TL;DR: Thăng Long Tứ Tran refers to four temples worshipping four deities believed to guard the east, west, south, and north of the old Thăng Long capital, now part of Hanoi: Bạch Mã in the east, Voi Phục in the west, Kim Liên in the south, and Quán Thánh (Trấn Vũ) in the north. The term itself appears only in a very late text from 1956, but the temples and the idea of guarding the four directions existed centuries earlier, tied to thanh hoang worship and the capital's phong thuy. Researchers describe the four-temple structure as a tradition created by Nguyen-era scholars, not a fixed institution from the Ly or Tran dynasties.
What Is Thăng Long Tứ Tran?
Thăng Long Tứ Tran is the name for four temples worshipping four deities regarded as guarding the east, west, south, and north of the old Thăng Long capital, now within present-day Hanoi. The four temples are: Bạch Mã Temple in the east, Voi Phục Temple in the west, Kim Liên Temple in the south, and Quán Thánh Temple (worshipping Trấn Vũ Dai De) in the north. Each temple honours a different deity, linked to its own legend and its own specific location. The ancients believed these four deities could block natural disasters, enemy threats, and harmful influences from entering the capital, so the people could live in peace.
Two layers must be kept apart: first, the temples are real, built and worshipped across many dynasties; second, the term "Thăng Long Tứ Tran" bundles those four temples into one system. The second layer appeared much later than the first.
The Four Temples Guarding the Four Directions: Who Is Worshipped, and Where?
According to the text recorded in Thăng Long co tich khao tinh hoi do by Đặng Xuân Khanh, printed in 1956, the four temples are listed as follows:
| Guarding direction | Temple name | Deity worshipped | Current location |
|---|---|---|---|
| East | Bạch Mã Temple | Bạch Mã Dai Vuong (the deity Long Đỗ) | 76 Hàng Buồm Street, Hoàn Kiếm District |
| West | Voi Phục Temple | Linh Lang Dai Vuong | Voi Phục mound, Thụy Khuê Ward, Tây Hồ District |
| South | Kim Liên Temple | Cao Sơn Dai Vuong | Kim Liên Ward, Đống Đa District (before July 2025) |
| North | Quán Thánh Temple (Trấn Vũ Quan) | Trấn Vũ Dai De | Thanh Niên Street, Ba Đình District |
The Han-character text that Đặng Xuân Khanh recorded has these lines: "Thăng Long Tứ Tran. East guard Hàng Buồm Bạch Mã Dai Vuong tu. West guard Thủ Lệ Linh Lang Dai Vuong tu. South guard Kim Liên Cao Sơn Dai Vuong tu. North guard Tây Hồ Trấn Vũ Dai De tu." Earlier, a Nguyen-era text, Ha thanh linh tich co luc, also used the term "Tu Tran tu" with a similar list, differing only in a few details of place names and titles. Quán Thánh Temple was then called Chân Vũ Quan.
Why Was Each Deity Placed in That Direction?
The allocation of deities to the four directions was not random. Each deity is tied to a specific legend and function that matches the direction it guards.
Bạch Mã Temple in the east worships Long Đỗ, the deity governing Đại La citadel (the old name of Thăng Long). Legend says that when King Lý Công Uẩn moved the capital and built Thăng Long, the wall kept collapsing wherever it was built. The king prayed to Long Đỗ; the deity appeared as a white horse, and when the king followed the horse's hoofprints, the wall held. After the wall was finished, the king conferred on Long Đỗ the title Quoc do Thanh hoang Dai Vuong, the tutelary deity protecting the capital. Bạch Mã Temple is regarded as the oldest in the four, worshipping the most important deity of the old capital.
Voi Phục Temple in the west worships Linh Lang Dai Vuong, a deity linked to helping the court defeat invaders. Historical records show that King Lê Thế Tông (reigned 1573-1599), upon ascending the throne, conferred a title on the deity and called Linh Lang Temple a guard protecting the capital. Each year, at the start of spring, the court sent officials to perform rituals there.
Kim Liên Temple in the south worships Cao Sơn Dai Vuong. This temple does not appear in the Hồng Đức map, but according to documents kept at the temple, it can be confirmed that by 1772 at the latest the temple existed at its present location. A stele inscription dated 1510 is considered weak evidence for an earlier presence.
Quán Thánh Temple in the north worships Trấn Vũ Dai De. In the Hồng Đức map, Trấn Vũ Quan in the north of the citadel is clearly noted as guarding the north. This deity originates from the worship of Huyền Thiên Trấn Vũ, regarded as the guardian of the north in the five-directions system.
When Did the Term "Thăng Long Tứ Tran" Appear?
This is a little-known but important point. According to research by Dr. Nguyễn Doãn Minh, the term "Thăng Long Tứ Tran" appears in a very late text, in 1956, in Thăng Long co tich khao tinh hoi do by Đặng Xuân Khanh. Earlier, the term "Tu Tran tu" had appeared in Ha thanh linh tich co luc, dated to the Nguyen era. Based on texts alone, the four temples were fully structured at the four cardinal points of Thăng Long very late.
However, the four-guard structure may be much older. The Hồng Đức map, commissioned by King Lê Thánh Tông and completed in 1490, covers 13 thua tuyen, including a map of Trung Đô (the Thăng Long capital). This map records place names such as Kính Thiên Palace, Doan Mon, Dong Cung, Thái Miếu, Phụng Thiên prefecture, Hoàn Kiếm Lake, Quốc Tử Giám, Nam Giao altar, West Lake, Khán Sơn mountain, Giảng Võ, Bảo Khánh gate, and Tô Lịch River. Notably, three temples, Bạch Mã, Linh Lang (Voi Phục), and Trấn Vũ Quan, were already positioned in the east, west, and north of Thăng Long respectively. Thus, at least three of the four temples appear in the map from the late 15th century.
Why Did the Ancients Create the Four-Guard Model?
According to Dr. Nguyễn Doãn Minh, "Tu Tran Thăng Long" or "Thăng Long Tứ Tran" is an "invention/construction of tradition." The "Tu Tran tu" tradition was constructed by Nguyen-era Confucian scholars against the historical backdrop of Hanoi under the Nguyen dynasty, Vietnam's last feudal dynasty, then in decline, losing the country and under the oppression of French colonial invasion.
Alongside that political context was the struggle, conflict, and tug-of-war between two cultural streams, old and new, East and West, conservative and reformist. So the "construction of tradition" of "Tu Tran Thăng Long" meant creating a sacred space specific to Hanoi, and it was mainly political. The construction aimed to recall the Thăng Long capital with its prosperous dynasties, a Thăng Long capital with four guards that had never lost the country, in a context where Confucian scholars were witnessing the loss of the nation.
Four factors underpin this construction:
- First, the "sacred space" of Thăng Long had been established about 800 years earlier.
- Second, the deities at the four temples all had merit in helping contemporary dynasties defeat invaders, expel evil, and consolidate the throne.
- Third, evidence related to the formation of the "four guards" concept already existed, such as the Hồng Đức map, King Lê Thế Tông's conferral on the deity and his calling Linh Lang Temple a guard protecting the capital, and Trấn Vũ Quan in the north of the citadel guarding the north.
- Fourth, belief in the phong thuy of the Thăng Long capital. Each time the capital moved away from Thăng Long, the country fell into dependency and lost sovereignty. In the 15th century, Hồ Quý Ly moved the capital to Thanh Hóa, then the country fell to the Ming, and the people suffered for 20 years. In the late 18th century, the Tây Sơn dynasty had a short fate when the capital was not set here. In the 19th century, King Gia Long moved the capital to Hue, and the country gradually became a colony of the French.
The Number 4 in Folk Consciousness and the Four Guards
In the view of many Vietnamese, the number 4 is read "tu," close to "tu" meaning death, so it is not auspicious. Yet the number 4 carries many good meanings. Four is the formation of two pairs, symbolising durability and fulfilment. A year has four seasons: spring, summer, autumn, winter; the land has four directions: east, west, south, north. Four creates a square, symbolising solidity, stability, and peace.
According to Assoc. Prof. Dr. Nguyễn Ngọc Oanh, Head of the Faculty of International Relations at the Academy of Journalism and Communication, the number 4 represents the best things, used by ancestors quite often in natural and social matters as a balance, a fullness of heaven and earth. Without the number 4, harmony would be lost, and yin-yang and the five elements would lose balance, mutual generation, and mutual overcoming.
Dr. Nguyễn Doãn Minh also points out that Vietnamese social culture has many structures of four: Tu bat tu (the four immortals, four saints who never die, living forever in worship); Tu phu (four palaces worshipping four mother goddesses ruling four regions: Mẫu Thiên, Mẫu Địa, Mẫu Thoải, Mẫu Thượng Ngàn); Tu phap (Pháp Vân, Pháp Vũ, Pháp Lôi, Pháp Điện, four deities/Buddhist figures symbolising clouds, rain, thunder, lightning); An Nam tu dai khi (the four great Buddhist treasures: the Buddha statue of Quỳnh Lâm Pagoda, Báo Thiên Tower, Quy Điền Bell, Phổ Minh Pagoda cauldron). If the fours tied to nature reflect natural law and power, the fours tied to human social and cultural life express the wish for durability, permanence, and protection so that human life may be peaceful and happy. The four guards protecting Thăng Long carry the same meaning: guarding, blocking, helping the capital avoid natural disasters and enemy threats from outside, thereby helping people's lives stay peaceful. More deeply, the lasting peace and prosperity of the Thăng Long capital is the lasting prosperity of the Đại Việt nation, because the old Thăng Long capital and today's Hanoi have always been the country's most important political, cultural, and economic centre.
Bạch Mã Temple: The "First" Temple Among the Four
Located in the heart of the old quarter, Bạch Mã Temple was built earliest among the Thăng Long Tứ Tran, tied to King Lý Thái Tổ's construction of Thăng Long. It worships the most important deity of old Thăng Long, the tutelary deity of the capital. The temple still keeps many precious artefacts.
According to documents kept at the temple, the exact construction date was 866, when Cao Biền built Đại La citadel. Later, the temple was rebuilt in 1010 when Lý Công Uẩn moved the capital to Thăng Long. It was built in the east of the citadel, in Hà Khẩu Ward, Đông Thọ canton, Thọ Xương District, Hoài Đức Prefecture, now 76 Hàng Buồm, Hàng Buồm Ward, Hoàn Kiếm District.
Through historical ups and downs, Bạch Mã Temple's architecture bears the distinctive mark of 19th-century style. Despite a modest area, the temple preserves its overall layout and the typical architectural items of an important temple of the past. It is built in the "Tam" character shape, with three parallel buildings, and outside a eight-roofed phuong dinh. The highlight is the crab-shell roof system linking the architectural items. This creates a closed, continuous space, adding area to the relic and creating a rare, distinctive feature compared with many relics in the northern delta.
The temple still keeps many valuable artefacts in late 17th-century artistic style: 18 ancient stone steles recording repairs, 17 sac phong issued by the Nguyen court, and many precious ritual objects. Inside there is a large wooden white horse, symbolising the Bạch Mã deity and carried in processions on important occasions. Behind the temple is an ancient well, one of the few old wells remaining in the old quarter.
The Tien Xuan Nguu Ritual at Bạch Mã Temple
From its beginning, Bạch Mã Temple was tied to the royal element, so its festival activities are highly distinctive. One important rite is Tien xuan nguu (offering the spring buffalo), a rite both courtly and folk in nature. The Tien xuan nguu rite was formerly organised directly by the court. The court held sacrifices at the altar east of the capital. Officials and residents of the wards carried a clay buffalo statue to Bạch Mã Temple for the rite. The buffalo statue was placed on a palanquin, and officials and residents of the capital's wards carried it to Kính Thiên Palace to present to the king. Wherever the procession passed, people on both sides burned firecrackers in welcome. Occasionally officials holding mulberry branches whipped the buffalo a few times. On this day people eagerly gathered for the procession, so the rite was a great festival of old Thăng Long. It has now been partially reenacted.
Values of Thăng Long Tứ Tran That Need Preserving
According to researchers, to preserve and promote the historical and cultural values of Thăng Long Tứ Tran, we need to grasp the basic values of the four temples: historical value; cultural value (including artistic value, festival scripts, and performances); and scientific value (landscape space, architecture, artefacts).
Through thousands of years of history with many ups and downs, the spiritual cultural values of Thăng Long Tứ Tran remain intact. Each temple worships a different deity, with unique spiritual and architectural features. Walking through each ancient relic reveals the old, quiet yet splendid beauty of the four guards.
Today the four temples remain important spiritual and tourist destinations of Hanoi. Bạch Mã Temple, in the centre of the old quarter near important relics such as O Quan Chưởng and the heritage house at 87 Mã Mây Street, with its special origin, is one of the capital's attractive tourist addresses. The other temples also play important roles in the spiritual and cultural life of Hanoians and visitors from elsewhere.
