Đông Tây - Kim Cổ

Little known story about the treasure “reincarnated” in Co Loa citadel

Legend of An Duong Vuong

Up to now, no one is ignorant of the legend of the divine crossbow, the god Kim Quy, and the My Chau – Trong Thuy about the An Duong Vuong period. Legend has it that, after defeating 50,000 Qin troops, despite the population being less than a million, the An Duong Vuong dynasty was born. He ascended the throne on January 6, 257 BC.

Little known story about the

Overall perspective of Co Loa citadel relic area. (Photo: Hanoi Institute of Construction Planning)

After ascending the throne, the king began to find land to establish the capital. Although the king found the land, the city built many times fell down. When the god Kim Quy appeared to help destroy the demon, the castle did not fall. God Kim Quy also pulled out one of his nails and gave it to An Duong Vuong as a weapon. The king immediately ordered General Cao Lo to make a crossbow, to make more magic crossbows, each time shooting hundreds of arrows, a hundred shots hit.

At that time, Trieu Da brought troops to invade, An Duong took out his crossbow to shoot, causing the enemy to die like straw. Trieu Da saw the object and used the scheme to send his son, Trong Thuy, to propose to Princess Mi Chau, but it was actually to act as a spy. An Duong Vuong was caught off guard, so he fell for a trick, Trong Thuy swapped the magic crossbow. Trieu Da got the magic crossbow and led his army to Au Lac. An Duong Vuong lost the battle and had to take the princess to hide and die in Nghe An.

Tracing history books

Originating from these legends, archaeologists have searched in the historical records, indeed, the state Au Lac and An Duong Vuong are real.

The oldest history is “History of Sima Thien” which mentions Au Lac country, and “Cuu Duong Thu” by Luu Hu leading Nam Viet chi mentions that “King Thuc made his son An Duong Vuong to rule the land.” Delivery Only”. This work and the book Kham Kinh Viet Su Thong Giam Cuong Muc also record that Trieu Da used an insider scheme with his son’s marriage to successfully conquer Au Lac.

Besides, Vietnamese archaeologists also found remnants, from these they found that this Co Loa was built with all functions as a military citadel, a city and a citadel.

Little known story about the

Model of Co Loa formation. (Photo: Thang Long Imperial Citadel)

Co Loa is one of the oldest ancient capitals of Vietnam in particular and Southeast Asia in general. This place is known as the capital of Au Lac country from 208 to 179 BC. During the Au Lac period, Co Loa capital was the political, economic, cultural and military center of the country. Today, here still keep vestiges of life or the citadel, which is evidence of the high level of military technology of the ancient Vietnamese.

It is known that, after performing analytical steps, archaeologists have determined that Co Loa citadel dated to 2,300 years ago. Citadel is designed in the style of a spiral, so it is also known as Loa Thanh. According to legend, Co Loa citadel had 9 rings, but today only 3 rings remain, including the inner citadel, the middle citadel and the outer citadel connected from mounds and piles to high strips of land running along the river. The total length of the citadel is 15.8 km.

Co Loa citadel is located at the location of the Red River Delta triangle. Not only located on a high ground, the location of Co Loa citadel also helped An Duong Vuong to control both the plains and the mountains. Co Loa citadel is located on the left bank of the Hoang River, a tributary of the Red River and also the place connecting the Cau River (belonging to the Thai Binh River system).

At that time, the Red River and Thai Binh River were the two largest waterway networks of Northern Vietnam. From the Hoang River, boats can go to the Northwest region of the North or to the sea. Therefore, Co Loa citadel is located at important points of road and waterway of Au Lac.

The secret of the “treasure” under the temple

In the Co Loa relic complex, Thuong Temple is a relic that holds a central position. Thuong Temple, also known as Thuc An Duong Vuong Temple, was built on a high ground located in the southwest of Noi Citadel, in the territory of Chua hamlet, Co Loa commune, Dong Anh district, Hanoi city.

Thuong Temple was built on the foundation of the previous inner palace. Specifically, this temple was built in 1687 during the reign of Le Hy Tong (the 21st king of the Later Le Dynasty, reigned from 1675 to 1705), then repaired in 1689, 1893 and recently. The central figure in the Upper Temple is King An Duong Vuong.

Little known story about the

Upper Temple seen from above. (Photo: Co Loa relic management board)

Thuong Temple is located on a mound that according to feng shui is the head of a dragon. The two sides of the temple are 2 forests, right below are 2 round holes called dragon eyes. A special feature of these two holes is that one hole is always full of water despite the drought season and the other hole is always dry no matter how heavy it rains.

In Thuong Temple, there are many precious historical relics. In which, the bronze statue of An Duong Vuong is a relic of great cultural, historical and scientific value. However, few people know that the process of making this statue has many special features.

Legend has it that in 1893, people decided to overhaul and rebuild the Thuong Temple. When digging the electric foundation, they accidentally discovered a copper deposit below. After discussing, they decided to bring all the bronze that had been cast into the statue of King An Duong Vuong to worship.

Little known story about the

Bronze statue of King An Duong Vuong. (Photo: Co Loa relic management board)

According to the Management Board of Co Loa relic site, the statue of King An Duong Vuong is made of bronze in accordance with the standards of statue carving. The statue is larger than the real person and is carved in a circular shape. This bronze statue is monolithic cast including the pedestal, hat, pants, clothes and the king’s comedy. The statue of the king is carved in a sitting position with a square face, large ears, high forehead, slanted eyes, long and black beard.

He hangs a high-collared long robe, wears a Binh Thien hat decorated with two dragons adoring the sun, and the hem of the robe is covered with three stitches. The king wore a bow with a curved nose carved with a picture of a full-blown chrysanthemum. Hands closed in front of chest, long fingers holding the handle. On the piece of protection under the belly is engraved the words: “Holy An Duong Vuong Emperor”, he wears a large jade belt low down.

According to the website of the Management Board of the Co Loa relic site and the website of the Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum Management Board, on a spring day in 1961, Uncle Ho visited the Upper Temple where King An Duong Vuong was worshiped. Uncle asked the villagers if anyone knew what year the statue of King An Duong Vuong was cast and how many pounds it weighed.

At that time, no one knew how to answer, everyone looked at each other in bewilderment. The oldest only know that the temple was restored in 1687. The king’s purple horses were carved from precious wood in 1716.

Little known story about the

An Duong Vuong bronze statue is currently being placed in Thuong temple, Co Loa, Dong Anh. (Photo: Co Loa relic management board)

At this time, Uncle Ho went behind the statue and said that behind the statue’s shoulder there was an inscription. The inscription on the left side is engraved with the words “Bronze Statue of Nhi Bach Five Decades” (meaning: Bronze Statue weighing 250kg), on the right side “Ding Rooster Year of Five Moons and Sixteenth Days of Reconstruction” (meaning: May 16, Year of the Dinh). Rooster (1897) cast statue).

From the end of 2004 to 2007, archaeologists conducted 3 excavations at Thuong Temple, with 9 pits, on a total area of ​​311.5m2. Through these excavations, the bronze arrow furnace system and many other valuable related artifacts were discovered.

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