Dinh Xuyen Quan
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Dinh Xuyen Hamlet was formed from two villages, Nam Duong and Dinh Xuyen, of the former Hoa Nam Commune.
Dinh Xuyen Village preserves a rich complex of historical and cultural relics, including Dinh Xuyen Communal House and Quan, Hung Phuc Pagoda, and the Nguyen The family church; these works not only have outstanding artistic architectural value but are also places of worship for tutelary gods and notable figures who made great contributions to the nation's cause of building and defending the country.
The Dinh Xuyen Hamlet relics—Communal House, Quan, and Pagoda—are all national-level artistic architectural relics ranked under Decision No. 1057 dated June 14, 1991, of the Ministry of Culture.
Dinh Xuyen Pagoda has the Sino-Vietnamese name Hung Phuc Tu. Hung Phuc Pagoda belongs to Dinh Xuyen village and has a long history of construction. In the relic, in the Tam Bao hall, a number of precious Le-era artworks are still preserved. At the pagoda there are several quite beautiful artistic statues, together with the communal house located in the ancient land area of Dinh Xuyen village
Dinh Xuyen Pagoda is in the north of the village, located in the area containing the Dinh and Quan relics of Dinh Xuyen village.
Dinh Xuyen Pagoda has the following structures: the three-entrance gate, the Tam Bao hall, and the Ancestor house combined with the Guest house. In particular, the pagoda area has an ancient Duoi tree, said to be four hundred years old or more.
The pagoda gate is built close to National Highway 21B. This is a cultural work with early Nguyen dynasty artistic architecture. Currently the three-entrance gate has become one main gate. The architectural item is made in the style of Hue's Ngo Mon, on a large, massive, and solid scale. The wall is 60cm thick, arranged with 2 tiers of 8 roof eaves, covered with tiles. The decorative motifs have been damaged over time, leaving only a robust three-entrance architectural structure, standing alone in the sky yet very beautiful.
The construction area is 42m2. Architecture in the Dinh character style (J), the Dai Bai hall has 5 bays; inside is the Rear Sanctuary divided into 5 small bays. This is the main architectural work of the pagoda, half-facing west. The Dai Bai has 4 trusses connected by 4 rows of columns, each row has 4 small wooden columns, each column has a square or round protruding stone base.
The trusses of the Dai Bai are made in the style of upper stacked beams and lower brackets, with square blocks placed between the beam segments. No corbel panels were found in the Dai Bai hall. The truss system is mostly smoothly planed and tightly joined. The column system is split at the top to fit the upper tie beams, trusses, and horizontal and vertical beams. On some square trusses with outside line carving, there are also protruding carvings of floral and leaf motifs, apricot blossoms and chrysanthemums, the character for longevity... The leaf flowers have somewhat stiff lines, leaf veins are incised with sunk lines, rows of long dots...
The rear sanctuary is in the shape of a pestle handle, with 5 small bays divided into 3 trusses and two main rows of columns, while two auxiliary rows of columns support trusses hidden in the gable wall. The truss structure in the Rear Sanctuary is relatively mixed: stacked-beam trusses, continuous-beam trusses, transfer-beam trusses, and stacked-beam trusses with corbel panels. This is also evidence of the repair process. In the architectural system, there are two beautifully carved artistic corbel panels.
- The first corbel panel depicts “Long Van”: a single dragon flying in the clouds, its dragon body appearing and disappearing through swirling cloud clusters. Mixed with the fan-swirling dragon tail, the sharp claws, and the long mane extending from the head carry the power of divine authority.
The second corbel panel opposite is carved in relief with the work “Dragon Rolling Water”: This is a theme seen often in relics of low-lying fields. The work shows the mindset of farmers, wishing for favorable rain and wind so that green plants bring them a life of warmth and plenty.
In the Rear Sanctuary: some blocks carved with lotus flowers, square pillars with seal-script characters, truss heads with sunk-carved leaf motifs, lotus petals and line carving... can still be seen. In the central bay, the upper tie beam records the year of pagoda repair:
On the brick wall of the rear Dinh, bricks of the 18th century are still preserved.
The Ancestor house combined with the Guest house has a cross-beam and continuous-beam architecture, with smooth planing and tight joining, ordinary wood material.
Before 1945, Hung Phuc Tu was an ancient pagoda with a fairly complete system of Le-era Buddha statues. During the resistance war against the French colonialists, the invaders destroyed the pagoda and a series of precious literary and artistic works were lost with it. Fortunately, three statues remain: the Amitabha statue, the Tuyet Suong statue, and one Tam The statue, one bell, and three posterior Buddha steles.
- The Amitabha statue: is a beautiful artwork, with a large carved presence placed in the middle of the Tam Bao. The work is divided into two parts: the statue and the statue pedestal.
The statue is in a cross-legged sitting position, circular, with both hands folded in its lap. Height 1m57, width adjacent to the pedestal at the widest diameter 80cm, chest circumference 2.10m, pedestal height 35cm, pedestal diameter 1.10m decorated with 3 layers of lotus petals, scene width 22m, height 20m.
Observation: on the top of the statue's head there is a round protrusion, which is “Ushnisha” (a manifestation of the Buddha's long-perfected wisdom, a great voice of wisdom that can see before, see after, see the whole universe, even the smallest microscopic things; only the wisdom eye of the divine can see it. Surrounding the precious head of the statue is a cluster of hair intertwined in a spiral style, expressing the word “Sanskrit” of Buddhism, a halo radiating to all realms of the mortal world. The statue's face is oval, all details have large gentle eyes, a straight nose, and a look of kindness and closeness to an ordinary face, so the statue more or less has a portrait quality. The ears of the Buddha are unusually large and long, the neck is high with 3 rings, the body wears a long robe that flows long, creating many curved layers like the boundary of a lotus leaf; in the middle of the chest there is a knot in the shape of the character “Brahma” and shimmering silk ribbons. Overall, the artistic details on the head, crown, and chest of the statue are full, and the face is very folk-like.
The Amitabha statue in a meditative sitting posture still carries much of the Vietnamese soul. The lines are soft and graceful, wearing a kasaya robe, elongated, still with coiled hair expressing yin and yang and the eternal existence of the Buddha dharma. The statue is made of wood and is an extremely standard carving of a late Le dynasty Buddha statue (18th century).
- The Three Ages Statue: It is a small-to-medium-sized statue seated on a lotus throne, with an ushnisha on top and spiral curls indicating the Buddha's halo like the Amitabha statue described above. The difference is that the statue sits with one hand pointing to the sky and the other placed in its lap; the Buddha's eyes are half-closed, looking down gently and illuminating the conscience. The statue's mouth, with its even lips, still bears a faint smile imbued with salvation.
Overall, this is a statue of artistic value; standing before the Buddha, through art and Buddhist Dharma, people who love art increasingly discover the profound meanings that earlier generations wanted to pass on to later generations.
The remaining Tam The statue sits on a lotus throne, small in scale; the lotus throne also has 3 tiers, with bold petals, two tiers facing upward, and the lower tier curving down like the lotus platform of the Amitabha statue. Because they belong to the same statue system and were made by the same artisans, their styles harmonize with one another.
- The Tuyet Suong statue: was carved and chiseled very elaborately, in a seated posture with both arms folded on the knees, one leg propped up and one leg folded round. The statue is depicted realistically: a gaunt body, eyes looking deeply in thought at sentient life, as if admonishing people to do good.
Measurements: 78 cm high, chest 59 cm, propped leg 35 cm high, base width 47 cm. The body clearly shows each rib, emaciated, wearing a loincloth, with soft strips of cloth draped from the shoulder across the body and around the arms. Both arms are folded on the knees, fitting the seated posture. The face looks austere, with long earlobes and sharp features. This is a statue of low stature like the Tuyet Suong statue at Tay Phuong Pagoda.
In summary: The three remaining statues have survived many wars. They are works of art, the result of the diligent labor and creative intelligence of our ancestors left behind.
The voice of art will lead us to understand the cultural, social, and economic traditions of that time. Preserving artistic works must be regarded as treasures, as research materials for the history, economy, politics, and culture of a period. At the same time, they are evidence of the historical tradition of our homeland through the centuries.
In addition, the pagoda also has a bronze bell cast in the sixth year of Emperor Minh Mang's reign (1825). The bronze bell is a product of bronze-casting technique, a musical instrument, and bears very elaborate mold-decoration art: lemon flowers, tram motifs, round dots, lotus petals, seal script...
* Dating of the pagoda
The current pagoda was rebuilt in the Nguyen era. According to local tradition: the communal house was built in the Quy Hoi year (1863), and before that the pagoda had already been rebuilt. Also, a rear stele inscription from the twentieth year of Emperor Tu Duc (1859) records that many villagers contributed to rebuilding the pagoda. Thus from 1859, the people of Hung Cong, one year later in 1860 (Canh Than year), completed the restoration of the pagoda as large as it is today.
However, this was a very major repair; on the other hand, Dinh Xuyen Pagoda has an even earlier date based on:
1 - Rear Buddha stele inscription dated the second day of the seventh month of the seventeenth year of Emperor Gia Long (1818).
2 - The precious statues from the 18th century.
From this it can be concluded: in Gia Long 17 (1818) there was already a pagoda here, so the villagers' contribution to repair was recorded on the rear stele; the pagoda must predate the Nguyen era. Because there is logical material and there are Buddha statues of the pagoda from the 18th century, this is scientific evidence allowing initial remarks and further discussion on the origin date of Hung Phuc Pagoda, possibly in the Later Le period (18th century).
- Objects to be inventoried and entered into the list.
- Rear steles: 3, made in the Gia Long reign, seventh month, 17th year (1818), Tu Duc 12 (1859), and Minh Mang 6 (.....)
- Ceramic incense vessels: 8
- Wooden lamp stands: 9
- Wooden incense tubes: 10
- Porcelain vases: 8
- Wooden offering trays: 7
- Wooden ceremonial stands: 9
- Bronze worship cranes: 4
- Minh Mang sixth-year bell (1825): 1
- Wooden statues: 18
- Worship thrones: 6
- Altar table: 1
- Box for Buddhist scriptures: 1.
Dinh Xuyen Pagoda is an artistic architectural work that has passed through many generations and contains a number of precious artworks from the Later Le period. It is a cultural work cared for by the people and repaired many times, so it is relatively solid and spacious.
Dinh Xuyen Pagoda is a place of Buddha worship. It is a cultural work with ancient architecture. The pagoda still preserves many precious artworks, crystallizing the fruits of the diligent labor and creative intelligence of the people of the commune.
