Climbing to the top of the steep trail on the slope of Mount Bảo Đài, visitors reach a narrow level terrace halfway up into the clouds, just wide enough for a few small halls and a stone stupa. On morning visits a sea of clouds often blankets the valley below, bringing out the literal meaning of the name Ngọa Vân, which means lying among the clouds. Right on this terrace, on the night of the first day of the eleventh lunar month in 1308, Buddhist Emperor Trần Nhân Tông entered nirvana.
Ngọa Vân is only one point in a heritage complex spread across the hills and mountains of Đông Triều, comprising fourteen component sites under Special National Monument Decision No. 2383 dated December 9, 2013, bringing together seven Trần royal tomb areas, Thái Temple, An Sinh Temple, Ngọa Vân Hermitage and Pagoda, Quỳnh Lâm Pagoda, Hồ Thiên Pagoda, Trung Tiết Pagoda, and Ngọc Thanh Pagoda and Taoist Temple. This land carries two overlapping layers of meaning that this article traces in turn, serving both as the ancestral homeland of the Trần clan and as one of the three principal centers of the Trúc Lâm Zen lineage.
IAncestral homeland of the Trần clan and one of three Trúc Lâm centers
Reading Đông Triều through only a single layer means missing half the picture. The first layer belongs to the royal lineage, as this was the ancestral homeland of the Trần family before branches moved down to the Thái Bình and Nam Định plains. The second layer belongs to the Zen school, as this was one of the three largest centers of the Trúc Lâm Zen lineage. Those two layers meet at Ngọa Vân Hermitage.
Regarding the royal lineage layer, historical records state that from the reign of King Trần Thái Tông, the land of An Sinh was granted as an appanage to the king's elder brother Prince An Sinh Trần Liễu to tend the ancestral tombs and family worship. From that time Đông Triều became the burial ground of the Trần monarchs, with seven royal tomb areas alongside Thái Temple and An Sinh Temple as the two main ritual centers.
Thái Temple, the Imperial Ancestral Temple (Thái Miếu) of the Trần Dynasty, was built on Đình Hill in Trại Lốc Hamlet during the first half of the 13th century and reconstructed in 2014 directly over the ancient foundations uncovered by archaeological excavation. Monument dossiers and Management Board records state that the temple venerates the Trần clan ancestors and fourteen Trần kings, with the central bay displaying the four-character plaque Trần Triều Thái Miếu, royal princes venerated on the left, and civil and military mandarins on the right, whereas several other accounts also mention Trần Thừa and the tutelary deity of Đốc Trại Village or emphasize the first three kings Trần Thái Tông, Trần Thánh Tông, and Trần Nhân Tông. The two descriptions differ only in whether they list the broader or narrower pantheon, and the library records both.
An Sinh Temple was built in 1381, initially worshiping five Trần kings whose tombs lie in Đông Triều and later receiving the spirit tablets of three more kings from Long Hưng in Thái Bình to venerate eight Trần kings in all, namely Thái Tông, Thánh Tông, Anh Tông, Minh Tông, Hiến Tông, Dụ Tông, Nghệ Tông, and Giản Định, while enshrining Grand Prince Hưng Đạo Trần Quốc Tuấn in the middle hall.
Three principal centers of the Trúc Lâm Zen lineage
Trúc Lâm is the Zen lineage founded by Trần Nhân Tông, and what distinguishes it from earlier Zen schools is its worldly engagement. Trúc Lâm doctrine does not place spiritual cultivation outside everyday life, advocating practice right in the midst of worldly affairs and taking the mind rather than outward form as the core, often summarized in the saying that Buddha dwells within one's own heart and should not be sought far away. The lineage recognizes three successive patriarchs, namely Trần Nhân Tông, Pháp Loa, and Huyền Quang.
Geographically, Trúc Lâm has three major centers. Yên Tử is the place of ascetic practice and dharma propagation. Đông Triều holds Ngọa Vân Hermitage where the First Patriarch entered nirvana, Quỳnh Lâm Academy as the school's monastic college, and the royal tombs. Côn Sơn and Kiếp Bạc are associated with the Third Patriarch Huyền Quang. Together these three places represent three complementary functions of a single Zen lineage.
Among the three centers, Đông Triều's role weighs most heavily on the two ends of a monastic life, namely the place of study and the place of final passing. The Chinese characters displayed at the top of this page represent the literary name of Ngọa Vân Hermitage, since the complex as a whole does not share a single Chinese title.
A common misconception is that many people associate Trần Nhân Tông so closely with Yên Tử that they assume he passed away on Yên Tử. According to historical records, he ascended to Ngọa Vân in the fifth lunar month of 1307 and entered nirvana there on the night of the first day of the eleventh lunar month in 1308. Yên Tử was where he practiced for most of his monastic life after renouncing the throne, whereas Ngọa Vân was where he lay down to rest at the very end. Because both sites belong to the same mountain range and the same Zen lineage, conflating them is understandable, but historical sources distinguish them clearly.
IIChronology and points where sources diverge
The complex has no single founding date because its fourteen component sites belong to several chronological layers. The oldest point is Quỳnh Lâm Pagoda with roots in the Lý Dynasty, while most of the remaining sites belong to the Trần layer of the 13th and 14th centuries.
Regarding the founding date of Quỳnh Lâm Pagoda, sources differ and should be stated plainly. The official monument dossier of the heritage management authority records only that the pagoda was founded under the Lý Dynasty and expanded under the Trần Dynasty without naming a specific year. Buddhist historical studies state more specifically that the pagoda was built by National Preceptor Nguyễn Minh Không during the reign of Lý Thần Tông, between roughly 1127 and 1138. The approximate year 1132 used at the top of this page falls within that reign and serves as a conventional date rather than a year attested by a contemporary inscription.
- c. 1132Founding of Quỳnh Lâm PagodaAccording to Buddhist historical sources, National Preceptor Nguyễn Minh Không built the pagoda during the reign of Lý Thần Tông. Official monument dossiers record only a Lý Dynasty founding without specifying a year.
- 1307Trần Nhân Tông ascends to Ngọa VânThe ordained Emperor Emeritus ascended to Ngọa Vân Hermitage on Mount Bảo Đài in the fifth lunar month of this year and remained there.
- 1308The Buddhist Emperor enters nirvana at Ngọa Vân HermitageOn the night of the first day of the eleventh lunar month, the First Patriarch of Trúc Lâm entered nirvana at Ngọa Vân Hermitage, the most sacred milestone of the entire complex.
- Early 14th centuryQuỳnh Lâm Academy becomes the largest monastic collegeThe Second Patriarch Pháp Loa expanded Quỳnh Lâm Pagoda into Quỳnh Lâm Academy, a center for lecturing on sutras, printing woodblock scriptures, and training monks, regarded as the largest Buddhist academy of the Trần Dynasty.
- 1322Construction of Hồ Thiên PagodaPháp Loa built the pagoda on Mount Trù Phong in the Yên Tử range as a retreat for monks who had completed their studies at Quỳnh Lâm Academy to undertake higher contemplative practice.
- 1327 - 1329Casting the new Maitreya statue and building stupas at Quỳnh LâmIn 1327 Pháp Loa had a new Maitreya statue cast, in 1328 it was raised onto its pedestal and gilded with nine hundred taels of gold donated by Prince Văn Huệ Trần Quang Triều and Princess Thượng Trân, and in 1329 two stupas were completed to enshrine relics of the Buddhist Emperor.
- 1381Construction of An Sinh TempleThe temple was built to worship the Trần kings, initially five monarchs and later expanded to eight. Through the Lê and Nguyễn dynasties, residents of An Sinh Commune were exempted from taxes and corvée labor to maintain the royal rites.
- 2013 - 2025Special National Monument and World Cultural HeritageThe fourteen-site complex was ranked a Special National Monument under Decision No. 2383 dated December 9, 2013. In July 2025, key sites including Ngọa Vân Hermitage and Pagoda, Hồ Thiên Pagoda, Quỳnh Lâm Pagoda, Thái Miếu, and An Sinh Temple were inscribed by UNESCO as part of the Yên Tử, Vĩnh Nghiêm, Côn Sơn, Kiếp Bạc World Cultural Heritage complex.
Regarding the Lý-era Maitreya statue at Quỳnh Lâm, historical texts record that National Preceptor Nguyễn Minh Không cast a colossal bronze statue shortly after founding the pagoda and housed it inside a correspondingly tall hall. Traditional sources record its dimensions in trượng, about six trượng for the statue and seven trượng for the hall, which convert to roughly twenty meters for the statue and twenty-three point five meters for the hall. That statue was ranked first among the Four Great Treasures of An Nam (An Nam tứ đại khí) alongside Báo Thiên Stupa, Quy Điền Bell, and Phổ Minh Cauldron. All four have long since been lost, so every description comes from historical texts rather than surviving artifacts. Along the pilgrimage trail up to Ngọa Vân in the Trại Lốc area, however, the Ngọa Vân Yên Tử gold reliquary box shaped as an eleven-petal lotus weighing 56.44 grams and dating to the 14th century was discovered in 2012 and recognized as a National Treasure in 2018.
IIIFourteen component sites across a hilly landscape
What visitors should picture first is the dispersed scale. This is not a single walled compound but an entire landscape stretching from low foothills to mid-mountain ridges, encompassing pagodas, hermitages, temples, and royal tombs separated by many kilometers. Lineage shrines sit on low hills near the villages, while monastic retreats stand high on the mountains.
Located on Mount Bảo Đài. The hermitage occupies a narrow terrace halfway up the mountain built over the Nirvana Rock where the Buddhist Emperor passed away, housing a reclining statue of the Buddhist Emperor entering nirvana attended by his kneeling disciple Bảo Sái. Beside the hermitage stand the Buddhist Emperor Stupa built by Pháp Loa to enshrine the First Patriarch's relics, Đoan Nghiêm Stupa, and a 1707 restoration stele.
Set on the slope of Tiên Du Hill in Bình Khê Ward on the site of the former Quỳnh Lâm Academy, ranked a National Monument on November 15, 1991. The complex reconstructed over the ancient foundations comprises three timber halls covering more than one thousand square meters, housing a 3.5-ton, 2.2-meter jade Shakyamuni statue and a two-hundred-year-old Nguyễn-era bronze bell, with Quỳnh Lake in front.
Also called Trù Phong Pagoda, standing on Mount Trù Phong in the Yên Tử range at an elevation of about five hundred eighty meters. The main pagoda foundation follows a Công-shaped (工) layout comprising the front hall, incense-burning hall, and upper sanctuary. The site preserves traces of six Trần and Lê stupas, a green-stone stele house assembled from six stone slabs carved on the reverse with the six-syllable Sanskrit mantra Om Mani Padme Hum in cross-shaped frames, and the Hàm Long meditation hermitage on the peak behind the pagoda.
The Imperial Ancestral Temple (Thái Miếu) of the Trần Dynasty on Đình Hill in Trại Lốc Hamlet, reconstructed in 2014 over the original foundations in a five-bay, two-wing layout modeled on Trần decorative motifs. The site preserves a Trần-era stone throne and two stone column bases alongside the conserved archaeological foundation plan.
Set on a gently sloping hill within an eighty-thousand-square-meter precinct arranged in a Công-shaped (工) layout comprising the front hall, middle sanctuary, and rear sanctuary. Fourteen ancient trees planted in the garden correspond to the fourteen monarchs of the Trần Dynasty.
Comprising Tư Phúc Tomb, Thái Lăng, Mục Lăng, Ngải Sơn Lăng, Phụ Sơn Lăng, Nguyên Lăng, and Hy Lăng scattered across the hills of An Sinh. Most survive today only as architectural foundations and stone structural members known through archaeological excavation.
Beyond the six groups above, the Special National Monument dossier includes two additional religious sites to make up the fourteen component sites, namely Trung Tiết Pagoda, locally called Tuyết Pagoda in Nghĩa Hưng Hamlet and associated with the two loyal mandarins Đặng Tảo and Lê Chung who stayed behind to guard King Trần Anh Tông's Thái Lăng tomb, and Ngọc Thanh Pagoda and Taoist Temple encompassing the Bãi Dài, Đồn Hill, and Mộc Cảo Hermitage area, which combines a Taoist temple above with a Buddhist pagoda below and inspired Nguyễn Trãi's poem Đề Ngọc Thanh quán.
A shared feature of the Trần architectural layer here is stone. Tomb stupas, column bases, altar pedestals, and steles were all carved from stone, and thanks to that material enough traces remain after seven centuries to reconstruct the ground plans. Timber superstructures have almost entirely vanished, so the wooden halls seen today belong to later restoration layers.
A common misconception about Quỳnh Lâm Academy is that many people hear the word academy and picture a separate walled compound resembling a Western monastery or college. According to historical sources, it was an institutional function within the pagoda complex where sutras were lectured on, woodblocks were carved and printed, scriptures were stored, and student monks were housed and supported. Because the Trần-era structures no longer stand above ground, present-day understanding of the academy comes from historical texts and archaeology.
IVThe lie of the land and orientation
This section presents the library's reading through the lens of traditional Vietnamese geomancy rather than content recorded on stone steles or in monument dossiers. The library states this clearly so readers can distinguish historical documentation from interpretive reading.
First is the overall landform of the region. Đông Triều lies where the Yên Tử mountain arc descends into the alluvial plain, backing against the northern mountain range while opening southward toward low-lying flatlands. In traditional geomancy, this exemplifies a rear pillow mountain and an open, spacious bright hall (minh đường), a configuration classical manuals regard as foremost.
Second is the vertical stratification by elevation, which is the most instructive feature at Đông Triều. Thái Temple and An Sinh Temple sit on low hills near the villages, convenient for large clan and state ceremonies. Quỳnh Lâm Pagoda stands on a low transitional hill facing flat ground, convenient for monks coming and going. Hồ Thiên Pagoda rises to between five hundred and eight hundred meters. Ngọa Vân Hermitage sits higher still on a narrow, hard-to-reach ledge. Read in traditional terms, the higher one ascends, the purer the qi becomes, and arranging functions by altitude matches the stages of a monastic life, with study below, cultivation in the middle, and quietude at the summit.
Third is the setting of Ngọa Vân Hermitage. The hermitage rests on a rare level terrace partway up a steep mountain slope, sheltered behind by a rock cliff and opening in front onto a wide valley view. In classical geomancy this is a node forming mid-slope (huyệt kết giữa sườn), the spot where a mountain vein pauses and gathers qi. To traditional eyes, a place where clouds habitually linger is a place where qi does not disperse.
Fourth is orientation. Worship halls on the lower hills mostly face south or slightly off-south in keeping with the preferred orientation of northern Vietnamese communal houses and pagodas. For the mountain hermitages and pagodas, however, orientation is dictated first by the mountain terrain, with doors opening toward the open slope rather than following a compass formula. It should be noted plainly that no stele here records site selection by a specific geomantic method, so the observations above serve purely for comparative reference.
VFestivals and the death anniversary of the Buddhist Emperor
Because the complex comprises multiple sites belonging to two distinct layers, its ritual calendar is likewise divided in two, with the royal lineage layer centered on royal memorial dates and the monastic layer centered on Trúc Lâm patriarch observances. All dates follow the lunar calendar.
| Lunar date | Location | Observance |
|---|---|---|
| 9th day of the 1st lunar month | Ngọa Vân Hermitage and Pagoda | Opening of the Ngọa Vân Spring Festival, featuring prayers for national peace and prosperity, drum and bell striking to open the festival, and incense offering in memory of the Buddhist Emperor. The festival season lasts through the end of the third lunar month. |
| 1st day of the 2nd lunar month | Quỳnh Lâm Pagoda | Opening of the Quỳnh Lâm Pagoda Festival, featuring palanquin processions and the sacred water-fetching procession from Quỳnh Lake. |
| 20th to 22nd days of the 8th lunar month | An Sinh Temple | An Sinh Temple Festival commemorating the Trần kings and royal ancestors, coinciding with the death anniversary of Grand Prince Hưng Đạo. |
| 1st day of the 11th lunar month | Ngọa Vân Hermitage and Trúc Lâm pagodas | Death anniversary of Buddhist Emperor Trần Nhân Tông, marking the date he entered nirvana in 1308. This is the most solemn annual observance for the Zen lineage. |
| 15th day of the 1st and 7th lunar months | Pagodas across the complex | First Full Moon (Thượng nguyên) and Ullambana (Vu Lan) observances following the general custom of northern Vietnamese pagodas rather than a festival unique to this complex. |
The water-fetching procession at Quỳnh Lake deserves special mention. Drawing water from a natural body of water and carrying it in procession to the pagoda is an ancient custom rooted in agricultural fertility rites rather than purely Buddhist liturgy. That a pagoda which once served as the largest monastic academy of a Zen school still preserves this custom shows how closely the two religious layers have intertwined here over centuries.
VILocation And How To Get There
- Address
- Phường Bình Khê, tỉnh Quảng Ninh, quần thể trải rộng sang phường An Sinh và phường Đông Triều
- Getting there
- The complex spans the hilly terrain of Đông Triều in Quảng Ninh Province, with Quỳnh Lâm Pagoda, Hồ Thiên Pagoda, and the Ngọa Vân Hermitage and Pagoda area on Mount Bảo Đài located in Bình Khê Ward, Thái Temple, An Sinh Temple, Trung Tiết Pagoda, and the royal tombs located in An Sinh Ward, and Ngọc Thanh Pagoda and Taoist Temple located in Đông Triều Ward. Because the component sites lie many kilometers apart, visitors should plan their trip in multiple stages.
- Coordinates
- 21.1045, 106.5367
All component sites here are active places of worship, so visitors should observe temple etiquette, including dressing modestly, removing hats when entering inner sanctuaries, walking quietly and speaking softly inside hermitages and rear halls, and refraining from touching ancient stone steles, stupas, and column bases. At archaeological sites where only foundations survive, please stay on designated paths and do not step onto foundation surfaces or fallen stone blocks. Because the trails up to Ngọa Vân and Hồ Thiên are mountain paths, visitors should wear low-heeled walking shoes and gauge their physical stamina before ascending.
Nearby places in the library
VIIContribute To This Page
Contribute photos, information or video for Tran Dynasty Historical Site in Dong Trieu
Góp ảnh, thông tin hoặc video cho Khu di tích lịch sử nhà Trần ở Đông TriềuEveryone 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
Where did Buddhist Emperor Trần Nhân Tông pass away
At Ngọa Vân Hermitage on Mount Bảo Đài in Đông Triều, on the night of the first day of the eleventh lunar month in 1308. He had ascended to Ngọa Vân in the fifth lunar month of 1307. Yên Tử was where he practiced for most of his monastic life after abdication, whereas Ngọa Vân was where he entered final nirvana.
What are the three principal centers of the Trúc Lâm Zen lineage
Yên Tử is the center of ascetic practice and dharma propagation. Đông Triều holds Ngọa Vân Hermitage where the First Patriarch entered nirvana, Quỳnh Lâm Academy as the lineage's monastic college, and the royal tombs of the Trần kings. Côn Sơn and Kiếp Bạc are associated with the Third Patriarch Huyền Quang, forming three complementary centers of a single Zen lineage.
When was Quỳnh Lâm Pagoda built
Sources differ. Official monument dossiers of the heritage management authority state only that the pagoda was founded under the Lý Dynasty and expanded under the Trần Dynasty without naming a year. Buddhist historical studies state more specifically that it was built by National Preceptor Nguyễn Minh Không during the reign of Lý Thần Tông, between roughly 1127 and 1138. The library records both accounts.
What was Quỳnh Lâm Academy
It was the monastic institution expanded from Quỳnh Lâm Pagoda by the Second Patriarch Pháp Loa in the early 14th century to lecture on sutras, print scriptures, and train monks, regarded as the largest Buddhist academy of the Trần Dynasty. Because its Trần-era structures no longer survive above ground, present-day understanding of the academy comes from historical texts and archaeology.
Which component sites belong to the Trần Dynasty Historical Complex in Đông Triều
Under Special National Monument Decision No. 2383 of 2013, the complex comprises fourteen component sites, including seven royal tomb areas (Tư Phúc Tomb, Thái Lăng, Mục Lăng, Ngải Sơn Lăng, Phụ Sơn Lăng, Nguyên Lăng, and Hy Lăng), two royal temples (An Sinh Temple and Thái Temple), and five religious sites (Ngọa Vân Hermitage and Pagoda, Hồ Thiên Pagoda, Quỳnh Lâm Pagoda, Trung Tiết Pagoda, and Ngọc Thanh Pagoda and Taoist Temple including the Mộc Cảo Hermitage area).