Yen Tu Mountain

In 1293, a man in his thirties handed the throne to his son. From then on, his heart turned more and more toward the mountains. One by one, he let go of everything: the throne, silks, safety, and comforts that ordinary people never know in a whole lifetime. Six years later, in 1299, he climbed Yên Tử to live as an ascetic monk. After that, the mountain forest was his home. In 1308 he passed away at Ngọa Vân hermitage on Bảo Đài mountain. By the traditional Vietnamese count, he was 51.

The man was Trần Nhân Tông. He ruled Đại Việt, an old name for Vietnam. Twice he led the country to victory over the armies of the Yuan, the Mongol dynasty then ruling China. He also founded the Trúc Lâm Yên Tử school of Zen. It is a purely Vietnamese line of Zen, founded by a Vietnamese king. And that path of Zen began on this very mountain.

Yên Tử is a mountain 1,068 meters high, in Yên Tử ward, in Quảng Ninh province. It is the sacred mountain of Vietnamese Buddhism. On July 12, 2025, the UNESCO World Heritage Committee met for its 47th session in Paris. There, the Yên Tử complex was inscribed as a World Cultural Heritage site, together with two other areas. One is Vĩnh Nghiêm, in Bắc Ninh. The other is the pair of Côn Sơn and Kiếp Bạc, in Hải Phòng. Together they became the ninth World Heritage Site in Vietnam. The listing was also the first in the country made as a chain of separate sites, stretching across three provinces and cities.

UNESCO recognized it under two criteria. Criterion three speaks of a harmony between the state, religion and the community, which created a unique cultural tradition of global significance. Criterion six speaks of the influence of Trúc Lâm Buddhism in building a strong nation, keeping the peace and fostering cooperation in the region.

Pilgrims have two ways to reach the summit. One is to climb 3,719 stone steps, divided into three sections. That climb takes about four to six hours one way. The other is a cable car in two stages, built with French POMA technology, which shortens the trip considerably.

The footpath passes many important places. Trình Pagoda is the first stop, the pagoda where pilgrims announce themselves. They pause there to light incense and ask permission before climbing the mountain. Giải Oan Pagoda stands beside a stream, and a legend is tied to it. It is said that when Trần Nhân Tông resolved to become a monk, his palace maidens could not bear the parting. They threw themselves into the stream. The emperor then set up an altar to pray for the release of their wronged souls. It is a folk tale, and the official histories do not confirm it. But it reflects one truth. The resolve of Trần Nhân Tông to leave the world behind was absolute.

The Huệ Quang Golden Tower is a stone tower 6.81 meters high. It rises in five tiers that narrow toward the top, decorated with lotus petals. It was built under the Lê dynasty. It holds relics of the Buddha Emperor Trần Nhân Tông. Around it lies the Huệ Quang garden, with many tomb towers of monks. They come from three dynasties. The first two are the Trần and the Lê. The third is the Nguyễn.

Hoa Yên Pagoda is the central pagoda of the Yên Tử complex. It dates from the Lý dynasty, which ruled Vietnam from 1009 to 1225. It grew large and strong under Pháp Loa, the second patriarch of the Trúc Lâm school. It is one of the sites that make up the property inscribed by UNESCO. The ancient frangipani tree in front of its gate is more than 700 years old.

And at the summit, 1,068 meters up, stands Chùa Đồng, the Bronze Pagoda. It was cast entirely in bronze and weighs about 70 tons. It is 4.6 meters long and 3.6 meters wide. It stands 3.35 meters tall. It was inaugurated on January 30, 2007. It has been called the largest bronze pagoda in Asia at such a height. Still, that is a popular title, not a record that anyone has measured and compared. From here, on a clear day, the whole of Quảng Ninh spreads out below, with the outline of Ha Long Bay to the southeast.

The Yên Tử national forest covers about 2,783 hectares. Of that area, more than 93 percent is natural forest. It holds 830 species of plants. Among them are 144 Heritage Trees. Most remarkable are more than 100 hồng tùng trees, also called xích tùng. They belong to a rare species. These trees are from 300 to 700 years old. Climbing past their rows means walking among living things older than many dynasties.

Trần Nhân Tông could have stayed in his palace and enjoyed all the power and comfort an emperor could have. He did not. No one knows exactly what persuaded him to walk out through that palace gate. But the mountain range he chose for his practice, and for the last years of his life, is the one underfoot here today.