Villages in Hung Yen are situated along river basins or gather into tiny hamlets scattering on rice fields or around areas, which are surrounded by green bamboo ramparts. Every village features a communal house beside a century-old banyan tree and large water well. The banyan tree, water well and communal house's yard haven't solely rooted deeply within the mind of native people from their childhood, however additionally left a fadeless print in expatriates' mind.

Looming behind green bamboo ramparts are communal homes, pagodas, temples and shrines. From a protracted distance, waving roofs of the communal house are often seen among luxuriant green tree canopies. Big ancient trees around the house and their green leaves decorate the roofs, creating the scenery additional vivid. Trees at pagodas and temples are secular ones green all the year round, like banyans, fig trees, longan and bombax.

A pagoda in Hung Yen is commonly built the "noi cong ngoai quoc" architectural vogue which implies Cong (Chinese character: Gong) within the inner part and the Quoc (Chinese character: Guo) in the outer. In the pagoda's inner half, there are 2 rows of homes laying in parallel and linked by a transversal house called Thieu huong (Incense Burning) where Buddhist rites are conducted. In its outer half, there are 2 roof corridors connected with the front with the rear of the 2 main buildings forming an oblong frame.

Every pagoda features a 3-door Entrance (Tam Quan) that includes three completely different mysterious views of the Buddha regarding the planet. Passing by the three-door Entrance is that the Tam Bao space, which incorporates 3 houses: Tien duong (Ancestor-worshipping House), Thieu huong (Incense Burning House) and Thuong dien (Sanctuary). Today, in Hung Yen, there stay some relics of Huong Lang (Lang) Pagoda (in Minh Hai commune) built in the Ly dynasty and Thai Lac Pagoda (in Lac Hong commune, Van Lam district) built in the Tran dynasty. These are Hung Yen's most ancient pagodas having nice architectural and sculpturing values.

According to the legend that Huong Lang Pagoda was built by Queen Mother Y Lan. But the pagoda was destroyed in the resistance war against the French colonialists. Its relics embody a stone lion, 4 massive stone pillars and 10 stone weasels standing on doorsteps. Furthermore, there stay several art patterns of flying phoenix and chrysanthemum dating back to the Ly dynasty. Additionally, Thai Lac Pagoda has preserved sixteen wood carving boards, which date from the Tran dynasty. The boards have completely different options like a fairy giving incense whereas riding a phoenix, a fairy enjoying music or enjoying the flute, a fairy sleeping within the clouds, fairy giving flowers. All the boards' carving lines are very skillful, reflecting the Vietnamese social life in the Tran dynasty.

Unique architectural options of pagodas and temples in Hung Yen also are displayed within the design of Da Nguu Temple (in Van Giang district) with one hundred carved pillars, of Da Hoa Temple (Binh Minh commune, Khoai Chau district) with 18 board-shaped ridges, of Ung Temple (An Thi district), An Xa Temple (An Vien commune, Tien Lu district) with a Cham-style terra-cotta tower and a stone-sculpture sanctuary…

The Pho Hien relic complex contains twelve nationally recognized relics inbuilt Chinese-style design. Along side their typical architectural options, these relics have preserved several giving things, palanquins, hammocks, horizontal lacquered boards, several pairs of wood panels with skillfully inscribed parallel sentences.

Hung Yen ranks fourth nationwide in terms of the amount of relics. It boasts over 800 historical and cultural relics, 132 which are recognized as national sites, and lots of of them are belief and religious works.

Source:travelvietnam

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