Ba Vang Pagoda

On the slope of Thành Đẳng Mountain, in Uông Bí, in Quảng Ninh province, a pagoda stands high above the town. From the inner Tam Quan area, the streets crowd close below, and farther off runs the historic Bạch Đằng River. This is Ba Vàng Pagoda, Chùa Ba Vàng, whose formal name is Bảo Quang tự.

The pagoda's own account is that Bảo Quang tự means a pagoda of precious light. Ba Vàng is explained through Tam Bảo. The Three Jewels are the Buddha, his teaching, and the Buddhist community. That is how the pagoda itself understands it, tied to a name that has long belonged to this land.

The pagoda has been a provincial historic and cultural site since November 28, 2007. According to the Quảng Ninh government portal, it began in 1706, under Emperor Lê Dụ Tông. It was founded by the Great Zen Master Ma Ha Sa Môn Tuệ Bích Phổ Giác. That original pagoda is gone today. The old accounts say that in 1988 the pagoda was rebuilt in wood. In 1993 it was built again, this time in brick, tile and cement. And since 2007 the monk Thích Trúc Thái Minh has taken charge as abbot.

The pagoda as it stands today is the result of one large round of building. In March 2014, it opened the Đại Hùng Bảo Điện, the main Buddha hall, covering 4,500 square meters. With it came a bell tower, a drum tower, a La Hán corridor and a museum. The La Hán, or arhats, are disciples of the Buddha who reached enlightenment. The museum keeps stone relics and ceramics dated from the 13th to the 14th century. They are the oldest objects here, and they quietly tell of the long ages this land has seen.

The walk up begins at a stone gate at the foot of the mountain. It passes the middle Tam Quan area and the cool Từ Bi waterfall. Higher up come a statue of the bodhisattva of compassion, Quán Thế Âm, then the One Pillar Pagoda, Half Moon Lake and the deep green Bodhi Garden. After that comes the Thập bát La Hán corridor, which leads into the main hall area. The Đại Hùng Bảo Điện is the heart of the pagoda, the highest, widest and most majestic place of all. Around it are the Divine Well and the museum. The Temple of Heroes and Martyrs stands inside the Phụng Tổ Đường, and Bodhi Mountain is here too, all of it there to be visited at an easy pace.

Standing in the inner Tam Quan area, one looks out over the wide courtyard of the main hall, and farther to Uông Bí stretching away below. The mountain wind blows strong, and the curved roofs stand out against the sky. It is a fine place to stop, breathe deeply and feel how the mountain wraps around the pagoda.

Ba Vàng Pagoda is a living place of faith, not a museum standing still. Every day many people come to pray to the Buddha, to quiet the mind and to study the teaching. Among the slow, heavy scent of incense, one can feel the gentle breathing of a faith that goes on.

Visitors to Uông Bí often join Ba Vàng Pagoda and Yên Tử in a single trip. The two set each other off. Yên Tử is a sacred mountain of great age, quiet and grand. Ba Vàng Pagoda is a newer structure on the mountain, bright and crowded in every festival season. Anyone who has once stood in the courtyard of the main hall has seen the curved roofs against the blue sky and the distant town veiled in incense smoke, and carries away a moment that is hard to forget. The two are different spiritual spaces, yet they share one piece of Uông Bí in Quảng Ninh.