàn rock at Hàn Chí Thủy rapids before later being moved down beside the river.
- 1992Provincial heritage siteVăn Hóa Newspaper and Dân trí record that the Hàn Sơn and Ba Bông temple complex was recognized as a provincial historical, cultural, and scenic heritage site in 1992.
- 2012 to 2016Renovation of the complexAccording to Dân trí, site leveling and restoration of Hàn Sơn Mother Temple began in 2012, completing the main hall, Lady Pavilion, and Young Lord Pavilion at Hàn Temple along with the Nghinh Môn gate at Ba Bông Temple in 2015 and 2016.
- 2016UNESCO inscriptionPractices related to the Viet beliefs in the Mother Goddesses of Three Realms were inscribed as intangible cultural heritage of humanity. The inscription covers the practice as a whole.
- 2025Administrative mergerUnder Resolution 1686/NQ-UBTVQH15, former Hà Sơn commune merged with Hà Lĩnh town, Hà Tân commune, and Hà Tiến commune (former Hà Trung district) to form Tống Sơn commune, Thanh Hóa province.
Regarding the heritage ranking of the complex, a clarification helps avoid confusion. Hàn Sơn Temple is recorded across sources as a provincial heritage site from 1992. For Cô Bơ Temple specifically, Thanh Hóa Newspaper and VietNamNet describe it as a national heritage site from 1996. That discrepancy belongs to the Cô Bơ Temple article, and is mentioned here only so readers know that the two temples belong to the same complex while press sources cite different ranking levels.
IIIMain hall, Lady Pavilion, Young Lord Pavilion, and Đức Ông Temple
Descriptions of the older architecture of Hàn Temple in published sources are sparse because the present structures took shape during the 2012 to 2016 restoration. According to Dân trí and Thanh Hóa Newspaper, the Hàn Temple area consists of the main sanctuary of the Mother Goddess on the upper terrace, flanked by the Lady Pavilion (lầu Cô) and the Young Lord Pavilion (lầu Cậu), with the grand courtyard (sân đại bái) in front separating the Mother Temple from the shrine of General Lê Thọ Vực (Đức Ông Temple, or Quan Lớn Temple) immediately below. Meanwhile, Ba Bông Temple (Cô Bơ Temple) stands separately at the Bông river confluence about two kilometers to the west. The library has not found detailed bay measurements or inventories of antique artifacts and therefore does not add further description.
The wide courtyard between the Mother Temple above and the Lê Thọ Vực shrine below, serving as the communal ritual space during the festival and the place where the palanquin carrying the spirit of Cô Bơ is received.
The hall housing the principal altar of Mẫu Đệ Tam Thoải Phủ in white alongside the co-worshipped altar of Holy Mother Liễu Hạnh, forming the most sacred chamber of Hàn Temple.
Two side pavilions dedicated to the Holy Ladies (Thánh Cô) and Young Lords (Thánh Cậu), the younger attendant ranks serving the Mothers in the Four Palaces pantheon, rebuilt between 2015 and 2016.
The shrine standing directly below and in front of the Mother Temple across the grand courtyard, honoring Grand Tutor Duke of Sùng Lê Thọ Vực, the Lê dynasty general tied to the local founding legend.
What stands out is that the layout of the complex follows ritual hierarchy very clearly. The Mother Temple holds the main sanctuary on higher ground together with the Lady and Young Lord pavilions, the Đức Ông shrine stands below the grand courtyard, and Cô Bơ Temple stands separately at the alluvial confluence two kilometers away. To read the Hàn Sơn complex as a whole, one must read both the Hàn Temple cluster and Ba Bông Temple, whose details are covered in its own entry.
IVThe lie of the land and orientation
Hàn Sơn and Cô Bơ stand along the same stretch of river where the Bông confluence feeds the Lèn River branch, so the reading of the lie of the land in the two articles overlaps. Both represent the library's interpretation through the lens of traditional feng shui rather than statements from temple texts, and this section focuses on what belongs specifically to the Mother Temple cluster.
Thanh Hóa Newspaper describes the temple as lying amid hills and water, backing against the mountain while reflecting upon the Lèn River (the branch splitting from the Mã River at the Bông confluence). The temple's name contains the word sơn (mountain), yet the shrine honors the Mother Goddess of water. In traditional reading, this is the configuration of mountain and water meeting (sơn thủy giao hội), where the mountain provides backing and the water provides gathering. At a temple of Mẫu Thượng Ngàn, the mountain is primary, whereas at a temple of Mẫu Thoải, the water is primary and the mountain serves as a protective screen.
The hierarchy of the complex is also written directly onto the terrain. According to Dân trí and Thanh Hóa Newspaper, the temple of the Third Mother originally stood high on Thạch Bàn rock at Hàn Chí Thủy rapids before later moving down beside the river, directly below and in front of the Mother Temple across the grand courtyard stands the shrine of Đức Ông Lê Thọ Vực, while Cô Bơ Temple was raised on the alluvial bank right at the water's edge of the Bông confluence about two kilometers west. In traditional site reading, the higher position set further back is the seat of stability, suited to the rank of Mother. The lower position in front or right at the river confluence is the place of reception, suited to a general and an attendant Lady. Seen this way, the hierarchy of the pantheon is laid out on the ground itself.
Regarding compass orientation, the library has found no source recording a specific degree bearing for Hàn Temple and leaves it open rather than guessing. What can be stated with certainty is that the temple looks out toward the Lèn River channel flowing down from the Bông confluence, and the open expanse of water in front serves as a natural bright hall (minh đường).
The final feature is the circuit of the procession. Each year the spirit of the Lady is carried in procession from Ba Bông Temple at the river confluence some two kilometers downstream to the Mother Temple and then carried back. Traditional geomancy reads this as a loop closing and circulating qi between the upstream confluence and the downstream sanctuary, with the procession tracing that circle on foot. This is the library's reading, not a statement from the sources.
VSixth lunar month festival welcoming the Lady to attend the Mother
The Hàn Temple festival opens at the start of the sixth lunar month, with the main festival day on the 12th of the sixth month, held jointly with Ba Bông Temple. According to Văn Hóa Newspaper, the festival commemorates the figures credited with opening and founding the land, and its central rite is the procession carrying the spirit of Cô Bơ from Ba Bông Temple to attend upon the Third Mother Goddess at Hàn Temple before returning.
| Lunar date | Rite | Description |
|---|---|---|
| 1st of the 6th month | Festival opening | Opening ceremonies for the joint festival season of the Hàn Sơn and Ba Bông temple complex. |
| 12th of the 6th month | Main festival day | Palanquin procession welcoming the spirit of Cô Bơ from Ba Bông Temple to attend upon the Third Mother Goddess at Hàn Temple. |
| After the attendance rite | Return procession | The spirit of Cô Bơ is escorted back to Ba Bông Temple, completing the ritual circuit between the two shrines. |
| Throughout the festival season | Spirit mediumship and chầu văn | Mediumship rituals accompanied by chầu văn musicians, with the Mẫu Thoải incarnation dressed in the white of the Water Palace. |
The procession of the Lady's spirit makes visible the Mother-and-daughter bond within the Water Palace right on the ground, not merely in liturgical texts. The Lady belongs to the lower rank, the Mother to the upper rank, and once a year the daughter travels from the Bông confluence to attend upon her Mother. The Lady's side of this rite is described in the Cô Bơ Temple article.
During spirit mediumship rituals (hầu đồng) at Hàn Temple, the incarnation of Mẫu Thoải belongs to the Mother rank, and by common custom the medium keeps the red veil (khăn phủ diện) draped over the head when invoking the Mother before proceeding to the lower ranks. The musicians (cung văn) sing hagiographic chants recounting the legends of Mẫu Thoải and the deities of the Water Palace, with verses filled with rivers, boats, and the aquatic palace. Hearing chầu văn sung at a riverside temple, visitors find the lyrics and the landscape mirroring each other, which is part of why mediums wish to come here in the sixth month rather than performing the ritual in an urban shrine.
Spirit mediumship and chầu văn singing here belong to the Practices related to the Viet beliefs in the Mother Goddesses of Three Realms, inscribed by UNESCO in 2016. That designation applies to the entire tradition rather than to any single temple.
VILocation And How To Get There
- Address
- Xã Tống Sơn (xã Hà Sơn cũ, huyện Hà Trung cũ, nhập vào xã Tống Sơn năm 2025), tỉnh Thanh Hóa, bên sông Mã gần ngã ba Bông
- Getting there
- The temple is in Tống Sơn commune, Thanh Hóa province, on the land of former Hà Sơn commune, former Hà Trung district, beside the Lèn River branch splitting from the Mã River near the Bông confluence, about thirty kilometers from central Thanh Hóa and about two kilometers east of Cô Bơ Temple.
- Coordinates
- 19.9592, 105.7768
Following the hierarchy of the complex, visitors usually enter Hàn Temple to pay respects to the Mother Goddess first, visit the Đức Ông shrine and side pavilions, and then proceed to Cô Bơ Temple at the Bông confluence. Inside the main sanctuary, please walk quietly and do not touch the Mother Goddess altar. On the 12th day of the sixth lunar month, the grand courtyard serves as the route for the palanquin procession, so please stand to either side and do not cross in front of the cortege. When encountering a mediumship ritual, please remain outside the ritual mat.
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?Quick Questions
Whom does Hàn Sơn Temple worship
Its principal deity is Mẫu Đệ Tam Thoải Phủ (Mẫu Thoải), the third figure in the Three Palaces Mother Goddesses, who governs the realm of rivers and waters in white. Locals call her Mẫu Hàn Sơn. According to Thanh Hóa Newspaper and Dân trí, the temple complex also co-worships Holy Mother Liễu Hạnh and Cô Bơ, and has a separate shrine to Grand Tutor Duke of Sùng Lê Thọ Vực (Đức Ông Temple) right below the grand courtyard.
Who is Mẫu Thoải in the Three Palaces Mother Goddesses
The Three Palaces Mother Goddesses comprise Mẫu Thượng Thiên governing the sky realm in red, Mẫu Thượng Ngàn governing the mountain forest realm in green, and Mẫu Thoải governing the water realm in white. Because Mẫu Thoải is the third, she is called Mẫu Đệ Tam (Third Mother). Her hagiography exists in several variants.
When was Hàn Sơn Temple founded
The exact year of foundation has not been verified. Văn Hóa Newspaper and Dân trí state that the temple is over five hundred years old from the early Hồng Đức era, while Thanh Hóa Newspaper gives the year 1470. These dates follow the founding legend without stele evidence. The present structures were extensively restored between 2012 and 2016.
How are Hàn Sơn Temple and Cô Bơ Temple related
Both belong to the Hàn Sơn heritage complex along the Mã and Lèn rivers. Hàn Temple worships Mẫu Thoải as the Mother, while Cô Bơ Temple (Ba Bông Temple) stands about two kilometers west at the Bông confluence and honors her attendant Lady Cô Bơ. On the main festival day, the 12th of the sixth lunar month, the spirit of Cô Bơ is carried in procession from Ba Bông Temple to attend upon the Mother at Hàn Temple before returning.
When does the Hàn Sơn Temple festival take place
The festival opens at the beginning of the sixth lunar month, with the main festival day on the 12th of the sixth month, held jointly with Cô Bơ Temple. It features a palanquin procession welcoming the spirit of Cô Bơ to attend the Mother, rites honoring Holy Mother Liễu Hạnh and Đức Ông Lê Thọ Vực, spirit mediumship, and chầu văn singing. The complex was recognized as a provincial heritage site in 1992.