Dau Pagoda – An initial Source of Buddhism in Vietnam

Dau Pagoda is located in Thanh Khuong village, Thuan Thanh district, Bac Ninh Province, about 30km from Hanoi. Being a center of the ancient Luy Lau Citadel that dates back to the second century A.D, this pagoda is considered the most ancient religious structure and an initial source of Buddhism in Vietnam.

Through nearly two thousand years of ups and downs, the present-day Dau Pagoda is quite different from its origin. In the old days, a path led to the pagoda’s huge three-door gate and a spacious flat field lying amid two ponds on which there is the reflection of a roofed bridge with 9 spans. This type of bridge is also seen in the ancient town of Hoi An (Faifo) in Central Vietnam and in some other places.

But Thap Pagoda, Bac Ninh Vietnam

Situated on the dike south of the Duong River in Thuan Thanh District, Bac Ninh Province is But Thap (pen stupa), one of the finest pagodas in the country's north and known as Vietnam's first Buddhist center.
The pagoda was built under the dynasty of King Tran Thanh Tong (1258-1278) and rebuilt in 1647 in the Le Dynasty by Chinese Zen Buddhist priest Zhus Zhus, known as Chuyet Chuyet in Vietnamese. Legend has it that when leaving his former pagoda on the northern bank of the Duong River, priest Chuyet Chuyet saw a flock of flying swallows suddenly swooping down and perching on the ground on the southern bank, he decided to rebuild the pagoda there and named it Ninh Phuc Tu, which means peace and bless.