Tu Dam Pagoda
Encyclopedia
Temple
A temple is a structure reserved for religious or spiritual activities, such as prayer and sacrifice, or analogous rites. A templum constituted a sacred precinct as defined by a priest, or augur. It has the same root as the word "template," a plan in preparation of the building that was marked out...
in the central city of Huế
Hue
Hue is one of the main properties of a color, defined technically , as "the degree to which a stimulus can be describedas similar to or different from stimuli that are described as red, green, blue, and yellow,"...
in Vietnam
Vietnam
Vietnam – sometimes spelled Viet Nam , officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam – is the easternmost country on the Indochina Peninsula in Southeast Asia. It is bordered by China to the north, Laos to the northwest, Cambodia to the southwest, and the South China Sea –...
. Tu Dam Temple is located on a street of the same name, in Trường An ward of Huế.
History
The temple was built and opened under the direction of Zen master Thích Minh Hoằng, who was the 34th in the lineage of the Lâm Tế Zen lineage. The temple was built in the late 17th century under the rule of Emperor Lê Hy Tông, on Long Sơn hill. However, the area was then under the rule of the Nguyễn Lords, who nominally declared their allegiance to the Lê DynastyLê Dynasty
The Later Lê Dynasty , sometimes referred to as the Lê Dynasty was the longest-ruling dynasty of Vietnam, ruling the country from 1428 to 1788, with a brief interruption....
but in reality ran their own independent state, under Nguyễn Phúc Chu.
At the time, the temple was also known as the Ấn Tôn Temple (印宗寺). In the 18th century in 1703, the ruling Nguyễn Lord, Nguyễn Phúc Chu gave the title "Sắc Tứ Ấn Tôn Tự" (敕賜印宗寺). In 1841, Vietnam had been unified in its modern state by the Nguyễn Dynasty and Emperor Thiệu Trị
Thieu Tri
Nguyễn Phúc Miên Tông was the third emperor of the Vietnamese Nguyễn Dynasty taking the era name of Thiệu Trị...
ordered that the temple be renamed so that it did not conflict with his name. The temple was one of the three national pagodas in Huế during the Nguyễn Dynasty era.
Over the last 150 years, the temple has been one of the main spiritual facilities of Huế and the surrounding central region of Vietnam. Over the years, the temple has been renovated and expanded many times, under the direction of Thích Thiệt Vinh, Thích Minh Hoằng, Thích Đạo Trung. Under Thích Từ Vân, two major bells were cast and installed. In 1932, the nun Thích Diệu Không, created a monastery for nuns. For a period the Association of Buddhist Studies of central Vietnam was based at the temple, during which time the main ceremonial hall was rebuilt.
In 1939, Suzanne Karpelès, Secretary General of the Buddhist Studies Association of Phnom Penh in Cambodia, arranged for a bodhi tree
Bodhi tree
The Bodhi Tree, also known as Bo , was a large and very old Sacred Fig tree located in Bodh Gaya , under which Siddhartha Gautama, the spiritual teacher and founder of Buddhism later known as Gautama Buddha, is said to have achieved enlightenment, or Bodhi...
offshoot to be taken from the original bodhi tree in Bodh Gaya under which Gautama Buddha
Gautama Buddha
Siddhārtha Gautama was a spiritual teacher from the Indian subcontinent, on whose teachings Buddhism was founded. In most Buddhist traditions, he is regarded as the Supreme Buddha Siddhārtha Gautama (Sanskrit: सिद्धार्थ गौतम; Pali: Siddhattha Gotama) was a spiritual teacher from the Indian...
achieved enlightenment, to be brought to Tu Dam Pagoda. It was planted in the front yard of the temple, where it was grown up and become a permanent fixture.
Buddhist flag
The Buddhist flag is a flag designed in the late 19th century to symbolise and universally represent Buddhism. It is used by Buddhists throughout the world.-History:...
was first flown on the grounds of the pagoda. As Decree No. 10 by Bảo Đại
Bảo Đài
Bảo Đài is a commune and village in Lục Nam District, Bac Giang Province, in northeastern Vietnam.-References:...
prohibited the use of "church" by an organisation other than the Catholic Church, the body called itself the General Association of Buddhists
General Association of Buddhists
The General Association of Buddhists was a Buddhist organisation formed in South Vietnam in 1951, regarded as the leading Buddhist organisation in the country. It was prominent during the 1963 Buddhist crisis, a period of demonstrations and political instability which led to the deposal of...
.
In 1961, the administration of the temple along with the Association for Buddhist Studies organised for the construction of the a variety of buildings to increase the amount of activities that were able to be hosted by the temple.
Buddhist crisis and pagoda raids
South Vietnam's Buddhist majority had long been discontented with the rule of President Ngo Dinh DiemNgo Dinh Diem
Ngô Đình Diệm was the first president of South Vietnam . In the wake of the French withdrawal from Indochina as a result of the 1954 Geneva Accords, Diệm led the effort to create the Republic of Vietnam. Accruing considerable U.S. support due to his staunch anti-Communism, he achieved victory in a...
since his rise to power in 1955. Diem had shown strong favouritism towards Catholics and discrimination against Buddhists in the army, public service and distribution of government aid. In the countryside, Catholics were de facto exempt from performing corvée
Corvée
Corvée is unfree labour, often unpaid, that is required of people of lower social standing and imposed on them by the state or a superior . The corvée was the earliest and most widespread form of taxation, which can be traced back to the beginning of civilization...
labour and in some rural areas, Catholic priests led private armies against Buddhist villages. Discontent with Diem exploded into mass protest in Huế during the summer of 1963 when nine Buddhists died at the hand of Diem's army and police on Vesak
Vesak
Vesākha is a holiday observed traditionally by Buddhists in Bangladesh, India, Nepal, Sri Lanka, and the South East Asian countries of Singapore, Vietnam, Thailand, Cambodia, Laos, Malaysia, Burma, and Indonesia...
, the birthday of Gautama Buddha
Gautama Buddha
Siddhārtha Gautama was a spiritual teacher from the Indian subcontinent, on whose teachings Buddhism was founded. In most Buddhist traditions, he is regarded as the Supreme Buddha Siddhārtha Gautama (Sanskrit: सिद्धार्थ गौतम; Pali: Siddhattha Gotama) was a spiritual teacher from the Indian...
. In May 1963, a law against the flying of religious flags was selectively invoked; the Buddhist flag
Buddhist flag
The Buddhist flag is a flag designed in the late 19th century to symbolise and universally represent Buddhism. It is used by Buddhists throughout the world.-History:...
was banned from display on Vesak
Vesak
Vesākha is a holiday observed traditionally by Buddhists in Bangladesh, India, Nepal, Sri Lanka, and the South East Asian countries of Singapore, Vietnam, Thailand, Cambodia, Laos, Malaysia, Burma, and Indonesia...
while the Vatican flag was displayed to celebrate the anniversary of the consecration of Archbishop Ngo Dinh Thuc, Diem's brother. The Buddhists defied the ban and a protest that began with a march starting from Tu Dam to the government broadcasting station was ended when government forces opened fire. As a result, Buddhist protests were held across the country and steadily grew in size, asking for the signing of a Joint Communique
Joint Communique
The Joint Communiqué was an agreement signed on 16 June 1963 between the South Vietnamese government of Ngo Dinh Diem and the Buddhist leadership of the country in an attempt to end the Buddhist crisis.- Background :...
to end religious inequality. Tu Dam Pagoda was a major organising point for the Buddhist movement and was often the location of hunger strikes, barricades and protests. This was because Thich Tri Quang
Thich Tri Quang
Thích Trí Quang is a Vietnamese Mahayana Buddhist monk best known for his role in leading South Vietnam’s Buddhist population during the Buddhist crisis in 1963....
, who was the abbot of Tu Dam, was the main figure in the Buddhist movement, and at the time he was the head of the GAB in central Vietnam.
Self-immolations were used as a form of protest, an on 16 August, one such occurrence occurred at Tu Dam when an elderly nun set herself alight. As the tension increased and opposition to Diem increased, the key turning point came shortly after midnight on August 21, when Ngo Dinh Nhu
Ngo Dinh Nhu
Ngô Ðình Nhu was the younger brother and chief political advisor of South Vietnam's first president, Ngô Ðình Diệm. Nhu was widely regarded as the architect of the Ngô family's nepotistic and autocratic rule over South Vietnam from 1955 to 1963...
's Special Forces
Army of the Republic of Vietnam Special Forces
The Army of the Republic of Vietnam Special Forces were the elite military units of the Army of the Republic of Vietnam . Following the establishment of the Republic of Vietnam in October 1955, the Special Forces were formed at Nha Trang in February 1956...
raided and vandalised Buddhist pagodas across the country, rounding up thousands of monks and leaving hundreds dead.
Across the town of Huế, the approach of government forces were met by the beating of Buddhist drums and cymbals to alert the populace. The townsfolk left their homes in the middle of the night in an attempt to defend the city's pagodas. At Tu Dam Pagoda, monks attempted to burn the coffin of a monk who had self-immolated during previous protests. Government soldiers, firing M1 rifles, overran the pagoda and confiscated the coffin. They also demolished a statue of Gautama Buddha
Gautama Buddha
Siddhārtha Gautama was a spiritual teacher from the Indian subcontinent, on whose teachings Buddhism was founded. In most Buddhist traditions, he is regarded as the Supreme Buddha Siddhārtha Gautama (Sanskrit: सिद्धार्थ गौतम; Pali: Siddhattha Gotama) was a spiritual teacher from the Indian...
and looted and vandalized the pagoda. An explosion was set off by the troops, which leveled much of the pagoda. Many Buddhists were shot or clubbed to death.
Later years
During 1968, the pagoda was heavily damaged during the Tet Offensive of the Vietnam WarVietnam War
The Vietnam War was a Cold War-era military conflict that occurred in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. This war followed the First Indochina War and was fought between North Vietnam, supported by its communist allies, and the government of...
, some of which remains unrepaired. In 1966, a bronze statue of Gautama Buddha was cast to replace the one destroyed during the pagoda attacks of Diem's regime.
Today the pagoda is still inhabited by monks and is the provincial headquarters of the Buddhist Association.