Thach Cau Doi Pagoda

This Thach Cau Doi Pagoda, named “Thien Quang Tu,” belongs to Group 2, Thach Cau, Long Bien Ward, Long Bien District, Hanoi. In ancient Han terminology, Thien Quang is understood as the light of Buddhist Dharma shining down from heaven; it is an ancient pagoda worshipping Buddhas in combination with Mother Goddess worship (a belief of the Vietnamese people in the past). Thien Quang Pagoda is situated on high ground by the Red River, facing south-southwest; the presence of the pagoda is linked with the formation and development of the culture, beliefs, and religion of the people of Thach Cau, Long Bien today.

Thien Quang Pagoda was first built at the end of the Le dynasty and was restored and rebuilt in the early Nguyen dynasty in the 7th year of Tu Duc (1856), then in Chi Minh Commune, Gia Thuy Canton, Bac Ninh Province, now Long Bien Ward. In 2000, the pagoda was restored by local people with a Dinh-shaped layout, including a Tam Bao main worship hall of 5 bays and 2 wings, with closed gable walls, stacked beams and lower braces, and Nguyen-era decorative motifs; the upper sanctuary consists of 3 bays worshipping Buddhas, with a continuous altar system from the Three Worlds Buddhas to lower deities. Behind is the Ancestral House with 5 bays; to the left is the Mother Goddess House with 3 bays worshipping the Three Palaces of Holy Mothers...; in front is the pagoda pond, and to the right is the pagoda gate.

During French colonial rule, this place was also a base for meetings and preparations for the general uprising to seize power on August 23, 1945 by the people of Thach Cau from the village chief and local notables into the people's hands; after December 1946, Thien Quang Pagoda was also a place for Long Bien guerrillas to establish contact with the liberated zone and Hanoi, a revolutionary base where tunnels were dug to shelter and hide Viet Minh cadres, and where monk Thich Thanh Thanh operated. In late 1949 and early 1950, this place also suffered many raids and sweeps by French colonialists and their henchmen, who shot and killed, arrested the communist monk Thich Thanh Thanh, imprisoned and brutally tortured him, and burned and destroyed the communal house and pagoda to eliminate the liaison base. In March 1954, together with the people of Gia Lam and Long Bien, this place was also a rallying point for the C26 main force of the Hanoi Front and guerrillas of Long Bien, Bo De, and Gia Thuy, launching attack spearheads on the third day and at dawn on the fourth day of March 1954, attacking Gia Lam Airport, destroying 18 enemy aircraft and wiping out one squad, in order to cut off air support and supplies at Gia Lam Airport to the Dien Bien Fortress, contributing with the people of the whole country to the historic, world-shaking Dien Bien Phu victory of our Army and people.

With the traces of a heroic period of officials, guerrillas, and people of Long Bien in general and the people of Thach Cau in particular, and to promote the tradition of the heroic armed forces unit of Long Bien Ward during the anti-French period, in 2012 the Hanoi City People's Committee issued Decision No. 5593/QD-UBND dated December 4, 2012, on attaching a plaque marking the revolutionary resistance event site at Thach Cau Doi Pagoda, Long Bien Ward.