Nhi Phu Assembly Hall

The Ong Bon Pagoda on Hai Thuong Lan Ong Street, where the whole Chinese community makes offerings together in the courtyard

Nhi Phu Assembly Hall, also known as Ong Bon Pagoda or Ong Bon Temple, stands on Hai Thuong Lan Ong, the traditional medicine street, and is one of the nine Chinese assembly halls in the former District 5. The main deity worshipped is Ong Bon, or Phuc Duc Chinh Than, also called Bon Dau Cong, the guardian god of overseas Chinese communities. The name "Nhi Phu" ("Two Prefectures") refers to Quanzhou (Tuyen Chau) and Zhangzhou (Chuong Chau) prefectures in Fujian province, the homeland of the hall's founders. The hall was designated a National Architectural and Artistic Relic in 1998, and its most recent restoration was inaugurated in August 2022. Chinese migrants who arrived by boat and made this place their new home founded the hall to gather fellow natives and worship the deities who protected their lives and livelihoods. It served as a place of worship as well as a place to discuss business, preserve traditions and bind the community together. What is most distinctive about Nhi Phu is the way rituals are held: during the deity and founder ceremonies, Ong Bon is worshipped right in the middle of the courtyard, with traditional Fujian music, lion dances and hau (mask) dances, and the whole community takes part in the courtyard rather than just the Management Board. The two main festival days are the 15th day of the 1st and 8th lunar months; the feast day of Bon Dau Cong falls on the night of the Mid-Autumn Festival. The hall is also one of the venues of the Chinese Nguyen Tieu (Lantern) Festival, from the 13th to 15th day of the 1st lunar month. On a half-day Cho Lon itinerary, Nhi Phu is usually visited in the morning, combined with the traditional medicine street and nearby Tue Thanh Assembly Hall.

English text: machine translation from the Localis platform — proper names kept in Vietnamese.