Difference between den, mieu, nghe, dien, phu, quan, am.

It means all concern with religion, faith and depending on the worshiped object will lead to difference name.

Temple

Den is a temple to worship saint or some historical figures that were deified. There are many forms of Den. The large form of both size and meaning can be mentioned as Den Hung, Den Giong, Den of king Dinh, king Le, king Ly Bat De, Den Kiep Bac… Some of Den to worship the common people as Den Doc Cuoc, sometimes Den connects closely to worship Gods or the holy local figure.

Mieu?

“Mieu” is small Den as Mieu Tho Dia, Mieu Co, Mieu Cau… In general Mieu doesn’t play important role in worship God however we can see it in the big architecture in some cases as Van Mieu, Vo Mieu. (Mieu was introduced in Vietnam in the 11th century).

Diety temple

“Nghe” is another form of Den and Mieu, worship god(s). This architecture has close ties with any of central vestiges. Nghe sometimes worships god in small village which is split from the main village as Nghe Hai Trieu (Cam Giang – Hai Duong), also can be a small Den worship one of god in commune to sharing spiritual activities if the main Den is unable to respond the need of daily worship, such as Nghe in Truong Yen is one of the auxiliary architecture of Den which worship the kings of Dinh dynasty. (Nowadays, the oldest Nghe has discovered from the 17th century.)

God or diety hall

Dien is another form of Den (temple), the worshipped place of god in popular Vietnamese faith. Dien is famous for worship goddess of some famous gods (Thanh Tran). Dien can belong to community or private. On the worshipped table including throne, votive tablet, god statues and worshipping objects such as thurible, candle, estrade, flower pot, votive paper, ect. It is also the office place like Dien Rong, Thai Hoa, Can Chanh (its remaining relics were found earliest in 18th century)