Turning onto Xóm Chài Street, a small road near the bank of the Cổ Chiên River in Vĩnh Long, visitors encounter a newly rebuilt triple-arched gate, behind which stands an eight-sided hall with multi-tiered roofs painted pale yellow. Walking around to the back under the tree canopy, one finds a small rectangular building measuring just eight by sixteen meters and a low brick hut. That small building was the original main hall. That hut was the Patriarch's dwelling.
This is Tịnh xá Ngọc Viên (Ngọc Viên Vihara), the first complete and surviving vihara of the Mendicant Sect (Hệ phái Khất Sĩ), built by Patriarch Minh Đăng Quang himself in late 1948. Followers of the lineage call this place the ancestral temple (tổ đình), the root. Every octagonal vihara seen across southern Vietnam, from Saigon to the Mekong Delta provinces, shares a common origin here.
IThe Mendicant Sect and its root vihara
The Mendicant Sect (Hệ phái Khất Sĩ) is a Buddhist lineage founded by a Vietnamese master in southern Vietnam in the mid-20th century. Its founder was Patriarch Minh Đăng Quang, born Nguyễn Thành Đạt (courtesy name Lý Hườn) on September 26, 1923 in Phú Hậu village, Tam Bình district, Vĩnh Long. According to Giác Ngộ newspaper, at age fifteen he went to Cambodia to study the Dharma and returned four years later to practice. Sources complement one another on the dates of his renunciation and first preaching. Phật tử Việt Nam and phatgiao.org.vn record that he went forth in 1944, while Giác Ngộ records his first Dharma talk, on the Boat of Prajñā (Thuyền Bát Nhã), on the full moon of the fourth lunar month in 1946 or in early 1947 at Chùa Linh Bửu (Linh Bửu Pagoda) in Phú Mỹ village, Mỹ Tho.
According to Phật tử Việt Nam and Chùa Xá Lợi, upon returning to Long Châu village in Vĩnh Long in 1948, the Patriarch was offered land by local laypeople to build the first vihara, Pháp Vân, behind Vĩnh Long Boys' Primary School, which no longer exists today. The second vihara, Trúc Viên in Cầu Lộ hamlet, initially consisted of simple leaf huts and was later rebuilt and renamed Ngọc Thuận. Built in late 1948 at Xóm Chài by the Cổ Chiên River, Ngọc Viên was the third vihara chronologically and the first complete vihara of the lineage to survive to the present day. Here the Patriarch taught in person, held four Pavāraṇā (Tự tứ) ceremonies in 1949, 1950, 1951, and 1953, and made his final stop before his disappearance in 1954. The lineage observes the 1st day of the 2nd lunar month as his memorial day.
How the Mendicant Sect differs from Mahayana and Theravada
The first difference lies in synthesis. Vietnamese Buddhism previously had two major streams, namely Northern Buddhism (Bắc Tông), which uses Chinese-character scriptures in the Mahayana tradition, and Southern Buddhism (Nam Tông), which uses Pali scriptures in the Theravada tradition. Patriarch Minh Đăng Quang drew from both as his source. His 69-discourse collection Chơn Lý (The Truth) builds on the teachings of both traditions, and the sect upholds the principle that Vietnamese Buddhism does not divide into separate vehicles. The lineage calls its path continuing the true Dharma of Shakyamuni (nối truyền Thích Ca chánh pháp).
The second difference is the practice of almsround (khất thực). The term Khất Sĩ (bhikkhu, mendicant) means one who begs, requesting food to nourish the body and Dharma to nourish the mind. Khất Sĩ monks and nuns wear the triple robe (tam y), carry an alms bowl (bình bát), walk on almsround, eat one meal a day before noon, and observe the precepts according to the Four-Part Vinaya (luật Tứ phần). A line of yellow-robed monastics walking single file with alms bowls resembles Theravada, whereas the precept text and many liturgical forms are closer to Mahayana. That is how synthesis appears in daily life.
The third difference is language and architecture. The lineage chants scriptures in Vietnamese, with many texts rendered into Vietnamese verse for ease of memorization rather than Sino-Vietnamese or Pali chanting. Its places of practice are called viharas (tịnh xá) rather than pagodas, and the main hall of a vihara is typically built in an octagonal plan whose eight sides correspond to the Noble Eightfold Path. Because Khất Sĩ viharas do not hang Chinese horizontal plaques like Northern Buddhist pagodas, the Chinese-character field at the top of this page is left blank.
Seeing Khất Sĩ monks in yellow robes carrying alms bowls, many people assume this is a branch of Theravada Buddhism. That is incorrect. The Mendicant Sect is a distinct lineage, separate from both ethnic-Vietnamese Theravada (Nam Tông Kinh) and Khmer Theravada (Nam Tông Khmer). Khất Sĩ monastics chant in Vietnamese, keep the Four-Part Vinaya, and draw doctrine from both traditions. Conversely, the sect should not be grouped under Northern Buddhism either, as its almsround, single meal before noon, and octagonal vihara architecture are all distinct features.
IIFrom a simple rectangular hall to the ancestral temple
In late 1948, on land donated by the family of lay supporter Lê Quang Nhiêu at Xóm Chài by the Cổ Chiên branch of the Tiền River, the Patriarch built Ngọc Viên. The present vihara grounds cover about 6,193 square meters according to Chốn Thiêng. The earliest main hall was a simple rectangular house measuring eight meters wide by sixteen meters long. That same year he built a small hut of wood and leaves for his dwelling and planted a Bodhi tree. The following year, in 1949, the vihara held a large-scale Pavāraṇā (Tự tứ) and Ullambana (Vu Lan) ceremony, which phatgiao.org.vn notes had a wide influence on the early life of the sect. After the Patriarch disappeared in 1954, Elder Giác Chánh (later revered by disciples as the Second Patriarch) and Elder Giác Như (the first administrator of the sect) continued to use Ngọc Viên as the administrative center of the Sangha.
- 1923Birth of the PatriarchPatriarch Minh Đăng Quang, secular name Nguyễn Thành Đạt (courtesy name Lý Hườn), is born on September 26 in Phú Hậu village, Tam Bình, Vĩnh Long.
- 1948Founding of the viharaIn late 1948, following the Pháp Vân and Trúc Viên viharas, the Patriarch builds Ngọc Viên at Xóm Chài on land donated by lay supporter Lê Quang Nhiêu. The 8-by-16-meter rectangular main hall, the Patriarch's hut, and the Bodhi tree all date from this year.
- 1949Great Pavāraṇā and Vu Lan ceremonyThe vihara holds a large-scale Pavāraṇā and Vu Lan ceremony, followed by Pavāraṇā assemblies in 1950, 1951, and 1953.
- 1954Disappearance of the PatriarchPatriarch Minh Đăng Quang disappears on the 1st day of the 2nd lunar month of the Giáp Ngọ year, 1954.
- 1971First renovationRenovated for the first time under the direction of Elder Giác Như, retaining the rectangular main hall.
- 1993Octagonal main hallMajor reconstruction directed by Elder Giác Giới on land donated by lay supporters Trần Quang Minh and Lê Thị Nho, erecting an octagonal main hall 18 meters in diameter. The old main hall is preserved as a historical relic.
- 2006Record recognitionThe Vietnam Book of Records Center recognizes Ngọc Viên as the first Khất Sĩ vihara in Vietnam.
- 2022Completion of new structuresFrom 2017 to 2022, the guest hall, lecture hall, dining hall, triple-arched gate, and perimeter wall are newly built or rearranged.
The vihara today belongs to Sangha Group 1 (Giáo đoàn 1), the first monastic group of the lineage. According to phatgiao.org.vn, Sangha Group 1 currently oversees 21 viharas and hermitages. The entire lineage now comprises six monks' groups and the Khất Sĩ Nuns' Order (Ni giới Khất Sĩ), while the total number of viharas varies across sources from over three hundred to over five hundred, and the library does not select a single figure. Regarding lineage transmission, the library has not found a sourced Dharma-transmission verse for this sect. What is documented is that the first generation of the Patriarch's disciples consisted of 49 monks whose Dharma names all begin with the word Giác (Awakening), such as Giác Chánh, Giác Tánh, Giác Như, Giác Tịnh, Giác An, Giác Nhiên, Giác Lý, and Giác Huệ.
IIIThe octagonal main hall and relics from 1948
The main hall built in 1993 follows the model adopted by many later Khất Sĩ viharas. The hall is octagonal, with a diameter of 18 meters. According to Phật tử Việt Nam, the initial design had two roof tiers, an upper square roof symbolizing the Four Noble Truths and a lower octagonal roof symbolizing the Noble Eightfold Path. A third roof tier was later added to expand the space for study and practice. Viewed from above, the entire hall is a doctrinal lesson expressed in architectural form.
Set right in the center of the main hall with a thirteen-tiered spire and four sides symbolizing the Four Immeasurables (Tứ vô lượng tâm). Its three-stepped base is explained by Phật tử Việt Nam as symbolizing the Threefold Training (morality, concentration, wisdom) and by Chốn Thiêng as symbolizing the Triple Gem (Buddha, Dharma, Sangha). Inside the stupa are a white stone statue of Shakyamuni Buddha and the Vietnamese Tripitaka. Behind the stupa stands the altar of Patriarch Minh Đăng Quang with his portrait and a glass cabinet holding the 69 volumes of Chơn Lý, where by sect tradition no incense is burned.
Four large pillars around the stupa symbolize the fourfold assembly of monks, nuns, laymen, and laywomen upholding the Buddha's teaching together.
The 8-by-16-meter rectangular building erected in 1948, preserved as a historical relic when the new main hall was completed and called the traditional main hall.
Built in 1948 originally of wood and leaves and now rebuilt in brick, preserving the Patriarch's portrait, wooden cot, meditation cushion, and hand-painted signs reading Đoàn Du tăng and Minh Đăng Quang.
The Bodhi tree was planted in 1948. The earthen hillock was raised around 1950 to express harmony between human beings and nature.
Rebuilt in 2022 with a parallel couplet praising Minh Đăng Quang's manifestation of Chơn Lý under the Southern sky and the spread of the Mendicant path across Vietnam. The perimeter wall is carved with scenes from the teaching lives of the Buddha and the Patriarch.
The layout is divided into two zones. The outer zone (khu ngoại) serves the wider community and includes the guest hall, lecture hall, dining hall, ossuary hall, ancestral memorial hall, and a nuns' guest house for nuns visiting the ancestral temple. The inner zone (khu nội) is reserved for monks, comprising the monks' quarters and small individual huts beneath the trees that preserve the simple lifestyle of a mendicant. The word Ngọc (Jade) at the start of the vihara's name is another recognizable hallmark of the sect, as many later viharas also bear the prefix Ngọc, such as Ngọc Phương and Ngọc Thạnh.
Some visitors assume the octagonal main hall has stood since the day the Patriarch founded the vihara. That is not the case. The 1948 main hall was a rectangular house, the 1971 renovation kept the rectangular plan, and only in 1993 was the octagonal hall erected. The octagon is how the lineage later expressed the Noble Eightfold Path in architecture, whereas the original core of Ngọc Viên was a humble rectangular building.
IVThe lie of the land and orientation
This section presents the library's reading through the lens of traditional feng shui rather than anything recorded in the texts of the vihara or the sect. The Mendicant Sect does not make geomantic site selection part of its doctrine. Instead, the vihara's form follows its own symbolic convention, in which the octagonal main hall corresponds to the Noble Eightfold Path and the central stupa corresponds to morality, concentration, and wisdom. The passage below is offered as a comparison for readers familiar with traditional Vietnamese site reading.
The first point to note is that the octagonal form is itself a way of handling orientation. A rectangular hall has a distinct front and back, requiring a chosen facing direction. An eight-sided hall with a stupa at its center opens equally toward all eight directions, and practitioners seated around the stupa face the center rather than a single compass point. Read in traditional terms, this is a configuration that takes the center as host, similar to placing the central palace at the heart of the eight trigrams.
As for the lie of the land, the vihara stands at Xóm Chài near the bank of the Cổ Chiên River, a major branch of the Tiền River, on the flat alluvial plain of former Vĩnh Long town where there are no mountains. In the riverine delta, high dry ground provides support while the waterway provides the open prospect. Read through a geomantic lens, the earthen mound raised on the grounds around 1950 serves the exact role of an artificial rear support (huyền vũ) on flat terrain, even though sources simply note that it was built to express harmony between humanity and nature.
Finally, there is the Bodhi tree planted in 1948. In traditional site reading, an old canopy tree retains qi for a plot of land. In Buddhist terms, the Bodhi tree marks the site of the Buddha's enlightenment. At Ngọc Viên, both perspectives meet at the same trunk, a tree that shares the exact age of the vihara itself.
VAnnual observances and daily practice
The vihara's ritual calendar follows the common practice of the Mendicant Sect according to the lunar calendar. At Ngọc Viên in particular, because it is the ancestral temple, the memorial day of the Patriarch carries the same weight as a patriarch's death anniversary at the root temple of other lineages.
| Lunar date | Observance | Description |
|---|---|---|
| 1st day of the 2nd month | Memorial of the Patriarch | The sect commemorates Patriarch Minh Đăng Quang as monks, nuns, and lay Buddhists gather at the ancestral temple to offer incense |
| 15th day of the 4th month | Vesak (Buddha's Birthday) | Celebration of the birth of Shakyamuni Buddha |
| Three rainy-season months | Rains retreat (An cư kiết hạ) | Monks remain at a single residence for intensive study and meditation without traveling |
| 15th day of the 7th month | Pavāraṇā (Tự tứ) and Vu Lan | Monks conclude the rains retreat with the Pavāraṇā ceremony while lay Buddhists observe filial piety |
Each lunar month, the vihara observes four assembly offering days (cúng Hội) on the 8th, 15th, 23rd, and 30th days in keeping with sect tradition. In 2010, Ngọc Viên also hosted the first Traditional Khất Sĩ Retreat. On ordinary days, the vihara maintains the core mendicant discipline of eating one meal before noon, studying the teachings in Vietnamese, and living and learning in community. The lineage summarizes this way of life as communal living and shared study (sống chung tu học), a practice maintained at Ngọc Viên since 1948.
VILocation And How To Get There
- Address
- Số 14/20/2 đường Xóm Chài, phường Long Châu (phường 2 cũ, nhập phường 1 năm 2024, thành phố Vĩnh Long cũ), tỉnh Vĩnh Long
- Getting there
- The vihara is located at 14/20/2 Xóm Chài Street, Long Châu Ward, on the territory of former Ward 2 of former Vĩnh Long City, Vĩnh Long Province. It is a short ride from the center of former Vĩnh Long toward Xóm Chài by the Cổ Chiên River.
- Coordinates
- 10.2553, 105.9643
Because this is an active ancestral temple where monks reside and study, visitors are expected to follow the rules of the vihara. Dress modestly and walk and speak quietly inside the main hall. The inner zone is reserved for resident monks and is closed to visitors. Monks take their meal before noon, so visitors arriving around midday are asked to wait until the meal concludes. The Patriarch's hut and the original main hall are memorial spaces, and visitors should not touch the objects inside the hut.
Nearby places in the library
VIIContribute To This Page
Contribute photos, information or video for Ngoc Vien Vihara
Góp ảnh, thông tin hoặc video cho Tịnh xá Ngọc ViênEveryone is welcome to enrich this page: a photo you took, a detail the page misses, a short video. Every contribution is read and answered.
Thầy Ưng Khiêm mời cộng đồng cùng làm giàu trang này. Ảnh chụp tận nơi, một chi tiết lịch sử chưa được nhắc, một đoạn video ngắn: mọi đóng góp đều được đọc và trả lời.
No community contribution yet. You could be the first. Chưa có đóng góp nào từ cộng đồng. Bạn có thể là người đầu tiên.
?Quick Questions
Where is the first vihara of the Mendicant Sect located?
According to Phật tử Việt Nam, the first two sites built in 1948 in Long Châu village were Pháp Vân (which no longer exists) and Trúc Viên (initially simple leaf huts, now Tịnh xá Ngọc Thuận), while Tịnh xá Ngọc Viên on Xóm Chài Street, Vĩnh Long, built in late 1948, is the first complete vihara to survive. In 2006 the Vietnam Book of Records Center recognized Ngọc Viên as the first Khất Sĩ vihara in Vietnam, and followers regard it as their ancestral temple.
How does the Mendicant Sect differ from Mahayana and Theravada Buddhism?
The Mendicant Sect synthesizes teachings from both Northern (Mahayana) and Southern (Theravada) Buddhism. Monks and nuns wear the triple robe, carry alms bowls on morning almsround, and eat one meal a day like Theravada monastics, yet observe the Four-Part Vinaya closer to the Northern tradition. Scriptures are chanted in Vietnamese, and practice centers are called viharas (tịnh xá) with octagonal main halls symbolizing the Noble Eightfold Path.
Who was Patriarch Minh Đăng Quang?
He was the founder of the Mendicant Sect (Hệ phái Khất Sĩ), born Nguyễn Thành Đạt (courtesy name Lý Hườn) on September 26, 1923 in Phú Hậu village, Tam Bình, Vĩnh Long. He built Tịnh xá Ngọc Viên in late 1948 and left the 69-discourse collection Chơn Lý. He disappeared in 1954, and the lineage commemorates him on the 1st day of the 2nd lunar month.
Why are Khất Sĩ viharas built in an octagonal shape?
The eight sides symbolize the Noble Eightfold Path. At Ngọc Viên, the octagonal main hall measuring 18 meters in diameter was built in 1993 with an upper square roof representing the Four Noble Truths and a central stupa on a three-stepped base representing either the Threefold Training or the Triple Gem depending on the source. The original 1948 main hall was rectangular.
How does Tịnh xá Ngọc Viên differ from Tịnh xá Trung Tâm?
Ngọc Viên in Vĩnh Long is the original ancestral temple built directly by the Patriarch in late 1948. Tịnh xá Trung Tâm in Saigon, begun in 1965 after the Patriarch's disappearance, serves as the ancestral temple of Sangha Group 5 and the central administrative seat of the sect. One is the founding root temple, while the other is a later center of shared activity.