Dâu Temple (), also known under formal names: Diên Ứng (延應寺), Pháp Vân (法雲寺), and Cổ Châu, is a major

Buddhist temple A Buddhist temple or Buddhist monastery is the place of worship for Buddhism, Buddhists, the followers of Buddhism. They include the structures called vihara, chaitya, stupa, wat, khurul and pagoda in different regions and languages. Temples in B ...

in Thanh Khương commune, huyện

Thuận Thành Thuận Thành ʰwə̰ʔn˨˩:tʰa̤jŋ˨˩is a Phường, ward of Bắc Ninh province in the Northeastern Vietnam, Northern Midlands and Mountains of Vietnam. History On April 19, 2025, after the dissolution of former Bắc Ninh province for ...

, Bắc Ninh Province. Located some 30 km east of Hanoi, the temple historically marks the ancient settlement of

Luy Lâu Luy Lâu ( Nôm: 羸𨻻) or Liên Lâu ( Nôm: 𨏩𨻻) was the first capital of the Han commandery of Jiaozhi/Giao Chỉ from 111 BC following China's conquest of Nanyue/Nam Viet till 106 BC. present. Name According to researchers ...

, once an important center of Buddhism in Vietnam.Catherine Noppe, Jean-François Hubert ''Art of Vietnam'' 2003 Page 53 "In the heart of the Bac Ninh plain in a region at the time known as Luy Lau - the region of the capital, Giao Chi - the beautiful Dau pagoda keeps the memory of the introduction of Buddhism around the end of the second or beginning of the third ..." 500m farther away lies the Temple of

Sĩ Nhiếp Shi Xie () (137–226), courtesy name Weiyan, also rendered as Sĩ Nhiếp in Vietnamese, was a Chinese military general, politician, and warlord who lived during the Eastern Han dynasty and early Three Kingdoms period of China. He served as th ...

, the remarkable Chinese Governor of

Jiaozhi Jiaozhi (standard Chinese, pinyin: ''Jiāozhǐ''), or , was a historical region ruled by various Chinese dynasties, corresponding to present-day northern Vietnam. The kingdom of Nanyue (204–111 BC) set up the Jiaozhi Commandery (; , ch� ...

at that time.

History

Both the pagoda and the temple date from the 2nd century with construction in 187-226 AD. The temple is the oldest documented Buddhist one in Vietnam. With Luy Lâu being an entrepot between China and India, Dâu Temple was the stopping point for both Northern (

Mahayana Mahāyāna ( ; , , ; ) is a term for a broad group of Buddhist traditions, Buddhist texts#Mahāyāna texts, texts, Buddhist philosophy, philosophies, and practices developed in ancient India ( onwards). It is considered one of the three main ex ...

) and Southern (

Theravada ''Theravāda'' (; 'School of the Elders'; ) is Buddhism's oldest existing school. The school's adherents, termed ''Theravādins'' (anglicized from Pali ''theravādī''), have preserved their version of the Buddha's teaching or ''Dharma (Buddhi ...

) Buddhist pilgrims and monks.

Architecture

Dâu Temple consists of two small parallel structures and one even smaller on the right side. Architecturally, the Sĩ Nhiếp Temple (photo) contains a number of important buildings in Vietnamese Buddhist art. At the center is a large three-story

brick A brick is a type of construction material used to build walls, pavements and other elements in masonry construction. Properly, the term ''brick'' denotes a unit primarily composed of clay. But is now also used informally to denote building un ...

tower named Hoa Phong, built in 1737. Other historical pieces include stone and wooden statuaries, a number of which predates the 10th century.

Temple festival

Dâu Temple hosts the annual temple festival with ritual offerings to Buddha and musical performances for the masses on the 8th of the Fourth lunar month, attracting large numbers of worshippers from all across the

Red River Delta The Red River Delta or Hong River Delta () is the flat low-lying plain formed by the Red River and its distributaries merging with the Thái Bình River in Northern Vietnam. ''Hồng'' (紅) is a Sino-Vietnamese word for "red" or "crimson". T ...

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dau Temple 226 3rd-century Buddhist temples Buddhist temples in Vietnam Pagodas in Vietnam Buildings and structures in Bắc Ninh province Tourist attractions in Bắc Ninh province