Giang Trieu Pagoda (Pho Am)

The relic has the Sino-Vietnamese name Pho Am Tu (meaning: Pho Am Pagoda), located in Dai Cuong hamlet, Ung Hoa commune, Hanoi city. During research into the pagoda's values, based on local residents' accounts and the regional culture here, it can be presumed that the relic was originally a small hermitage, a thatched house built to worship Buddha. In particular, the pagoda's geographical location near Duc Thanh Ca Temple and the Huong Son scenic area means it is very likely that Pho Am Pagoda, from a small hermitage, following the "spiritual flow" of the Buddhist land of Huong Son, was built into this pagoda by local people with benevolent hearts, who regularly contributed their labor and resources. In addition, the relic is commonly called Giang Trieu Pagoda after the village name.

Giang Trieu Pagoda worships Buddha and Bodhisattvas; in addition, the pagoda also worships the Mother Goddess and the Patriarchs. In the building on the left side of the pagoda, there is also an altar to Bodhidharma – the 28th Patriarch after Shakyamuni Buddha of the Indian Zen lineage and the First Patriarch of Chinese Zen Buddhism.

Currently, there are no longer documents recording the exact date of construction of Giang Trieu Pagoda. According to local people, the relic was established very long ago. Based on the text on the altar in the Front Hall, there is a passage written in Chinese characters meaning: Pho Am Pagoda in Giang Trieu hamlet, Dai Boi commune, Son Minh district, Ung Thien prefecture, Son Nam province of Annam was originally a famous scenic site. The abbot of this pagoda, whose courtesy name was Dao Thinh, practiced diligently and initiated the construction of a stone altar and stone platform in front of the worship altar… The date of the altar's establishment can no longer be read on the altar. However, based on the text above and a lookup in the gazetteer, the place name "Ung Thien prefecture" was actually Ung Hoa prefecture in the Le dynasty; it was only renamed Ung Hoa prefecture in the 14th year of Gia Long (1815). Thus, based on the content of the text on the altar and the place name recorded there, it can be inferred that the altar was established around the Le dynasty (15th–18th centuries); or at the latest, before Gia Long changed the name of Ung Thien prefecture to Ung Hoa prefecture, that is, before 1815.

From 1945 to 1954, the French colonialists destroyed the entire Giang Trieu area and neighboring areas, turning Giang Trieu into a "white belt"; the pagoda was also burned down. In 1956, with a spirit of devotion, the people of Giang Trieu contributed labor and money to restore the worship platform to maintain worship and preserve the system of relics. Later, in the Quy Dau year, the people, with their devotion to Buddha, repaired the relic. On the upper beam of the Front Hall there is a line of Chinese characters (meaning: the upper beam was completed on the 26th day of the 7th month of the Quy Dau year, era of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam, i.e. 1993). In 1982 and 1998, people from the surrounding area again contributed and restored the pagoda. On the upper beam of the Mother Goddess building there is still a line of Chinese characters (meaning: the upper beam was completed on the 12th day of the 4th month of the Mau Dan year, era of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam, i.e. 1998).

After many restorations, the pagoda is now built in the Dinh character layout, facing south, within a fairly large compound surrounded by a wall. The pagoda has not many structures. The overall layout of the pagoda includes the main items: courtyard, front hall, upper sanctuary, Patriarch house, Mother Goddess house, and stupa garden.