Jade Emperor Temple

Thang Dinh Updated on July 16, 2024July 13, 2024

Chùa Ngọc Hoàng

Why visit?

Best example of a Taoist temple in town.
Imposing papier-mârché deity figures.
Worship of the 12 midwives.

What to see?
A Taoist temple and also congregation hall built in the first decade of the 1900s by the Cantonese Ming refugees.

History

Jade Emperor Pagoda was originally a shrine dedicated to the Jade Emperor, traditionally said to have been founded by a Cantonese man named Liu Ming. Construction began in 1900 and was completed in 1906. In 1982, a Vietnamese monk named Thich Vinh Khuong took over the management of the Jade Emperor Pagoda. From that point, the pagoda was under the administration of the Vietnam Buddhist Association until 1984. Afterward, the pagoda was renamed Phuoc Hai Tu. In 1994, the Jade Emperor Pagoda was recognized as a national architectural and artistic heritage site. This pagoda is renowned for its sanctity and is the only pagoda in Vietnam chosen by President Obama as a sightseeing spot during his visit to Vietnam in 2016.

The temple occupies an area of 2,300 sqm. The central hall is the seat of the Jade Emperor (Emperor of the Heaven) and his court member, dominated by imposing guardians and celestial Taoist gods. There are side chambers and shrines dedicated to different realms of Taoist deities including the God of the Land, the God of Fortune, the Twelve Holy Midwives, the Ten Hells. The temple was visited by Barrack Obama on 24 May 2016.

Description

In front of the main hall, the architecture is adorned with various layers of intricate patterns. The central column features dragon tail motifs, while the two sides of the roof are decorated with four flying green dragons. The decoration includes various human figures, natural landscapes such as bamboo, leaves, flowers, and sharply curved roof ends. The entire architecture is longitudinally divided into a central sections and two flanks.

The central section: This is the largest area, consisting of the front hall, middle hall, and main hall. The front hall features altars on either side, with the left dedicated to the Earth God and the right to the Gate God. The middle hall is dedicated to the Medicine Buddha, flanked by celestial guardians Green Dragon and White Tiger. The main hall houses the statue of the Jade Emperor, accompanied by celestial guards and courtiers. On the left is the altar dedicated to the Dou-mu (The Holy Mother of the Large Dipper’ Seven Stars), on the right the altar of Huyen Vu Bac De (North Star Guardian).
The left section: This section includes three altars. The first altar is dedicated to the Two Judges, General Ma, the City God, the Grand Duke, and Lu Ban. The second altar is dedicated to the Ten Kings of Hell, depicted through ten wooden carvings representing the ten gates of hell, with five carvings on each side. The third altar is dedicated to the Matchmaker God, the Holy Mother of Golden Flower, the twelve midwives, and thirteen deities.
The right section: This section includes a resting house and memorial tablets for the deceased. In this section, there is a wooden staircase leading up to the Guan Yin Hall.

Additional info:
Location: 73 Mai Thi Luu St, District 1, HCM City.
Minimum visit duration: 1 hour
No entrance free.
No photography in the interior.

Upper part of the facade. The gable ridges are adorned with ceramic motifs and figurines (Cay Mai ceramic style). Three big characters from right to left reads “Jade-Emperor-Temple”. ↓

The front hall right after the front door. You will find the altar for the Gate God on your right, Earth God on your left. On two sides behind the two red side arcades are temple shop serving votive items like lamp oil, candles, wish tags. The other half offers auspicious adornments like mala bead bracelets, necklaces, pendants, etc. Straight ahead in the center is the altar for the Medicine Buddha, sitting in the second hall. ↓

Look at the table the Jade Emperor is holding on his hands. The tablet shows the diagram of Nine Stars as according to the ancient Taoist astrology. The Nine Stars include the Beidou Qixing (seven stars of the Big Dipper) and other two invisible stars namely Fuxing 輔星 and Bixing 弼星. ↓

Doumu on the right, Xuanwu on the left. Doumu is the Divine Mother of the Seven Northern Stars, Zi Wei Emperor, Great Tian Huang Emperor. In Taoist she is also Jiutian Xuannü (九天玄女), Tiānhòu (天后), Tiānmǔ (天母), Xiwangmu (西王母). She is not Cundi Bodhisattva. In the left shrine sits Xuan Wu Bei Ti, the North Star (Polaris) himself. ↓

Center: Patron Deity of the village where the temple stands. On his left: Luban, the Deity of builders and carpenters, and his attendant. On his right: Taisui, Deity of Twelve Zodiac Cycle and his attendant.↓