Tay Ho palace

Tay Ho palace is located on the West Lake, in the Han Dynasty, the lake was called Lang Bac, the Tran Dynasty called Dam Dam (also called the misty lake). In the Le Dynasty, because of the king's abstinence so changed to West Lake, the folk name is Tay Ho. Also, the palace was built by the West Lake, therefore it was named Tay Ho Palace.
Tay Ho palace is believed to be located on the Kim Quy land. This land belongs to Bao Khanh village, Tay Ho hamlet, Vinh Thuan district, Hoai Duc; which now belongs to Quang An ward, Tay Ho district. If West Lake is the holy land of Thang Long, Tay Ho hamlet is the sacred land of the West Lake.
Tay Ho is famous from the Ly, Tran, Le and Nguyen generations with the magnificent West Lake. Here there are traditional crafts such as silkworm making silk, weaving thread, dark dyeing and ornamental plants. The lake is also home to many historical records. Pho Linh Pagoda (Tay Ho Pagoda) has a tablet of stone dating back to 1622, stating that the pagoda dates back to the Ly Dynasty (Ly Nhan Tong - 1097). In the pagoda, there are a bell that was casted in 1801 and a village name Cung which the Kings in Le dynasty often stand watching fish. It is also said that Tay Ho is the hometown of Nguyen Thi Lo and Nguyen Trai met her here.
Most famous in West Lake is the accidental meeting of Phung Khac Khoan (1528 - 1631) and his two friends with Princess Lieu Hanh. To mark the magical meeting and also to remember the country's talents, the people built Tay Ho Palace.
There are many epitaphs, horizontal lacquered boards, paralleled sentences, edicts and relics said: the palace worshiping goddess Lieu Hanh, also known as Princess Lieu Hanh. Many legends of her are recorded in history books and widely known among the people, therefore, many temples were built to worship her. The book “Trich Van Luc” and several historic scripts provide that Princess Lieu Hanh is a daughter of the Jade Emperor, she was unruly, dissolute and disobedient. Because of breaking the jade cup, she was descended from heaven, reincarnated in Le Thai Cong house in Van Cat village, Kim Thai commune, Vu Ban district, Nam Dinh province named Giang Tien.
Growing up, she was adopted in a Tran family and was well-educated. At the age of 16, she married Dao Lang - the son of an officer in the village. They became husband and wife, stayed together for 5 years then Giang Tien expired the exile, and suddenly disappeared, leaving her husband and two children which were a son and a girl. Later, the princess begged her father, the Jade Emperor, to descend to the earth. This time, with magical transformation, she met her parents and her husband, but then she left again. With her dissoluteness, sometimes she appeared as an old lady, sometimes as a girl fluttering and traveled everywhere.
Lieu Hanh is honored in folk belief "the four immortals" because on one hand, Lieu Hanh represents the spirit of liberation and feminists, on the other hand, in the folk consciousness, she can bless or curse human beings in the world.
At present, there are many researches on the four immortals, about Mau Lieu Hanh and Tay Ho palace. The pioneer in the creation of the god is poet Doan Thi Diem (1705-1748). With her talented writing, the poet makes people believe that the encounter between Trang Bung and Princess Lieu Hanh in West Lake actually happened: On a beautiful summer day, Phung Khac Khoan invited bachelor Ngo and baccalaureate Ly to go to West Lake. While they are all immersing in the view, drinking liquor, reciting poetry. They went along the east coast, and soon came to Tay Ho hamlet. From far away, the castle is blurred in fog as in the fairytale. In front of the castle, there are four words "Tay Ho Phong Nguyet" (West Lake’s Moon and Wind). Suddenly, a nice woman in a pink dress appeared and invited them to visit, enjoy the fish of West Lake. After asking, it turned out that this is the castle of Princess Lieu Hanh. They came into the castle and were warmly welcomed, together reciting until late night.
A few months later, they came to Tay Ho hamlet but did not see any castle house, only see the immense lake with the bamboo and willow. They awoke that the person they met was a fairy.
The story of an encounter with the fairy, remember the construction of the Vong Tien castle has been precedent from the Le Thanh Tong. Now Phung found the first memory for the construction of the Tay Ho Lake is following the footsteps of others.
The architecture of Tay Ho Lake is completely modern style, the material is faux wood concrete. The palace splits into two separate courts.
MAIN TEMPLE
The main building consists of an interconnected building but divided into three like the Chinese letter 三. The front house worships “cong dong”, the middle house worships Jade Emperor and the Holy Trinity (statue). The three Mau are Lieu Hanh, Mau Thuong Ngan and Mau Thoai.
According to the conception of the Three Kingdoms: The governance of heaven is Thien mandarins, blessings of happiness (blessing for people). The underworld has Dia mandarins, in charge of clearing people’s guilts (remission of sin for humans). The water palace has the Water mandarins, and the agency opens the yoke (remove all difficult obstacles for people).
With the mystical power, the conception of the Three Kingdoms is attractive to anyone.
In addition, the worship of the Three Kingdoms worshiped the Jade Emperor. Jade Emperor is the supreme god in the Heavenly governing three worlds, above all gods. Kitchen god is the god to monitor the good and evil of each person, each household. Every month on the last day, the gods returned to the Jade Emperor to report each month. Plough and Crux have the duty to record, monitor, submit to the Jade Emperor to reward those who do good, punish those who commit crimes.
The Jade Emperor is mighty but with the spiritual belief of the Three Kingdoms, the Jade Emperor also has flesh and bones, wife and children. Ngoc Hoang's wife is Tay Vuong Mau. The Jade Emperor’s daughter is Lieu Hanh Princess. By breaking the jade cup, the youngest daughter of the Jade Emperor was exiled as a civilian in Van Huong Village, Thien Ban District, Son Nam Town, Dai Viet Province. After regretting the beautiful scenery of Vietnam, she sneaked back to the world to travel to Quang Binh, Nghe An, in Thanh Hoa, Lang Son, she ended up loving the scenery of West Lake more than anyone.
SON TRANG SHRINE
The construction site was built in 2006 with concrete, wooden roofs in the style of two-tiered tile roofs, it is the worshiping place of Lord Thuong Ngan along with Chau Luc and Chau Be, and 12 Son Trang mistress, the royal mandarins and the Five tigers mandarins.
Son Trang shrine should not be understood merely as the place of worship. The power of Son Trang shrine in Tay Ho palace is the width of the forest of Vietnam, to be specified is Huong Tich mountains, Tay Ho mountains. The Fairy and Buddha are always attached to the blue sacred water, a wonderful nation. Therefore, in all the palaces, the shrine also has Buddha which is understandable.
“Thang Tam gio cha, Thang ba gio me" ("August is the death anniversary of the father, March is the death anniversary of the mother”). The father is Tran Hung Dao, the mother is Lieu Hanh Princess. The father and mother are parents in religious spirituality, should not be understood in the sense of custom.
Every year, on March 3 and August 13 in the lunar calendar, the festival occurs in Tay Ho Palace. This festival has been here since the past, and in recent years has become more flourishing. It can be said that the number of people to pray, visit the more and more, the number just keeps rising.
Tay Ho palace along with Giay palace in Nam Dinh, Song Temple in Thanh Hoa, Bac Le Temple in Lang Son and temples of Tam Mau Monastery in the pagodas were built to worship the Three Kingdoms, worship the three Mau. The three were three but actually were one, they are all just the reincarnation of Mau Lieu only. Mau Lieu is a fairy from heaven, a fictional character who is not real. Temples become more sacred through the view of poet Doan Thi Diem because we all hope to do good, abandon the evil, pray in front of the Mau, in front of his nihilism, looking forward to being blessed.
The palace has been recognized by The Ministry of Culture and Information (now the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism) as a national art monument in Decision No. 310 / QD dated 13/02/1996.