Ceremony to receive the National Monument Ranking Certificate of Lat Son Base and Traditional Opening of the Temple of Female General Le Chan

On the morning of August 27, at the temple of Female General Le Chan (Hong Son village, Thanh Son commune), the People's Committee of Kim Bang district solemnly held the Ceremony to receive the Certificate of National Monument ranking of Lat Son Base (including the temple of Female General Le Chan, Giat Dau mountain and But hill) and the Opening of the traditional festival of the temple of Female General Le Chan in 2023.

Attending the ceremony were comrades: Tran Thi Ngan, member of the Provincial Party Standing Committee, Chairwoman of the Provincial Fatherland Front Committee; Nguyen Duc Vuong, member of the Provincial Party Committee, Vice Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee; Pham Hong Son, member of the Provincial Party Committee, Secretary of the District Party Committee, Chairman of the Kim Bang District People 's Council; leaders of the Department of Administrative Management C06 of the Ministry of Public Security ; Professors and Associate Professors of the Vietnam Historical Science Association, the Party History Institute (Ho Chi Minh National Academy of Politics); leaders of departments, branches and sectors of the province; leaders of Kim Bang district, Thanh Son commune; representatives of the Le Chan District (Hai Phong city); Le Family Council of Quang Ninh province, along with a large number of people and tourists from all over.

Ceremony to receive the National Monument Ranking Certificate of Lat Son Base and Opening the Traditional Festival of Female General Le Chan Temple in 2023 — **Delegates attended the ceremony to receive the National Monument Ranking Certificate for Lat Son Base.**

According to historical records, Female General Le Chan was born on February 8, 20 AD in Yen Bien village, Khuc Duong district, Giao Chi district (now An Bien village, Thuy An commune, Dong Trieu town, Quang Ninh province). Born during the Eastern Han Dynasty, carrying family feuds and national debts, listening to the Trung Sisters' proclamation to save the country, Le Chan led the army to follow the Trung Sisters to raise the flag of uprising. The Trung Sisters' uprising was successful, Le Chan was given the title of Thanh Chan Princess by Trung Sisters, holding the position of Chief of Internal Military Power.

In the year 42, the Eastern Han general Ma Yuan led his troops to fight against the rebel army of the Trung Sisters. The enemy was strong, many insurgents sacrificed, the Trung Sisters committed suicide, and female general Le Chan decided to choose the rugged mountainous area of Lat Son, Thanh Son commune as a defensive base to block the enemy. The base was not yet strong, and the army was not strong enough to repel the enemy, so female general Le Chan ordered all her troops to secretly withdraw from the base to plan a long-term resistance. She and a few generals, a part of the suicide squad stayed behind to defend to the death.

In a fierce battle, unable to defeat the Han invaders, Princess Thanh Chan and several trusted generals retreated to Giat Dau mountain. From the top of the high mountain, female general Le Chan committed suicide to avoid falling into the enemy's hands. That was the afternoon of July 13, Quy Mao year (43).

To commemorate the merits and heroic sacrifices of the female general, the local people built a temple to worship her all year round. Temples to worship Female General Le Chan are located in many places: Quang Ninh - her homeland; Hai Phong city - where she reclaimed land and recruited talented people to build a great career; Hanoi capital - where she built a wrestling ring to train soldiers and the temple to worship Female General Le Chan in Ha Nam - where she committed suicide.

The temple of General Le Chan in Ha Nam has many festivals throughout the year, the biggest of which is on July 13, the day of her death. Many people know the temple festival for its unique palanquin procession on boats, the special Van Hau Dong singing and the exciting and bustling games such as: boat racing on the Ngan River, chess, cockfighting...

Am Hill (also known as But Moc Hill) is a hill nearly 170m above sea level, with a steep cliff on one side like a wall. On the hill, the forest trees grow close together, with both trees and shrubs intertwined. Based on Chinese documents and local legends, around the 16th century, Zen Master Dinh Hac, from Nghia Hung district, Son Nam Ha town, came to Lat Son area and saw the merit of the female general, so he ordered the construction of Thanh Chan Pagoda at the location of Tien Dong Thanh Chan (the place where the female general commanded when she was alive). After completing his wish, he was old, so the Zen Master chose But Moc Hill located in the southwest of the village to build a pagoda on the mountain to worship Buddha and practice there. When the Zen Master passed away, the villagers buried him right at the foot of the hill and built a shrine to worship him. From then on, But Moc Hill was renamed Am Hill.

Lat Son, where General Le Chan chose as her base, is also an ancient land. Archaeologists have found many valuable artifacts, traces of the Dong Son culture, such as: ancient tombs, hoes, bronze axes, rice harvesting knives, lime plowshares, spears, bronze pots, wooden bowls, stone earrings, especially three bronze drums: Le Chan drum, But Son I and But Son II discovered here, proving that ancient Vietnamese residents appeared in Thanh Son very early.

In the Thung Be area, the Ha Nam Provincial Museum also discovered 3 very early-dated ma nhay steles, of which 2 steles date back to around the 16th and 17th centuries; 1 stele from the Mac Dynasty (reign of Mac Tuyen Tong). The content of these 3 steles is very valuable in terms of history, being the only Han Nom document to date that gives us valuable information about Female General Le Chan.

In June 2021, Ha Nam Provincial Museum coordinated with the Institute of Archaeology to conduct an investigation, fieldwork, and research on the relic complex worshiping Female General Le Chan. At Thung Be Mountain, they discovered the foundation related to a very large architectural complex, the temple worshiping Thanh Chan built about 600 years ago.

With its historical, cultural and archaeological values, the Lat Son Base Area has been ranked as a National Monument by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism (MCST). At the ceremony, authorized by the Minister of MCST, Mr. Nguyen Duc Vuong, Vice Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee, presented the Certificate of National Monument Ranking of Lat Son Base Area to the officials and people of Kim Bang district.

The ceremony to receive the Certificate of National Monument of Lat Son Base and the Traditional Festival of General Le Chan Temple of Kim Bang District in 2023 aims to express the deep gratitude of today's generation for the cultural heritage left by our ancestors; affirm the outstanding historical and cultural values of the place that marks historical events, and is also a place to worship and honor the merits of General Le Chan. At the same time, it meets the spiritual and cultural needs of the people and visitors from all over the world for the Holy Mother Le Chan; arouses national pride, contributes to educating and promoting historical and cultural traditions for future generations to follow.

Chu Binh

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