Bắc Ninh
Unique experience in Tay Yen Tu
I have many times heard poet Tran Ninh Ho, a native of Bac Giang, excitedly read and lecture on his poem commemorating the King of the Tran Dynasty.
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Tay Yen Tu attracts tourists during Bac Giang Culture-Tourism Week 2023. |
With his research on Tran Nhan Tong, Ho concluded that he was an outstanding celebrity: "When he was a king, he was a wise king; when he led the army, he was a talented general; when he was a monk, he is a Buddha; and when he wrote poetry, he was a great poet".
King Tran Nhan Tong was born as Tran Kham in the Year of the Horse 1258. He was the first son of King Tran Thanh Tong and Queen Nguyen Thanh Thien Cam. He was made Crown Prince at the age of 16 and was crowned king when he was less than 20 years old. When the Yuan-Mongol troops invaded the country, King Tran Nhan Tong directly led the army and people of Dat Viet (Great Viet) to twice defeat the Northern invaders in 1285 and 1288.
After foreign invaders were expelled, the country restored peace and the people had a happy life, in 1293, King Tran Nhan Tong ceded the throne to his son Tran Anh Tong to become King Father, and retreated to Yen Tu Mountain to practise Buddhism.
From then until he passed away at the age of 51 at Ngoa Van peak of Yen Tu in 1308, he walked with a bamboo stick around the country to encourage all people to keep the five precepts, practice the ten virtues and build credibility.
During that time, he often went to Vinh Nghiem Pagoda in Yen Dung district, Bac Giang province today to preach sutras. The pagoda is located at the confluence of Luc Nam and Thuong Rivers. As the gateway to Yen Tu Mountain, it trained monks for the whole country and was the place where the Truc Lam Zen sect of Vietnamese Buddhism was founded.
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Hometown festival. |
From the sacred and mysterious Vinh Nghiem Pagoda, the dissemination of Zen Buddhism by its founders began and then thrived.
Notably, after many years of fieldwork, researchers have proven the connection between the ancestral place of Vinh Nghiem and the sacred peak of Tay Yen Tu through the system of pagodas and towers along the western slope of Yen Tu Mountain, all of which had the footprints of King-Monk Tran Nhan Tong.
Therefore, "Following the footsteps of the King-Monk" is a suggestion of a tourism product among those identified by Bac Giang province as the main cultural-spiritual tourism products. In fact, cultural-spiritual tourism has been a product creating a breakthrough for Bac Giang’s tourism development in recent years, with the sacred Tay Yen Tu region as a focus.
Determining tourism development with focuses and priorities, Bac Giang has concentrated on forming a Tay Yen Tu tourism space associated with “the path of disseminating Buddhist Dharma" of the founders of the Truc Lam Yen Tu Zen sect. Since 2018, the province has organized the annual Tay Yen Tu Festival and Culture-Tourism Week in the first lunar month.
This year, the week took the theme "Sacred Tay Yen Tu" with 15 main activities and cultural, sports, and tourism activities by localities in the province. With Son Dong, Yen Dung, Luc Nam and Luc Ngan as the main venues, the event was held from February 1-6 (the 11th to 16th days of the first lunar month).
A highlight of the Bac Giang Culture-Tourism Week 2023 was the Buddhist music night with the theme "Vinh Nghiem - Aura of wisdom", held for the first time at Vinh Nghiem Pagoda. The program was organized in a new and unique format, introducing the life, career and the enlightenment process of King-Monk Tran Nhan Tong; the formation and development of the Truc Lam Yen Tu Zen sect in the spiritual life and Vietnamese Buddhism; and the position of Vinh Nghiem Pagoda in the Truc Lam Yen Tu Zen sect.
As part of the week, a woodblock procession from Vinh Nghiem Pagoda in Yen Dung district to Thuong (Upper) Pagoda on Tay Yen Tu in Son Dong district was recognized by the Vietnam Records Organization as “the largest procession in Vietnam".
Coming to Tay Yen Tu today, one can feel that tourism here is taking off day by day. From a deep jungle area in the past, now it welcomes visitors all the four seasons in the year who come to enjoy the beautiful scenery with so many strange flowers and plants, oranges, grapefruits, lychees and above all, a peaceful mind.
This result is thanks to Bac Giang province's right assessment of potential and advantages and focused investment in tourism development associated with socio-economic development of the Tay Yen Tu region. The province has mobilized trillions of VND (1 trillion VND equals to 41.1 million USD) from different sources to build and repair roads, temples, pagodas, historical and cultural relic sites, connecting them to the Tay Yen Tu spiritual and ecological tourism area in Son Dong district.
"Following the footsteps of the King-Monk" has now become a unique tourism product. Tourists and Buddhists come to Vinh Nghiem Pagoda to admire the scenery and learn about the unique set of woodblocks that have been preserved for hundreds of years and have become a World Documentary Heritage. Then they go to Suoi Mo Temple in Luc Nam district, Ha (Lower) Pagoda, Thuong (Upper) Pagoda and Dong Pagoda, where they worship the statue of King-Monk Tran Nhan Tong on Yen Tu peak.
The tourism product also features a walking path to popularize Buddhist Dharma by King-Monk Tran Nhan Tong passing through pagodas, temples, and towers along the western slope of Yen Tu Mountain. Many travel businesses have organized tours for tourists to experience this product and received positive feedback.
However, to make this product more attractive, Bac Giang needs to continue investing in traffic connectivity and restoring damaged pagodas and towers to form a complex of religious works. Besides, the provincial authorities should coordinate closely with scientists to have more comprehensive studies on the King-Monk and the founders and values of the Truc Lam Yen Tu Zen sect, turning them into attractive, moving stories.
At the same time, it is necessary to promote communications and promotion to create a stronger spillover effect, along with the synchronous implementation of solutions set in the resolutions and plans of the provincial Party Committee and People's Committee on tourism development of the province in general and the Tay Yen Tu region in particular.
Joining the "Following the footsteps of the King-Monk" journey, tourists and Buddhists remember and pay tribute to Heroic King Tran Nhan Tong, a great thinker and cultural celebrity, as well as an enlightened monk who left a special ideological system on Buddhism imbued with Vietnamese identity. It is also a unique experience of reaching the sacred mountain peak for meditation and enjoying the beauty of the multi-thousand-year-old country.
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