Y Son or Y Son Tay is an ancient pagoda located on the western side of the Y Son mountain range which was built in the Le Trung Hung period and has been repaired many times. Vestiges of time remain on the artistic carvings on architectural structures and on the steles at the pagoda.

An overview of Y Son Pagoda.

This ancient pagoda has a unique architectural structure, including works such as Tam Quan (the three-arched-entrances gate), the worshipping hall, the Three Jewels and the back palace, all located on a wide campus on the western side of Y Son mountain.

The main hall has a yi (一)-shaped architecture consisting of three compartments and two rooms in the two sides with four curved roofs. It has a firm frame structure with simple carvings. This is the place where an incense burner is placed according to the procession ritual in the Y Son Festival. The Three Jewels also preserves many ancient architectural features of the Nguyen Dynasty (the 19th century).

Being a great ancient pagoda on the side of Y Son mountain, Y Son Pagoda not only boasts beautiful scenery and is an attractive “going-to-the-root” eco-tourism site, but also has rich tangible and intangible cultural values. It still keeps valuable objects, antiques, Buddha statues, steles, panels, and horizontal lacquered boards engraved with Chinese characters.

Every year, the Y Son Pagoda Festival is held on the 15th, 16th and 17th days of the first lunar month. This is a big festival that preserves many unique traditional cultural features of the ancient land on the bank of the Cau River such as procession of palanquin, incense burner, flag and paper fan from Y Son Temple to Y Son Pagoda and vice versa; unique folk games like ‘cuon co dap dat’ (wrapping the flag, beating the ground), pulling words, swinging, hopping, human chess playing, wrestling, and cheo singing…. The Y Son Pagoda Festival has been included in the List of National Intangible Cultural Heritage by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism.

Not only having unique cultural and artistic historical values, Y Son Pagoda was also an important revolutionary base in the period before the August 1945 Revolution. It witnessed the Party's revolutionary popularisation campaign on February 22, 1940 (the 15th day of the first lunar month) - the annual festival day - organized by the Party cell of Hoang Van.

Also at Y Son Pagoda, on March 5, 1940, Ha Thi Que, an official in charge of the province, delivered a revolutionary speech. The book "Historical events of the Party Organisation of Ha Bac province" volume I - 1981 recorded this historic event as follows: "To disseminate the spirit of the Resolution of the Meeting of the Party Central Committee in November 1939 at IA Pagoda (Y Son Pagoda) in Hiep Hoa district on March 5, 1940, the Party held a public speaking in front of thousands of attendees. Standing on the step of the ancient pagoda, the official in charge of the province analyzed the world and domestic situation, clearly indicating that the imperial war would create an opportunity for the revolution in Indochina to break out and the mission of our people was to prepare to fight for power when the opportunity comes. She called everyone to join anti-imperialist organizations and actively fight against the French rulers and their henchmen. The presentation was a success. The people attending the pagoda festival that day talked a lot about beating the French and gaining independence and freedom for the country”.

As one of the Safety Zone II – Hiep Hoa relic sites, Y Son Pagoda has become a “going-to-the-root” destination and a relic site for educating patriotism tradition for the younger generation.

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