Chung Thien monastery, (near) Ye Linh, Vinh Phu, VN

Raw data

This monastery is first mentioned in the 550 - 600 CE period. It had close ties both with South China and Tang court. The monastery had 300 monks.

See Cuong Tu Nguyen, Zen in Medieval Vietnam: A Study and Translation of the Thien Uyen Tap Anh (Honolulu: University of Hawai'i Press, 1997), 165 - 166.

See Cuong Tu Nguyen, Zen in Medieval Vietnam: A Study and Translation of the Thien Uyen Tap Anh (Honolulu: University of Hawai'i Press, 1997), 109, 365-366 citing the location as described in the Cuong MucToan Bien, 2, 10b1-2 "Chudien Village was part of Giao chi District. under the Tang it was changed to Dien Chau, and Tam Dai Prefecture under the Le. Nowadays it pertains to VinhTuong Prefecture, Son Tay Province".

Src: Vietnam

Input by: Stewart Gordon, Jan 18, 2010

"Phap Hien was praised and given highly honorable titles such as a living Bodhisattva by Tan Tian himself, a high ranking monk known as a profound scholar in the Sui capital. According to Thien Uyen Tap Anh, the monk [Phap Hien] had the family name of Do, cloistered in the Chung Thien Pagoda located in the Thien Phuong mountain in Tien Du and was born in Chu Dien. At the beginning, he studied with the monk Quan Duyen in the Phap Van Pagoda. He was afterwards accepted as a disciple by the Indian monk, Vinitaruci, who had come from China. The latter had also transferred his Buddhist mantle to him."
http://www.crvp.org/book/Series03/IIID-5/chapter-5.htm

Input by: tmciolek, Feb 9, 2010

"After Vinitaruci's death, Phap Hien built the Temple of Chung-tien at mount Tu, about twenty miles northwest of Luy-lau. He died in 626 after instructing more than three hundred disciples in the teachings received from Vinitaruci." (Taylor 1991:157)

This means a mountainous location approx. 20 miles (or 32 km) NW of Khuong Tu (formerly Luy Lau) Lat 21.0333 Long 106.0500 http://www.fallingrain.com/world/VM/11/Khuong_Tu.html. The nearest matching place is the one near the settlement of Ye Linh - http://www.fallingrain.com/world/VM/38/Ye_Linh.html

Input by: tmciolek, 5 Mar 2010

Final data (and their sources)

Last updated: 05 Mar 2010

Lat/Long coordinates' accuracy:
The monastery in question is assumed to be situated actually no farther than 20 km from the point defined by the coordinates below.

Location of Chung Thien monastery, VN.

General location of the Chung Thien monastery, VN.
lat=21.289 long=105.83
Mapping & images: Falling Rain Genomics (http://www.fallingrain.com), 2009.


Google Map link:

http://maps.google.com/maps?q=21.289+105.83+(Approx.%20loc.%20of%20the%20Chung%20Thien%20monastery,%20VN)&ll=21.289,105.83&spn=05.0,05.0&t=k&hl=en


Final data - explanatory notes

1. Monastery's name

  • Chung Thien monastery

2. Monastery's modern country & province

  • Vietnam: Vinh Phu

3. Monastery's alternative/historical names

  • Chu Dien,

4. Monastery's lat/long coordinates

  • Approx., Lat 21.289 Long 105.83, guessing the coords from historical references & configuration of the terrain & using maps.google.com - tmciolek, 5 Mar 2010.

5. Other known nearby Buddhist monasteries

  • [missing data]

6. Modern name of the known nearest city, town, or village


7. The settlement's alternative/historical names


8. The settlement's coordinates


9. Monastery's major Buddhist tradition

  • Mahayana

10. Monastery's Buddhist sub-tradition

  • southern school of Ch'an/Zen

11. Date-early

  • c. 610 CE
  • MBM chrono-tag: 0600-32c - tmciolek 12 Dec 2012
  • 0600-32c 0633-66p dated-e

12. Date-intermediate

  • [missing data]

13. Date-late

  • [missing data]

14. Details of contacts with other monasteries

  • Student of a teacher of Buddhism who came from Gaungzhou, China.

15. Type of evidence regarding the monastery

  • Chronicle. 14th Century copy of a 10th Century mss.

16. Additional notes

  • 300 monks.

17. Corrections & addenda to this page were kindly provided by

  • [missing data]

end of page

Unless otherwise stated, the content of this page is licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 License