42. An Son Temple Historical Cultural Relic

An Son Temple is located approximately 2 km southwest of the central area of Con Dao. In 1783, Nguyen Anh sought refuge in Con Dao to escape the surveillance of the Tay Son forces. Faced with continuous defeats, he brought along Prince Hoi An (commonly known as Prince Cai) and Ba Da Loc to France as hostages, seeking support. At that time, Lady Le Thi Ram, the consort of Lord Nguyen Anh, offered advice, saying, “Engaging in battles with Tay Son is a family matter. It is not advisable to seek external assistance. If victorious, it won’t gain much glory, and there will be many complications afterward…”

Based on this advice, Lord Nguyen Anh bravely took on the challenge and suspected that Lady Phi Yen was colluding with the Tay Son army. If not for the pleas of the court officials to reduce her sentence, she might not have escaped the charge of beheading. Nevertheless, Nguyen Anh ordered her imprisonment in a cave on a deserted island located to the southwest of the Con Dao archipelago (now known as Ba Island). Later, she was rescued by two loyal animals, a black tiger and a white monkey, and brought back to the Co Ong village.

On the full moon night of the 10th month of the lunar calendar in 1785, the people of An Hai village invited Lady Phi Yen from Co Ong village to participate in a mourning ceremony. In the village, there was a butcher named Bien Thi, who, captivated by Lady Phi Yen’s beauty, sneaked into her room at midnight to commit a heinous act. The moment he touched her arm, Lady Phi Yen woke up and shouted. In remorse for the violation of her chastity, she cut off the arm that Bien Thi had touched and took her own life. To commemorate her virtues and sacrifice, the villagers erected a temple in her honor. To this day, every 18^th day of the 10th lunar month, the people of Con Dao organize a solemn commemoration ceremony for Lady Phi Yen.

On April 18, 2007, the People’s Committee of Ba Ria – Vung Tau Province issued Decision No. 1442/QD-UB, recognizing An Son Temple as a provincial-level historical cultural relic.