the tran family temple - my mother's ancestors temple

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now it continues to unfold. my family lineage. the tomb of my ancestors. my mother's mother's family temple. these are my roots!

we arrived in hue and checked in for a solid night's sleep. the next morning we would hired a car to visit my great grandfather's uncle's tomb. i had no idea what was in store. i just knew we were to leave at 7am. yikes.

the next morning 7am, bright and early, aunt huong, uncle vinh, + mom were ready to go. remember they are in their 60's! i guess they wake up early at that age right? dressed and ready to go.

we drove into the country. the rice fields were spotted with tombstones made of 10 feet wide sandstone lotus flowers with a hump of grass inside each of them. that was the burial grounds. spotting the country side right next to houses and farms. no separation of the two. part of their daily living...to honor the dead in this life time.

we ended at a bridge crossing that was being worked on...but not that day...and no side road to detour and continue the journey. we turned around. towards another route. the driver then dead ended at a market place. the streets were too narrow to continue. fruit + flower stands made it only possible for cattle drawn carts and bicycles to pass. what now?

uncle vinh got out and asked around for the my mother's mother's family temple. apparently one can venture around a village asking for the family name of a nearby temple or tomb and expect to get directions...even if they have never been there before. 20 minutes later, uncle vinh returns to the car with a smile. he found a cousin of ours that owns the jewelery store in the village. he will show us the way.

so how do we get there. through the marketplace ofcourse. we all got in the car. our cousin leads the way from his motor bike. the owners of the fruit and flower stands get up from their squatted seats to move a few buckets around so that our car can squeeze...and i mean SQUEEZE....through the tiny road. phew! we made it.

we arrive at the temple. it's right next to the cousin's father's house. they live in a house with a living room with sliding doors to the main courtyard. the kitchen where his mother is stewing a huge soup has a pig pen attached to it with a pig and her 9 piglets. wow!!

this beautiful temple has been standing there for over 200 years. it was damaged in the bombings. in fact my cousin's uncle's leg was lost in the bombings too. he was hanging out there too. but the furniture inside the temple....priceless. definite antiques. maybe even up to par for museum standards! i saw pictures on the altar of ancestors dating back so far as my grandmother's father's pictures! WOW! we lit incense, prayed to our ancestors for peace on the other side and to pray that have everything they need to keep them comfortable on "that side," and offered the family money for maintaining the upkeep of the temple. i mentioned that if they ever want to sell the furniture to please call my mom. they laughed and said that will never happen. i figured i'd plant the seed just in case.

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Photos

tran family temple
shrink this image of the mandarin hall at the citadel in hue, and you have my mother's mother's family temple. it's is "3 red doors wide" vs. 10 or 20 doors.