An Lu Temple Festival
An Lu Temple Festival
Time: 10th day of the 11th lunar month
Place: An Lu Commune, Thuy Nguyen District, Hai Phong City
Objectif of worship: the well-known doctor Tue Tinh
An Lu Temple that worships the well-known doctor Tue Tinh is located in An Lu Commune, Thuy Nguyen District, Hai Phong City on the alluvial range of Cam River system where soil reclamations and village construction was early implemented by cultivators and fishermen.
Historical records from locality show that, under the reign of King Tran Due Tong (1370-1377), the ancestor of Pham family, who was a merchant named Viet Trinh, led 5 people from 4 families (Bui, Nguyen, Vu, Hoang) to the eastern land of Thuy Duong District (the ancient name of Thuy Nguyen District). Realizing that this area was huge but thinly populated, they discussed and then agreed to settle here. Since then, there were many people from Cam Giang coming to this land to reclaim, set up village and multiply population. Family records of these families handed down by generations have honored ancestor Pham Viet Trinh with his credit for the discovery, reclamation and foundation of An Lu village. After 7 years of settling in the alluvial land of Cam River, many people in the village caught a strange disease. They were puzzled and planned to go back their native land to earn living. When calm-hearted, they happened to remember a herbal remedy prescribed by the great doctor Tue Tinh for a familiar disease. They together collected herbs, then dried, buried, and simmered before using as recommendations in the remedy. Expectedly, they all recovered from the disease; that made them feel secure to continue staying in the village. After that event, local people set up a small temple to worship the great doctor, renamed the village into An Lu that meant ‘a peaceful village’, restored Xua market, built an iron-wooden 7-span bridge through Cam River in order to remind inhabitants of their native land. Previously, in An Lu village, there were many other relics such as: Tiger shrine, But wharf, Chung communal house where local people had many times popularized disease-treating methods from herbal plants and imparted good remedies of the great doctor Tue Tinh. Time went by; wars and severe calamities completely destroyed original relics of the temple. Early 1948, An Lu village people processed the statue of great doctor Tue Tinh to An Bach Temple, where the national hero Tran Quoc Tuan and his sons had been worshiped, in order to commemorate in coordination. The statue of great doctor Tue Tinh that represented Vietnamese traditional art was sculpted by skillful craftsmen. The image of Tue Tinh in civil mandarin costume at late nineteenth century was sculpted at a nearly same side of the real person.
Annually, An Lu village festival is opened from the eleventh day of eleventh lunar month. It would last 3 or 5 days depending on factual conditions of visitors’ participation. Especially, aside from memorial ceremony of the great doctor held at the temple, other culturally traditional activities that contain local characters took place in An Lu village e.g. Xua market-day on the first day of lunar year festival. In the market-day, all local products and those from other villages were sold here. Also, on the occasion of lunar year festival, local people come here to meet, and express best wishes to each other for a new year of good luck, smooth and success. An Lu Temple was reckoned as a historical and cultural relic in 1990
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