Yên Tử Mountain

It was recorded in the early texts that Yen Tu Mountain was among the most sacred sites in Vietnam. Through the course of time, there were many Zen masters who went to the mountain living an ascetic way of life. In the 3rd century BC, a Taoist named An Ky Sinh came to the mountain as a healer, searching for medicines that could bring immortality. The residents called him Master An and called the mountain “An Tu” (Master An) – which is now pronounced as Yen Tu. Notably, in the 13th century, Emperor Tran Nhan Tong passed the throne to his son before settling in Yen Tu, where he vowed to follow the ascetic practices of a Buddha's student. He founded the Truc Lam Zen School and became the one and only Buddha Enlightened Emperor. Yen Tu Mountain was then honored as the heart of Vietnam’s Buddhism.