Pham Cong Tru Temple and Festival

The temple is dedicated to Pham Cong Tru - the great talented politician and military consultant of the Le and Trinh dynasties. Pham Cong Tru was born on March 17^th, 1599, in a well Confucian scholar family in Lieu Xuyen village, Lieu Xa canton, Duong Hao district, Thuong Hong, Hai Duong (Presently Thanh Xa village, Nghia Hiep commune, Yen My district, Hung Yen province). His father was Pham Cai and his mother was Nguyen Thi Lien.

Pham Cong Tru was a plain, upright and good-hearted man. With the thoughtful education of his parents and District Education Officer - Nguyen Hien (A native of An Thap commune, Duong Hao district), he was well known for his excellence in literature. When he grew up, he went to Duong Hao district school and was considered to be "Man of distinction".

When he was 29 years old, he won the doctoral title in the royal court competition in 1628 and was then assigned the minister's position and other important positions after that. 

In 1631, he was assigned to hold the position of Hien sat (Chief Officer) in Thanh Hoa. In 1639, he was the Governor of Phung Thien district (Hanoi today) and then became the mandarin of the Ministry of Internal Affairs. In 1642, he was promoted to the position of Tan Ly dao Son Nam (A military officer in charge of Son Nam region).  In 1643 and 1644, he followed Trinh Tac Lord (1657-1682) to lead troops to attack Nguyen Phuc Lan's rebellion in the south and the Mac's rebellion in the north. In 1645, he was assigned the position of Khanh Yen Ba duke and then "Pho Do ngu su"- Court counselor. Together with Nguyen Duy Thi, he put down the rebellion of Trinh Sam and was promoted to the position of Ngu su dai chinh chuong (Chief court counselor). 

Pham Cong Tru, an excellent politician, also put forward some government administrative reform policies. In 1660, as the mandarin in charge of justice, he submitted an official letter to the King requesting the establishment of a clear and fair justice system including the promotion of good mandarin, dogmas, awards and tax levy system. This request was approved by Trinh Lord in order to maintain the social stability. In the eyes of people at that moment, he was an upright and talented mandarin. In 1961, he took the position of Chief Commander to put down Nguyen Phuc Tan’s rebellion in Thuan Hoa. Returning with the victory, he was bestowed the title of Thieu Bao duke.  In 1662, he was in charge of Temple of Literature and the attache of Trinh Lord. During this time, he built the Doctorate stelae in Duong Hao district (In his home land) to encourage the learning motivation of local people. Admiring his achievements, King Le Huyen Tong (1663-1671) bestowed him the title of Thieu Bao Yen Duke.

In 1665, in Le Huyen Tong reign, Pham Cong Tru participated in reviewing "Dai Viet su ky toan thu" (Vietnamese History). He, together with Ho Sy Duong, Nguyen Quoc Khoi, Dang Cong Chat, Dao Cong Chinh and Vu Duy Doan, collected historical information from Hong Bang period to the 10^th century to create "Dai viet su ky ngoai ky toan thu" and from Dinh Tien Hoang period to the Le dynasty to create " Dai viet su ky ban ky toan thu" - based on the previous works of Ngo Si Lien. In addition to that, he also compiled the works "47 dogmas" which was supplemented into the criminal law to strengthen the country’s law system. 

In 1667 and 1669, Pham Cong Tru followed Trinh Can Lord to defeat the Mac's rebellion in Cao Bang and stopped the Qing dynasty's plot to invade Vietnam.

After his 40 years of service to the country, he was assigned the position of Quoc Lao and participated in deliberating important and secret departments of the country. At this time, he also made three resignation proposals but the King only agreed on his third proposal and conferred parallel sentences on him ro praise his talent and contributions.

In 1673, the royal court invited him to be the prime minister in charge of six ministries and take part in secret and important departments. 

He died on October 28^th, 1675 at the age of 76 in his hometown. He had devoted all his life to the construction and reinforcement of the royal court and the country. He made a lot of important contributions in the fields of politics, military affairs, literature, history and law. He was considered as the key person of Vietnamese feudal government at that moment. His contributions were highly appreciated by Phan Huy Chu in "History of Vietnamese Dynasty”: "….. In 19 years of working for the country, he - a political genius - established the legal framework which encouraged the talented and righteous people and dealt with the corrupt and imperious ones…..". Besides, Pham family's annals wrote: "… he was a great politician who could row two feudal boats (The Le and Trinh dynasties) during difficult time…"

Twice a year, villagers and descendants of the Pham family hold offerings and festival on March 17^th (On his birthday anniversary in lunar year) and October 28^th (On his death anniversary) in commemoration to their great ancestor.