My Cu Pagoda is considered the oldest pagoda in Thuy Nguyen City, as well as one of the oldest pagodas in Hai Phong port city.
My Cu Pagoda is also known as Linh Son, located in My Cu village, old Chinh My commune, now Quang Trung commune, Thuy Nguyen city (Hai Phong). The pagoda has a unique location with its back leaning against a small, long mountain, called “Dragon Mountain”. The overall pagoda is designed in 3 floors, gradually rising from the foot of the mountain.
Chinh My commune, which was once a land reclaimed by ancient Vietnamese people in ancient times, has formed a village community through the process of clearing mountains and rocks, leveling hills and filling valleys. After thousands of years of development with Vietnamese villages, this place owns a rich complex of historical, cultural and religious relics, including 5 communal houses, 5 pagodas and many ancient temples, shrines and other places of worship.
According to the genealogy and oral tradition of the ancients, Linh Son Pagoda bears the mark of historical periods: ancient, modern and modern.
It is said that in the past, the parents of King Le Dai Hanh (941 – 1005) came to this pagoda to pray for a child and then gave birth to him – the king who replaced the Dinh Dynasty and opened the Le Dynasty with particularly important marks in the feudal history of Vietnam.
At My Cu Pagoda, there are still traces of Duong Chan hermitage, along with some other special vestiges such as Trang Hoc field, stone well, washing bridge… In particular, My Cu Pagoda was also the base of the insurgent army in the peasant uprising led by Tran Cao, contributing to the collapse of the political system in the early Le Dynasty, leading to the birth of the Ly Dynasty.
Not only associated with feudal history, My Cu Pagoda is also a landmark location in the history of the resistance war from 1930-1945. My Cu Pagoda was a place where patriotic monks met to discuss work, participated in the resistance zone, and by 1945, My Cu Pagoda became the revolutionary headquarters of Chinh My commune.
According to the elders in the village, during the years of the resistance war against the French, in response to the call for national resistance, a number of monks in the pagoda went to join the resistance. That is why in the pagoda garden today there is a memorial area for monks who contributed to the resistance war against the French.
My Cu Pagoda is located in the position of the five sacred animals: phoenix, dragon, turtle, tiger, elephant. In order from the foot to the middle of the mountain, the pagoda is arranged in the following order: upper, middle, lower. Surrounding the pagoda is a dense forest with pine, cypress trees; in front is an orchard, mainly lychee and longan. According to the abbot of the pagoda, the ancient trees surrounding the pagoda and the orchard here are also hundreds of years old.
In addition, My Cu Pagoda also has a special mark with Buddha statues, the most unique is the Amitabha Buddha statue 2.3m high, the lotus diameter is 1.4m, carved from ironwood growing in the pagoda, so this statue is very sturdy, cannot be moved.
The most impressive thing in the pagoda is the Buddha statues. In total, the dharma statues in the pagoda include 27 statues, carved from wood, cast from bronze… At the foot of the mountain, in front of the main hall is the ancient tower garden including 2 stone towers and 8 brick towers. In the pagoda, there are still some ancient steles recording the times of restoration and renovation, the stone pillar of the Chinh Hoa era (1680 – 1705), the bronze bell of the Minh Mang era in 1836…
Today, when you come to My Cu Pagoda, you can not only admire the ancient beauty of this ancient pagoda but also have the opportunity to participate in the festival. Every year on the 6th day of the first lunar month, My Cu Pagoda will hold a festival with a long-standing tradition, attracting a large number of people in the area to participate.
After the ups and downs, the mark of the pagoda has not been lost but has been increasingly restored and renovated to match its history.
If you come to Hai Phong and want to find ancient spaces, My Cu Pagoda will definitely be a new experience for you. Visiting My Cu Pagoda, you will admire the unique, ancient beauty of a pagoda located on a rocky mountain, along with the peaceful natural landscape here that will help you have a peaceful, memorable spiritual trip./.
Source: collected by An
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