The Tran Family Chapel

The Tran Family Chapel is located at 43C, alley 497, quarter 2, group 15, Lac Long Quan Street, Nhat Tan Ward, Tay Ho District, Hanoi.
The chapel was built with three rooms and a large portico. The porch's curving eaves were adorned with embossed leaf designs, and the porch columns were constructed of round wood. The ancestral chapel is built in the style of traditional ancient Vietnamese temples. There were two wooden doors at the entry, and above the porch was a row of three large horizontal lacquered boards, one for each room.
The chapel's forecourt house was constructed with two square pillars to support the roof, which was engraved with couplets. A towering brick pedestal for religious rites stood in the center of the house. The rear house's entrances were designed as a rolled scroll, with embossed Han characters relief. There were two couplets on opposite sides of the entrance without doors. An altar was built outside the side house, hanging "y mon" with embroidered dragons and cloud patterns on silk.
On the side house, there is a pedestal with stone stele atop it, engraved with
“Hoi giap bi ky tac” in the 6th year of Bao Dai’s reign (1931).
“Ky ky bi ky tao” in the 3rd year of Bao Dai’s reign (1928).
“Ky niem hau bi ky tao” in the 3rd year of Bao Dai’s reign (1928).
An altar was erected in the center of the chapel, along with the forecourt house, to contain ancestral tablets. The tablets are broadleaf-shaped in form, with chiseled dragon motifs, and the surrounding decorations and patterns are embellished in a 19th-century manner.
Despite its diminutive size, the Tran family’s chapel features sophisticated architecture. The couplets and horizontal lacquered boards here partially represent the family lineage’s position and roots:
"Tiền Nguyễn hậu Trần gia phong thịnh
Tổ tông tích đức vạn đại hanh”
Meanings:
Before the Nguyen family, after the Tran family, flourishing and prosperous
The ancestral lineage's accumulated merits have been flourishing for generations.
“Tổ triệu tông bồi thiên thu nhân mạch hậu
Tử thừa tôn kế vạn thế nghĩa môn xương”
Meanings:
Ancestors have initiated and maintained the lineage for thousands of years.
Descendants inherit and pass on those values to the next generation.
“Còn bức đại tự đề: Nhân vi bản”
Meanings:
Human is the “root”
……
This signifies that the Tran family’s lineage is founded on benevolence and righteousness, prompting descendants to act well. The chapel also includes several back inscriptions that witness the years of maintenance and refurbishment.