The pair of ancient stone horses at Thai Vi temple are about 100 years old.

Ancient stone horse pair at Thai Vi temple.

After several rebuildings and renovations, in 1926, Thai Vi Temple was rebuilt with stone in the style of "Noi Cong, Ngoai Quoc" (the outside is in the style of the word "Quoc" (Chinese characters), the inside is in the style of the word "Cong" (Chinese characters)), and at the same time, a pair of stone horses were built in front of the stone Nghi Mon gate.

The special thing is that the temple was built on the land of Dragon Cape. Behind the temple is the Cam Son stone mountain range: "Tien Ngoc Tinh, Hau Cam Son" , good feng shui, because in front of the temple there is a jade well built of green stone, behind the temple is a stone mountain range.

The unique thing is that on the outside of the stone gate of the temple, on both sides there are a pair of monolithic green stone horses. This is an ancient pair of stone horses, created in 1926, about 100 years ago.

The ancient stone horse on the right (standing looking into the temple) is 1.63 meters high from foot to head, 1.79 meters long from head to tail, and 0.43 meters wide. This stone horse block is placed on a 0.15 meter thick stone pedestal.

The stone horse on the left is also 1.63 meters high, 1.67 meters long, 0.43 meters wide, placed on a 0.14 meter thick stone pedestal.

The two stone horses are carved in the true shape of war horses, ready for battle. The horse's head has eyes, nose, ears, and a drooping tail. The horse's plastron hanging from its back and hanging down on both sides is carved with elaborate motifs and patterns.

Strangely, from a large, rough block of stone, through the hands of ancient craftsmen, a pair of stone horses were carved into two perfect, delicate and unusually vivid works of stone art. Even after about 100 years, the rain and sun of the earth and sky have not made the pair of stone horses lose their majestic appearance.

Looking at the pair of ancient stone horses, we remember two famous verses of King Tran Nhan Tong:

"The country is like a stone horse twice a year.
"The mountains and rivers of the past and present, the golden cove"

Translation:

“The country has been invaded twice, making even stone horses struggle. From now on, the country will be as strong as a metal bowl that can never be broken.”

Poetry translation:

"The country was twice shaken by a stone horse.
The mountains and rivers will forever be steadfast in gold.

These are two verses that King Tran Nhan Tong recited on April 14, 1288 (Mau Ty) when he held a victory ceremony at Chieu Lang (Tomb of King Tran Thai Tong) in Hung Yen province. He saw the feet of the stone horses guarding the tomb were all covered in mud. Because before that, the Yuan-Mongol army had invaded here and dug up Chieu Lang, intending to destroy it but had not had time.

Perhaps before 1288, in Chieu Lang, the ancient people in Hung Yen carved stone horses, so the people of Ninh Binh also carved a pair of stone horses in front of the Nghi Mon gate of Thai Vi stone temple to preserve the image of the stone horses in Chieu Lang, also affirming the victory of our army and people during the Tran Dynasty in driving the Yuan-Mongol army out of the country.

2026 is the year of Binh Ngo - the year of the horse will also forever be "The golden au palace of the thousand-year-old mountains and rivers".

Lu Dang Bat

Source: https://baoninhbinh.org.vn/doi-ngua-da-co-o-den-thai-vi-co-cach-ngay-nay-khoang-100-nam-251118092656581.html