Lychee Garden today

dji_0063(1).jpg — Le Chi Vien Temple is located in Dai Lai village, Dai Lai commune, Gia Binh district, on the Duong river ( Bac Ninh ). Photo: THANH CHUNG

Emotional surge

"My hometown has a Lychee Garden/ An ancient event passed down by our ancestors/ The lychee garden sheds tears of resentment/ Con Son's blood flows forever, injustice...".

These are lines of poetry written about Le Chi Vien, the "garden of blood" on the Duong River, a confluence of Luc Dau River. Here, nearly 600 years ago, an unjust case occurred that led to the extermination of the family of the National Hero and World Cultural Celebrity Nguyen Trai.

Visit this relic in Dai Lai village, Dai Lai commune, Gia Binh district (Bac Ninh), passing through Le Chi Vien platform and the temple gate, you will see a "Dai Cao Binh Ngo" engraved completely on a large stele right in front of the door.

lcv(1).jpg — A villager visits the Le Chi Vien pavilion in front of the Le Chi Vien temple gate. Photo: THANH CHUNG

According to legend, Le Chi Vien was originally a riverside lychee farm of Mr. Diem Chi, then it was confiscated and used as a resting place for the king and his officials when touring Kinh Bac and the Northeast region.

Not only a resting place for the Le Dynasty kings, Le Chi Vien is also a location of special military significance that the Le Dynasty kings exploited as a place to guard and patrol. Le Chi Vien went down in history because this place is associated with the terrible injustice of the Nguyen Trai family.

Every day, many people in the area come here to pay their respects to Nguyen Trai. Telling us about the history of Le Chi Vien Temple, Mr. Nguyen Van Vinh, the temple keeper, was still filled with emotion following the stories and anecdotes related to the massacre years ago.

dji_0081(1).jpg — In front of Le Chi Vien Temple is the "Proclamation of Victory over the Wu" engraved in full on a large stele. Photo: THANH CHUNG

Sacred space

The Le Chi Vien Temple relic site in Gia Binh District (Bac Ninh) has also changed a lot today. The Le Chi Vien Temple is more beautiful and spacious with worship objects, horizontal lacquered boards, parallel sentences, worship statues, stone steles... In particular, the value of this relic is also affirmed with the addition of valuable documents and artifacts. In the temple, there are also many poems and memoirs written by politicians and poets about Le Chi Vien, very emotional.

On the right of the temple, the majestic stone statues of Nguyen Trai and Nguyen Thi Lo have pedestals over 1.4 m high. The statue is 1.68 m high. Behind the statue is the winding dragon-shaped Thien Thai mountain range, on the left is the Duong River, which used to be the main traffic route in the region. Far ahead is Con Son, Nguyen Trai's maternal hometown.

dsc_5536(1).jpg — On the right side of Le Chi Vien Temple are two stone statues of National Hero Nguyen Trai and his wife. Photo: THANH CHUNG

On the left side of the temple, opposite the statue of Nguyen Trai and his wife, is a bas-relief in the shape of a “teardrop” carved from red granite placed on an open book symbolizing knowledge. The base is made of three concentric circles forming three levels symbolizing the sky, the profound harmony of heaven - earth - human, and also implying the three families being exterminated. The square pillar holds the book like the sky according to the ancient concept of the Eastern people. The monument looks like a teardrop falling on the book. Mr. Vinh, the keeper of Le Chi Vien temple, said that the teardrop symbolizes the tears of the people of all over the world crying for the injustice that shook the whole world of Nguyen Trai's family.

Today, Le Chi Vien Temple is still located on the Duong River, a confluence of Luc Dau Giang. Centuries have passed, but Le Chi Vien Temple and many other relics along Luc Dau River still exist, as evidence of many happy and sad events in the history of the nation.

a3571901-94b2-4ad5-9590-c2e4a047d50e(1).jpeg — Mr. Nguyen Van Vinh, the keeper of Le Chi Vien temple, was engrossed in reading the stele inscribed with the name of Mrs. Nguyen Thi Lo. Photo: THANH CHUNG

On the 27th day of the 7th lunar month in 1442, King Thai Tong went on a tour to the East and reviewed his troops in Chi Linh citadel. Nguyen Trai invited the king to stay at Con Son pagoda. On the 4th day of the 8th lunar month, the king went to play in Le Chi Vien (lychee garden) and suddenly passed away.
Nguyen Trai and his wife Nguyen Thi Lo were arrested on suspicion of plotting to assassinate the king. On the 12th day of the 8th lunar month in 1442, the court enthroned the 2-year-old crown prince Bang Co. On the 16th day of the 8th lunar month, the court convicted Nguyen Trai of regicide and ordered his entire family to be executed.
22 years after the case, King Le Thanh Tong issued an edict to exonerate Nguyen Trai.

SNOW WIND

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