Long Son Pagoda

Foundation and the move of 1900

The pagoda was founded in 1886 under the name Đằng Long Tự by Thích Ngộ Trí, born in 1856 in the district of Vĩnh Xương, a monk of the thirty-ninth generation of the Lâm Tế line^[1]. The first building was a thatched house on the summit of Trại Thủy hill, with chùa Hải Đức above it and chùa Bửu Phong to the south^[1]. The English Wikipedia article records that before entering the sangha he had taken part in resistance to French rule^[2].

A storm in 1900 brought the building down^[1][2]. The community moved the pagoda to the foot of the hill, where it stands, and changed the name to Long Sơn^[1]. Wikidata gives the site as latitude 12.2516 and longitude 109.1808^[3].

Rebuilding and war damage

In 1936 the pagoda was given to the An Nam Buddhist Studies Association of Trung Kỳ, following the wish of its founder, to serve as the seat of Buddhist work in the province^[1][2]. In 1938, the fourteenth year of the reign of Bảo Đại, it received the title Sắc tứ Long Sơn tự^[1].

Sources differ on the date of the first large rebuilding: the Vietnamese Wikipedia article gives 1941 and names the association head Tôn Thất Quyền and the lay Buddhist Võ Đình Thụy^[1], while the English article gives 1940^[2]. The tiled roof was heavily damaged by the fighting in 1968^[1][2].

A further programme of works began in 1971 under Thích Thiện Bình, to designs by the architect Võ Đình Diệp; by 1975 about 60 percent of the plan had been carried out^[1][2].

The buildings

The grounds are about 45 metres wide and more than 72 metres long, with the lecture hall of the provincial Buddhist secondary school beside the pagoda^[1]. The main hall, the Đại Hùng bảo điện, covers 1,670 m² and holds a bronze figure of Shakyamuni teaching, 1.6 metres high and weighing about 700 kg^[1].

From the main hall a stair climbs the slope of Trại Thủy. The Vietnamese Wikipedia article counts 193 steps^[1], the English article 152^[2]. A reclining Buddha 17 metres long and 5 metres high was placed at the forty-fourth step in 2003, with a relief behind it showing 49 disciples^[1]. Higher up stands the bell tower, with a great bell 2.2 metres high weighing 1,500 kg, given by Buddhists in Huế in 2002^[1].

The white Buddha

At the top of the stair stands the Kim Thân Phật Tổ, a white seated Buddha 24 metres high, on a base that includes a lotus pedestal 7 metres high and a chamber holding the ashes of local families^[1]. The English Wikipedia article gives the same overall height of 24 m measured from the ground, with 21 m from the base of the statue, a figure of 14 m and a lotus of 7 m, which leaves 3 m of base below the statue, and records a pair of dragons 7.20 m long in front^[2].

The date differs between sources: the Vietnamese article gives 1963 for the building of the statue^[1], while the English article says it was cast in 1964 and installed the following year under Thích Đức Minh, head of the provincial Buddhist association, to a sculpture by Kim Điền^[2].

The Vietnamese article records that each petal of the lotus pedestal carries the portrait of one of the seven monks who burned themselves in 1963 in protest at the treatment of Buddhism under Ngô Đình Diệm^[1]. The English article instead describes statues of seven arahants set around the figure^[2]. The statue is listed in the Vietnamese edition of the Guinness book as the largest open-air Buddha figure in the country at the time of publication^[1].

Abbots and standing

The Vietnamese Wikipedia article lists the abbots as Thích Ngộ Chí from 1886 to 1935, Thích Chánh Hóa from 1936 to 1957, Thích Chí Tín from 1957 until his death in 2013, Thích Thiện Bình from 2013 to 2016 and Thích Minh Thông from 2016^[1]. The English article, written earlier, counts three abbots in more than 120 years^[2].

The pagoda remains the provincial seat of the Vietnam Buddhist Sangha^[1].