Hai Thon Temple is located on a high, 4,500m2 plot of land in Van Xuan Commune, Hung Yen Province. This is an ancient temple over 300 years old, worshiping King Ly Nam De and Queen Do Thi Khuong and the General Lads of the Northern Dynasty. In 1986, Hai Thon Temple was ranked as a national historical and cultural relic.
The temple has an architectural style with a tri-shaped plan including 3 items: front hall, mid hall and back hall. The column frame system, perimeter, cover, and roof system are built in traditional architecture.
In particular, the items have touches with unique artistic styles such as dragon, phoenix, lion, vulture, flip side... carved on wooden boards, crab shape with many different expressive shades.
Having gone through many historical ups and downs, Hai Thon Temple is one of the few architectural works of the Le Dynasty that is still quite intact with many rare worship items. In particular, the national treasure of the gilded red-painted wooden throne was found at this temple. The altar dates back to the 17th century and is currently kept in the Thai Binh Museum before 1999.
In addition, in the back of the palace where King Ly Nam De and Queen Do Thi Khuong were worshiped at Mieu Hai village, there is also a painting inspired by an ancient painting from before.
Currently, in the national historical and cultural relic site of Mieu Hai village, there are still 2 ancient trees hundreds of years old that have been recognized as heritage trees since 2016.
The two heritage trees, the fig tree and the longan tree, are located on the left side of the ancient temple. According to the village elders, these two heritage trees were built at the same time as Hai Thon Temple, about 300 years ago. After hundreds of years, both ancient trees are still lush, with sum sue branches and leaves, creating an ancient landscape for the temple.
Today, Hai Thon Temple is a place where people and visitors from all over come to offer incense and worship. Ms. Pham Thi Hong Van (in Thu Tri commune, Hung Yen province) said: "People in the area say this is a very sacred ancient temple, so on the 15th and 1st of the month, I often come to offer offer and burn incense here. The temple has ancient architecture along with a green campus of trees, bringing a sense of inner peace and harmony".
