According to ancient bibliographies and folk legends, specifically the legend of “Co Chau Buddha with a natural life”, the Ancestral Temple worships Buddha’s mother, Man Nuong, who was the “born” of the Four Dharmas (Phap Van, Phap Vu, Phap Loi, Phap Dien). from the 2nd century BC. Legend has it that the pagoda was built on the old house of Mr and Mrs. Tu Dinh – father and Uu Di – mother of Man Nuong (In Man Xa Dong village, there is now a church of Ho Man, in genealogy and bibliographic documents. There are also records of the family of Mr and Mrs. Tu Dinh and A Man/Man Nuong). When Mr and Mrs. Tu Dinh became a saint, the house became a pagoda (Ban Gia Vi Tu). To Pagoda, which was built a long time ago and was restored by many dynasties, until now only Tam Bao Thuong (Upper Palace) is an architectural work of the Nguyen Dynasty that is still preserved quite intact. The center of the Buddha’s temple (the Upper Palace) is the place to worship the Buddha’s mother, Man Nuong. The statue of Man Nuong Mother Buddha was created in a meditating position on a lotus, nearly 1.70m high, created to resemble the statues of the Four Dharmas, with a holy, compassionate face, the whole body is covered with a layer of paint full of ripe plum color. sacred mystery. Above is the statue of Mr and Mrs. Tu Dinh who is Man Nuong’s father and mother, painted in dark brown color, with a robe covering his thighs. The right corner of the Upper Temple is the statue of the ancestor Khau Da La, bareheaded, with a compassionate face, meditating on a lotus, wearing a robe. The outer robe covers the thighs. The right corner of the Upper Temple is the statue of the ancestor Khau Da La, bareheaded, with a compassionate face, meditating on a lotus, wearing a robe. The outer robe covers the thighs. The right corner of the Upper Temple is the statue of the ancestor Khau Da La, bareheaded, with a compassionate face, meditating on a lotus, wearing a robe.
At present, To Pagoda still preserves many valuable antique documents such as worshiping statues, stone stele, ordination, diaphragm, couplets… In which, the 14th reign of King Canh Hung (1786) conferred the monk. Patriarch Khau Da La and an ordination of the 8th Khai Dinh dynasty (1923) conferred on Buddha Mother Man Nuong. Those precious antique documents have proven that the presence of two people Khau Da La and Man Nuong are real, and they created the Son Mon Dau and the Four Dharmas system in the early AD. In particular, the pagoda also preserves a stone stele that is quite intact, with dimensions (172.5cm high, 98cm wide, 15cm thick) on the forehead of the stele embossed with the image of a dragon adoring the moon, a stylized fringe of flowers and clouds. , the name of the stele “Phuc Nghiem narrates the story of compassion” was erected in the 12th year of Canh Hung, until the year of Tu Duc 26 (1873) was engraved, the content tells the story of Buddha’s mother Man Nuong and the Four Dharma system,
In the past, monk Khau Da La from Thien Truc country practiced the Brahmin religion. Once in the high mountains, he did not need a large monastery to travel across the four seas. At that time, in the Han Dynasty, we came to Luy Lau citadel in our country. Next to Luy Lau citadel, there are Mr and Mrs. Tu Dinh from Man Xa village who greatly respect the monk’s magic tomb. Khau Da La often sat quietly and did not eat or drink. Tu Dinh knew in his heart that the Buddha had appeared in the world, so he respected and admired him very much. Tu Dinh had a beautiful daughter, who gave him permission to follow his teacher. The monk told Tu Dinh that: “If you enter my Buddhadharma, you will soon have a predestined relationship, if Man Nuong has a religion one day, he will become a great Dharma weapon” and also helped Tu Dinh with magic to get water to save the people, and then said goodbye. separate into the mountain to practice. One day, when Man Nuong came, suddenly a cloud dragon wrapped around her and was touched that she became pregnant. Man Nuong was afraid to explain the matter to her parents. Mr and Mrs. Tu Dinh were surprised to go to the mountain to clarify the situation with Da La. The monk said: “Man Nuong’s pregnancy is due to the harmony of nature”. Man Nuong was 14 months pregnant, and on April 8, she gave birth to a baby girl, and the house was filled with a strange fragrance. Man Nuong immediately carried the child into the mountains to find a teacher, the sky was cloudy and could not be seen clearly, only hearing the chanting and chanting, then turned around and said to the tree, “If there is a god, embrace this child.” The tree then opened its trunk, put the baby in it, and the tree closed… “If there is a god, embrace this baby.” The tree then opened its trunk, put the baby in it, and the tree closed… “If there is a god, embrace this baby.” The tree then opened its trunk, put the baby in it, and the tree closed…
After that, it was raining heavily and the wind blew down the pine tree and drifted to the gate of Luy Lau citadel, in the tree as if there was music, light shining, a fragrant scent, everyone could see. Si Vuong in the city found it strange, so he ordered the military to examine, as it was, in a dream at night, he saw a god saying: “This tree is the god of clouds, rain, thunder and lightning”. The king ordered his court officials to sculpt Buddha images for worship and ordered the workers to cut the tree into four segments and carve them into four statues. When the statue was finished, the people were ordered to establish pagodas: Thien Dinh – Dien Ung (Dau), Thanh Dao (Dau), Phi Tuong Tu and Phuong Quan (Dan) Tri Qua pagoda to worship. When it was inaugurated, before entering the temple, there was a great drought. Vuong prayed, suddenly heavy rain. Therefore, remembering the dream first, they named it: Phap Van, Phap Vu, Phap Loi, Phap Dien. When the procession entered the temple, the three carriages were very light, and the statue of Phap Van is too heavy. Vuong sent the statue sculptor to ask, the worker said that there was a stone in the tree that had been thrown into the river, and then ordered the fishermen to go look for it because they knew that the tree contained Man Nuong’s child and carved it into a statue of Thach Quang to worship. Vuong ordered the people to sculpt the statue of the founder of Phuc Nghiem pagoda.
General Cao Quy decided to approach to steal and bring back. When he arrived at the Vu Binh field, he was chased and beaten by our troops, everyone in the country thought that Buddha was lost. That winter, the fire burned the copper, only the Buddha there was still green. When the king heard that, he ordered him to take him back to the temple. When King Ly Anh Tong encountered a great drought, he immediately took him to Bao Thien Pagoda. The king and Queen Mother personally performed a ceremony to pray for rain. When they returned, it rained heavily. During the reign of King Le and Lord Trinh, every year he sent court officials to offer sacrifices to keep the country’s circuit long. In the year of Canh Than, he gave himself a special order for Thuyen Nghia to come and take the drum as a sign, when he decided to re-determine the family’s brocade robes and hats. After that, in terms of praying for peace and praying for rain, first come to welcome the Tu Phap and worship Phuc Nghiem and Dien Ung pagodas for three days. Only then did they welcome the Three Patriarchs with the sacrifices, set them as such forever.
The To Pagoda and Tu Phap pagoda system in Dau area, Thuan Thanh district are the quintessence of the integration between Indian Buddhism when it was introduced into our country and the indigenous beliefs of the ancient Vietnamese worshiping natural forces (clouds, rain, etc.) , thunder, lightning), to create a religious belief center imbued with national nuances. From the center of Strawberry, Buddhism has spread to all regions of the country. Therefore, the To Pagoda and the system of the Four Dharmas have become an important vestige of the process of formation and development of Buddhism in Vietnam. With special historical values of Culture, Religion and Belief of the To – Phuc Nghiem Pagoda, it has been ranked and recognized by the Ministry of Culture and Information as a national relic since 2001.
Source: Collected internet.