Location: Ly Quoc Su Pagoda is
at 50 Ly Quoc Su Street, Hoan Kiem District, Hanoi.
Characteristic: Ly Quoc Su Pagoda worships a Buddhist Monk of the Ly Dynasty
(the 10th - 12th centuries). This Monk, whose full name was Nguyen Chi Thanh,
was born on 1066 in Dien Xa Village, Gia Vien District in Ninh Binh Province
in the reign of King Ly Thanh Tong.
In 1077, at the age of 11,
Nguyen Chi Thanh began practicing for the Buddhist monkshood and was taught
by Tu Dao Hanh, a well-known monk. As the legend says, Monk Tu Dao Hanh was
erudite in Buddhism and excellent in healing. He admired and respected
Nguyen Chi Thanh's talent and virtue. In 1138, in his seventies, Monk Nguyen
Chi Thanh cured King Ly Than Tong of a disease that many famous doctors had
failed to do. For his respectful virtue and talent, he was given the title
Ly Quoc Su by the King, which meant Great Monk and Merit Teacher of the
nation.
The King provided Ly Quoc Su with a serene residential quarter, which was
situated next to Bao Thien Pagoda in the centre of Thang Long Capital, on a
side of Luc Thuy Lake (Hoan Kiem Lake of today). This pagoda had a 12-storey
tower. Apart from preaching Buddhist sutra for the monks and nuns, Ly Quoc
Su taught medicine, prescription of medicines and demotic scripts to many
people in the temple and surrounding areas. Skilled in bronze casting, Ly
Quoc Su also trained many bronze casting craftsmen.
That is why when he died at the age of 75 at Giao Thuy Pagoda in Nam Dinh in
1141, King Ly Anh Tong (holding power from 1138 to 1175) had a temple
erected right on the ground of the residential quarter where Ly Quoc Su had
lived. Throughout the country there are many pagodas worshipping both Buddha
and Ly Quoc Su, who is considered the Saint of the bronze casting craft,
such as Giao Thuy Pagoda in Nam Dinh and Keo Pagoda in Thai Binh.
Ly Quoc Su Pagoda was rehabilitated and redecorated many times with the
biggest restoration being made in 1954. The cultural and historical treasure
of this temple still remains Ly Quoc Su's statue, Buddha statues and statues
of Monk Tu Dao Hanh and his mother and Monk Giac Hai. There is also the
precious bell of Tu Chung, cast in the 19th century and a stone stele with
inscriptions made in 1855 by Le Dinh Duyen, a famous man. The name of Ly
Quoc Su was given to a 244 meter-long street running from Hang Bong to Nha
Tho streets.
Source: Vietnam Administration of Tourism |