Hòe Nhai Pagoda

Hòe Nhai Pagoda, with the formal name Hồng Phúc Tự, is located at 19 Hàng Than Street, Ba Đình Ward, Hà Nội. This is an ancient pagoda, reputedly dating back to the Lý dynasty.

According to a stele inscription from the 24th year of the Chính Hòa era (1703) during the reign of King Lê Hy Tông (1676–1705), composed by Doctor Hồ Tông Mục, it is recorded that "the pagoda was built at Hòe Nhai at the Đông Bộ Đầu wharf." The stele also contains a passage describing the pagoda's location as follows:

"Hồng Phúc in Hà Thành

Nùng Mountain like a lapel

Nhị River like a sash

Trúc Bạch Lake as a barrier

Tô Lịch River winding around

This truly is an ancient Buddhist sanctuary of Thăng Long land..."

Hòe Nhai Pagoda has undergone many major renovations quite frequently in the years 1699, 1703, 1812, 1894, 1920, 1946, and 2010. The pagoda's grounds were once quite extensive, but during the French colonial period they were reduced to their current size.

This pagoda has been the great tổ đình (ancestral monastery) of Buddhism in the North in particular and Vietnam in general since the 17th century, with as many as 2 quốc sư (national preceptors), 3 Tăng Thống (Supreme Patriarchs), and 2 Pháp chủ (Dharma Masters) originating from and serving as abbots here – something extremely rare among Vietnamese pagodas:

Đạo Nam Quốc Sư, Thông Giác Thủy Nguyệt Thiền Sư, First Patriarch of the Tào Động School in Vietnam.

Đại Tuệ Quốc Sư, Chân Dung Tông Diễn Thiền Sư, Second Patriarch of the Tào Động School in Vietnam.

Tăng Thống Tịnh Giác Từ Sơn Hành Nhất Thiền Sư.

Tăng Thống Hải Điện Mật Đa Thiền Sư.

Tăng Thống Khoan Dực Phổ Chiếu Thiền Sư.

Zen Master and Dharma Master Thích Thanh Hanh, Great Elder (1840–1936); this is the pagoda where he entered monastic life at the age of 10 under the guidance of his Nguyễn family master here.

Dharma Master Thích Đức Nhuận, Great Elder (1897–1993), who served as abbot of the pagoda from 1980 to 1993.

The pagoda is built in the shape of the Chinese character 'Công' (工), covering an area of about 3,000 m2, comprising two five-bay ceremonial halls, a three-bay main sanctuary, and a seven-bay ancestral hall. At the front is the main sanctuary, at the rear are the ancestral hall and monks' quarters, with corridors surrounding the complex. The upper sanctuary still preserves many carvings of the four sacred animals and intricately gilded altarpiece doors. The pagoda houses many Buddha statues arranged in six tiers. The total number of statues at Hòe Nhai Pagoda is 68, made from various materials such as patinated bronze, precious wood, and rammed earth, all lacquered and gilded. The pagoda has a bell cast in the 3rd year of the Long Đức era (1734). The pagoda courtyard contains two three-storey stupas. Inside the pagoda, there are as many as 28 steles, the oldest being from the 24th year of Chính Hòa (1703), which clearly records the pagoda's location in Hòe Nhai Ward, at Đông Bộ Đầu, i.e., Đông Wharf. Thanks to this stele, historians today have been able to determine the location of the victory on 29 January 1258 by the Trần dynasty's army, which historical records call the Đông Bộ Đầu victory, when the Mongol invaders were expelled and the capital liberated, placing the site near today's Hòe Nhai Pagoda.

Within the pagoda are many ancient statues, the oldest being the Cửu Long (Nine Dragons) statue (depicting the infant Śākyamuni Buddha). The most distinctive is a double statue depicting a king kneeling with a Buddha statue on his back. According to legend, after King Lê Hy Tông expelled many monks to the mountains, Master Tông Diễn (Patriarch Cua) awakened the king, so Lê Hy Tông had this statue made to express his repentance.

The pagoda also preserves a set of Dược Sư Tam Tôn (Medicine Buddha, Sunlight Bodhisattva, Moonlight Bodhisattva) statues, the oldest of their kind in Vietnam, along with a set of Avataṃsaka Trinity statues. These Buddha and Bodhisattva statues are unique in Vietnam for their depiction with shaven heads like monks, rather than the usual snail-shell curls.

Hòe Nhai Pagoda is the "ancestral seat" of the Tào Động school, one of the two major schools of Buddhism in northern Vietnam.

Bronze Bell: 1m high, 1.5m wide, cast in the year of the Tiger, 3rd year of Long Đức era (1734), during the reign of Lê Thuần Tông.

Bronze Drum: cast during the Tự Đức era (1848–1883) of the Nguyễn dynasty.

28 stone steles, the oldest being from the 24th year of Chính Hòa (1703).

Ấn Quang Stupa, built in 1963, enshrining Venerable Thích Quảng Đức, who self-immolated for the Dharma.