Vinh Thuong Pagoda (Canh Linh Tu)

• Local history: Vinh Thuong Village, Son Cong Commune, located on the bank of the ancient Day River, is a land with a long scholarly tradition and three doctoral laureates of the Le dynasty (Doctor Ngo Thai Doan, Ngo Van Oanh and Do Duc Thang). During the resistance wars to defend the Fatherland, the village had 20 martyrs and 01 Vietnamese Heroic Mother.

• Construction date: Based on the architectural structure, the system of Buddha statues and Han-Nom inscriptions, the relic is assessed to have been founded in the Nguyen dynasty. The pagoda underwent major restorations in 1993 and 2009 (newly building the Tam Quan) and in recent years has had its enclosing wall, Ancestor House and Mother House renovated.

• Worship beliefs: The pagoda worships Buddha and Bodhisattvas according to Mahayana Buddhism (Three Worlds Buddhas, Amitabha, Guanyin, etc.), combined with worship of the Three Holy Mothers, Saint Tran (Tran Hung Dao), Patriarchs and Posterior Buddhas in order to emphasize encouragement of goodness, punishment of evil, and education in compassion.

Based on the current-state drawing documentation (bản vẽ_3.pdf), the relic faces southwest (toward the land of Buddha), with a structure of T-shaped layout ($T$) majestic, combined with a continuous series of auxiliary items:

• Tam Quan (three-entrance gate): Built in court style with lime and brick, imposing. It includes 6 decorative pillars with constricted waists and bulbous bases, topped with stylized four phoenixes with joined tails. Between the pillars are 3 arched doorways; above are two-story, eight-roofed pavilions with curved knife-edge roofs covered with ri tiles, and the middle pavilion's collar is embossed with the Han characters Canh Linh Tu.

• Front Hall: The horizontal house consists of 3 bays and 2 side bays; the roof system follows a four-sloping-roof structure with soaring curved knife-edge corners decorated with stylized dragons and phoenixes. At the two ends of the ridge are pairs of leaf dragons holding the ridge; in the center of the ridge are two dragons facing a ho phu motif supporting a Buddhist emblem; the front roof is stepped to form a double roof with three characters of the pagoda name embossed. The wooden truss frame is sturdy and load-bearing.

• Upper Hall: Connecting perpendicularly from the central bay of the Front Hall and running lengthwise to the rear. The frame consists of 4 rows of large load-bearing concrete columns supporting the roof, built in the structure of a square two-story, eight-roofed building covered with pointed tiles (symbolizing the cosmological sequence of Thai Cuc - Luong Nghi - Tu Tuong - Bat Quai in transformation). The top of the upper hall roof is embossed with a ho phu motif supporting a solemn fiery sun.

• Patriarch House and Mother House: Located behind and to the right of the Upper Hall. The Ancestor House consists of 3 closed-end bays with tiled roof and simple wall-supported trusses. The Mother House consists of 3 horizontal bays divided into front worship and rear sanctuary, with a sturdy overbeam truss with hidden columns and eave brackets.

The worship objects at the pagoda are diverse in material (wood, bronze, ceramic), neatly distributed (about more than 40 statues):

• Typical metal antiquities: 01 ancient bronze bell cast in the 19th year of Thanh Thai (1907). The bell body is cylindrical and yellow, the handle is made of two stylized dragon heads with backs joined in an arch shape, the body is cast with 4 round bosses and divided panels engraved with Han characters recording the offering of posterior blessings and the pagoda's restoration (evidence documented in tập ảnh_3.pdf).

• System of Buddha statues at the Tam Bao (22 statues):

  • Tier 1 (Highest): Set of statues Buddhas of the Three Times including 3 statues carved seated in meditation on lotus pedestals; the middle statue bears late-19th-century style, with a clearly prominent ushnisha.

  • Tier 2: Statue Amitabha (chest revealing the Van character) together with statues of Two Bodhisattvas standing and statues with Cundi Avalokiteśvara six pairs of hands forming mudras.

  • Tier 3: Statue of Thousand-Handed Thousand-Eyed Guanyin, Jade Emperor seated on a throne wearing a flat crown and holding a command tablet, adjacent to statues of Nam Tao and Bac Dau with dragonfly-wing crowns.

  • Layer 4 (bottom): Cuu Long Hall made of wood carved with nine coiling dragons forming an arch surrounding the statue of the infant Shakyamuni pointing to heaven and earth with one hand.

  • Statues at the Front Hall: Statue of Duc Ong with red face and dragonfly-wing hat, statue of Holy Monk wearing a seven-Buddha hat and a gilt kasaya, statues of Dharma Protectors Khuyen Thien and Trung Ac riding majestic lions.

• Artifacts in the Ancestor House and Mother House: Statue of Patriarch Bodhidharma in a two-layer kasaya seated in meditation. The Mother House houses statues of the Three Holy Mothers in multi-pleated robes (green, red, and dark brown), the Mountain Mother statue, Saint Tran in a red cloak and boots, and attendant statues of Tien Dong - Ngoc Nu.

• Horizontal plaques, couplets & curtain doors: Wooden horizontal plaques bearing the Chinese characters "Sơn Anh Hải Tú" and "Y Chính Trang Nghiêm"; flat couplets with seal-brocade patterns, yellow background and black characters, combined with a system of 02 lacquered and gilded relief-carved curtain doors featuring dragon, ly, turtle, phoenix, and Four Seasons motifs, exquisitely crafted.

Based on the cadastral map (current status map...pdf) and the 2018 inter-sectoral agreement minutes (Zoning minutes...pdf), the relic is managed under a strict legal framework:

• Zoning boundary: Because the pagoda is located in a stable, isolated position outside the village field, and the original elements are preserved intact, the Conference agreed to zone only Protection Area I and not to zone Protection Area II.

• Area of Protection Area I: Area 8,150.1 m² bounded by 17 closed marker points (scale 1/500).

  • North: Adjacent to the inter-village concrete road and cultivated land of Sơn Công commune.

  • South: Adjacent to cultivated land and a concrete drainage ditch.

  • East: Adjacent to the village pond, farming area, and Đáy River dike.

  • West: Adjacent to the main concrete road and cultivated land.

• Strictly prohibited regulations: Strictly prohibited are all construction, illegal exploitation, or excavation activities that alter the original state of the architectural landscape or artifacts within the relic boundary. Functional agencies note that the local authorities should soon have a plan to handle and relocate the White-robed statue placed in the pagoda courtyard (as it is inconsistent with Northern Buddhist worship customs) and remove cement plaques engraved with donors' names in Vietnamese Romanized script that are improperly attached to the gable wall of the main pagoda.