Looking in from the street, the first structure rising above the surrounding roofs is a three-story bell tower with upturned eaves. Passing through the outer triple gate, visitors enter the ancient stupa grounds divided into two clusters in front of and to the left of the inner triple gate, which then open onto a broad courtyard shaded by perennial trees, a seven-bay Buddha sanctuary, and the rear ancestral, monastic, and Mother Goddess halls. It remains an intact traditional pagoda compound in the middle of a densely built inner city.
The pagoda's Sino-Vietnamese formal name is Phúc Lâm Tự, meaning the Pagoda of the Forest of Blessings, and the four characters Phúc Lâm tự chung (Bell of Phúc Lâm Pagoda) are cast onto the great bronze bell hanging in the bell tower. Locals in Hải Phòng commonly call it Chùa Hàng (Hàng Pagoda) after the old village of Dư Hàng. Among the temples of the port city, Buddhist monastics revere this place as an ancestral seat (chốn tổ).
IAn ancestral seat of Buddhism in the port city
The pagoda venerates the Buddha in the Northern Mahayana tradition while housing patriarchs and Mother Goddesses in two separate halls according to the village pagoda custom of northern Vietnam. Yet the title that places it ahead of other temples in Hải Phòng is the term ancestral seat (chốn tổ). The Chinese characters at the head of this article represent its formal name Phúc Lâm Tự, as cast on the temple bell.
An ancestral seat (chốn tổ or tổ đình) in Vietnamese Buddhism is not a title of age or physical scale. It denotes a monastery from which a dharma transmission lineage branches out, having a founding or reviving patriarch, a patriarchs' hall and stupas holding the relics of successive generations of masters, and smaller temples across the region that recognize it as their root. A massive temple without a transmission lineage is not an ancestral seat, whereas a modest temple that preserves an unbroken patriarchal line remains an ancestral seat.
Regarding sectarian affiliation, epigraphic records on the steles and stupas of the pagoda show that it belongs to the Linji (Lâm Tế) school, a Chan lineage transmitted into Vietnam from the 17th century onward, while also preserving an earlier connection with the Tran-dynasty Trúc Lâm Zen school. Traces of that connection remain visible in the stupa garden and in the patriarchal memorial days observed by the pagoda, discussed in the ritual calendar section below.
The figure most frequently recorded in the pagoda's history is Nguyễn Đình Sách, courtesy name Chân Huyền, whose dharma title inscribed on his stupa stele is Văn Đạo Minh Sùng lão tăng thiền sư (commonly read in local documents as Minh Tông lão tăng). According to the stone stele Phúc Lâm tự, Thiên đài trụ, Tín thí, Công đức erected on an auspicious day in the first lunar month of the third year of the Vĩnh Trị era (1678), he originally held the court Mandarin rank of Quang tiến Vinh lộc Đại phu Thủy quân vệ, Đại lý tự Tự thừa (popularly called Commander or quan Đô úy), was a native of Dư Hàng Kênh commune in An Dương district, and resigned his official post to ordain under King Lê Gia Tông. The stele records that in 1672 and 1673 he contributed 440 strings of cash to purchase 2 mẫu 2 sào 4 khẩu of land adjoining the pagoda (bringing the total estate to 2 mẫu 5 sào 4 khẩu enclosed by bamboo hedges on four sides), newly built a 3-bay upper sanctuary, a 5-bay front hall, a 3-bay bell tower, a 3-bay rear hall, a 3-bay patriarchs' hall, and a 7-bay monks' quarters, and in 1678 gilded the Buddha statues and paved 7 stone walkways across the grounds.
The 1672 to 1678 period is crucial because it is the earliest milestone backed by a contemporary stone inscription in the entire history of the pagoda. Everything before it belongs to oral tradition. In other words, Nguyễn Đình Sách is not the legendary founder, but he is the first historical figure whose full name, court title, and concrete deeds are attested by epigraphy, meaning that the pagoda's verifiable status as an ancestral seat begins with him.
IIChronology and where the sources diverge
Dư Hàng Pagoda is widely called the oldest pagoda in Hải Phòng, with its founding date placed in the Early Lê dynasty, between 980 and 1009. Readers should know where that date comes from, and this requires a candid explanation.
- Early Lê eraInitial thatched hermitageAccording to local oral tradition and late temple records, the site began as a small thatched hermitage built between 980 and 1009. No contemporary historical text confirms this.
- Trần dynastyConnection with Trúc Lâm ZenTemple accounts link the site to the Trúc Lâm Zen school and state that Trúc Lâm patriarchs once expounded the dharma here. This too belongs to oral tradition, though it left tangible marks in the patriarchal worship and the three cenotaph stupas for the Three Patriarchs of Trúc Lâm.
- 1672 - 1678Major reconstruction and stele by Nguyễn Đình SáchUnder Kings Lê Gia Tông and Lê Hy Tông, Zen Master Nguyễn Đình Sách (Chân Huyền) spent 440 strings of cash to buy farmland, built a 3-bay upper sanctuary, 5-bay front hall, 3-bay bell tower, 3-bay patriarchs' hall, and 7-bay monks' quarters, and erected a stone stele in the third year of Vĩnh Trị (1678). This is the earliest milestone backed by contemporary epigraphy.
- 1839 - 1861Restoration under Minh Mạng and Tự ĐứcThe stele Sùng tu Phúc Lâm tín thí carved in the fifteenth year of Tự Đức (1861) records a major restoration lasting from the twentieth year of Minh Mạng (1839), purchasing three rafts of ironwood from Quảng Yên to rebuild the main sanctuary, front hall, and side corridors at a total cost of 31,530 strings of cash.
- 1899Restoration under King Thành TháiA major restoration led by Most Venerable Thích Thông Hạnh (courtesy name Phúc Nguyên) under King Thành Thái, casting the great bronze bell and expanding the lecture hall and stupa garden.
- 1917Shaping the current layoutA reconstruction that brought the pagoda to the scale and layout seen today. The wood carvings in the upper sanctuary and front hall were executed by artisans from the Hà Nam Ninh region in late Nguyễn artistic style.
- 1939Building Diệu Nghiêm Stupa and renovating the two Phổ Đồng StupasIn the fourth lunar month of the Kỷ Mão year, fourteenth year of Bảo Đại (1939), the pagoda erected Diệu Nghiêm Stupa for Patriarch Ảo Cư Thích Nghiễm Nghiễm (who passed away in 1933) and renovated the two Phổ Đồng Stupas (where the stone carver mistakenly inscribed Ất Mão instead of Kỷ Mão on the Phổ Đồng tablet).
- 1986National heritage rankingThe pagoda was classified as a national historical and cultural heritage site under Decision No. 1288-VH/QĐ on December 12, 1986.
- 2007National record for Buddhist woodblocksOn May 27, 2007, the Vietnam Record Organization recognized the pagoda's 290 woodblocks for printing the Dirgha Agama Sutra as the largest extant collection of woodblocks for this sutra held in a Vietnamese pagoda.
The Early Lê date does not appear in any contemporary dynastic chronicle. It comes from local oral tradition and internal temple records, whereas the oldest surviving material evidence at the site, consisting of the 1678 stone stele and the patriarchal stupas, dates only from the 17th century onward, roughly seven hundred years after the purported founding. A more cautious phrasing found in heritage dossiers states only that the pagoda has origins in the Early Lê period rather than asserting a specific founding year.
With physical artifacts the picture is entirely different, and here historical evidence speaks with certainty. All architectural structures standing above ground today belong to layers from the 17th century onward, comprising the Restored Lê layout expanded by Nguyễn Đình Sách from 1672, the Nguyễn-era ironwood reconstruction from 1839 to 1861, and the finishing layers of 1899 and 1917 in the early 20th century. Not a single structural timber attests to a tenth-century date.
A smaller discrepancy worth noting concerns the Vietnamese title of the sutra collection kept at the pagoda, which sources write in two ways as Tràng A Hàm and Trường A Hàm. Both are Sino-Vietnamese readings of the same Chinese characters (長阿含, Dirgha Agama, the Long Discourses), so the library records both readings rather than altering any source.
A common misunderstanding revolves around the phrase oldest pagoda. Calling Dư Hàng the oldest pagoda in Hải Phòng often leads visitors to assume that it preserves the oldest physical buildings, and that the halls seen today are relics surviving from the Early Lê dynasty. That is not the case.
Three distinct layers should be separated clearly. The layer of land and worship practice may be very ancient, and the oral tradition regarding the Early Lê era belongs to this layer. The layer of transmission lineage and stone inscriptions begins with named individuals and documented deeds in 1672. The layer of extant architectural buildings mostly dates from the 19th-century and early 20th-century restorations (1839 to 1861, 1899, and 1917). Those three layers are not of the same age, and collapsing them into a single number is what creates confusion. The library states this from a historiographical standpoint not to diminish the pagoda's value, because a 1678 stone stele, an intact set of 290 sutra woodblocks, and eleven ancient stupas preserving an unbroken patriarchal lineage are already rare treasures without needing to rely on an unverified tenth-century date.
IIIBell tower, Buddha sanctuary, and stupa gardens
The main worship complex is built in an inverted-T (Đinh-character) plan, with a seven-bay horizontal front hall joined to a three-bay longitudinal upper sanctuary behind it, flanked and backed by the patriarchs' hall, the Mother Goddess hall, the monks' quarters, and the guest hall. The visual axis entering from the triple gate is dominated by the soaring bell tower, which serves as the vertical landmark of the entire flat urban compound.
An entrance system comprising an outer triple gate and an inner triple gate opening toward Dư Hàng Street, leading into a spacious courtyard with ancient trees and a large patinated bronze cauldron at the center. The courtyard slows the visitor's pace, transitioning from street life to a space of contemplation.
A five-bay structure whose central three bays rise into a three-story tower with eight curved eaves, housing a large bronze bell cast with the four characters Phúc Lâm tự chung. Three-story bell towers are relatively uncommon in northern Vietnamese pagodas.
A 7-bay front hall joined to a 3-bay upper sanctuary with an ironwood frame built in the gong-stand truss (giá chiêng) style. The 1917 gilded door valances feature plum-and-bird, five-blessings, and dragon-and-cloud carvings alongside a wooden relief of Tang Sanzang journeying West for scriptures. Inside stand the Buddhas of the Three Times, a bronze Nine-Dragon birth relief (Cửu Long), and the Ten Kings of Hell.
Auxiliary halls flanking and backing the main sanctuary, including a 5-bay patriarchs' hall with carved altar platforms housing 9 portrait statues of patriarchs across generations, alongside rooms storing scriptures and woodblocks.
Epigraphic surveys document 11 ancient stupas divided into two clusters. The cluster in front of the inner triple gate has 2 stupas, namely the 3-story, 4.2-meter stone Liên Phương Stupa built in the 2nd lunar month of the Nhâm Thân year, 25th year of Tự Đức (1872) for Patriarch Tuệ Khả Thích Cảnh Cảnh on the right, and the 3-story brick Sinh Tịnh Stupa for Patriarch Nguyễn Đình Sách (Chân Huyền) on the left. The main cluster to the left of the inner triple gate comprises 9 stupas in 3 rows, with 2 Phổ Đồng Stupas and Thiệu Long Stupa in row one, Phúc Nguyên, Chiếu Hinh, and Diệu Nghiêm Stupas (built in 1939 for Patriarch Ảo Cư Thích Nghiễm Nghiễm) in row two, and 3 cenotaph stupas for the Three Patriarchs of Trúc Lâm (Pháp Loa, Điều Ngự, Huyền Quang) in row three. A modern 7-story, 21-meter Đa Bảo Stupa also stands in the compound.
A collection of 290 wooden printing blocks for the Dirgha Agama Sutra (Tràng A Hàm) preserved at the pagoda. Each block is carved in reverse Chinese characters on both faces, making an intact set of this scale a rare artifact.
The two characters Phổ Đồng (Universal Sameness) on the two stupas in the first row of the main stupa garden deserve explanation, as visitors often mistake them for the personal name of a patriarch. In Buddhist monastic usage, a phổ đồng stupa is a communal stupa where the ashes and remains of multiple monastics belonging to the same ancestral temple are enshrined together, in contrast to an individual stupa erected for a single patriarch such as Sinh Tịnh Stupa, Liên Phương Stupa, or Diệu Nghiêm Stupa. A stupa garden containing both types alongside three cenotaph stupas for the Three Patriarchs of Trúc Lâm marks an ancestral seat with a multi-generational lineage and a large monastic community.
IVThe lie of the land and orientation
This section presents the library's reading through the lens of traditional geomancy, not content recorded on stone steles or heritage dossiers. The library notes this clearly so readers can distinguish historical documentation from geomantic interpretation.
First, it must be noted that there are no mountains and no major rivers within sight. The pagoda sits on the flat alluvial plain of old Dư Hàng village near the coastal estuary, now completely urbanized. Reading the lie of the land in such a setting means one cannot look for a natural rear backing (hậu chẩm) and bright hall (minh đường) as in textbook mountain landscapes, but must examine how builders of the past created them artificially.
The first method is using vertical height. In traditional site reading, where mountains are absent, a tall human-made structure can serve as a spatial anchor that keeps qi from dispersing across a flat plain. The three-story bell tower and the twenty-one-meter Đa Bảo Stupa fulfill this exact role, acting as vertical landmarks that anchor the temple grounds amidst the city, while the sound of the great bell from the upper story historically defined the boundary of the sacred precinct in the ears of villagers even more clearly than brick walls.
The second method is using stupa gardens, rear halls, and perennial trees. Two clusters of ancient stupas stand guard in front of and to the left of the inner triple gate, while the patriarchs' hall, Mother Goddess hall, and monastic quarters close off the back and sides of the main sanctuary beneath old-growth trees and the tall stupa. Read in traditional terms, the rear halls and ancient trees form an artificial rear backing (hậu chẩm) supporting the sanctuary in place of a mountain, while the stupa gardens and ring of trees around the perimeter act as protective embracing arms shielding the interior from street noise. In an urban pagoda, that ring of trees and stupas performs the work of the Azure Dragon on the left and White Tiger on the right.
The third method is the courtyard space. The courtyard in front of the seven-bay Buddha sanctuary is wide, level, and unobstructed, serving as the bright hall (minh đường) of the pagoda, an inward-gathering bright hall rather than an outward-opening one. The spatial rhythm experienced by a visitor, moving from the outer triple gate past the ancient stupa clusters and inner triple gate into the courtyard, then into the Buddha sanctuary, and finally toward the patriarchs' and rear halls behind, creates a layered progression from the street into the quiet core. Though the axis is not overly long, it suffices to separate the interior sanctuary completely from the surrounding neighborhood.
Finally, the pagoda stands in the middle of the city not because the temple moved into the city, but because the city grew around the temple. When the complex was expanded in the 17th century, this was still village land enclosed by bamboo hedges on four sides. In traditional geomancy, whether a temple encircled by urban growth retains its gathered qi depends on whether its inner ring remains intact or has been encroached upon, and here the inner ring of triple gates, stupa gardens, courtyard, and old trees remains well preserved, allowing visitors stepping through the gate to feel an immediate sense of stillness.
VRitual calendar and patriarchal memorial days
As an ancestral seat, the pagoda observes two parallel cycles of rites, namely the general Buddhist calendar of festival days and the temple's own memorial days of the patriarchs (húy nhật). The second cycle is what distinguishes an ancestral seat from an ordinary temple, as only a monastery with a transmission lineage maintains a roster of patriarchal death anniversaries.
| Lunar date | Observance | Details |
|---|---|---|
| 23rd day of the 1st lunar month (or 3rd day of the 11th lunar month) | Memorial day of Third Patriarch Huyền Quang | According to the epigraphic study in the Journal of Buddhist Studies (Tạp chí Nghiên cứu Phật học), the 23rd of the 1st lunar month is the memorial day of Patriarch Huyền Quang (Lý Đạo Tái, 1254 - 1334), whereas Thế Giới Di Sản and Lao Động newspaper record his memorial observance at the pagoda on the 3rd day of the 11th lunar month. |
| 1st to 3rd day of the 11th lunar month | Memorial of First Patriarch Điều Ngự Giác Hoàng Trần Nhân Tông | The death anniversary of the founder of the Trúc Lâm Zen lineage is observed as a major annual ceremony. General historical records give the 1st of the 11th lunar month, while temple inscriptions record the main observance on the 2nd of the 11th lunar month. |
| Full moon of the 4th lunar month | Buddha's Birthday (Vesak) | Celebrated according to the current Buddhist calendar with the bathing-the-Buddha rite. In older northern Vietnamese custom, this festival was traditionally observed on the 8th day of the 4th lunar month. |
| Full moon of the 7th lunar month | Vu Lan Festival (Ullambana) | A major annual festival dedicated to filial piety and prayers for the deceased. At an ancestral seat with ancient stupa gardens, this period also includes sweeping and offering rites at the patriarchal stupas. |
| 1st and 15th of every lunar month | Twice-monthly new and full moon rites | Regular devotional visits by local Buddhists and residents throughout the year, most crowded in early spring and on the first full moon of the year. |
One notable feature in the table above is that the major patriarchal memorial days observed by the pagoda point back to the Trần-dynasty Trúc Lâm lineage, whereas the stupa inscriptions identify the generations of abbots from the 17th to the 20th century as belonging to the Linji (Lâm Tế) school. These two facts do not contradict each other. Across many pagodas in northern Vietnam, the active transmission lineage is the Linji line revived during the Restored Lê period, while the Three Patriarchs of Trúc Lâm are revered nationwide as foundational predecessors, so honoring both is standard practice rather than confusion. This dual observance shows how two historical layers of the pagoda continue to coexist in its annual liturgy.
VILocation And How To Get There
- Address
- Số 121 phố Dư Hàng (phố Chùa Hàng), phường Lê Chân (phường Hồ Nam, quận Lê Chân cũ), thành phố Hải Phòng
- Getting there
- The pagoda is located at 121 Dư Hàng Street (popularly called Chùa Hàng Street), Lê Chân Ward, Hải Phòng City (prior to the July 2025 administrative merger it belonged to Hồ Nam Ward, Lê Chân District, and in ancient stele inscriptions it belonged to Dư Hàng Kênh commune, An Dương district), right in the urban center within walking distance of neighboring streets.
- Coordinates
- 20.8475, 106.678
This is an active monastery with resident monastics and daily liturgical services, so visitors should observe temple etiquette by dressing modestly, removing hats before entering the Buddha sanctuary, walking quietly, and placing donations into merit boxes rather than onto statues. Offerings brought to the main sanctuary should be strictly vegetarian. The 290 woodblocks and ancient scriptures are original heritage artifacts that may only be viewed with permission from the monastery, and visitors must not touch them without authorization. Within the two ancient stupa clusters, please stay on the brick paths and do not lean or climb on the stupas.
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?Quick Questions
Where is Dư Hàng Pagoda and what are its other names
The pagoda stands at 121 Dư Hàng Street (popularly known as Chùa Hàng Street), Lê Chân Ward, Hải Phòng City (formerly Hồ Nam Ward, Lê Chân District before July 2025, linked to the ancient village of Dư Hàng Kênh). Its Sino-Vietnamese formal name is Phúc Lâm Tự, cast as Phúc Lâm tự chung on the great bell in the bell tower, while locals call it Chùa Hàng.
Why is Dư Hàng Pagoda called an ancestral seat
Because it is a monastery from which a major Buddhist transmission lineage in Hải Phòng branched out, preserving a patriarchs' hall with 9 patriarchal statues, two stupa clusters containing 11 ancient stupas including cenotaph stupas for the Three Patriarchs of Trúc Lâm, and serving as the root temple for smaller pagodas in the region. An ancestral seat is defined by its dharma lineage rather than its age or physical size.
Was Dư Hàng Pagoda really built during the Early Lê dynasty
The Early Lê founding date between 980 and 1009 comes from local oral tradition and late internal temple records, with no contemporary document confirming it. The earliest milestone backed by a contemporary stone stele is Zen Master Nguyễn Đình Sách's land purchase and reconstruction between 1672 and 1678. All extant buildings belong to layers from the 17th century and restorations in 1839 to 1861, 1899, and 1917.
Who was Nguyễn Đình Sách
He is the reviving patriarch most prominently recorded in the pagoda's history, courtesy name Chân Huyền, with the dharma title Văn Đạo Minh Sùng lão tăng thiền sư inscribed on his stupa stele (popularly read as Minh Tông lão tăng). The 1678 Vĩnh Trị stele records that he served as a court official holding the title Quang tiến Vinh lộc Đại phu Thủy quân vệ, Đại lý tự Tự thừa (Commander), was a native of Dư Hàng Kênh commune, resigned his post to ordain under King Lê Gia Tông, and spent 440 strings of cash in 1672 to buy farmland and rebuild the pagoda with an upper sanctuary, front hall, bell tower, patriarchs' hall, and monks' quarters.
What is the Dirgha Agama woodblock collection at Dư Hàng Pagoda
It is a set of 290 carved wooden printing blocks for the Dirgha Agama Sutra (Tràng A Hàm) preserved at the pagoda, recognized by the Vietnam Record Organization in 2007 as the largest extant collection of woodblocks for this sutra in a Vietnamese temple. Sources write the Vietnamese title as both Tràng A Hàm and Trường A Hàm, which are two Sino-Vietnamese readings of the same Chinese character.