Ton Thanh Pagoda

Ton Thanh Pagoda

Located next to Provincial Road 835 in My Loc commune, Can Giuoc district is a temple that has long been famous in history and literature: Ton Thanh Pagoda - a historical relic that has been ranked level by the Ministry of Culture and Information. National November 27, 1997. Ton Thanh Pagoda was originally called Lan Nha Pagoda and was founded by Zen Master Vien Ngo in 1808. The Zen master's real name is Nguyen Ngoc Dot, son of Mr. Nguyen Ngoc Binh and Mrs. Tra Thi Hue in Thanh Ba village, Phuoc Dien Trung district. Phuoc Loc district. Initially, the Zen master studied at Vinh Quang Pagoda, near Truong Binh market, and was given the Buddhist name Vien Ngo by his master. At that time, the road to Truong Binh market was densely covered with grass and trees, muddy and difficult to walk in. Tigers, leopards, and wild animals often came out to harm people. Seeing this, Zen Master Vien Ngo vowed to cut down trees alone and build a road from Truong Binh market to Tich Duc village and Hoa Thuan ward 250 meters long. In the 7th year of Gia Long's reign (1808), monk Vien Ngo came to Thanh Ba village (now in My Loc commune) to build Lan Nha pagoda - that is the current Ton Thanh pagoda. According to Dai Nam Nhat Thong Chi, this is a famous pagoda with "magnificent, golden pillars" in the ancient land of Gia Dinh. The Zen master also cast a bronze statue of Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva to worship in the temple. Legend has it that when the Bodhisattva statue was missing for the first time, Zen Master Vien Ngo cut off one of his fingers and put it in a pot of bronze water so that the statue could be perfect the next time it was cast. He is not only a filial son but also a person full of compassion and charity. When his father was sick, the Zen master swore in front of the Buddha platform that he would "sit" for 10 years to prolong his father's life. In the first year of Minh Mang (1820), in an area with a smallpox epidemic, monk Vien Ngo vowed to "recite sutras and recite Buddha's name and spend his life in isolation" to pray for the people to escape the disaster. In the 5th year of Thieu Tri (1845), he found that he had been a monk for 40 years but had not yet attained enlightenment, so he passed away for 49 days and then passed away. His Dharma body was buried by the monks in the stupa west of Ton Thanh pagoda. In memory of a Zen master who sacrificed his life to bring goodness to sentient beings, people called Ton Thanh Pagoda Tang Ngo Pagoda or Ong Ngo Pagoda. Sixteen years after Zen Master Vien Ngo passed away, Ton Thanh Pagoda entered the country's history with the tribute to the martyr Can Giuoc by blind poet Nguyen Dinh Chieu. During the three years 1859-1861, patriotic scholar Nguyen Dinh Chieu returned to Thanh Ba, using Ton Thanh pagoda as a place to teach, write poetry and make medicine. During the raid on Tay Duong post at Truong Binh market on the full moon night of the 11th month of Tan Du year, one of the three wings of the insurgent army set out from Ton Thanh pagoda, burned the teaching house, and beheaded the second mandarin of Phu Lang Sa. Touched by the altruistic hearts of the "hamlet villagers", poet Nguyen Dinh Chieu composed a famous tribute to the martyr Can Giuoc at Ton Thanh Pagoda. History has preserved the name of this pagoda of Long An through immortal sentences: ''Ton Thanh Pagoda freezes five years, the red heart leaves behind the full moonlight. Don Lang sa for a moment to pay back his anger and regret, his fate drifted with the flowing water''. Having gone through many ups and downs of history, Ton Thanh Pagoda today no longer has the same "magnificent, golden pillars" as before. Instead, it is an architectural complex including the front hall, main hall, lecture hall, east corridor, west corridor with tiled roofs and brick walls. However, Ton Thanh Pagoda still retains its ancient features through the system of four-shaped columns in the main hall, Buddha statues dating from the early 19th century, and gilded lacquered horizontal parallel sentences with Chinese characters. On the right side of Ton Thanh Pagoda, there are still two memorial stele built in 1973 and 1997 to preserve the vestiges of poet Nguyen Dinh Chieu. Source: Long An Province Electronic Information Portal

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