Duc Tu Pagoda (Tien Canh Tu)

Duc Tu Pagoda has the literary name “Tien Canh Tu”, meaning Tien Canh Pagoda, i.e., a pagoda as beautiful as a fairy scene. The pagoda was restored in 1813, 1835, and 1851. In addition, the pagoda had many other names after each relocation, such as “Dao Pagoda”, “Thuc Pagoda”, “Ba Tong Pagoda”, or it was also called by the village’s vernacular name, Doc Village Pagoda, or Doc. Duc Tu Pagoda is a religious and belief architecture of the local resident community to meet the cultural and religious life needs of the village. At the beginning of the Nguyen dynasty, Duc Tu was in Duc Tu canton, Dong Ngan district, Tu Son prefecture, Kinh Bac garrison; until the early 20th century it was directly under Tu Son prefecture, Bac Ninh province. Located in the Kinh Bac region with the center of Luy Lau Buddhism, Duc Tu Pagoda was founded very early, possibly in the 8th–9th centuries. The first pagoda may also have been Thuc Pagoda, as the elders recount; according to legend, from very ancient times the village already had a pagoda worshipping Buddha. The pagoda was built on a high plot of land beside the Co Giang River; later, possibly because it was near the river and suffered erosion, it had to be moved to another location and was named Hoi Pagoda and Ba Tong Pagoda. Located near the Luy Lau Buddhist center, the pagoda was founded to meet the devotion of people of the time; it was a place where the spiritual aspirations of virtuous men and women were entrusted, attracting not a few dukes, marquises, and high officials to the Buddhist gate to worship Buddha. In the memory of local people, the ancient pagoda built around the 15th century was a beautiful pagoda, especially because Mrs. Dao Thi Sa, a palace concubine from Duc Tu, wholeheartedly contributed her efforts to restore the pagoda for her homeland. Mrs. Dao Thi Sa’s name is still clearly recorded on the stele of the restoration of Tien Canh Pagoda from the 4th year of Vinh To (1622).

The pagoda faces south, in the shape of the character “nhị” with the front hall structured with 5 bays and 2 side wings, a two-tiered overlapping-tile roof, the pagoda’s literary name molded in the center, and a ridge decorated with lemon flowers. The pagoda is built in an architecture of gable ends, closed gables with arm-shaped supports, with decorative pillars; the three middle bays have doors, and the two gable-end bays have walls with windows in the shape of the character “Longevity”. Over a long period of existence, the artifacts remaining in the Dinh–Duc Tu Pagoda relic complex are precious objects, clearly reflecting historical, cultural, architectural, and artistic content. At the same time, this place also shows us the richness and diversity in types and materials of artifacts, the spiritual entrustment of people of the time through the talented hands of ancient Vietnamese artisans. These include the system of horizontal plaques, parallel sentences, processional palanquins, thrones for worshipping saintly tablets... and Buddha worship statues dating artistically to the 18th–19th centuries. In particular, Duc Tu Dinh still preserves 18 royal edicts; various dynasties issued edicts conferring the title of deity on Si Nhiep, including 7 edicts from the Later Le period, 2 from the Quang Trung period, and 9 from the Nguyen period. In addition, the genealogy book records the merits and deeds of King Si in spreading Chinese characters in the South. In the dinh there is also a round statue carved of Si Nhiep, seated in a two-layer gilded and lacquered niche, behind him is a dragon writhing with clouds. The statue wears a dragon robe with rank badges, wears a horizontal winged hat, and holds a brush, symbolizing a Confucian scholar. The statue’s face is handsome, solemn yet kind. One of the unique and precious artifacts at Duc Tu Dinh is a pair of wooden parrots carved exquisitely, vividly, and with high technique, dating from the late 17th to early 18th century. The parrots stand on rolling clouds with wings carved in relief and openwork, and tails carved through. This is a model of 17th–18th century carving art and a basis for scientists to study the ancient carving art of the Vietnamese. At the pagoda, there is still a stele preserved “Tien Canh Tu” dated the 12th year of Gia Long (1813) and the 4th year of Tu Duc (1851). The bell “Tien Canh Tu Chung” cast in the 16th year of Minh Menh (1835) praises the compassion and charity of virtuous men and women who contributed to restoring the pagoda, especially the system of round statues; each statue created is a portrayal of the character of each figure in historical legends. In the entire system of statues, noteworthy are the Tam The statue set, the Ten Halls statues, and the Maitreya Buddha statue.

Dinh–Duc Tu Pagoda forms a beautiful and quite unique architectural complex in the northeast of the capital; these are relics dating from among the earliest in our country. The material traces of historical periods are still deeply imprinted on the architecture and artifacts at the relic. From the imposing scale of the overall architecture to the structure, the exquisite and vivid carved panels, the harmonious and graceful curved roofs, to the ancient Bat Trang brick and nosy-tile... all that remains at the relic gives us additional valuable sources of documentation to better understand the history and value of the relic as well as to learn about the social life of the ancient suburban village. With typical values in history, culture, architecture, and art, the Dinh–Duc Tu Pagoda relic complex was ranked as a National Relic by the Ministry of Culture and Information in Decision No. 65 QD/BT/1995 dated January 16, 1995.