In honor of the Thang Long - Hanoi thousand-year anniversary and the 6th World Buddhism Summit held in Vietnam, the World Publishing House published the book entitled Vietnam Pagoda by the authors: Ha Van Tan - Nguyen Van Ku - Pham Ngoc Long. Editors: Le Van Lan - Nguyen Duy Chiem. The book covers 536 pages with more than 1000 pictures, drawings and maps of 118 pagodas all over the country. The outstanding point is that the pagodas all over the country have been covered in the book, especially there are two more new rare types of pagoda: mountainous pagoda and island pagoda.
The most ancient pagodas in Vietnam appeared in the early decades of the A.D - two thousand years ago. Pagoda is the center of spirit of the Vietnamese village community, the convergence of festival culture activities in various areas of the country, also the home to traditional art architectural values. Through history, we can see clearly that in each period, pagodas and towers have distinctive shapes. The tradition is always associated with the modern. Apart from the pagodas of Kinh people, there are pagodas of some other ethnic groups in Vietnam, for example, the pagoda made of simple bamboo of Muong people, the beautifully built pagoda with the roof influenced by the pagoda in Cambodia and Thailand of Khmer people. The pagoda of Chinese people also has its own architectural identity.
The book starts with the meticulous research introduction by Prof. Ha Van Tan on the panorama of Vietnam pagodas through historical periods, and in the traditional cultural life as well as Buddhism characteristics and spiritual culture of the country shown in the pagodas in Vietnam. “Upon surveying such pagodas, we not only see the characteristics of Vietnamese Buddhism, characteristics of Vietnamese religion and belief but also understand an important aspect of the Vietnamese cultural and thought history”…
In the next part, the authors led the readers to 118 typical pagodas throughout the country through the periods: From the early A.D, Dinh dynasty, Le dynasty, Ly dynasty, Tran dynasty and Nguyen dynasty to the recently built pagodas such as Non pagoda (Hanoi); the pagodas under construction: Bai Dinh pagoda (Ninh Binh), Thanh Long pagoda (Binh Phuoc). The pagodas are arranged from early to late, from the North to the South. Each pagoda has article and picture on the formation, development, architecture, landscape, interior, Buddhist statue and worshiping objects.
With more than 100 very beautiful art photos by the authors: Nguyen Van Ku, Pham Ngoc Long, with the collaboration of other authors, especially the photo by Venerable Thich Minh Hien, manager of Huong Tich pagoda, Hanoi, the readers are led to the “pagodas now actually living among the Vietnamese village communities”.
The book starts with Dau pagoda in Thuan Thanh district, Bac Ninh province. This land was formerly called Luy Lau in Han dynasty. This is the most ancient center of Vietnam Buddhism. It is followed by ancient pagodas in the north of Duong river (Bac Ninh): Tieu Son pagoda, Phat Tich pagoda, Dam pagoda. Ancient pagoda in Dai La (Hanoi): Tran Quoc pagoda, Kien So pagoda, One Pillar pagoda, Kim Lien pagoda, Ly Quoc Su pagoda and Tao Sach pagoda. In the Northwest Vietnam, Hoa Binh province has Thong pagoda in Kim Boi district, built in Tran dynasty. Khanh pagoda in Cao Phong of Muong people doesn’t worship Buddhist but stones. These are noble, natural, human-shaped stones which are rolled in red cloth and ends opened. According to Muong people, they are the King of Heaven, his wife and his two daughters who are placed on the worshipping throne. Son La province has Chien Vien pagoda in Moc Chau district, which was built in the 18th century and ruined in 1947. Here, there are many Buddhist statues which bear Lao style. In the Central Vietnam, there are Thien Mu pagoda and Tu Dam pagoda (in Hue). There are also pagodas in the Central Highland, in Ly Son island and Phu Quoc island; Viet pagoda; Hoa pagoda in Ho Chi Minh city; Khmer pagoda in the South Vietnam. Each pagoda has its own style. Vietnamese Buddhism has ups and downs but until now, the pagoda still plays an important role in the cultural activity of Vietnamese people.
In the book, there are also some cross section and plane section drawings of some pagodas by such scholars as Louis Bezacier and Tran Huy Ba and basic position drawing of Buddhist statue in some ancient Northern Vietnam pagodas. The layout diagram of worshipping statues in the main temple of the ancient Northern Vietnam pagoda, Thien Mu pagoda in Hue city, Giac Lam pagoda in Ho Chi Minh city. The final part is the list of 730 pagodas which are recognized by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism as the Historical and Cultural Heritage (as at 31/12/2009).
In judging this work, Dr. Nguyen Manh Cuong (the Institute of Religion Studies) wrote: “The book entitled Vietnam Pagoda is the crystalline of images and values of the cultural and religious - belief heritage block, which are shown sophisticatedly and concisely by the authors through the citations by Prof. Ha Van Tan on the panorama of Vietnam pagodas through historical periods and the introduction of Buddhism in Vietnam. We realize the great efforts made by the authors. If the first publication in 1993 just introduced 42 pagodas in 19 provinces and cities, in this publication, we see 118 pagodas in 61/63 provinces all over the country (in Dien Bien province and Lai Chau province, no pagodas are discovered)”, with more than 1000 photos, mostly representing the pagodas in Mahayana and Theravada Buddhism in Vietnam. As an Archeological - Religious researcher, with many years of struggling for research and excavation of ancient Vietnam pagoda, we would like to recognize the energy contribution by the authors and the editorial board”.
