Cua Ong Temple () is located in Cua Ong Ward, Cam Pha City, Quang Ninh Province, Vietnam. This is a place of worship for Hung Nhuong Dai Vuong Tran Quoc Tang, a famous figure during the Tran Dynasty, and it is also the venue for the annual Cua Ong Temple Festival. At the end of 2017, Cua Ong Temple was classified by the government as a Special National Site.

Location
Cua Ong Temple is situated on a high hill, approximately 100m above sea level, in Zone 9A of Cua Ong Ward, Cam Pha City, Quang Ninh Province. The temple is located about 40 km northeast of the city center of Halong. The total planned area of Cua Ong Temple is 12,125 hectares.

The temple enjoys a favorable geographical position, with a combination of Feng Shui advantages. It faces the sea and is surrounded by scenic features such as Thanh Long (Green Dragon) to the left and Bach Ho (White Tiger) to the right. In front of the temple lies Minh Duong (Bai Tu Long Bay), and behind it is Huyen Vu (a prosperous valley densely populated by local residents, with a range of mountains extending to Mong Duong, providing a solid foundation).

History
Before worshiping Tran Quoc Tang, the area of Cua Ong Temple only had the Hoang Tiet Che Temple. At that time, people worshiped Hoang Can, a local hero who had made great contributions in fighting against invaders and pirates, and the emperors bestowed upon him the title "Kham Sai Dong Dao Tiet Che" (Courageous General Defending the Eastern Sea). 

From the beginning of the 20th century, people upgraded (destroyed and rebuilt) the Hoang Tiet Che Temple into the Cua Ong Temple. Since then, Tran Quoc Tang was worshiped as the main deity here, alongside Hoang Can and other deities. Many people mistakenly believed that Tran Quoc Tang had been worshiped here for a long time, but it was not until 1887 and beyond that there was no record of any temple dedicated to him in the Cam Pha area, as only the Hoang Tiet Che Temple dedicated to Hoang Can was mentioned in the Dong Khanh Dia Du Chi (an old geography book).

This confusion seems to have originated from Hoang Viet Van Tuyen, a book by Bui Huy Bich (1744-1818), in which the author stated that Hung Ninh Vuong was Tran Quoc Tang. However, An Nam Chi Luoc, compiled by Le Tac in 1335, clearly stated that Hung Ninh Vuong Tran Tung (Tue Trung Thuong Si) was the older brother of the Crown Prince (referring to Tran Thanh Tong), and Tran Quoc Tang was just the older brother of Tran Nhan Tong, who should be called "chu" to address Tran Thanh Tong. Hung Ninh Vuong "retreated to live in Tinh Bang hamlet and changed his name to Huong Van Nien". Tinh Bang and An Bang were part of the Tran dynasty; An Quang belonged to the later Le dynasty; and they later became Quang Yen and Hai Ninh provinces during the Nguyen dynasty and are now part of Quang Ninh province. Note that the accuracy of geographical names is not entirely certain due to the multiple administrative divisions throughout history. Some sources state that Tinh Bang, where Tran Tung retreated to, was in Vinh Bao, Hai Phong, nowadays. However, it can be determined that Tinh Bang was near Yen Tu (the land of the Truc Lam Zen sect), situated at the border between Quang Ninh and Hai Phong nowadays. The town of Quang Yen also had a gate called "Cua Suat" (mispronounced as "Cua Suot"), and from "Cua Suot Quang Yen," it became "Cua Suot Cua Ong," which is still part of Quang Yen province.

Festival
The Cua Ong Temple Festival is one of the major festivals in Quang Ninh province, held annually on the 3rd day of the 2nd lunar month. According to tradition, people often visit Cua Ong Temple from the beginning of the lunar new year, following the festival tourism route of Con Son - Kiep Bac - Yen Tu - Cua Ong.

Cua Ong Temple attracts the most visitors and is most bustling during the festival season, which takes place from the 3rd day of the 2nd lunar month and lasts for three months in spring. The festival features a variety of cultural activities. It starts with the offering ceremony, followed by the procession of the tablet of Tran Quoc Tang from Cua Ong Temple to the Nhan Garden Temple - the place where, according to legend, Duke Ong drifted into a deity and returned to the temple. This procession reenacts the coastal protection tours of Hung Nhuong Vuong in the past, symbolizing the remembrance of his merits in safeguarding the nation's borders. During the festival days, there are also cultural activities such as dragon dances, displaying fruit trays, offering sacrifices to Duke Ong, and traditional folk games like blindfolded pot smashing, tug-of-war, and pushing sticks.

The Cua Ong Temple Festival in Quang Ninh was recognized as a national intangible cultural heritage by the Ministry of Culture, Sports, and Tourism at the end of 2016.

Tourism
Having both aesthetic and spiritual value, Cua Ong Temple is a very famous tourist destination in Quang Ninh province, specifically and in the northern region in general. Every year, Cua Ong Temple attracts about 800,000 visitors. In the first two months of 2019 alone, there were 14,000 visitors with a total amount of revenue at the temple exceeding 10 billion Vietnamese dong.

References

Temples in Vietnam