Relics

Con Son echoes Uncle Ho's words forever

LE HUONG - LAN ANH January 29, 2025 07:00

Keeping in mind Uncle Ho's sacred teachings, over the past 60 years, the cadres and people of Hai Duong province have restored, embellished and built the Con Son - Kiep Bac relic site into a famous scenic spot.

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Uncle Ho read the stele "Con Son Tu Phuc Tu bi"

At this time, Con Son - Kiep Bac is preparing for the spring festival.
Sacred will

During his lifetime, despite being busy with a thousand and one things, Uncle Ho still had special affection for the people of Hai Duong. He visited Hai Duong province five times, worked with the Provincial Party Committee Standing Committee, talked with cadres, soldiers, and people of all walks of life in Hai Duong town and the districts of Nam Sach, Ninh Giang, and Chi Linh.

On February 15, 1965, Uncle Ho visited the relic and scenic spot of Con Son, Chi Linh district, as if to find the strength of the nation's roots. After burning incense at the pagoda and the Ancestral Hall, Uncle Ho stopped by the stele "Con Son Tu Phuc Tu Bi".

Uncle Ho translated and explained to the group about the content of the stele. He and the group went up to Con Son mountain to visit Thanh Hu cave and Thach Ban, where Nguyen Trai often sat to read books, write poems and contemplate national affairs. He talked to the local officials, people and monks in the pagoda. He advised: "The officials and people must protect the historical relics well, plant many trees so that Con Son becomes a beautiful pine forest".

Keeping in mind his teachings, over the past 60 years, Hai Duong officials and people have taken practical actions to restore, embellish and build the Con Son - Kiep Bac relic site into a famous scenic spot at home and abroad.

From 1994-2000, Hai Duong province paid attention to renovating many items in Con Son: the front hall, incense burner, upper hall, ancestral house, Huyen Quang tower, bell tower, Ngoc well, the road to Thanh Hu Dong, Nguyen Trai house foundation, Thach Ban, Ban Co Tien with over 600 stone steps nearly 2.5 km long... In Kiep Bac, over 1,500 m² of temple yard, Dragon Eye well, 2 citadel houses, 2 rows of martial arts, central temple, rear palace, front hall... were also restored. The province paid attention to rebuilding infrastructure, expanding the relic space.

In 2000, the temple of the world cultural celebrity Nguyen Trai, the temple of Tran Nguyen Dan, the stele house on the old foundation of Nguyen Trai's house, Thach Ban, the road to Ngu Nhac mountain, the left and right houses, the corridor of Con Son pagoda... were also built. Next, the restoration of works that were destroyed by nature and war such as Thau Ngoc bridge, Thanh Huu Dong in Con Son; Nam Tao temple, Bac Dau temple in Kiep Bac...

In June 2013, the Kiep Bac Temple restoration and renovation project with 12 construction items, divided into 2 phases, with a total investment of over 77 billion VND was implemented. The 2014 Con Son - Kiep Bac Autumn Festival marked the casting of 18 Arhat statues.

From 2015 to present, Hai Duong has restored the Nine-Piece Lotus Hall and the ancestral house at Con Son Pagoda, rebuilt the tower worshiping Bodhisattva Avalokitesvara, the left and right corridors of Con Son Pagoda, and implemented the restoration of Con Son stream...

Beautiful forest

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Con Son has now become a beautiful place of pine forest.

Con Son is now becoming more beautiful with its architecture and harmonious nature. This is the effort of many generations. Since 1960, Con Son has been a national relic ranked in the first phase, and in 2012 it became a special national relic. In 2010, the relic site was approved by the Prime Minister for its master plan, still including the relic system and environmental landscape. Areas such as Con Son mountain, Bach Van hermitage, Con Son lake, Con Son pagoda, Ngu Nhac mountain are the core and red areas. Con Son forest is identified as very important, closely connected and inseparable, directly creating landscape and space for the entire relic site. Since the 70s of the 20th century, Con Son botanical garden was built, gathering more than 600 types of plant genes nationwide, considered a garden to protect precious gene species in the whole country.

Since the late 70s and early 80s, the bamboo forests, pine forests, and vegetation have been completely destroyed, with only a few pine trees remaining. Over the years, special attention has been paid to the protection, renovation, and planting of forests here, especially during the annual Spring Tree Planting Festival.

The restoration of the Con Son relic site not only revives the natural forests but also connects the forest with the relic site, the most famous national landscape, ensuring historical, cultural and religious values. The restoration must preserve the dominant and typical tree species that have been associated with the history of the relic site, recorded in history books and poems, such as pine, cypress, bamboo, apricot, bamboo and the vegetation including hundreds of aromatic and precious medicinal plants...

Each forest is green, birds and animals return to take refuge. Now, coming to Con Son, visitors can not only admire Buddhist works, learn about famous people, sages, and the history of the relic site, but also immerse themselves in the immense green space. According to the Hai Duong Forest Management Board, the Con Son - Kiep Bac relic site currently has about 1,500 hectares of forest, of which about 600 hectares are old pine forests, the rest is newly planted forest. The forest is actively preserved and restored, the additional planting area reaches 10-20 hectares each year...

A new spring has come. This year's Con Son - Kiep Bac Spring Festival is associated with the 60th anniversary of Uncle Ho's visit to Con Son, so it is organized on a large scale, including many activities. According to the draft plan, the 2025 Con Son - Kiep Bac Spring Festival will take place from February 11-20, 2025 (ie from January 14-23).

LE HUONG - LAN ANH
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Con Son echoes Uncle Ho's words forever