The Temple of Imperial Palace Master Bui Cam Ho is located at the foot of Bach Ty mountain, west of Hong Linh mountain range in Dau Lieu ward.
Located west of the Hong Linh mountain range, right at the foot of Bach Ty mountain, is the place to worship a very famous celebrity: Ngu Su Do Dai. Bui Cam Hothe royal official in the first three dynasties of the Le Dynasty (1428 – 1527). At the temple, he still preserves intact relics such as: The shirt, hat, belt, and clothes he used when he was alive, along with the ordinations of the kings.
Bui Cam Ho – Became a mandarin thanks to his ability to judge
Bui Cam Ho (1390 – 1483) was the third son of Bui Ton Duong, living at the foot of Bach Ty mountain, Do Lieu commune (now Dau Lieu ward, Hong Linh town, Ha Tinh).
According to history books, in 1390, when his mother Bach Thai Ba was in labor, around the house they heard the roar of a tiger. Relatives went to the nearby temple to petition the monk, which was said to be a good omen. The newborn boy was later named Bui Cam Ho by his family, meaning the Bui family caught the tiger.
Since childhood, Bui Cam Ho has a physical appearance Extraordinary, intelligent, intelligent, upright character. Having high hopes for their son, his parents soon sent him to the capital city of Thang Long to study and learn history. At that time, in Thang Long, a merchant worked far away and returned home after a long time.
The black bronze statue of Imperial Palace Master Bui Cam Ho inside the temple.
The wife was happy and bought eels to cook in soup for her husband to eat. After the husband finished eating, he fell over and died. The husband’s family suspected his wife was having an affair and feared her husband would find out so they murdered her. They filed a lawsuit with the authorities, and the wife was imprisoned in prison, awaiting trial.
News of the case spread throughout the capital. Bui Cam Ho heard it. Coming from a farmer’s family, he suspected that there was some dishonesty in the eels, so he told his fellow students: “This case, if I were the law firm, would be solved.” Unexpectedly, the words of the scholar named Bui reached the ears of the officials. Before finding a way out, the officer immediately invited him to solve the case.
Accepting the mandarin’s request, Bui Cam Ho asked someone to buy yellow and black eels with speckled necks, or with their heads raised three to four inches. When he went to work, Bui Cam Ho had those eels slaughtered and cooked into porridge and then fed to the dogs (there are documents stating that they were cooked for death row inmates). As a result, after eating, the dog foamed at the mouth and died.
At this time, he said that there is a species of snake called the yellow snake that looks like an eel, making it very easy for both sellers and buyers to mistake it. The woman felt sorry for her husband and bought eels to cook porridge for nourishment, but because she didn’t understand, she mistakenly bought poisonous snakes to cook soup, causing her husband to be poisoned and die.
The judge knew that the widow had been wronged so she acquitted her. Bui Cam Ho solved a difficult case and saved innocent people.
After exonerating the woman, the story of the eel soup case was spread to the royal court. King Le Thai To (Le Loi) was very impressed after hearing the report about the student solving the unjust case. The king invited Bui Cam Ho to the court and rewarded him with a special position as a royal historian, even though at that time he had not passed the exam.
One heart for the country and the people
Bui Cam Ho is an honest and upright mandarin. He served as a mandarin for 30 years under the first three dynasties of the Later Le Dynasty (Thai To, Thai Tong, Nhan Tong), twice went as an ambassador to the Ming Dynasty to glorify the country, and was also instrumental in quelling border rebellions. and went on inspection trips to remote continents and spent more than 2 years guarding Lang Son.
According to records, during the reign of Le Thai To, Bui Cam Ho was considered one of the two founding fathers of the country and was appointed as a tutor to teach Le Loi’s eldest son, King Le Thai Tong; Bui Cam Ho’s daughter was also promoted to become Bui Quy Phi, wife of King Le Thai Tong, giving birth to King Le Khac Xuong.
28 The royal decree of the kings and lords bestowed on the Imperial Palace of Bui Cam Ho.
After Le Loi passed away, King Thai Tong ascended the throne when he was only 11 years old. Great Tutor Le Sat acted as his father-in-law, relying on his position of founding the country as a despot and autocratic. He made many decisions against the king’s wishes and did not follow Le’s will. Thai To.
Le Sat tried to recommend to King Thai Tong traitors such as: Trinh Hoang Ba, Le Quoc Khi, Dinh Bang Ban, Nguyen Tong Chi, Le Duc Du. These figures from the reign of Le Thai Tong had the merit of siding with Le Sat to slander Pham Van Xao and Tran Nguyen Han, but King Thai To banned those people from attending the court.
At that time, Bui Cam Ho and Nguyen Thien Tich frankly advised King Le Thai Tong to follow his father’s advice. King Thai Tong listened and determined to keep Le Thai To’s rules and not reinstate these people.
That’s why Le Sat hates Bui Cam Ho. He was transferred to become an envoy of Lang Son town. Even though Le Sat’s tactics were so oppressive, he still did not get discouraged because of that.
When King Le Thai Tong grew up, he learned of Le Sat’s plot, so he and his mandarins restrained the prime minister’s power, dismissed him, and executed him in the year of Dinh Ty (1437). Bui Cam Ho was summoned to the capital to become a royal historian in the Middle Vehicle. Bui Cam Ho once again warned the king not to apply that punishment to a mandarin who was once the father-in-law and founder of the country.
He told the king: “Sat’s crime deserves to be executed, but even though he was a high-ranking official, he publicly humiliated his body, saying that it would be a source of ridicule for future generations.” King Thai Tong listened and allowed Le Sat to commit suicide at home. The king praised Bui Cam Ho as a loyal and upright person. This noble action of his was highly appreciated by Phan Huy Chu: “Bui Cam Ho is a person who uses honesty to avenge resentment. Such a thing is rare in the world.”
In choosing associates, he first of all considers honest and resolute people who dare to speak the truth and defend what is right. A typical example is the petition to the king to promote Tran Hien to the position of Thi Ngu Su because he recognized Tran Hien’s straightforward and straightforward attitude, daring to submit a petition denouncing Le Hieu as the General Manager who relied on his authority to fill the river. where boats and ships often travel back and forth conveniently for their own use.
Bui Cam Ho’s virtue was increasingly admired by the courtiers, and there were also people who wanted to take advantage of his words to fight each other, but Bui Cam Ho was not fooled. The Le kings of the time he served increasingly recognized the correct intervention role of the royal historian Bui Cam Ho, and trusted him more and more.
Later, King Le Thanh Tong clearly understood the injustices of Nguyen Trai and Bui Cam Ho, and issued an edict exonerating him as well as exonerating Nguyen Trai and many other loyal mandarins.
During the reign of King Le Nhan Tong, he concurrently served as the Co-Tri of the Western Dao, then was promoted to the position of Political Consul.
Bui Cam Ho is also considered by history books to be a talented diplomat. In the winter of 1438, he was appointed Deputy Envoy to the Ming Dynasty to discuss border affairs. At that time, the official of Tu Lang Phu in Thai Binh (in present-day Guangxi) rebelled, Bui Cam Ho went to denounce King Minh that this official intended to cross the border to encroach on Dai Viet’s land, stabilizing the border area. .
The temple currently has 3 buildings, Upper, Middle and Lower, facing Southeast.
The temple’s upper hall with ironwood pillars and unique diaphragms has been around for a long time.
Worshiped by people as a god
Bui Cam Ho also had many contributions to his hometown and neighbors. In 1459, when he was 70 years old, Bui Cam Ho returned to his hometown in Do Lieu commune (now Dau Lieu ward, Hong Linh town) to live in old age. Returning to my hometown, I witnessed the harsh climate in my homeland, the fields were dry and burning because there was no water, while just one rain caused water from the mountains to flood the fields.
After researching and going up the mountain to clearly understand the situation, he mobilized the villagers to build a stone bank to block Thac Bac stream and dig a deep channel to bring water to the fields. Thanks to that, over a thousand fields of a large area had water, the rice and potato fields were lush, and the villagers reclaimed more wasteland. Thanks to Bui Cam Ho’s work, the land of Do Lieu became prosperous, the people were prosperous because of continuous harvests, so everyone remembered his great contributions.
In 1483, Bui Cam Ho died, at the age of 93, and was honored by the royal court as the Supreme Phuc Than. His temple was built by the people right on the right bank of Parrot creek in front of the foot of Bach Ty mountain in the Hong mountain range, people in the whole region used to call it Do Dai temple: “Do Dai in January, Huong Tich in February”.
The ancient temple was quite massive, with all kinds of offerings and ritual objects in the temple. In front of the door, two men were almost as big as adults, their hair was braided in two swirls, they clasped their hands and knelt respectfully and solemnly.
At the temple courtyard area, the local Youth Union coordinated with deployment units to place QR code boards, helping visitors find out full information about the monument.
During two wars, the temple was destroyed by bombs and bullets. Peace was restored, local people voluntarily contributed to rebuilding the new temple. The temple currently has 3 buildings, Upper, Middle and Lower, facing Southeast. In the temple, there are all kinds of offerings, ritual staffs, horizontal concubines…
The special thing about Do Dai Bui Cam Ho temple is that it still preserves intact relics such as: Shirts, hats, and belts used by him during his lifetime… Among them, there are 28 ordinations of the kings’ dynasties. , the Lord gave Do Dai Ngu the historian Bui Cam Ho.
In 1992, Bui Cam Ho Temple was recognized by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism as a national historical and cultural relic. Every year, on January 12, the great festival and worshiping ceremony at Do Dai temple is solemnly and respectfully organized by the people of Dau Lieu and surrounding areas, along with the descendants of the Bui family. Do Dai Festival, also known as “Gratitude Ceremony”, is one of the great ancient festivals in Nghe An to commemorate the merits of the royal historian Bui Cam Ho.
Bui Cam Ho Imperial Palace Temple is also a red address for schools in Hong Linh town and surrounding areas to visit and educate patriotic traditions for the young generation.
Mr. Dinh Huu Tai – Principal of Dau Lieu Primary and Secondary School said: “Every year, together with the people and local authorities, the school regularly organizes students to work to keep the relic site clean. At the beginning of the school year, we also choose this as a sightseeing destination for students, thereby introducing them to local history, culture and people of Hong Linh through such vivid history classes It further enriches the children with pride and love for their homeland.”
Every year, along with descendants of the family, local authorities also regularly mobilize social resources to restore, embellish, restore and collect artifacts. At the same time, preserving cultural identity through gratitude ceremonies and digitizing 100% of the ordinations to preserve forever for future descendants – Ms. Tran Thi Kieu Khanh (Vice Chairman of Dau Lieu ward, Hong Linh town, Ha Tinh).