Binh Son Tower is a Buddhist architecture with the imprint of a long period, from the fourteenth century to the sixteenth century. Skillful construction techniques are typical for the architecture of the pagodas of the Ly – Tran dynasty in Vietnam and are the highest remaining terracotta tower in the Tran dynasty.
Binh Son Tower’s literal name is Vinh Khanh pagoda tower, customary it is called Then Pagoda in Tam Son commune, Song Lo district, Vinh Phuc province. The tower is currently 16.5 m high, (the remaining 11 floors and 1 base floor, the top of the tower has collapsed). It is constructed with a square shape that gradually decreases to the top. The edge of the bottom floor is 4.45 meters, the edge of the 11th floor is 1.55 meters.
The entire tower is built with unglazed bricks. From the base of the tower to the end of the second floor, with a height of less than 6 meters, the most complete pattern. In the photo is the decoration on the first floor of the tower.
On two floors, there are carefully decorated motifs with chrysanthemums, lotus petals, leaves, smooth-faced flowers, embossed dragons, and the motif “lion glove” … In the photo is a brick decorated in the style of leaves. Simple, not really elaborate like “leaf title” Ly dynasty.
From the third floor up, the decoration remains, but the higher it goes, the narrower the width of the tower surface, the less the decoration will be. In terms of materials, Binh Son tower was built with three types of bricks.
The first type is “brick gate”: there are many sizes, rectangles, to be smooth, the thinnest thickness is not the same. These bricks are often used to build the base of the pedestal, “thread edge” exposed, or inserted on the tablecloths inside. In the photo is the base of the tower. This section has many overlapping lotus petals, easy to think of like a tower growing from a large lotus.
The second type of brick is box-shaped, decorated, is often used at the base of the pedestal and the fringe lines, the exposed surface is larger than the “slash” face. This type of brick is meticulously crafted and clearly machined in many stages. In the photo are dragon carved bricks with horns, curled in the “nest”, the head turns to the center of the circle, the body does not curl but curves into a sinusoidal shape, so does not “bag”, the foot kicks out, or crossed over the body to kick out, spine shaped “serrated” one front leg brought up “hair” …
There are also decorative motifs of chrysanthemum flower, floating flower vine, three-prong match. This type of fighting was seen from the Ly dynasty (Thap Chuong Son, Nam Dinh) and was even more popular under the Mac dynasty (Dinh Tay Dang, Ba Vi, Hanoi).
Binh Son Tower has many unique features in terms of artistic architecture, fine art, construction techniques, not only having artistic architectural value, but also having high artistic value called “The jewel of national treasure “.
On the bricks, there are many types of decorative patterns, round places, circles, deep places, shallow places, bold places … proving that the hand of the craftsman is extremely skilled. Binh Son Tower is a work with a unique architecture, according to the assessment of the French, this is the most beautiful tower in Tonkin.
Binh Son Tower – Vinh Khanh Pagoda is located on a high and spacious mound, the area of the protected area is 17,200m2, including: Binh Son Tower, Old Three Jewels, New Three Jewels, squid wells, houses guests, lotus pond, gate, auxiliary works.
Surveyed for the tower’s interior is built with 13,200 bricks, including 2 types: a square with the dimensions of 0.22m x 0.22m, a rectangular type with dimensions of 0.45m x 0, 22m.
The intestine of the tower has a small space running through the base of the tower to the top. Outside, around the tower is covered with a layer of square bricks, each side is 0.46m long, covering the tower body. The decorative lines are delicate, liberal, the shape is strong, full of the vitality of national art in the Ly – Tran dynasty.
With typical values, Binh Son tower architectural relic is ranked by the Prime Minister as a special national monument (in Decision No. 2367 / QD-TTg dated December 23, 2015).