Tombs of the Tran Kings

A wide field lies flat and quiet, like so many other fields of the lowland delta. And yet a whole dynasty began right here.

The Trần dynasty ruled from 1226 to 1400 over Đại Việt, an old name for Vietnam. This was the dynasty that defeated the Mongols three times. It was also the dynasty that produced Hưng Đạo Đại Vương, Trần Quốc Tuấn. Later generations revered him as a guardian spirit of the nation. Ask where that whole dynasty came from, and the answer is not Thăng Long, the city now called Hanoi. Nor is it Thiên Trường. The answer is the Long Hưng area, which people today still regard as the cradle of the Trần family.

This is that land.

In the past, this place was known as Tam Đường hamlet, in Tiến Đức commune. That commune belonged to Hưng Hà district, in Thái Bình province. After the administrative reorganization of 2025, the area became part of Long Hưng commune, in Hưng Yên province. The place names have changed, but the most important layer of memory has not. In the time of the Lý dynasty, the elder Trần Hấp moved an ancestral grave here. It was the grave of Trần Kinh. In old times, this land was called Thái Đường. Later generations stayed bound to this land as well. First came Trần Lý. Then came Trần Thừa, honored as the Grand Ancestor. After them came three emperors. The first two were Trần Thái Tông and Trần Thánh Tông. The third was Trần Nhân Tông.

Now to Đền Vua, the Temple of the Emperors.

Its central chamber honors Trần Thái Tông, the founding emperor of the Trần dynasty. He led the first resistance against the Mongols, in 1258. The left side honors Trần Thánh Tông. He had already handed the throne to his son, Trần Nhân Tông, and as retired emperor he led the second resistance with him, in 1285. The right side honors Trần Nhân Tông. With the whole nation behind him, he defeated the third invasion in 1288. Afterward he became a monk at Yên Tử, honored as the Buddha Emperor.

Three men are honored in three places in the front hall. Three reigns. Three stands against the Mongols. And here is something few people remember: all three had their roots in this land, even though they ruled from their capital at Thăng Long.

In the rear sanctuary, the worship reaches deeper, into the roots of the dynasty. Its altars honor the men who laid the foundations of the Trần cause. The first two are Trần Hấp and Trần Kinh. The others are Trần Lý and Trần Thừa. The sanctuary also honors Trần Thủ Độ, the powerful minister who brought the Trần to the throne. So is Trần Thị Dung, who bears the title Linh Từ Quốc Mẫu.

Next is Đền Thánh, the Temple of the Saint. It holds the shrine of Hưng Đạo Đại Vương, Trần Quốc Tuấn. His name is tied to the victory on the Bạch Đằng River in 1288. It is tied to the military manual Binh thư yếu lược. And it is tied to a saying that has come down through the centuries: "Spare the strength of the people, for that is the plan for deep roots and a firm trunk." Trần Quốc Tuấn was not an emperor. Yet he is honored beside the emperors at this site in Long Hưng, because he stands for the will and the strength that the Trần dynasty gave to the country.

Then comes Đền Mẫu, the Mother Temple. It honors Trần Thị Dung, together with the empresses and princesses of the early Trần. Standing before it, one thinks of the women who carried their share of sacrifice in times of turmoil. They did more than stand beside the emperors. They were part of the foundation that held the whole dynasty up.

In front of the temples lie the tombs. There are three large burial mounds. People here call two of them phần Đa and phần Trung. The third they call phần Bụt. By tradition, the three mounds are linked to three royal tombs. Two of them are Chiêu Lăng and Dụ Lăng. The third is Đức Lăng. Those words, by tradition, are worth hearing closely. They do not make the story weaker. They say honestly that this land holds some things set down clearly in the histories, and some things that live on only in village memory, told by each generation to the next. Both layers rest together under these three mounds.

The site was recognized as a Special National Monument at the end of 2014.

At festival time, this place comes alive in a different way. The Trần Temple Festival of Long Hưng takes place in the first month of the lunar calendar. There are incense offerings, processions on water and on foot, formal rites and traditional festivities. In 2014, the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism added the festival to the national list of intangible cultural heritage.

Before the great burial mounds, the Long Hưng fields stretch wide and open. From this ordinary piece of land, one family carried the weight of three invasions, and three times kept the borders of the country whole. No stone stele needs to add a single word.