Lý Nhân Pagoda (Kim Tương Tự)

Lý Nhân Pagoda has the Sino-Vietnamese name “Kim Tương Tự” and is located in Lý Nhân Village, former Dục Tú Commune, now Đông Anh Commune, Hanoi City. It is a small pagoda in the center of Lý Nhân Village. Based on the pagoda’s relics, especially the statues created in the 18th–19th centuries, it can be inferred that the pagoda was built around the Later Lê period and was restored several times. During the resistance war against the French colonialists, the pagoda was devastated, but the local people promptly preserved the worship objects, especially the system of worship statues dating from the Later Lê period. Later, the pagoda was restored on a smaller scale and still retains the architecture of a traditional pagoda.

The pagoda is located on a plot in the middle of the village, with a layout in the shape of the character “ding” consisting of the front hall and upper sanctuary. Through a small gate leading into the pagoda courtyard, the structures are arranged close together; in the center is the main pagoda, on both sides are the Mother Goddess worship house, the Patriarch worship house, guest house, etc. The front hall has 5 bays and 2 lean-tos facing west in the style of a closed gable with ngai-style brackets and decorative pillars. The ridge is decorated with lemon-flower motifs, and in the center three characters are embossed: “Kim Tương Tự”, the Sino-Vietnamese name of the pagoda. The surroundings are enclosed by walls; the two end bays have windows in the shape of the character “thọ”, and the three central bays form a wide veranda fitted with folding plank doors. The roof frame structure has four rows of columns. The architectural decoration is simple, with stylized flowers and leaves, cloud patterns, and leaf-coil motifs… The upper sanctuary is connected to the front hall by a stepped brick platform for arranging Buddha statues.

To the right of the main pagoda are 5 bays housing the Patriarch Hall, guest house, and monks’ quarters. The structure of this building uses overlapping brackets, transom beams, front beams, and rear seven-beam frames. At the end of the Patriarch Hall, adjacent to the end of the main pagoda, is the Mother Goddess hall consisting of 2 bays, whose roof connects with the front hall and the Patriarch Hall.

The most valuable relics in the main pagoda are the Buddha statues that the villagers tried to preserve through the war. The pagoda has more than 40 statues, mainly made of wood, with a few clay statues, all carefully lacquered and gilded with gold and silver. The statues date from the 18th–19th centuries; exceptionally, some date into the 20th century. Notably, there is a statue of Quan Âm Nam Hải standing in a 46-armed pose; this is an intricately and elaborately carved statue of great value. Other statues dating from the 18th century include the statues of Ananda and Mahakasyapa, three statues of the Three Worlds Buddhas, and an Amitabha statue. In addition, there is a bronze bell cast in the fifth year of Minh Mệnh (1824); on the bell are engraved four large characters “Kim Tương Tự Chung” and a bell inscription recording the merits of casting the bell for the pagoda.

The relic was ranked as a National historical and architectural-artistic relic by the Ministry of Culture and Information (now the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism) in Decision No. 1568/QĐ-BT dated April 20, 1995.