About five kilometres west of central Huế, going upstream along the Perfume River, a low hill rises on the left bank. On its summit stands an octagonal tower of seven storeys, and behind the tower is the pagoda that the people of Huế call the foremost ancient temple. This is Chùa Thiên Mụ, also known as Chùa Linh Mụ.
What sets this pagoda apart from every other is not its age. It is that the pagoda was born of a prophecy, and the man who heard that prophecy was a lord looking for a place to found his house in a new land. Thiên Mụ is therefore both a pagoda and the opening landmark of an entire dynasty.
IThe lady in red and the true lord
In the Tân Sửu year, 1601, Lord Nguyễn Hoàng, known as the Lord Tiên, had a pagoda built on Hà Khê hill. Before that, according to the story as it was recorded, an old woman in a red tunic and green trousers would often appear on the hill at night, telling the people of the area that one day a true lord would come and found a temple on this spot.
The pagoda takes its name directly from that story: Thiên Mụ means the old lady from heaven. Later, under King Tự Đức, the pagoda was given the name Linh Mụ, the holy lady, and a horizontal board carved with the three characters Linh Mụ Tự hangs at the three-arched gate. Both names are still used side by side, and the people of Huế are right to use either.
As far as historians can verify, the story of the old woman belongs to legend rather than to the chronicles. What is certain is that in 1601 Nguyễn Hoàng had the pagoda built, and that this belonged to a larger sequence of events: he was laying the foundations of Nguyễn power in Đàng Trong, the southern realm. Building a temple on a hill by the river, on ground the local people already held sacred, suited both the faith of the people and the calculations of a ruler. The two are not in conflict, and the people of that time did not see them as conflicting either.
IIFour hundred years of the pagoda
- 1601Lord Nguyễn Hoàng founds the pagodaThe pagoda is founded on Hà Khê hill, on the left bank of the Perfume River.
- 1695Zen master Thạch Liêm becomes abbotThe Nguyễn lord invites Thạch Liêm, a Zen master from China, to serve as abbot. In this period the pagoda becomes a centre for transmitting the Dharma in Đàng Trong.
- 1710The great bell is castLord Nguyễn Phúc Chu has a great bell cast, weighing 3,285 cân, or about 1,986 kg. The bell is now a national treasure.
- 1714Major restorationThe largest restoration of the Nguyễn lords' era, adding many buildings to the grounds.
- 1715The royal stele Ngự kiến Thiên Mụ tự is erectedThe stele is 2.6 metres tall and 1.25 metres wide, set on the back of a marble turtle 2.2 metres long and 1.6 metres wide.
- 1844King Thiệu Trị builds the Phước Duyên towerAn octagonal tower of seven storeys, 21 metres tall, is built in front of the pagoda, together with the Hương Nguyện pavilion at its foot.
- From 1945Major restoration under the Venerable Thích Đôn HậuThe restoration work lasts more than thirty years and gives the pagoda most of the appearance seen today.
The pagoda belongs to the Complex of Huế Monuments, which UNESCO has inscribed on the World Heritage List. This means that every repair here is bound by conservation rules, and it also means that what visitors see today has passed through the hands of many generations of caretakers rather than being the original state of 1601.
IIITower, bell and stele
The three objects that made the pagoda famous are not in the main hall at all. They stand in the front courtyard: a tower, a bell and a stele.
Octagonal, seven storeys, 21 metres tall, built by King Thiệu Trị in 1844. Each storey enshrines a statue of the Buddha. This is the most painted, photographed and reprinted image of Huế.
Cast in 1710 under Lord Nguyễn Phúc Chu, weighing 3,285 cân, or about 1,986 kg. It has been recognised as a national treasure.
Erected in 1715, 2.6 metres tall and 1.25 metres wide, set on the back of a marble turtle 2.2 metres long. The inscription records the restoration and the devotion of the man who commissioned it.
A square pavilion with eight roof planes at the foot of the tower, topped by a Dharma wheel. It was built in the same campaign as the Phước Duyên tower.
The main hall of the pagoda, built in the trùng thiềm điệp ốc style, that is, two roof tiers joined together, the architectural style characteristic of Huế.
In the rear grounds, the resting place of the monk who led the restoration that lasted more than thirty years.
Many people assume the Phước Duyên tower dates from the founding of the pagoda. It does not: the pagoda was built in 1601, the tower in 1844, more than two hundred and forty years apart. The tower that the whole country takes as the symbol of the pagoda is in fact the youngest of its major structures.
IVThe lie of the land and the facing
This section is the library's own reading through the eyes of traditional feng shui, not something recorded on the stele. The library states this plainly so that readers can tell source material from interpretation.
The pagoda sits on Hà Khê hill, a mound that rises well above the otherwise flat riverside plain. In the art of reading land, a mound rising from level ground is called a đột, a protrusion, and a protrusion is a sign that qi has gathered. Those who searched for a node (huyệt) in the old days looked for exactly such places: not a great mountain, just a rise higher than its surroundings, with the lie of the land around it folding in to embrace it.
In front of the pagoda flows the Perfume River. This is the configuration of a bright hall (minh đường) with water, that is, the open space before the node holds water that gathers and flows. On this stretch the river runs slow and winding, neither rushing nor dead straight. Slow, winding water lets qi linger, while straight, rushing water sweeps qi away. The pagoda's position is sheltered by that pattern of water.
As for the facing, the pagoda looks out over the river, that is, towards the south and southeast, with its back resting on the higher part of the hill and the strip of land behind. This is precisely the configuration of backing onto a mountain and facing water that the feng shui texts hold up as the standard: support behind, bright water in front. On a delta plain, a site that meets both conditions is not easy to find, and that explains why this ground was held sacred before there was any pagoda.
There is one more layer, the layer of the ruler. Nguyễn Hoàng built the pagoda here before the Nguyễn house fixed its capital in the Huế region. To set a temple on the best ground of this bend of the river, and then take the story of the lady in red as its witness, was to secure the land and the people's hearts at once. In the old days, reading the land was never separated from reading the times, and Thiên Mụ is the clearest example of that combined reading.
VA living pagoda
Thiên Mụ is not a monument closed off for visitors to look at. It is a working pagoda with a community of monks in training, a daily schedule of chanting, and the Buddhist festivals of the common calendar.
| Lunar date | Festival | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Full moon of the 1st month | Thượng Nguyên festival | One of the three great full moons of the year. The pagoda is crowded with worshippers. |
| 8th day of the 4th month | Vesak, the Buddha's birthday | In the Vietnamese Buddhist calendar the celebration usually runs until the full moon of the 4th month. |
| Full moon of the 7th month | Vu Lan festival | The festival of filial gratitude, one of the busiest occasions of the year at the pagodas of Huế. |
| Full moon and first day of every month | Sóc vọng days | The regular schedule of chanting and offering incense. |
In the rear grounds the pagoda also displays the Austin car linked to an event in Saigon in 1963. This library records the presence of the object as it is, and does not discuss the political questions surrounding that event.
VILocation And How To Get There
- Address
- Đồi Hà Khê, đường Nguyễn Phúc Nguyên, phường Hương Long cũ, thành phố Huế
- Getting there
- On Hà Khê hill, on the left bank of the Perfume River, about 5 km west of central Huế. Reached by the riverside road or by boat up the Perfume River.
- Coordinates
- 16.4536, 107.545
This is a working pagoda, so its house rules are the rules to follow: visitors are expected to dress modestly, remove hats before entering the main hall, walk softly and speak quietly, and stay out of the monks' quarters unless invited. The tower courtyard is where most people take photographs, but in the main hall and around the stupa visitors are asked to keep quiet.
The pagoda can be reached by road along Nguyễn Phúc Nguyên street, which follows the riverbank, or by boat up the Perfume River from the city centre. The boat is the old way, and it is also the way to see the lie of the pagoda's land from the water, which is exactly what the founders saw when they chose this site.
Nearby places in the library
XIIContribute To This Page
Contribute photos, information or video for Thien Mu Pagoda
Góp ảnh, thông tin hoặc video cho Chùa Thiên MụEveryone is welcome to enrich this page: a photo you took, a detail the page misses, a short video. Every contribution is read and answered.
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?Quick Questions
Is it Chùa Thiên Mụ or Chùa Linh Mụ
Both are correct. The original name is Thiên Mụ, after the story of the old lady from heaven who appeared on the hill. Under King Tự Đức the pagoda was named Linh Mụ, and the board reading Linh Mụ Tự still hangs at the three-arched gate. The people of Huế use both names.
When was the pagoda built and by whom
It was founded in the Tân Sửu year, 1601, by Lord Nguyễn Hoàng, known as the Lord Tiên, on Hà Khê hill. Its present appearance is the result of many restorations, most notably in 1714, in 1844, and the restoration begun in 1945 that lasted more than thirty years.
Was the Phước Duyên tower built at the same time as the pagoda
No. The pagoda was built in 1601 and the tower in 1844 under King Thiệu Trị, more than two hundred and forty years apart. The tower is 21 metres tall, octagonal, with seven storeys, each enshrining a statue of the Buddha.
How heavy is the great bell
The bell was cast in 1710 under Lord Nguyễn Phúc Chu and weighs 3,285 cân, or about 1,986 kg. It has been recognised as a national treasure.
Why was the site held sacred before the pagoda was built
According to the story as recorded, the local people already held Hà Khê hill sacred because of the lady in red. Read through feng shui, a mound rising from flat ground, with the Perfume River winding past in front, fully meets the configuration of backing onto a mountain and facing water, the kind of site that people in the old days could search for a lifetime to find.