Each individual can express their private feelings and pray for themselves. Therefore, the common people in the countryside voluntarily contribute to the construction and renovation of pagodas more and more commonly than contributing to the construction of communal houses.
Chapter 3 Summary
Of the 17 pagodas built in the 17th century in some suburban districts of Hanoi, 29 steles have been engraved with the construction and restoration of pagodas to revive Buddhism. Through the steles, we can see the distinction between the architectural styles of "Great temples " established by kings.
construction, large scale and "famous" is built by officials or people, but has the power to spread throughout a region.
The location and landscape of the pagoda are also recorded in detail in the introduction of each stele. Because the location of the pagoda also greatly affects the religious life of the people, the front of the pagoda is often an empty space, with a winding stream in front and behind, and Thanh Long and Bach Ho on the left and right as support points. That has gradually become a rule for choosing a place of worship in the minds of the people.
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17th century stone steles of some pagodas in the suburbs of Hanoi (survey of 10 districts in the west and south of Hanoi) - 24 -
17th century stone steles of some pagodas in the suburbs of Hanoi (survey of 10 districts in the west and south of Hanoi) - 8 -
17th century stone steles of some pagodas in the suburbs of Hanoi (survey of 10 districts in the west and south of Hanoi) - 13 -
Statistics of Titles of Writers in 17th Century Temple Steles in Some Suburban Districts of Hanoi -
The Nguyen Dynasty's maritime defense security policy in the first half of the 19th century 1802 - 1858 - 9
One thing worth noting is that the content of the 29 steles all mention the scale of the 17 pagodas when they were built or restored in the 17th century, including all construction items: from the main constructions in the pagoda (Tam Bao) to the auxiliary constructions connected together, creating a solemn worship space.
In addition, the stele also clearly records the use of materials to build the pagoda, in addition to herbal materials (wood, thatch, bamboo), also using durable materials such as: stone, terracotta... That can help those who do the work of preserving relics in the current period to be able to choose materials to restore the pagodas to ensure its originality.
In addition, at the end of each stele, there is also a record of the number of people participating in the restoration and repair of the pagoda, from many different groups, from royalty, mandarins, etc.
Monks and villagers all spent money and effort to build pagodas, or focused on preserving their ancestors' heritage, so that we can have pagodas with the majestic architectural scale as today.
CONCLUDE
Studying the 17th century pagoda stele in 10 suburban districts of Hanoi has synthesized the construction and restoration of pagodas through stele inscriptions and decorative sculptures on stone stele, which is the main content of the thesis.
1. Stone steles created in Vietnamese pagodas in the 17th century still exist today and are scattered in relics in villages and communes. Most of the stone steles of this period used specialized stone sources or locally available materials such as emery, limestone, sandstone, etc. to create them. Due to different stone sources, each type of stele was created with different methods and processes, in which folk-style steles were popular. The 17th century steles absorbed the folk traditions of stone steles from previous centuries, forming the basis for the development of folk style on steles in later centuries.
2. The appearance of many steles in 17th century pagodas with 1/5 of the total number of steles being composed by Doctors shows that steles are presented as a type of scholarly literature, although the steles were erected in the countryside. The participation of scholars in composing steles for village pagodas demonstrated the integration of different religions without being excluded or ostracized. Because the Doctors were trained according to the Confucian perspective, they practiced religion and actively participated in the world. In the steles about the restoration and repair of pagodas, they also praised the philosophies of Buddhism. In addition, monks also actively participated in social activities in addition to practicing the Dharma and overseeing the restoration of pagodas. These things once again showed the interweaving of different religions in the folk life in the suburbs of Hanoi. Compared to the Nguyen Dynasty and the Early Le Dynasty when Confucianism was considered the official ideology, the interweaving of Confucianism and Buddhism in the 17th century was very special. This also reflects the relationship between officials and villages that is not too distant or separate, but somewhat close.
3. The shape of the stone stele in this period did not follow any size, the stele had different shapes including 1-sided, 2-sided, 4-sided stele, in which 2-sided and 4-sided stele were the most popular. The main techniques used were relief, intaglio, and line carving... the lines were meticulously crafted. The main images were embossed on the forehead or the border of the stele, reflecting the outstanding successes and high level of folk carving and decoration in the 17th century. The artisans of this period knew how to use the materials and colors of the stone to create shapes.
The decoration on the steles in the 17th century was expressed in each section of the theme, the realistic features were more diverse and rich in folklore than in the previous period. Although the carvings in the early 17th century had similarities with the carvings in the 16th century, by the middle of the 17th century the carvings were somewhat more voluminous and the images were richer, no longer following a certain standard. In addition to the orthodox symbols such as dragons, phoenixes, etc., on the steles of this period, from folk images (such as birds, animals, shrimps, crabs, fish, then images of field mice, buffaloes, etc.), to natural symbols (images of flowers, leaves, vines, lotus flowers, chrysanthemums, spirals, swords, etc.) with rich designs appeared on the steles. Especially in this period, the steles of those who had contributed to the village were engraved with portraits on the steles more commonly than in the previous period. These were the changes in the carving of Vietnamese steles in this period. The decorations on steles in the 17th century contributed to affirming a period of high development of folk culture.
4. Of the 17 pagodas, 4 are considered Great Monuments, because most of these relics date back to the Ly - Tran period, but were extensively restored in the 17th century and the traditional wooden architecture that remains is mostly from this period. The construction and restoration of pagodas follow certain principles, the main materials used are wood, and other materials are also used.
Terracotta and stone. These are durable materials that can last a long time.
In addition, the stele also relatively determined the location of the pagoda, which must be a prime location, with open space, because these are large pagodas, not only of a village but of a large area, with small rivers in front as a place for water to gather and for the villagers to gather. In addition, the landscape layout of the pagodas often has a majestic, quiet appearance without being far from the lives of the people. At the same time, the stele also affirmed the creation of statues and casting of bells, which are indispensable worship items in every Vietnamese pagoda.
5. The pagodas in the suburbs of Hanoi are places where many people from all walks of life gather, but compared to other religious structures, their influence is more widespread and has more influence. This is recognized through the monetary contributions to build pagodas. The concubines and queens have contributed money many times to renovate or build famous beautiful pagodas in the region such as Dau pagoda, Mui pagoda, Thay pagoda, Boi Khe pagoda...
6. Existing to this day, many 17th century stone steles are still preserved quite intact from the content of the Chinese text to the carved decorations on the stone steles due to the awareness of protecting relics of the people and the understanding of the relic management agencies. However, not all stone steles in the localities are well preserved, but in fact some stone steles are in a state of degradation or are not used properly for their functions. Some stone steles are now heavily eroded due to erratic rain and sun, no longer showing the letters, carvings... such as the So pagoda stele, Boi Khe pagoda (Thanh Oai)... Besides, some stone steles are not used properly for their purpose and function, because during the process of restoring the relic, people dug up the stone steles and placed them in a corner of the wall, a corner of the garden such as the So pagoda stele (Thanh Oai)
- Hanoi), the base of the stele has sunk into the foundation, no longer revealing the shape of the turtle carrying the stele... or some stone steles during the restoration of the relic, due to careless preservation work, construction materials have fallen, causing the stone stele to break in half, so people have used cement to mend it like the stele of Thay Pagoda (Quoc Oai), or have plastered more cement on the outside of the 0.10m thick stele edge at Mia Pagoda (Son Tay)... In many places, local people have the concept of only paying attention to the steles recording the sacred events, the history of construction and restoration of the relic, the post-steles are ignored, so many post-steles built in the 17th century with high artistic value are not used for their intended purpose. In addition, in recent years, research on stone steles has been focused on, many researchers have gone to localities to collect steles, to preserve documents, they have used the method of reproducing the patterns and content of the stele text. When the work was completed, the lack of cleaning caused mold on the surface of the stele, so many stone steles were transformed into many different colors.
Faced with that situation, it is necessary to propose general principles and specific solutions for this type of relic. First of all, it is necessary to consider stone steles in general and 17th century stone steles in particular as heritages left by our ancestors, they have certain values in terms of history, culture, decorative sculpture art... Therefore, stone steles are not only the subject of interest of the Han Nom sector but also require interdisciplinary combination of history, literature, fine arts... contributing to the conservation of traditional architectural relics. In addition, it is necessary to raise public awareness in the work of preserving relics associated with the conservation of relics in general and stone steles in particular in the relics. Furthermore, it is necessary to conduct surveys and make a list of stone steles with absolute and relative dates of 17th century art style (with stone steles that have been eroded, no longer revealing the date of creation). From there, certain measures are proposed to protect this type of relic in the relics of the Vietnamese people in the Northern Delta.
In addition, the stone steles in the current relics are mostly located outdoors, so in the harsh conditions of nature, erratic rain and sun... the stone steles are gradually eroded, no longer leaking the text as well as the carved images. Therefore, the temples need to have certain planning and build protective stele houses, which can increase the longevity of the stone steles.
as a basis for more objective assessment of the existence of the relic.
Stone steles condense the values of literature, art, history... are a mirror reflecting cultural traditions, affirming the national cultural identity. If there is no proper, scientific assessment and conservation measures for the stone steles in the pagodas that still exist in the suburban areas of Hanoi in particular and in the whole country in general, it is feared that they will be lost and damaged, a situation that has happened before. Therefore, we need to have active measures to protect this precious heritage, at the same time have more in-depth research projects on the content of the steles to be able to understand, appreciate and further promote the values left by our ancestors.