Temple Of Hung King

The Hung King Temple, located at 2 Nguyen Binh Khiem Street, Ben Thanh Ward, District 1, Ho Chi Minh City, was designed by architect Auguste Delaval and constructed between 1927 and 1929. The shrine was named Temple du Souvenir Annamite, which translates to “Annamite Temple of Remembrance,” to honor the memory of at least 12,000 Vietnamese troops who served and died in the French armed forces during the First World War (1914–1918).

In 1955, the temple was renamed National Hung King Ancestor Temple and rededicated to the mythical Vietnamese rulers of the Hong Bang period of the Hung Dynasty. Following reunification, the memorial stele was taken down.

Today, the Hung King Shrine was installed in the temple’s center. Highlights of the temple include a set of eight bronze-tipped weapons, a gong, a drum, two replicas of Dong Don drums, and a model of the main Hung King Temple in Phu Tho Province, North Vietnam. In the heart of the shrine was a marble stele bearing the names of Le Van Duyet, Phan Thanh Giang, and numerous more Annamite combatants who lost their lives.