Bảo tàng lịch sử Quốc gia

The site of Lam Kinh is situated at 19^o55’ 565” of north latitude and 105^o24’403” of east longitude, in the territory of the commune Xuan Lam (Tho Xuan) and Kien Tho (Ngoc Lac) of the province of Thanh Hoa. This place was before the region Lam Son, native country of the hero Le Loi, starting point of the great uprising of Lam Son at the beginning of the 15^th century. Like other preceding feudal dynasties, to worship theirs ancestors, the kings Le have constructed many temples and worship monunents. Lam Son is also the place of burial of kings and queens of the early kings Le. This place is considered the second capital (Lam Kinh or west capital) of the state of Dai Viet, after the east capital (Thang long – Hanoi). It is why Lam Kinh is a capital land of this time, and has a particularly important signification for the later Le.

After historical documents, the capital Lam Kinh began to be constructed from 1433, and was completed in following years by many monuments which will be reconstructed after conflagrations… In 1448, King Le Nhan Tong ordered the Minister Le Kha and the service Bach Tac to reconstruct the temples at Lam Kinh, which will profit of the protection of the court after the reconstruction. Afterwards, in 1456, on occasion of a ceremony organized at Lam Kinh, Kinh Le Nhan Tong gave to the 3 principal temples the names of Quang Duc, Sung Hieu and Dien Khanh. Twice a year, the king and the royal family came to Lam Kinh to visit the royal tumbs.

During its existence, Lam Kinh is famous not only by its temples, palaces, royal tumbs, but also becomes a sacred land which deeply impressed the people’s mind. The book Lich trieu hien chuong loai chi of Phan Huy Chu has described in detail the view of Lam Kinh :”The palace of Lam Kinh has its back against the mountain, its face toward the river and is surrounded by green mountains and clear water and dense forests. The tumb of Le Thai To Vinh Lang, of Le Thai Tong Chieu Lang and of other kings Le are all here. Each tumb has its stele. Behind the palace, the lake Tay Ho plays the role of a brain, like the lake Kim Nguu. The lake is very large and receives water of all the surrounding brooks. A river takes its source from the lake, passes before the palace and contains in its bed little stones, round and smooth, very beautiful but which nobody dares steal. Another brook comes from the right, passes before the palace and surround it like a bow. On the brook is a bridge, similar to the White Bridge of the palace Giang Dinh dien Van Tho of Dong kinh. One must pass through that bridge to come to the palace. The floor of the palace is very elevated, widened in two sides, and overhangs a water surface, like the place where the king presides a meeting of the court. At the gate Nghi Mon, are standing two stone watch-dogs, reputed sacred. The palace is constructed in the form of the letter Cong, like other temples of the capital. When going up the steps and looking around, one has a beautiful panorama showing mountains right and left, worth to found a dynasty”.

In spite of this, after so many vicissitudes, the site have been seriously damaged. At the beginning of the 20^th century, speaking of Lam kinh, one knows only the tumb of Le Thai To and the new constructed palace. The other temples and tumbs have fallen into ruins, with the walls in form of Cong, of rectangles and squares recovered by a vegetal carpet.

Until 1995, the site Lam Kinh has not attracted an appropriate attention. The site is seriously degraded, except the stele of Vinh Lang which has been repaired and put under protection. All the vestiges of foundations of the temples and palaces, particularly the steps before Main Palace, the Thai Mieu, finely decorated with dragons and clouds, have suffered grave damages. It is the same for the tumbs with the two rows of persons and animals mounting guard. Especially, the steles of the tumbs, of large dimensions, decorated with dragons and clouds, carrying inscriptions reporting the achievements of the kings (and queens) of the early Le, genuine direct historical sources, are all dislocated and have no roof to protect against bad weather.

Before the state of degradation of the site, with the awareness of the importance and of the historical and cultural value of Lam kinh, in 1995, the global project of reparation and restoration of the site of Lam Kinh was ratified. It is a timely decision having a great practical signification, aiming at glorifying the dynasty of posterior Le, the longest dynasty in the history of the vietnamese feudality, at glorifying Le Loi, hero of national liberation, and other great men of the dynasty of Le. Thank to this project, researches and archaeological excavations have been carried out systematically. Since 1996, the Museum of History of vietnam, in coordination with the Service of Culture and Information of Thanh hoa, has carried out the study and archaeological research of the site of Lam Kinh, and restored step by step the general plane of the site.

Nguyên Van Doan