Đồng Quang Pagoda

According to the stele inscription Untitled established in the 9th year of Tự Đức (1856) and currently erected at the Địa Tạng House of the pagoda, states that the land of Đồng Quang Pagoda was originally a cemetery area with a shrine used to offer sacrifices to the souls of those killed in battle, established around 1840–1847 under King Thiệu Trị. At that time, the Governor-General of Hà Nội, Đặng Văn Hòa, had the remains of fallen soldiers collected and reburied, interring them together in twelve burial mounds, and then built a shrine to worship the lonely souls of dead soldiers. This place was chosen because it was formerly a fierce battlefield in the great victory in early Kỷ Dậu (1789) of the Tây Sơn insurgent army against the invading Qing forces.

In the Tân Hợi year (1851), the 4th year of the Tự Đức reign, when Imperial Commissioner Nguyễn Văn Giai opened roads and established a market in the area, many remaining remains were discovered. He immediately had them collected and piled into a new burial mound, and at the same time called on philanthropists to donate to build several more ritual houses in memory of the orphaned souls who had not been worshipped. According to the stele inscription Đồng Quang Pagoda Stele Inscription (1916) records the history of the pagoda; it was precisely on that occasion (1851) that Đồng Quang Pagoda was founded, and the construction work lasted from February to June before being completed. During this time, Hà Nội suffered a dike breach, and several Buddha statues drifted in; everyone believed this corresponded to the building of the new pagoda; afterwards, the monks of the pagodas donated six more statues, and the villagers installed the statues for worship and called it Đồng Quang Pagoda (the pagoda of the two hamlets Nam Đồng and Thịnh Quang).

Also according to the stele inscription Đồng Quang Pagoda Stele Inscription (1916), in the Mậu Tý year, the Đồng Khánh reign (1886), the pagoda continued to be repaired to expand the scale of worship. On the 4th day of the 3rd month of the Ất Mão year, the Duy Tân reign (1915), the pagoda underwent a major restoration, and the work was completed on the 4th day of the 2nd month of the Bính Thìn year (1916) with financial contributions from officials in the area, together with the charitable donations of the Buddhist nun Nguyên Nhâm. The nun, who had just come to serve as abbess of the pagoda, was the person who took charge, contributed money for the restoration, and completed the pagoda.