Dau Pagoda

Dâu Pagoda does not date from the 17th century, or even from the 10th. The Cultural Heritage Department says it was founded in the Dâu area in the 2nd century. At that time Sĩ Nhiếp was governor of Giao Châu, an old name for a region that included northern Vietnam. The department names it the first Buddhist center in the country.

To put that in context, the 2nd century is more than 1,800 years ago. And the pagoda is still here, still in use.

The pagoda has many names. The department records Cổ Châu tự and Diên Ứng tự. It also records Pháp Vân tự and Thiền Định tự. Another name is Bà Dâu Pagoda. In 2013 a decision of the Prime Minister ranked it a Special National Monument.

The first thing a visitor notices on entering the courtyard is the Hòa Phong tower, standing in the middle. It has three floors now, built of fired brick, and is 15 meters tall. The heritage file records that old texts credit Mạc Đĩnh Chi with restoring the pagoda in the Trần period and building a tower of nine floors. Mạc Đĩnh Chi held the title Trạng nguyên, the top graduate of the royal examinations. But the department dates the tower that stands today to the Restored Lê period. It is a good example of how to read a monument. The story from history and the architecture that actually stands are not always the same.

Before the steps of the west door stand two stone squirrels. On the left is a stone sheep, which the department describes as a mark of culture from the north and links to the presence of Sĩ Nhiếp at Luy Lâu. Objects like these are rare in a Vietnamese pagoda. They show that the Dâu area was once a special meeting place of cultures.

In the front hall, the stone edge of the steps in the central bay is carved with dragons. The department says this is in the art style of the Trần period, another layer of age laid over the main architecture of the pagoda.

Beyond the incense hall lie altars to the Ten Kings of the Underworld, to Mạc Đĩnh Chi and to Prince Kỳ Đà. Then comes the upper hall, which holds the most special thing at Dâu Pagoda.

The upper hall is dedicated to Pháp Vân Buddha, the Great Sage. It also honors Bà Trắng and Bà Đỏ. Also honored there are Thạch Quang Phật and Quan Âm of the Thousand Hands and Thousand Eyes. The National Museum of Vietnamese History explains the Tứ Pháp this way. This belief of the Luy Lâu area links four figures to clouds, rain, thunder and lightning, which farming people could not live without. The first two are Pháp Vân and Pháp Vũ, for clouds and rain. The other two are Pháp Lôi and Pháp Điện, for thunder and lightning. When Buddhism came from India into this land, it did not erase the local belief. It merged with it. The result is a spiritual layer of its own in the Dâu area, not quite like Buddhism in India or Buddhism in China.

The legend of Man Nương and Khâu Đà La explains how the four statues came to be, according to the folk record. It is heard as a story told by the community, passed on by mouth, and not as a chronicle fully confirmed by archaeology.

Along the two corridors, the rear part is where the 18 arhats are worshipped, disciples of the Buddha who reached enlightenment. In the tower garden outside, eight brick towers still stand. They date from the Lê period to the Nguyễn period, and they belong to monks who once practiced at the pagoda.

The pagoda keeps 107 carved woodblocks, dated from 1752 to 1859. They have been a National Treasure since 2024. The set holds Buddhist scriptures, rituals and information about the Tứ Pháp belief. The set of Tứ Pháp Buddha statues of the Dâu area has also been a National Treasure since 2017.

The Dâu Festival is held on the 8th day of the fourth lunar month every year. Across the old Luy Lâu area, people carry palanquins in procession, offer incense, and meet again in the shade of the Hòa Phong tower, as they have for hundreds of years.

Dâu Pagoda is not a place where one visit explains everything. Each time people come back, they often find another layer of meaning. There is the archaeological layer of the oldest fired bricks, the carved layer of the Trần steps, the layer of belief in the local Tứ Pháp, and the layer of text in 107 woodblocks. Dâu Pagoda is a record in brick, stone and wood of more than 18 centuries of Buddhism in Vietnam.