Quan Cong Temple- Hoi An Attractions

Introduction

Hoi An, an ancient town located on the bank of Thu Bon River which is famous for its ancient houses, Chinese assembly halls; a Japanese covered bridge as well as the Quan Cong Temple.

Traveling to the ancient town of Hoian, it will be a big mistake if you haven’t visited Quan Cong temple where they worship Quan Cong, a well-known general of Chinese in the period of “three war kingdoms”, the embodiment of loyalty, bravery, and justice.

Quan Cong Temple Location

Quan Cong Temple (Chùa Ông Hội An) stands at 24 Tran Phu Street, Hoi An ancient town, Quang Nam province. The opening hours are from 6 am to 5 pm every day even on the Tet holiday.

If you are standing on the Japanese Bridge and would like to get to Ong Temple, you should take Tran Phu Street, which is on the right of Bach Dang and opposite Nguyen Thi Minh Khai Street. Just go straight ahead to the 24, you will get to Quan Cong Temple.

If you are in Da Nang city, you should find the way to Hoi An Ancient town first, then you get to Hoi An market at 19 Tran Phu street, and Quang Cong Temple is nearby.

Quan Cong Temple Hoi An History

Quan Cong Temple was built in 1653 by the Chinese who settled down in Hoi An. It has been under renovation for 6 times in 1753, 1783, 1827, 1864, 1904, 1906 but still keeps the original spirit, architecture features.

In history, this temple is the place where the Chineses Businessmen came to sign in contracts for mortgage loans, unsecured loans because, in front of Quan Cong’s face, you can not cheat and do bad business. Also, a lot of people come to worship and wish good luck in their businesses.

Quan Cong Temple Architecture

The total area of the temple was built with 4 buildings following the word “口”  in Chinese characters (which means the mouth) including a front hall, right-left houses, and the main shrine. The Quan Cong temple Hoi An Vietnam is roofed with enamel tubed tiles and the top edges are made curve shape, decorated with dragons and unicorns.

The front door is dedicated carved with a couple of dragons flying in the blue clouds. According to Chinese people, Quan Cong is the embodiment of a green dragon and a white tiger.

The sky door is in the middle with beautiful rockery of dragons, bonsai trees, lanterns, etc.

The main sanctuary is built following the shape of the Chinese word ” 国” which means the country because of many layers of roof sticking together decorated with lemon flowers, dragons by colorful ceramics, porcelain.

What to see at Quan Cong Temple?

The front hall is getting up with beautiful worshiping wooden weapons, altars and the drum, bronze bell which are the gifts from the Bao Dai emperor.

The main hall has a statue of Quan Van Truong (Quan Cong), a general, wearing a dragon robe embroidered with gold, his face is bright and majestic.

The main hall also has 2 statues of Chau Thuong, the brave and loyal servant of Quan Cong, and the statue of Quan Binh as his adopted son.

There are 2 worshiping horses of Quan Cong, on the left is a white horse, on the right is a red horse – the favorite horse. Standing in front of these statues, visitors can not help but praise the meticulous hand of the craftsman since ancient times.

At present, in the temple, there are still many honored ordinations, stone stele, and ancient artifacts, especially the poem of Xuan Cong Nguyen Nghiem (father of the great poet Nguyen Du) is still preserved in the temple. ) and two paintings by Uong Si Cu and Nguyen Lenh Tan and an ancient fable by Nguyen Nghiem.

These articles were made in 1775 when Xuan Cong Cong served as the left general of Binh Nam and was stationed in Hoi An. It is a historical relic that left traces of the past during the Trinh-Nguyen wars remaining in Dang Trong from the 18th century to this day.

• Hoi An Tours recommended Hoi An City Tour, Hoi An Street Food Tour

Quan Cong Temple Festivals

On lunar new year (Tet Holiday) a lot of people travel to the temple to wish for their good business and safety for a whole year. They will write down the wishes with their full names, address, date of birth then hang them on the circle Chinese incenses.

The annual Chua Ong Temple festival is operated twice a year on January 31st and  June 24th following the Lunar calendar. There are a lot of interesting cultural activities these days that you must join.

Some Travel Tips

As it is the general rules of all attractions, relics of Hoi An, when you visit Quan Cong temple, you have to buy an entrance ticket. Please note that this is the combined ticket for all visiting sites of the ancient town during your stay. It costs 120,000VND/ person/ ticket with 5 visiting sites. When you enter each attraction, the ticket checker will cut a piece of your ticket. This is a great support to make Hoi An relics more beautiful and well preserved.

To visit all temples, shrines, and pagodas in Vietnam, you should wear polite clothes which cover your chest and your knee to respect the Gods.

Please do not touch the sculptures, statues,s or any other stuff in the temple.

Do not bring food and drinks or smoke in the temple area.

Be quiet and don’t mess, don’t joke, talk too loud in the Quan Cong Temple.

You can take photos inside but please turn off the flashlight.