Giáp Nhất Pagoda

According to “Quốc sử tạp lục” (Miscellaneous Records of National History), when Lý Thái Tổ moved the capital to Thăng Long, the land south of the Tô Lịch River was still largely forested, so it was called Kẻ Mọc, with the Sino-Vietnamese name Mộc Cự, later changed to Nhân Mục. As the population grew, it had to be split into Nhân Mục Cựu commune (Thượng Đình, Hạ Đình) and Nhân Mục commune (four Mọc villages: Quan Nhân, Cự Lộc, Chính Kinh, Giáp Nhất).

The pagoda of Giáp Nhất village has the Sino-Vietnamese name Phúc Lâm Tự and was formerly also called Trùng Quang Tự. This is the pagoda of Giáp Nhất village, also known as Lý Thôn, which previously belonged to Nhân Mục commune. It is said that the pagoda was built long ago and has suffered repeated collapse and destruction due to time and many successive wars.

In 1941, the pagoda underwent a major repair and the Buddha statues were repainted. In 1972, American bombs collapsed the Tổ house and the Trai house and caused the roof of the Mẫu house to cave in. In 1973, villagers donated labor and money to repair the Tam Bảo hall and the Tổ house. Along with the village communal house right next to it, on January 31, 1992, Giáp Nhất Pagoda was issued a Decision by the Ministry of Culture and Information ranking it as a National Historical and Artistic Relic.

In 2002, the nun Thích Đàm Biên was assigned to replace the elderly nun who had just passed away. Until 2007, the pagoda and local people organized fundraising and built the Tổ house and then the Mẫu house. In 2007, the People's Committee of Thanh Xuân District assigned the People's Committee of Nhân Chính Ward to act as the investor using state budget funds to renovate the Tam Bảo hall according to the approved planning design. In 2013, this major restoration was completed; in practice, most of the structures had been concreted.

Architecture and heritage

The pagoda faces northeast, looking out onto the Tô Lịch River, a river associated with many legends and the history of Thăng Long — Hà Nội. The old gate no longer exists; in its place is a two-story three-entrance gate (tam quan) with a bell tower in the middle and rather elaborate roofs made to imitate a third story. On both sides of the main entrance are pairs of reliefs of guardian dharma protectors standing guard instead of elephants and horses. A long wall decorated with reliefs separates the street from the pagoda.

Passing through the gate, visitors enter a brick courtyard without shade from ancient trees; on the left is a garden of stupas and ancestral tombs, and on the right is the side of the main pagoda. The three-bay front hall with two side compartments and closed gable ends connects with the three-bay rear sanctuary in a “Đinh” (T-shaped) layout. Further to the right are a small square pavilion, the Tổ house, the Mẫu house, a guest house, a kitchen, courtyards, gardens... and a side gate that also opens onto Giáp Nhất Street.

In the pagoda, there remains a stone stele engraved in 1892 recording a restoration during the reign of King Thành Thái (1889–1907). In addition, there is a complete system of Buddhist statues in wood and bronze, one bronze ritual chime, one bronze bell, and various ritual objects, horizontal plaques, and ancient couplets...