Trầm Pagoda

Trầm Pagoda is located on Trầm Mountain, also known as Tử Trầm Sơn (紫沉山), a complex of several pagodas within the territory of Chương Mỹ Ward, Hà Nội, about 20 km from the centre of Hà Nội, formerly Long Châu village, Hà Đông province.

The pagoda's location is very beautiful, surrounded by small mountains such as Ninh Sơn, Đồng Lư, and Tiên Lữ. Every weekend, the site attracts a large number of Buddhists and visitors who come to sightsee and organise overnight camping. It is also a paradise for enthusiasts of trekking, cycling, photography, and more.

This is a whole scenic complex with Trầm Mountain and three pagodas: Trầm Pagoda, Hang Pagoda, and Vô Vi Pagoda. The three pagodas have achieved a high degree of harmony between mountain and pagoda, creating such a natural feeling that visitors think that the pagoda must belong to that mountain.

The main pagoda is built leaning against the cliff. The pagoda is relatively small, but the courtyard is spacious and shaded by many ancient trees, giving it a solemn and tranquil atmosphere. In the past, the entire Trầm Mountain area was where King Lê and Lord Trịnh established a royal residence.

Hang Pagoda is built inside Long Tiên Cave at the foot of Tử Trầm Sơn, to the left of the main pagoda. The cave entrance is just over 7 metres wide and more than 3 metres high, but inside is a rare, spacious, interconnected cave system. Thanks to natural light shining through several small crevices on the mountainside and the mountain top, one can admire countless stalactites of strange shapes and colours, such as fairy hair, stone gongs, stone bells, as well as shapes of dragons, birds, stone lotuses... all very lively. Inside the cave, there is a Buddhist altar along with stone statues. Of literary value are 15 works of poetry and prose carved on the cave walls, praising the pagoda's scenery. There are also two paths inside the cave. The path leading up to the mountain top is popularly called the 'way to Heaven', and the path down into the deep cave is called the 'way to the Underworld'.

Trầm Cave is also known for a historical event during the resistance against the French. On 19 December 1946, the national resistance broke out, and the next day, 20 December, here, the Voice of Vietnam radio station broadcast President Hồ's call for national resistance.

The most famous of the three ancient pagodas is Vô Vi Pagoda, about 1 km from the main pagoda. The pagoda was built in the year Ất Hợi (1515) by Trần Văn Tăng, a general who became a monk and initiated its construction. Climbing several dozen stone steps, at a resting spot, one encounters a large stone stele on the left, inscribed with a poem by Trần Văn Tăng written in chữ Nôm (quoted below).

The pagoda also has a bronze bell cast in 1814 during the Nguyễn dynasty.

Climbing another 100 winding stone steps is the Nghênh Phong Pavilion on the mountain top, where visitors can take in the entire scenic view of Trầm Mountain and the fertile countryside along the Đáy River.

The Trầm Pagoda Festival is held from the 2nd to the 4th day of the 2nd lunar month, featuring folk games, cultural and artistic activities. During the festival, thousands of visitors attend. On weekends, hundreds of people also come to enjoy the scenery and visit the pagoda. Trầm Mountain and Trầm Pagoda are important sites in Hà Nội tourism, a cultural and historical destination attracting more and more visitors from near and far. Moreover, foreign tourists are also very fond of this pagoda.

To the west of Tử Trầm land, Yên Sơn district (now Trầm Mountain, Chương Mỹ district, Hà Nội) there are more than ten rocky mountains stretching nearly a mile, with charming and delightful scenery. Inside is a stone cave, beneath which is a pagoda; in front, the Holy King established a palace there, often visiting, and renamed it Phụng Châu commune. To the east of the mountain is a protruding rock, very much resembling a purple toad.

Legend has it that in that commune lived a man named Trâu Canh, who was poor and had to work for hire to make a living. One day, while he was pulling rice seedlings in the mountain market valley, a Chinese traveller passed by and said: 'I have a good piece of land; if anyone asks, I will give it right away.' Hearing this, he immediately ran over, bowed, and invited the traveller to his home.

He could only prepare a small pot of rice to serve the guest and said: 'It is my good fortune to meet you, so my family is blessed. Only because of poverty is this meal so meagre. If you give me a blessed site, and my descendants prosper, we will never forget your kindness.'

Seeing his sincerity, the guest led him to the purple toad-shaped rock beside the mountain, pointed to it and said: 'This land is very good; if you build a house here, you will certainly become rich and noble. But after you have been close to the king and nobles, you must move your house elsewhere immediately, not staying even a day.'

He followed the guest's advice and built a thatched hut there to live in for three years. At that time, the village had a custom of fishing. The fish pond beside the mountain in front of his house was several trượng long and wide. Villagers brought traps and nets to the pond to catch fish. He was in the pond, tying the fish trap to himself. The rope suddenly broke, so he had to climb ashore and use a rattan cord to tie around his waist instead. Suddenly, his penis became erect, unusually hard. He had only a ragged loincloth and feared it would not cover him, so he stayed in the pond, not daring to come ashore. By then, the villagers had all gone home, leaving him alone.

Later, his mother came looking for him, saw him alone in the water, and scolded him for being late. He took off the fish trap and gave it to his mother to take home, then removed the rattan cord from his waist, and his penis gradually softened and returned to normal.

After he returned home, his mother asked why he had stayed in the pond. He told her the truth. She then dried the rattan cord and put it in the kitchen loft, occasionally telling him to wear it again, and each time his penis became erect. It worked every time.

At that time, King Trần Dụ Tông suffered from impotence, and doctors could not cure him. The king sent envoys throughout the country, promising that whoever could cure him would be rewarded with half the nation's riches.

The envoy came to his village. His mother called the envoy in and asked: 'What is impotence?' The envoy explained. She said: 'My family has something that can cure the king.' Then mother and son brought the rattan cord to the capital to present to the king. The king wore the rattan cord, and indeed his penis became functional again, and later he fathered two princes.

The king considered him a divine physician and kept him in the palace to look after his medicines, rewarding and favouring him above all others.

Once he was favoured by the king, he forgot the traveller's warning and did not move his house elsewhere. Later, his son committed adultery with a palace maid. When discovered, his son was executed, and he was banished. All his property and land were confiscated, and he became as poor and hungry as before.

The site of his house in front has several high fields shaped like a medicine-cutting board, so the area became famous for medicine making. The house was next to the mountain, and whenever the moon set, the mountain's shadow fell, looking like a toad on the roof, and the person seemed to be sitting in the moon palace, so he was close to the king and entered the forbidden palace. Only, the house was next to the mountain, the terrain was cramped, and the front faced Kiếp Sơn (?), with no fixed path, so wealth and nobility did not last long.