Chien Vien Pagoda (Vat Hong)

Chien Vien Pagoda, also called Vat Hong Pagoda, is in Vat hamlet, Muong Sang commune, Moc Chau district, Son La province. It is regarded as the oldest pagoda of the Northwest and a rare form of Buddhist temple built by the Thai people.

According to the Thai-studies scholar Cam Trong, the pagoda may date from the 13th century, built by the Thai community of Moc Chau; the hamlet name “Vat” is thought to be a corruption of “Phat” (Buddha). The mid-19th-century geography Dai Nam nhat thong chi records it as a major Buddhist structure of the mountainous Northwest, housing one large, eight medium and 56 small bronze statues, two of tin and one small ivory figure. Rebuilt in 1908–1909 under Emperor Duy Tan, the pagoda fell into ruin from 1947.

Today about 100 m² of foundations remain, with several columns, stretches of stone wall with arched doorways, two altars and a bilingual stone stele — half in White Thai script, half in Chinese characters — recording the temple's construction and its donors. The Thai of Vat hamlet still hold the “Chach Vat, Chach Va” Buddha festival in the fifth lunar month and have raised a temporary roofed shrine to continue worship.