Dai Bi Pagoda (Dong Lao)

Dong Lao Pagoda is located in Dong Lao Village, An Khanh Commune, Hanoi City. The pagoda has the Sino-Vietnamese name “DAI BI TU”. Local people and those in the surrounding area commonly call it Bi Pagoda or Dong Lao Pagoda.

Dai Bi Pagoda is an ancient pagoda, built in the southeast of the village, inside the dyke of the Day River, to worship Buddha according to the Mahayana tradition.

Dai Bi Pagoda was built in the southwest of the village. The pagoda faces west. In front of the pagoda is a three-entrance gate, built in a stacked-roof style with eight roofs at both ends and curved upcorners. On the front upper tier are three large characters “DAI BI TU”. A large bell hangs on the three-entrance gate, with a floor and stairs leading up to ring it.

Passing through the three-entrance gate leads to the pagoda courtyard. In the courtyard is a “Thach Tru Thien Huong” (stone pillar for incense). The stone pillar is carved from blue stone, 1.8 m high, divided into three parts: a lotus base, a square four-sided body carved with patterns and inscribed with a eulogy, and a large flower at the top for burning incense. The stone pillar was made in the second year of Chinh Hoa (1681) from blue stone bought in Dong Trieu and brought here.

In Dai Bi Pagoda, the main architectural section for worshipping Buddha is built in the Cong (J) shape, including the Bai Duong Hall, Trung Cung, and Thuong Dien. The Bai Duong consists of five bays with two side wings. In front is a row of blue stone veranda columns, cut square. The artisans carved the stone quite elaborately: the column bases have rounded forms, the upper and lower parts taper, and there are capitals above. All are one solid block.

The Bai Duong Hall was built with closed gable ends, has two pillars, with relief decorations of lanterns, the “Four Sacred Creatures” motifs, and a phoenix at the top of each pillar. With its system of pillars and row of stone veranda columns, the pagoda already looks spacious and dignified from the outside.

The roof truss structure of the Bai Duong Hall is made in the giao chien - tien ke, hau bay style. The pagoda has a fairly spacious interior, with main columns about 4.8 m high. At the first beam, the corbels—where the Bai Duong meets the Trung Cung—were all carved in relief with the “Four Sacred Creatures” (Dragon, Unicorn, Turtle, Phoenix). The interior of the Bai Duong is also decorated with a system of horizontal plaques, couplets, and a gilded vermilion curtain screen, very splendid.

The curtain screen in the central bay is carved quite elaborately, with themes such as “Two dragons flanking the moon” and stylized flowers and leaves. In the center of the curtain screen, the pagoda’s name “DAI BI TU” is carved in relief.

With its system of angled beams, the Trung Cung is the architectural component connecting the Bai Duong and Thuong Dien. In the Trung Cung and Thuong Dien, the ancients used hardwoods to build, with techniques favoring durability and smooth joinery. In some details of the roof trusses, stylized floral patterns are carved in relief. The sculptural art is concentrated in statue carving.

Behind the main pagoda is the Hau Phat House. The Hau Phat House was built with three bays and two side wings, with architecture aligned toward the main pagoda. In other pagodas, the Hau Phat House usually worships those who endowed the pagoda or contains portrait statues and steles of benefactors. The Hau Phat House of Dai Bi Dong Lao Pagoda is specially reserved for worshipping General Nguyen Cong Trieu. The central bay has a blue stone altar platform about 30 cm high, carved with flowers and leaves; on the platform are a three-piece and seven-piece altar set and a lotus stone pedestal with the portrait statue of Nguyen Cong Trieu mentioned above. Here, above the entrance are three characters “Bat du nhan”. This phrase means that doing great virtuous deeds should not be taken lightly. The central bay has two couplets arranged in the worship area of General Nguyen Cong Trieu:

A heart firm as iron and stone preserves righteous spirit

For ten thousand ages, princes and lords change, yet heroic fame remains

Translation:

Iron and stone, one heart, steadfast in righteousness

Princes and lords through ten thousand ages, a noble name forever

Before the altar door there is a couplet:

A Bodhisattva manifests a true form; his meritorious labors began with the universe

The famous temple transmits ancient tales; the prince's scenic realm spreads grace afar

Translation:

The Bodhisattva manifests his true portrait, helping the country and bringing peace to the people, his fame resounding across the borders

Nature bears the mark of the former prince; the precious scenic realm is imbued with deep grace

In the left bay is a four-sided pillar stele praising the merits of Nguyen Cong Trieu, recording the people's wish to worship him at the Hau Phat House and the general's words of gratitude for the people's warm sentiments. The stele was erected in the second year of Chinh Hoa (1681).

Overall, the interior of the Hau Phat House is arranged solemnly, with precious and elegant materials, of great value for documentation and fine arts, namely the stone portrait statue with lotus stone pedestal and the stone altar platform. The horizontal plaques and couplets are all brilliantly gilded and lacquered. This arrangement is both beautiful and solemn.

A memorable historical event: From 1944 to 1945, Dai Bi Pagoda was an operating base of the Bac Ky Regional Party Committee. The Regional Committee installed a radio station at Dai Bi Pagoda for communication and operations. Many high-ranking leaders of the Party and the Regional Committee came to work here. The pagoda still has traces of a secret tunnel. Local history seminars still mention the location and historical significance of this pagoda.
Before the second year of Chinh Hoa (1681), the pagoda was a place of Buddha worship. From the second year of Chinh Hoa, seeing the great merits of General Nguyen Cong Trieu toward the people and the country, the people of Dong Lao made a request to the general. In that year, Nguyen Cong Trieu spent money to repair it. The stele inscription in the Hau Duong has a passage: “...there was one concern, thinking far ahead: as days pass and months go by, wind and rain wear away, over time things become deformed. The General spent money to buy materials, build fences and repair, plant trees and create forests, buy and plant precious timber trees... In the pagoda stand ten gold and jade statues; the assembly of Buddhas is arranged according to rules and order, replacing the old with the new in the village according to standards and regulations. The General had the intention of encouraging the people to care for worshipping Buddha to pray for blessings. There remained only one way: to establish a (living) shrine behind the Hau Phat House, facing the same direction, with incense and flowers forever, to repay the favor. The General, seeing the people's feelings thus, remained silent for a while, then asked the people and said: ‘The people value me and set up many places to worship me—how can I bear it?’ The elderly villagers replied: ‘To worship one who has merit is correct, from ancient times until now.’”

Still according to the above stele source, in the following years of the Le Chinh Hoa era, the people of Dong Lao Village received financial and rice-field support from General Nguyen Cong Trieu and built the Hau Phat House behind Dai Bi Pagoda to worship Nguyen Cong Trieu and commemorate him as a manifest Bodhisattva. The ancients went to Dong Trieu (Quang Ninh) to buy blue stone to carve the portrait statue of Nguyen Cong Trieu, erect a four-sided pillar stele, and set up the Thach Tru Thien Huong in the pagoda courtyard. These relics are still fully preserved today.

And so, from that year, Dai Bi Pagoda was structured in the style of ‘Buddha in front, Deity behind’. The history of Dai Bi Pagoda dates from the Tran Dynasty; in 1681, the Hau Phat House was additionally built.

In terms of arrangement, the Thuong Dien of Dai Bi Pagoda currently consists of the following layers of statues:

At the top of the Thuong Dien are three Tam The statues. All three are carved from wood, lacquered and gilded, seated on lotus thrones. The second layer, in the center, is the Thousand-Hand Guanyin statue. This is a wooden statue, lacquered and gilded, with 12 arms. Each of the Buddha's hands holds a treasure: lapis lazuli, a lotus flower. The Buddha is carved seated directly on a wooden lotus throne, also carved and gilded. On either side of the Thousand-Hand Guanyin are standing statues of Guanyin and Mahasthamaprapta, each 1.30 m high. The third layer is the statue of Sakyamuni, the founder. The statue is standing, with the right hand raised as if preaching. It is 1.05 m high. The fourth layer is the Jade Emperor statue. The statue wears court robes and a flat crown. The fifth layer, in the center, is the Nine Dragons throne, with statues of Nam Tao and Bac Dau on either side. The last layer is two statues, Maudgalyayana and Ksitigarbha.

In the Thuong Dien, along both corridors, there are also statues of Tuyet Son—depicting Sakyamuni Buddha practicing asceticism in the Snow Mountains (Himalayas). This is one of the beautifully posed and carved statues of Dai Bi Tu. Next are the Dragon God statue and statues of Guanyin and Bodhisattvas. The corridor of the Thuong Dien of Dai Bi Pagoda also has two rows of Ten Kings of Hell (Qin Guang Ming Wang, Song Di Ming Wang, Chu Jiang Ming Wang...).

The Bai Duong Hall has statues of Khuyen Thien (Encouraging Good), Trung Ac (Punishing Evil), the Earth God, and the Holy Monk.

In the pagoda there is a collection of stone statues. These are portrait statues, on average 60–80 cm high. These are very ancient statues with a strong folk style, carved from stone.

Worth noting here: The statues in the Thuong Dien are mostly carved from wood, brilliantly lacquered and gilded, and elaborately sculpted: clothing is carved directly into the statue bodies, and the lotus thrones with lotus petals and layers of petals are very regular. These are traces of 17th-century art.

In particular, in the Hau Duong there is a precious statue: the portrait statue of Nguyen Cong Trieu in blue stone. The statue is 1.82 m high including the base. The portrait of General Nguyen Cong Trieu was carved when he was about 68 years old (1614–1681). He had a large physique, a kind and radiant but resolute face. The artisan realistically depicted the general's mouth, nose, and cheekbones with clear forms, and his bright, quick eyes, clearly not in the conventional stylized manner of Buddha statues. The General sits in meditation posture, right hand on his knee, left hand open as if calculating something. The statue was carved wearing stone court robes, then covered with cloth, lacquered, and gilded. The entire body, lotus throne, and statue base are carved from a single block of stone. With the statue of General Nguyen Cong Trieu in the Hau Phat House, Dai Bi Dong Lao Pagoda, the ancients arranged it in the style of ‘Buddha in front, Deity behind’.

Dong Lao Pagoda (Dai Bi Pagoda) was ranked as a national-level Architectural and Artistic Relic according to Decision No. 1460-QD/VH dated June 28, 1996, of the Ministry of Culture and Information.