Ngoc Bai Pagoda

The Ngoc Bai Pagoda relic was ranked at City level under Decision No. 2898/QD-UBND dated August 16, 2022, by the Hanoi City People's Committee

Like many other pagodas, Ngoc Bai Pagoda was built to worship Buddhism and is a cultural product of Buddhism. Since Buddhism was introduced to Vietnam in the early years of the Common Era, it has become a religion closely attached to and smoothly blended with the folk beliefs of the Vietnamese people. Buddhism played the role of an ideology, actively contributing to gathering Vietnamese forces to rise up and win national independence. Thousands of years later, Buddhism still promotes its positive role, contributing to maintaining national identity. Buddhism entered the people's life strongly and has left its mark almost everywhere through pagodas. A prominent feature of Vietnamese pagodas is that they always tend to be close to and associated with the villagers. Therefore, the space of the pagoda is also the cultural center of the village community of the people of Northern Vietnam in general.
Ngoc Bai Pagoda came into being through the constant contributions, generosity, and devotion of the local people. Through Buddhist teachings and ideas about reincarnation, enlightenment, and encouragement of goodness, Ngoc Bai Pagoda has created fine traditions for the Ngoc Bai community in particular and the surrounding people in general. Buddhist teachings contribute to regulating each person's moral behavior and are a place that preserves the long-standing traditional cultural customs of the nation. Out of compassion and gratitude to the Buddha, in addition to painting statues, casting bells, and building pagodas, people must also make efforts to learn from the teachings and live according to the virtues advised by the Buddha in order to develop spiritual capacity. Besides worshipping the Buddha, Ngoc Bai Pagoda also worships the Patriarchs and the Mother Goddess. This worship originates from indigenous beliefs and the Vietnamese ancestor-worship belief, and expresses our nation's very fine tradition of 'when drinking water, remember its source.'

DESCRIPTION OF THE RELIC
1. Brief introduction to the scope, scale, and overall ground plan of the relic, and the environmental landscape of the relic area; a general assessment of the artistic status of the relic, clearly stating the degree of damage and deterioration of the relic and the situation of encroachment on the relic
Ngoc Bai Pagoda ('Thien Long Tu') is located on a high, dry plot of land in the middle of the village. In front is the village's Ngoc Bai communal house; on the left is the village road; on the right and behind are clustered residential areas; within the pagoda grounds are perennial trees that make the pagoda's landscape more solemn. The pagoda faces south and has a structure in the shape of the character 'Dinh,' including items such as: the three-entrance gate, the front hall, the upper sanctuary, and the Patriarch house - Mother Goddess house. According to the stories of the village elders and the architectural structure and the system of Buddhist statues worshipped, it can be judged that this relic dates to the Nguyen era. However, the current architectural scale of this relic is the product of many repairs in recent years. In 1996, the local government restored the three-entrance gate; in 2001, the front hall was repaired; in 2006, the Patriarch house - Mother Goddess house was built. Currently, items and architectural structures such as the three-entrance gate, front hall, and upper sanctuary are partially deteriorating; the worship objects are carefully preserved and cleaned, and some artifacts are still chipped, cracked, or peeling.
2. Specific introduction
* Architectural description:
2.1. Three-entrance gate:
The three-entrance gate is a newly restored structure, with three passageways, the central passage being wider than the two side passages. The gate is built in the style of two tiers with eight curved knife-shaped roofs; the roof is made in imitation of tubular tiles; below, rectangular panels are created, with patterns decorating the outside and Chinese characters inscribed on the inside; below that are gate leaves made in a simple hinge style. The two central front columns bear a pair of Chinese character couplets, simple and without decorative patterns. Connecting to the two small gates is a low wall; the two small gates are made smaller, also as two tiers with eight curved knife-shaped roofs. The two sides are left plain without decorative patterns or couplets. (See photos H1, H2)
2.2. Front hall:
Across a courtyard paved with red bricks is the front hall. The front hall is a structure consisting of three bays with two side compartments, built in the style of gable walls with closed ends, roofed with Vietnamese tiles, and floored with red square bricks. The middle of the ridge is undecorated; at the two gable ends are two nail-like ornaments. From the porch, one enters through a system of wooden folding doors. The front hall includes four roof trusses made uniformly in the style of 'upper stacked beams, lower stacked beams, and porch braces,' with rows of wooden columns.
The trusses are smoothly planed and fitted closely, without decorative patterns. (See photos H6 to H11).
2.3. Upper sanctuary:
Connecting from the central bay of the front hall is the upper sanctuary. The upper sanctuary is a longitudinal building consisting of three bays, built in the style of gable walls with closed ends, roofed with Vietnamese tiles, and floored with red square bricks; three roof trusses supporting the roof are made in the style of 'upper stacked beams, lower stacked beams.' The trusses are smoothly planed and closely fitted, without decorative patterns.

2.4. Patriarch house - Mother Goddess house:
The Patriarch house - Mother Goddess house is an item located behind the front hall and upper sanctuary
on a ground plan in the shape of the character 'Nhi,' including the front worship hall and the rear sanctuary:
Front worship hall: consisting of five bays, built in the style of gable walls with closed ends, roofed with Vietnamese tiles.
Inside, the central trusses are made in the style of 'rafter trusses,' with continuous braces. The central trusses are smoothly planed and closely fitted, without decorative patterns; the continuous braces outside the porch are decorated with simple patterns. The two gable trusses are made in the style of plank rafter trusses, decorated with patterns around them. (See photos H15 to H21).
Rear sanctuary: The rear sanctuary consists of three bays, built in the style of gable walls with closed ends, roofed with Vietnamese tiles. The two central trusses are made in the style of rafter trusses; the two gable trusses are made in the style of plank rafter trusses, decorated with patterns.

Values of the Ngoc Bai Pagoda relic

Historical value:
Ngoc Bai Pagoda was founded long ago in a land with a long history and cultural tradition. One of the most proud features of the people of Ngoc Liep is the fierce patriotic tradition and steadfast resistance against foreign invaders to protect the homeland and country. That tradition has run through all eras, from the time our ancestors first established the village to the resistance wars against the French colonialists and the American imperialists. Promoting the fine traditions of the homeland, the people of Ngoc Liep strive to emulate, work and produce, overcome poverty, build an increasingly rich, beautiful, and civilized homeland, and continue writing golden pages of history for their homeland. The pagoda is the cultural activity center of the resident community, a place that preserves and maintains the traditional cultural values of the locality, and also a place of education that guides people toward good things in life.
Cultural and scientific value:
Ngoc Bai Pagoda ('Thien Long Tu') worships the Buddha, Patriarchs, and Mother Goddess according to the Mahayana school and is the cultural activity center of the resident community, a place that preserves and maintains the traditional cultural values of the locality, and also a place of education that guides people toward good things in life. The presence of the pagoda is an indispensable symbol of every village, expressing the aspiration for a peaceful and tranquil life of every working person in the countryside.
It can be said that Ngoc Bai Pagoda, as built and restored, is a purely
Vietnamese pagoda, evidence of the existence and development of Buddhism in the faith of the local people. Coming to the pagoda, people can worship the system of statues
of the Buddha, incarnations of historical figures in the Buddhist world, thereby 'encouraging goodness and eliminating evil,' educating people in humanity and righteousness, seeking truth, goodness, and beauty so as to cultivate the mind and accumulate virtue, becoming good and useful people for society. On the ... of the Vietnamese people.
festival days and Buddhist holidays, people came to the pagoda to perform ceremonies, expressing the fine tradition of filial piety
* Aesthetic value:
After many restorations and repairs, Ngoc Bai Pagoda still preserves a body of physical architecture bearing traditional artistic style, namely the trusses made of wood, smoothly planed and closely fitted. The system of relics includes many types and materials such as wooden objects, bronze objects, ceramic and porcelain objects, etc. Of particular note is the system of round statues, such as the pagoda's Buddha statues, Mother Goddess statues, and Patriarch statues, which are meticulously and proportionally crafted; each statue specifically describes the individual character of each figure while still reflecting the Buddha's qualities of compassion, joy, and equanimity.
In addition, the pagoda also preserves a bronze bell along with a system of horizontal plaques, couplets, etc. These are materials that help research and understand the date of the pagoda's founding as well as its restorations and embellishments through each period; at the same time, they are a source of historical data for research and understanding of many aspects of the locality in the course of the nation's history.