17th century stone steles of some pagodas in the suburbs of Hanoi (survey of 10 districts in the west and south of Hanoi) - 13

Of the total 29 stone steles, 22 speak of the construction of the pagoda, the remaining steles record the merits of visitors who made offerings. The main structures built in the pagoda are the main ones (the front hall, the incense burner, and the upper hall).

Some pagodas built additional auxiliary structures in addition to the main structures that had been built in previous periods such as corridors, stele houses, and three-door gates... In the "Tam quan bi" stele of Boi Khe pagoda (Tam Hung - Thanh Oai), the construction of the three-door gate was recorded as "starting on August 12, Quy Mao year (1603). The construction was soon completed". To praise the beautiful scenery of the pagoda, the stele also wrote:

“Thanks to the wise king, there is always life, the creation of the Three Gates, and the people are blessed.”

What goes around comes around.

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"Four directions famous"

Besides the pagodas built in the 17th century, many large-scale pagodas were built during the Ly Dynasty.

- Tran like Boi Khe pagoda (Thanh Oai), Thay pagoda (Quoc Oai)... but after a period of rain and sun, many of these pagodas have been degraded. Therefore, we had to rely on the royals and the rich people in the village to restore and repair the damaged parts of the pagoda or completely rebuild it based on the old foundation as recorded in the stele of Anh Linh pagoda: "On January 12, Tan Ty year, the construction of the temple of Anh Linh pagoda was completed, a tiled roof was built, three more rooms of the front hall were built with bamboo and thatch, and nine statues were repaired and repainted. On January 15, Nham Ngo year, a stele house was built and many other things were done. When completed, the people of Thi village erected a stele to be engraved to be passed down to future generations"; or Mau Luong pagoda (Kien Hung, Ha Dong), the scale of the pagoda was expanded from the year Duong Hoa 6 (1640): "Up to now, the old and faithful people have built and renovated it, but the scale is still small, the landscape is not majestic... the pagoda has expanded the old foundation, larger and wider than the old scale. The landscape of Tay Truc pagoda is vast, long-lasting and has great blessings".

In addition, the stele “Hoi Linh Quan Bi Ky ” erected in Vinh To 3 (1621) at So Pagoda (Tan Uoc-Thanh Oai) states: “In At Mao year (1615), the construction of Thuong Dien, Thieu Huong, Tien Duong, Tam Quan, and steps was started. In March of Canh Than year (1620), the festival was held and the temple gate was built 10 meters wide. In Tan Dau year (1621), a stele was bought to record the event”. In Duc Long year 4 (1632), the pagoda was renovated again. The stele states: “Building Thien pagoda, expanding the land of blessings, making it possible to worship Buddha and burn incense. Worshiping halls in front and behind, corridors on the left and right. Bell tower, Tam Quan, etc.

The stele houses are connected to each other around the pagoda . Likewise, in the stele " Tu tao Phap Vu tu bi ky " erected in the 5th year of Duong Hoa (1639) at Dau pagoda, it is clearly recorded: "In October of the year Binh Ty (1636), we immediately used our own money to find skilled workers, brandished axes and white hammers, and built two incense-burning buildings and a front hall. The pillars and beams were carved, and the roof tiles were decorated with dragons and unicorns. Other damaged areas were repaired. By February of that year, the work was completed...". In "the year Binh Ty (1636), we started to rebuild the two incense-burning buildings and the front hall... in the year Ky Mao (1639), we rebuilt the back hall, the materials used were all good wood" and the stele in 1634 at Mia pagoda confirmed that the pagoda existed before, but it was not until the 4th year of Duc Long (1632) that the Front Hall, Incense-burning Building, Upper Hall, Rear Hall and the left and right corridors were built .

That shows that, since the 17th century, the above pagodas had all the construction items, from the main construction in the pagoda which is Tam Bao (Tien Duong, Thieu Huong, Thuong Dien) to the auxiliary constructions which are two rows of left and right corridors, bell tower, stele house, Tam Quan... all the constructions are connected together to form an overall layout of "noi Cong ngoai Quoc " which is closed, quite majestic, to separate it from other folk architectural works.

Thus, the construction and restoration of 17th century pagodas through stele documents have proven that during this period, Buddhism attracted a large number of people, the most obvious manifestation is that almost every village had a pagoda and during the past 100 years, these pagodas continuously built new structures on old grounds or restored existing structures from the previous period by replacing the rotten structures, but still ensuring the original elements from the beginning. In addition to paying attention to the construction of the main structures, many pagodas have built other auxiliary structures such as Tam Quan, bell tower, stele house, corridor...

3.4. Creating statues and casting temple bells:

Besides the issue of creating and renovating architectural works in Vietnamese pagodas, the issue of creating statues and casting bells is also mentioned in 17th century pagoda steles in some suburban districts of Hanoi. Out of a total of 23 steles, only 5 steles mention the painting of statues and 01 stele mentions the casting of bells in pagodas.

3.4.1. Creating statues:

The creation of statues is important in pagodas, because these are quite typical relics to distinguish places of worship in religious buildings from other types of folk beliefs. The statues created during this period that still exist today have contributed to enriching the art of Vietnamese folk sculpture.

Of the total of 29 stone steles, only 5 stone steles record the creation and repair of Buddha statues, of which the earliest stele recording this work is the So pagoda stele (Tan Uoc - Thanh Oai) erected in the year Duc Long 4 (1632) which states: "After finishing the repair of the Buddha statues, we started to cast 17 other Buddha statues , 1 re-painted statue, 2 body towers, a total of 20 statues. The gold and red are brilliant, the green and red are shining. The precious shrine is sparkling, the true person is revealed. The Buddha is in the world of lapis lazuli, majestic and majestic". It can be affirmed that before the 17th century, So pagoda had many statues created, until 1632, 17 more statues were created. Or in the stele of Anh Linh pagoda in 1642, it is written: "On January 12, Tan Ty year... 9 statues were repaired and repainted ", meaning that the statues in the pagoda were from the previous period, but were rotten and in 1642, 9 statues were repaired and repainted to be beautiful. Unfortunately, the stele does not clearly state the names of the statues. If it were clearly stated, this would be very interesting for those who research ancient statues in our country to know the exact date when the statues were erected.

The stele of Mau Luong pagoda (Ha Dong) in 1640 recorded: "The scene of the Tay Truc pagoda is vast, long-lasting and has great blessings. Therefore, the Buddha's throne was renovated, the Buddha statue was radiant on the lotus pedestal, scattered all over the thrones... The statue of the Buddha's back was also built on the left side of the pagoda so that the village could hold a ceremony to worship and make offerings, never forgetting the merit, so that it could be seen forever". That shows that, besides worshiping Buddha statues, in 1640, Mau Luong pagoda also built a statue of the Buddha's back, worshiping people who had contributed to the pagoda and the village, contributing to explaining the phenomenon of the queen's election in pagodas during this period. In addition, the stele of Boi Khe pagoda (Tam Hung-Thanh Oai) engraved in the year Thinh Duc 3 (1655) confirmed that at that time, there were Arhat statues in the pagoda: "The nine-grade lotus flower is radiant, three thousand Arhats are sparkling, all Buddhas descend together".

Besides, there are temple steles that only record very sketchy information about the restoration and construction of statues, such as the stele "Ngo Son Tu Renovation of Buddha Statues Bi Minh Ky " of Ngo Son Temple (Ba Vi) erected in the 4th year of Vinh Tho (1661) which states: "Since the previous dynasty expanded this place, the palace rooms were majestic and splendid, the Buddha statues were brilliant with gold and silver, but over time they have declined. Therefore, the elders in the village wanted to brighten the ancient temple's glory, voluntarily contributing their fortune; on a good day and a good month in the year of Tan Suu, the Buddha statues were restored ."

Thus, the creation of statues in pagodas took place quite parallel to the creation and restoration of architectural works during this period. However, the stele only stopped at describing the number of statues created such as the statue of the Buddha (Mau Luong Pagoda - Ha Dong), the statue of La Han (Boi Khe Pagoda - Thanh Oai), or the restoration of Buddha statues by repainting and gilding the statues, repairing damaged areas... Although through the simple information above, we can see a period of creation and restoration of Buddha statues in pagodas in some suburban districts of Hanoi and that is clear evidence of the birth of a series of Buddha statues during this period.

3.4.2. Bell casting:

Pagodas not only have statues to worship, but also bells to perform rituals. Not only do pagodas worship Buddha, temples worship God (and then combine worship with Buddha), but Catholic churches also have bells and consider the sound of the bells to be the best way to preach the scriptures. Each pagoda has at least one bell, and thus the number of pagoda bells in the whole country is very large, and it also has cultural and historical value, which is evidence of the level of civilization and cultural depth.

Many artifacts in the temple also contain such values, but for many centuries, bells have been a type of relic with high economic value. Bronze is the material used to cast bells, and also the material used to cast coins and many other valuable things. Other materials that are broken are considered to be destroyed, but bronze can be reborn in a new form through casting guilds. Therefore, bronze bells are always the target of threats from both criminals and the government... Fortunately, for a long time, people believed that "what Buddha loses, you pay for ten" , so the theft of bronze bells rarely happened.

There was a time when a ruined pagoda had to be abandoned, and the statues could be reburied, but the bells, if not sent to another pagoda, were buried. Thanks to the good and durable material, the bells always escaped the destruction of nature, so when society's awareness of bells was raised, they were respected even more. Nowadays, we emphasize the historical and artistic values ​​of bells, but when casting bells, the ancients attached great importance to the spiritual value and it entered the hearts of the people through the folk song:

"Go to the temple to see the newly painted statue"

See the newly cast bell, see the newly built temple.

However, in Dang Ngoai, associated with King Le - Lord Trinh, the original land of national culture, there were already many bells left by previous periods. In the first half of the 17th century, many more large pagodas of the hundred-room type were built, and many large and beautiful bells were certainly cast, but then: "At the end of the 17th century,

XVIII, those bells were the objects of collection by the Le Chieu Thong court, so today the number of bells remaining from the Le Trung Hung period is not worth much compared to the number of bells lost" [64, p. 507]. Therefore, research on the creation of bronze bells during this period needs to be further studied through the information mentioned on 17th century stone steles in pagodas.

Through the survey of 29 stone steles, only the stone stele of So pagoda (Tan Uoc - Thanh Oai) in Duc Long 4 (1632) recorded the process of casting the bell. The content of the stele also mentioned the restoration of the pagoda and "thanks to that, the pagoda became famous, but the bell had not been cast yet" . Therefore, the couple of the district duke Dao Quang Hoa from An Khoai village, Tuyen Cam commune, Thanh Oai district, Ung Thien prefecture: "gave up their family's property to build the project, chose good copper to cast. The furnace of heaven and earth, the coal burned by yin and yang. Everyone contributed merit, the Buddhas protected. In no time, the bell was cast. The dragon's substance shone, the tiger's shape was durable. The golden rope was tied tightly, hung on a high building and pressed. The sound echoed throughout the nine heavens, the sound was carried thousands of miles away. The listener woke up from a dream, the seer became enlightened. Casting a bell, there were hundreds of merits. When the work is done, please tell me so that I can pass it on forever..." and the use of the bell in the temple is truly great: " Buddha hearing the bell will bring blessings, people hearing the bell will be filled with kindness".

Thus, throughout the ages, temple bells have always been a ceremonial musical instrument. Some bells are not cast well with low metallurgy techniques, so they are pitted or turn gray-brown, and the sound is distorted... but most are always of high quality, even if soaked in water or buried in the ground, it does not affect the sound quality, and always resonates with different volumes according to the control of the bell ringer. To achieve that volume, the bell casting technique must be higher than casting other bronze items. In fact, to create a bronze bell, one must first know how to " choose good bronze to cast ", then it depends on the quality of the bell.

The bronze smelting process must be more refined, limiting impurities, and also including a small amount of precious metal (gold), to produce a bell with a sound: " The sound echoes throughout the nine heavens, the sound travels thousands of miles."

Bronze bells and stone steles are relics closely associated with pagodas. Bells are rarely destroyed by time, but due to the economic value of bronze, they are destroyed by humans. Therefore, the remaining bells are very valuable, indicating the artistic style of the time they were cast, a clear and accurate document about the society in which they were born, and especially for Vietnamese people, both Buddhists and non-Buddhists, temple bells are objects associated with spirituality, an indispensable part of spiritual life.

3.5. Activities of Tam Bao market:

According to researcher Nguyen Duc Nghinh, up to now through various documents, mainly inscriptions, we can know about some Tam Bao markets and Chua markets in previous periods (mainly the 17th century). As their names suggest, Chua markets and Tam Bao markets carry the content of the market location and the pagoda's control over the market. At the same time, the pagoda is also a center attracting people of all means to come to the market, exchange, buy and sell items and goods.