TRUNG TU PAGODA 

Trung Tu Pagoda with the pen-name of "Phuc Long Temple" is located at Lane 198, Xa Dan, Phuong Lien Ward, Dong Da District, Hanoi City. This was originally Dong Tac ward, Tho Xuong district, Phung Thien under the Le dynasty. In the early 20th century, Trung Tu belonged to Kim Lien, Hoan Long district, Ha Dong province.

According to the stele engraved in the year of the Rooster, the second Canh Hung year (1741), Phuc Long pagoda was established by the Princess Trinh Thi Thuan, a daughter of Lord Trinh, in the middle of the 18th century and entrusted to Trung Phung villagers to look after and worship. At the end of the stele, there is a poem praising the beauty of the pagoda:

"Ấp danh Đông Tác

Địa thông Hoàng thành.

Tích giáng hữu nhiều

Lâm thuỷ tiều oanh..."

Translation:

My hamlet is called Dong Tac

Located inner the city and next to Royal Citadel

With Tich river running on the right

Water stream running around in front

Trung Tu Pagoda underwent many renovations in 1892, 1894, 1925. In 1947, the pagoda was burned by the French. In 1951, Dam Cham monk and the local people rebuilt the pagoda to its present size.

During the resistance war against the French colonialists, the pagoda was a revolutionary base, hiding place for revolutionary soldiers to operate in the inner city. The pagoda’s head monk, Dam Cham herself, was involved in revolutionary activities since 1945 and for many years was a member of the Hanoi Women's Union and was very active in social work.

At the end of December 1972, when an American bomber destroyed Kham Thien street, Trung Tu Pagoda was one of the shelter places for many families. Therefore, the pagoda was awarded the Certificate of Merit by the People's Committee of Hanoi City.

The pagoda gate overlooking De La Thanh Street running parallel to Xa Dan Street has just been opened on the occasion of the 1000th anniversary of Thang Long - Hanoi.

The main pagoda is structured in the form of "Dinh" letter including Tien Duong (a house for burning incense) and Thuong Dien (or also called Central Chamber) , on both sides of the temple yard, there are Nha To (Ancestral House) and Nha Mau (Mother House) located parallel to each other, behind the pagoda, there are 3 ancient towers where keep the dead bodies of the head monks who passed away.

Tien Duong of Trung Tu pagoda consists of 3 compartments and 2 lean-tos, built in the form of a stack of matches with 2 floors of 8 elegant roofs, tiled roofs, the top of the roof covered with 3-letter Chinese letter "Phuc Long Pagoda", the two sides of the roof were decorated with two dragons on the roof edge, the 8 corners were decorated with 8 dragon heads curved and gracefully flying into the air, two edges were decorated with patterned tiles following the traditional style. The head was made in forms of balusters to receive the natural light into the interior. The three middle compartments opens the door of “Thượng song hạ bản”, two side compartments have the round windows in form of “Tho” letter shape. The pagoda yard is covered with cement, from the courtyard to the veranda, there are steps made of large green stones.

Inside, there are 4 sets of wooden frames in the form of “Thượng chồng rường giá chiêng, hạ cốn rường” on 4 rows of columns. Decoration of the pagoda is concentrated on the system of doors, trusses, beams, etc. Motifs such as leaves, script, dragon head, clouds, the four supernatural creatures, the four seasons which are very flexible and sophisticated to make the temple architecture more gentle and elegant.

Thuong Dien is a longitudinal house in the back of Tien Duong, the house was built with gables and traditional tilted roof. The frame consists of 3 sets of wooden frames which are structured like the Tien Duong. The highest and deepest place is the seat of the layers of Buddha statues in the pagoda. At the top, there is a set of Tam The (Past-Present-Future) Buddha statues; the second layer is the statue of Gautama Buddha statue and two Attendant statues, the third layer is the statue of Amitabha - Kim Dong - Ngoc Nu, the bottom is Toa Cuu Long and New born Buddha statue made of bronze. The two sides of Tien Duong are the statue of Khuyến Thiện – Trừng Ác (Encourage the Good-Punish the Bad), the statue of Duc Ong – Thanh Tang. In general, the layers of statues in the pagoda are not many, but they are created very beautifully, proportioned, reaching the standards of contemporary statuary art.

All compartments are hung with horizontal lacquered boards and parallel sentences praising the beautiful scenery of the pagoda, praising Buddhism together with doors painting in fresco which are red-lacquered and trimmed with gold to make the Buddha Shrine more sacred and cozy.

The Ancestral House consists of 5 rooms, built in the style of gables and traditional titled roof, the 3 middle rooms are the place to worship the Ancestors and the Princess Trinh Thi Thuan, who had contributed to the construction of Trung Tu Pagoda.

The Mother House consists of 3 rooms, 2 of them, built in the style of gables and traditional titled roof. The middle of the roof is decorated with patterns of dragons and the sun. The interior frames are made in the traditional way. The middle room is the place worshipping Three Mother Goddesses, the left room is the place worshipping Tran Dynasty (Grand Prince Hung Dao Tran Quoc Tuan and his family) and the right room is the place to worship Son Trang Lord.

Experiencing many ups and downs of history, Trung Tu pagoda still preserves a system of precious and rare objects with the historical, cultural and artistic values. The statues of high artistic value such as the Tam The statue, Gautama Buddha statue, the statue of Amitabha, the statue of The princess Trinh Thi Thuan etc. which were beautifully created and made with the art of the 18th – 19th century. Besides the system of round statues, the pagoda still retains a system of diverse and rich objects including 9 stone steles, 2 bronze bells and many horizontal lacquered boards, parallel sentences, doors painting in fresco, rolled letters, incense-tables etc. that contribute to improving the historical - artistic value of the relic.

Trung Tu Pagoda is a valuable cultural heritage of the capital which needs to be respected, preserved and promoted. To be existed until today, the pagoda has made many contributions to the country's history and the spiritual life of the local people. Trung Tu Pagoda has entered the national history as a pride of Vietnamese culture.

Trung Tu Pagoda was classified as a national relic in 1992.