PHUNG HUNG ROYALTOMB

Phung Hung Royal Tomb is named “Old Royal Tomb of Phung King”. According to folk legend, it is the grave of Phung Hung, the hero who saved the country in 8th Century. The Vestige is located in Alley 2, Giang Vo street, Cat Linh ward, Dong Da district, Hanoi city.

Phung Hung was born in a family of hereditary “quan lang” (chief of a sub-district); he was the village notable of Duong Lam land area (now Duong Lam commune, Son Tay town, Hanoi), and was entitled by the people as “Bo Cai Dai Vuong” (meaning Royal Highest Parents) thanks to his merits of expelling the Tang Dynasty invaders and obtained the nation’s independence.

According to history and ancient bibliography, in Tan Mui year (761), Phung Hung together with Generals Phung Hai, Phung Dinh, Do Anh Han, etc. surrounded Tong Binh citadel from 5 directions in an unpredictable way. The enemy General Gao Zhengping took forty thousand soldiers out from the citadel to intercept the insurgent. After 7 days of fighting, the enemy felt in disadvantageous position and had to retreat to defend in the citadel.

The insurgent troops of Phung Hung took advantage of the victory and besieged all four sides of the citadel. Seeing too many soldiers killed, Gao Zhengping caught an illness and died shortly after. Phung Hung occupied the citadel and then came to the throne, ruled the country for seven years till his death. His son took over the throne for two years until the Tang King sent Trieu Xuong to defeat him.

After his death, the people set up temple for worshiping him in his hometown (now Duong Lam commune, Son Tay town); many other villages in Hanoi entitled him as the Tutelary God of the villages, such as: Hoang Cau, Giang Vo, Quang Ba, Trieu Khuc villages, etc. People now still come to his royal tomb in Cat Linh ward, Dong Da district for worshiping.

Legend has it that Phung Hung Royal Tomb was built immediately after he was dead. Through the time and under natural influences, the tomb had been deteriorated and was repaired, restored many times. In 2010, Phung Hung Royal Tomb area was restored, embellished and completed with current spacious scale right by the Millennial Anniversary of Thang Long – Hanoi.

The tomb lies right close to the pavement of Alley 2, Giang Vo street, with its front side heading to the West. There are boundary walls around the tomb, creating the solemn and respectfulness to the national hero. In front of the tomb is the 4-pillar entrance gate. The tops of the two main pillars are decorated with 4 phoenix with grouping tails as a stylized Cape jasmine fruit; below them, the lamp cells are embarked with tiger faces. The two side pillars are embarked with a pair of flanking “Nghe” (a lion-like supernatural creature). The bodies of the pillars are divided into even ornamental areas and have parallel sentences in Chinese characters.

After the entrance, there is an embarked partition wall in form of ornamental ancient scrolled paper book with 4 Chinese characters saying “Old Royal Tomb of Phung King”. On the top of the book are a pair of dragons flanking to a tiger face carrying the sun on its head; on two sides of the book, there are two symbolic pillars whose tops have flanking “Nghe” figures. In front of the partition wall, there is a big-sized stone thurible for the visitors to burn the incenses before entering for kowtowing. Around the yard, there are many ornamental and perennial plants creating the feeling of being friendly and close to the nature.

After the yard is the tomb. In front of the tomb, there is a stone altar with small thurible, flower vase, big-bellied jar and some worshiping objects. The tomb is built outdoor with grey stone in form of arms of the throne; the two sides of the arms are carved with winding dragon figure. The grave is divided into different parts with increasing elevations. In front of the grave is two stone “nghe” statues to guard the solemn of the king. Behind the grave is a low wall with dragons flanking to the sun, fire dragon, and clouds which are embarked with ancient traditional materials.

Besides the tomb, the vestige also includes the Bo Cai Dai Vuong temple. This work has recently been embellished in 2010 on the occasion of the Millennial Anniversary of Thang Long – Hanoi. The temple has two compartments, with outer one for receiving visitors and inner one for worshiping. The temple is built with bricks and the frame set is in traditional formation. Entrance door is in form of “Railings in upper, plate in lower”, decorated with dragon and cloud, turtle, crane, phoenix. Inside the temple, there is high brick podium to place the throne and bronze statue of Bo Cai Dai Vuong and many other worshiping objects.

According to tradition from the old days, on the anniversary of his birthday and his death (13th August and 25th December of lunar calendar), the people in villages where Phung Hung is worshipped celebrate thurification ceremony to show the gratefulness to the hero who had the merits for defeating the enemy and protecting the country in 8th Century. This is a practical activity to educate the young generations of patriotic tradition, national pride and responsibility for the motherland in the work of building and protecting the country today.

Phung Hung Royal Tomb was classified as National Vestige in 1981.