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| Guide | Hanoi | Attractions | Sword lake |
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Hoan Kiem Lake and Ngoc Son Temple |
Hoan Kiem Lake, or the Lake of the Restored Sword, is located
directly in the centre of Hanoi. The name is derived from a legend
involving Emperor Le Thai To, in which he came across a giant
tortoise while cruising on the lake. The tortoise took his sword
that had secured victory against the Chinese aggressors of the Minh
Dynasty. The emperor named the lake after this episode.
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Every morning, the surrounding
park fills with locals who arrive to exercise and play
badminton. By the way, there still are a few tortoises who call
this area home.
Hoan Kiem was already considered the most beautiful lake in
Hanoi when Ngoc Son Temple was built on a small island during
the 19th century. Saint Van Xuong, considered one of the
brightest stars of Vietnam's literature and intellectual
circles, was worshipped here. National hero Tran Hung Dao was
also worshipped after he lad the Vietnamese people to victory
over both Mongolian and Chinese invaders.
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The temple as it is seen today is the result of renovations made
by Nguyen Van Sieu in 1864.
A great Hanoian
writer, sieu had a large pen-shaped tower built at the entrance
of the temple. On the upper section of the tower are three
Chinese characters: ta thanh thien, which means that to write on
the blue sky is to imply the height of a genuine and righteous
person's determination and will.
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Also at the
entrance are: a dai nghien, or ink stand, carved from stone and
resembling a peach, which is placed on the back of three frogs on
top of the gate to the temple; and The Huc, or the place where the
first rays of morning sunshine touch.
On the way to the temple are several cau doi, parallel sentence
boards, placed on the wall. cau doi were part of traditional word
puzzles played by Hanoi's intellectual class. |
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