Amazing Con Son

Con Son complex seen from above

Con Son – Kiep Bac special national relic site in Chi Linh city, Hai Duong province, is one of a few tourist attractions that still preserve the beauty of landscape, aesthetics, and ancient architecture.

Harmony and balance can be seen from every detail of the natural scenery and religious structures there.

66-year-old Tran Thi Bay from Bac Giang province has visited Con Son for the second time after nearly eight years to attend the spring festival there with her descendants.

“The addition of many highlight works makes the scenery different from and much more beautiful than the last time I came here,” said Bay.

Con Son relic welcomes hundreds of thousands of sightseers and worshippers each year

The beauty of Con Son relic is formed by three main factors, landscape, structures, and antiquities.

The relic covers Con Son (also known as Ky Lan - unicorn) and dragon-like Ngu Nhac mountains, is adjacent to Phuong Hoang (phoenix) and turtle-like Ho Phong mountains, and faces Con Son lake, creating a stunning scenery.

“The four mountains that represent four famous supernatural creatures embrace Con Son relic with Con Son lake as a water (vitality) gathering spot in the middle, forming a very beautiful terrain in feng shui,” said PhD. Le Duy Manh, Deputy Head of the Relic Management Board.

Thau Ngoc bridge and Thanh Hu Dong at Con Son relic

Con Son pagoda is located at the foot of Con Son mountain.

It was built before the Tran dynasty and restored and expanded very magnificently in the Le dynasty with 83 horizontal and vertical halls, red bricks, and colored enamel tiles.

King Tran Nhue Tong once visited former Tu Do Phu Chinh (Minister over the Masses) Tran Nguyen Dan in Con Son. Seeing the beautiful scenery there, the king granted three words “Thanh Hu Dong” (Thanh Hu Cave), which were then engraved on a stele.

The stele is now a national treasure.

The beauty of Con Son relic is vividly shown through activities of the annual festival. In the photo is a procession of banh chung and banh giay from Con Son pagoda to Nguyen Trai temple

King Le Thanh Tong also visited Con Son and wrote a very fine poem titled “Con Son Tu” (Con Son pagoda).

Through ups and downs in history, Con Son is now a small pagoda hidden under canopies of ancient trees in a hundred-hectare forest.

However, many works rich in historical and cultural values dating back to the Tran and Le dynasties are still preserved at Con Son pagoda, such as Cuu Pham Lien Hoa (nine-tier lotus-shaped tower), a statue of Avalokitesvara Buddha with thousands of hands and eyes, and 385 statues of different beauties.

A water procession in the program of Con Son – Kiep Bac Spring Festival

The State and people have paid attention to restoring and embellishing a lot of works at Con Son relic, such as Nguyen Trai temple, Thanh Hu temple, Con Son stream, and Cuu Pham Lien Hoa, helping them become lively but still bear the characteristics of their eras.

Buddhism, Confucianism, and Taoism with Vietnamese cultural identity also leave their marks through each construction work, each detail of architecture, carving, stele, statue, etc. in Con Son.

There are three other steles built many centuries ago and rich in historical and cultural values in the yard of Con Son pagoda apart from “Thanh Hu Dong”.

Tourists enjoy taking photos at Con Son relic

“Thich Duc Nguyen Nien” stele was carved in 1653. The two remaining steles read by Uncle Ho during his visit to Con Son date from 1608 and 1611, respectively. They have been recognized as other national treasures of the relic.

Worshipping objects, cau doi (pair of panels inscribed with parallel sentences), and hoanh phi (horizontal board engraved with large Chinese characters) at the pagoda were all left by the ancients.

Nguyen Trung Kien and his wife, visitors from Ha Noi, walked to the foot of Con Son mountain from Con Son pagoda. They were thrilled when turning around and getting a panoramic view of this special scenic site.

The uniquely-carved Cuu Pham Lien Hoa at Con Son pagoda

“It’s rare to see such harmony between natural scenery and mossy structures. I have been to many relics, but only a few of them can compare with Con Son in terms of space, scale, and antiquity,” said Kien.

The annual Con Son – Kiep Bac festival, part of the national intangible cultural heritage, features many rituals imbrued with national cultural character, including interesting activities like a clay firecracker festival, a banh chung and banh giay (square and round glutinous rice cakes) making contest, national wrestling competitions, etc., attracting tens of thousands of visitors.

An ancient, mossy corner of Con Son pagoda

Such exciting activities combined with the sacred landscape and space have created an amazing and attractive beauty for Con Son.

Together with Kiep Bac, the values of Con Son relic are the basis for Hai Duong, Quang Ninh, and Bac Giang provinces to complete and submit a dossier to UNESCO for recognition of Yen Tu – Con Son, Kiep Bac relic and landscape complex as world cultural heritage. 

TIEN MANH