Hoi-Khanh Temple

There was a saying about how adults use to remember of their homes, or about how children need their mother once away from them. I am not young anymore, but not even old enough to loose the feeling. I am lucky enough to be able holding on to both. The idea about the "Mother" is as solemn as it represents a link between our childhood and our today mature stage. The image of our "Mother’s" is always present in any of us, regardless where we grew up, how we led our life. I lost contact with my family in a long period of time, however, when I was back home, to my country, the souvenir of my childhood seemed to be revived in every details. The house from my past seemed to be smaller; the impassive river that ran silently over time seemed never aged by my side.

When I was still in the Fine-Art school, I always dreamt to accomplish something significant for my hometown, especially for Binh Duong, where there were a multitude of artists, generation over generation. They were the ones who maintained the beauty of the nature through their creations in art or through lovely songs. The last time when back to my village, it was the antique community hall’s structure view that struck my souvenir. I did not have the same feeling with churches, not because the latter were lack of charm, but such ancient community halls seemed to grow up with me, to take roots in my memory, from the trees’ shape to its branches. I recalled also the old temple’s roof like it had retained all the marks of the flying time. This might due to our ancestors’ way of construction that intended to lift up our mind to fully integrate with infinity and nature.

I planned to visit each temple and to catch its particularities in my drawing. The "Hoi Khanh" temple stood silently under the big trees ....

The temple had been constructed along with the new comers’ arrival from "Ben Nghe Saigon" in 1741. The Champa tree's dry bush next to the chapel seemed to captivate my attention. I suddenly realized that, such a lifeless tree had given birth to many pure and colorful flowers. When I was a College of Art’s student, I never caught such detail even when I did paint everyday, at the same place. Yet, one must say that the distance enhanced one’s nature beauty, even if such beauty was so impartial, and never belong to anyone.

The pagoda was my favorite as its architecture resembled to a temple one, combined with its very particular creativities, especially the Dharma statue behind the "H?u T?". There was also some wood cut printing book that used to print prayers, as the Hoi Khanh temple was a prayers printing. I found all the artists works very impressive as they reflected patience and passion, especially the "Luc Thu Hai Hoi", a beautiful mould used to print paper clothes that would be buried with the deceased. In Hoi Duong, there were many more ancient temples that came from the same source of the "Thien Lam Te=Zen Lam Te" school or from the old Di An temple. I found myself lucky to be able to coming back to where I was born and grew up, lucky enough to be able to capture such beauties in my paintings. It is one’s happiness when one can still have its country.

Under its peaceful leaves, here is the tender Hoi Khanh;

In the evening breeze, resounded a temple’s bells

Hội Khánh Pagoda in Thũ Dầu Một (Bình Dương)

Oil on Canvas by La Toan Vinh 2002

Coll. by LTV