Its iconic seven-story Phước Duyên pagoda is regarded as the unofficial symbol of the city,[1] and the temple has often been the subject of folk rhymes and ca dao about Huế.

It is around 5 kilometres (3.1 mi) from the Citadel of Huế constructed by the first emperor of the Nguyễn dynasty on the site of a pre-existing shrine and sits on the northern bank of the Perfume River.

The Nguyen Lords were in name, officials of the ruling Lê dynasty in Hanoi, but was the de facto independent ruler of central Vietnam.

He was a noted Buddhist scholar of the Qing dynasty and was patronised by the ruling Lord Nguyễn Phúc Chu and was appointed as the abbot of the pagoda.

[2] In 1710, Chu funded the casting of a giant bell, which weighs 3,285 kg, and was regarded as one of the most prized cultural relics of its time in Vietnam.

The bell is said to be audible 10 kilometres (6.2 mi) away and has been the subject of many poems and songs, including one by Emperor Thiệu Trị of the Nguyễn dynasty who ruled in the 1840s.

He also organised an expedition to China to bring back copies of the Tripiṭaka canon and the Mahayana sutras, which comprised more than one thousand volumes, and interred them in the pagoda.

Discontent with Diem exploded into mass protest in Huế during the summer of 1963 when nine Buddhists died at the hand of Diệm's army and police on Vesak, the birthday of Gautama Buddha.

As a result, Buddhist protests were held across the country and steadily grew in size, asking for the signing of a Joint Communiqué to end religious inequality.

[1][5][6] In the early 1980s, a person was murdered near the pagoda and the site became the focal point of anti-communist protests, closing traffic around the Phú Xuân Bridge.