Xa Tac Temple is located at the confluence of the Soay Nguon and Ka Long rivers, a Vietnam–China border river, in Mong Cai City. The temple has become a cultural landmark in the border region, embodying many spiritual and religious traditions of the Vietnamese people.
Xa Tac Temple – The Sacred Temple at the Nation’s Frontier
The history of Xa Tac Temple
Many visitors come to pay their respects at the temple. Photo: Quang Ninh Newspaper.
Xa Tac Temple was built during the Tran dynasty, around the early 13th century. Some documents state that “Xa” was the place where rituals were performed to worship the Earth God, while “Tac” was where the God of Agriculture was worshipped. According to this explanation, Xa Tac Temple is a place of worship for the Earth God and the God of Agriculture, the two deities symbolizing wet-rice agriculture.
Xa Tac Temple today. Photo: Van Hoa Newspaper.
Other documents state that the temple worships a deity named Xa Tac Dai Vuong, and it is therefore also known as the Shrine of Xa Tac Dai Vuong. Perhaps the deity Xa Tac Dai Vuong was the tutelary god of this area, which was once known as Mong Cai Chau.
The temple as a frontier landmark. Photo: Quang Ninh Newspaper.
In the Vietnamese consciousness, the tutelary god is someone who plays an important role in establishing villages and safeguarding the land. The revered tutelary god is always regarded as a deity with the power to protect and bless the villagers. The existence of a temple dedicated to worshipping the tutelary god is similar to that of all the other temples dedicated to tutelary gods throughout the country.
The temple is also similar to other temples in Vietnam. Photo: Quang Ninh Newspaper.
In the past, elders often used the phrase “mountains, rivers, society and state” when referring to the nation. Therefore, “xa tac” can be understood in a broader sense as the mountains, rivers and country. Much of the land in Mong Cai is flat and convenient, yet no traces of temples or shrines have been found there. This temple, however, is situated right at a border outpost beside the national boundary.
The temple is made of ironwood. Photo: Quang Ninh Newspaper.
The meaning of the name Xa Tac Temple perhaps extends beyond simply being a place to worship the Earth God and the God of Agriculture or the tutelary god of Mong Cai alone; it is a place to worship the deity who safeguards the nation and its territory. Xa Tac Temple is also not merely an ordinary spiritual and religious site, but a sacred landmark guarding the nation’s frontier.
Statue of Xa Tac Dai Vuong. Photo: Quang Ninh Newspaper.
Today, the temple worships Xa Tac Dai Vuong, Hung Nhuong Dai Vuong Tran Quoc Tang, Cao Son Dai Vuong, the Dragon Deity and Earth Deity of the village, and the founding ancestors of the clans who contributed to reclaiming and developing this land.
The temple also worships Hung Nhuong Dai Vuong Tran Quoc Tang. Photo: Quang Ninh Newspaper.
The Xa Tac Temple Festival
In 2020, the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism recognized Xa Tac Temple as a national-level historical relic. Since 2018, Mong Cai City has reconstructed and maintained the traditional Xa Tac Temple Festival.
Photo: Dan Toc Newspaper.
The Xa Tac Temple Festival is held over two days, March 2 and 3, every year. The main ceremonies include the water-fetching ceremony, bathing ceremony, deity-welcoming ceremony (a spring procession for the deity), Xa Tac worship ceremony, offering ceremony and departure ceremony. The festival section features traditional folk games: blindfolded pot smashing, tug-of-war, stick pushing, bridge walking and calligraphy writing.
Photo: Dan Toc Newspaper.
Photo: Dan Toc Newspaper.
The festival includes an activity in which water is collected from the Ka Long River, placed in an earthenware jar and carried back in a palanquin by six strong young men. The water-fetching procession ceremony, which brings the water back for worshipping the Saint, expresses the wish that the Saint will bless local people with good fortune, bountiful harvests and good health.
The Xa Tac Temple Festival. Photo: Mong Cai City.
Photo: Mong Cai City.
In addition to customary offerings such as pork, chicken, duck and seafood, there are also specialties from Mong Cai, such as banh chung and five-colored sticky rice, prepared and decorated by local residents in the Mong Cai area to offer at the temple on the festival day.
Festival offerings. Photo: Mong Cai City.
After the rituals held inside the temple, the procession carries the tablets of Xa Tac Dai Vuong and Hung Nhuong Dai Vuong Tran Quoc Tang along the road beside the Ka Long River. Residents on both sides of the road set out ceremonial trays in front of their doors to welcome the Saint’s palanquin as it passes.
Performing the rituals at the Xa Tac altar. Photo: Huu Viet.
Photo: Quang Ninh Newspaper.
Xa Tac Temple and its annual festival play an important role in the spiritual and religious life of the people of Quang Ninh. They have also become a landmark guarding the nation’s borders, quietly protecting the sacred territorial sovereignty of the land of the “Dragon’s descendants and Fairy’s progeny.”
