Vinh Phuc Pagoda (Dai Phuc Tu)

Vinh Phuc Pagoda (Dai Phuc Tu) was ranked at City level under Decision No. 844/QD-UBND dated February 25, 2026, of the Hanoi City People's Committee

Vinh Phuc Pagoda is an architectural work dedicated to Mahayana Buddhism in the Northern Delta. Along with the development of traditional architectural forms, Vinh Phuc Pagoda was built to meet the local people's need for Buddhist worship. Because its doctrinal content suited the psychology of Vietnamese people and its rituals were simple, Buddhism developed strongly in our country and at times became the state religion of the feudal Dai Viet state during the Ly–Tran period.

In the early Le period, although the feudal state adopted Confucianism as the orthodox ideology for governing the country, Buddhism still held a considerable position in society and was recognized by all classes. Even King Le Thanh Tong, a devout Confucian, still visited pagodas, ordered the construction of the “Vong Tien” and admitted: “The way of the sages (Confucianism) is useful every day, yet people's fondness for it is no match for Buddhism and Taoism”.

From the 17th century onward, Confucian order declined, and people turned to Buddhism again; the practice of donating posthumous offerings and rice fields to build pagodas became common, and many pagodas were built by mandarins and nobles. Through many ups and downs and upheavals of the nation's history, the village pagoda remained a familiar symbol of every Vietnamese countryside. The pagoda is both a trace of Buddhist architecture and a place where people place their faith and aspirations for a sufficient, peaceful life, as well as a place that educates people in compassion and charity.

In addition to being a place of Buddhist worship, during the resistance war against the French, Vinh Phuc Pagoda was also a meeting place for local guerrillas, a shelter for revolutionary cadres, contributing to the nation's overall success.