Hoan Kiem Lake
Hoan Kiem Lake, also called Lake of the Restored Sword, is located in
the center of Hanoi. The name Lake of the Restored Sword is derived from
a legend. After ten years of hard fighting (1407-1417), the Lam Son
insurrectionists led by Le Loi swept the foreign invaders out of the
country of Dai Viet (Great Viet), ending the Ming's 20-year domination
over the Viet people. Le Loi became a national hero, proclaiming himself
kings, called Le Thai To, and establishing his capital in Thang Long.
On a beautiful afternoon, the King and his entourage took a
dragon-shaped boat for sight-seeing on Luc Thuy (Green Water) Lake,
which was located in the centre of Thang Long capital (present-day
Hanoi). As the boat was gliding on the lake, suddenly there was a great
wave and on top of the wave, the Golden Tortoise Genie appeared, telling
the King:
- Your Majesty, the great work is completed. Would you please return the sacred sword to the King of the Sea?
The precious sword was formerly lent to Le Loi by the King of the Sea
and was always beside him throughout his battles and helped him win over
the Ming invaders. At the time the Tortoise Genie spoke, the sword hung
at the King's waist. It then moved out of the scabbard and flew towards
the Genie. The Genie kept the sword in his mouth and dived under the
water, and bright lightning flashed up to the sky.
Since then, the Luc Thuy Lake has been called the Restored Sword Lake, or the Sword Lake for short.
The Sword Lake is not only a historical site, but also a
beauty-spot of the capital. Hence the folk verses: The Lake looks like a
large mirror reflecting the scenery and colour of the sky. At sunrise,
the sunshine spreads, producing a layer of golden rays dancing on the
green water of the Lake that make it marvelously brilliant. The lake's
romantic view evoked so much inspiration from poets and writers who
spent their time and efforts to describe the lake, yet they seemed to
fail.
It is said that when visiting Hanoi, if the visitor does not see
the Sword Lake, then they would not have actually been in Hanoi. The
Lake is an endless topic and inspiration for painters, poets, writers,
music composers, etc, and innumerable works about the Lake have been
produced.
Once, a famous Japanese painter said to the late-painter
Van Giao that he had painted dozens of pictures of Mount Fuji - the
second to none beauty spot of Japan. Then painter Van Giao replied by
saying that he had painted hundreds of pictures of the Sword Lake.
The Sword Lake is really an emerald jewel of Hanoi capital. For
generations, the Vietnamese people believed that deep in the green water
of the Sword Lake, there is a sacred sword of their ancestors, which is
carefully safeguarded by the golden tortoise. When the weather changes,
the tortoise emerges on the water surface to take a sun bath, seeming
to prove his existence and remind the young generation of their national
history of defending their country from foreign invaders.
Ngoc Son Temple
Hoan
Kiem Lake was already considered the most beautiful lake in Hanoi when
Ngoc Son Temple was built on an island in the 19th century. Initially,
the temple was called Ngoc Son Pagoda and was later renamed Ngoc Son
Temple, since temples are dedicated to saints. Saint Van Suong,
considered to be one of the brightest stars in Vietnam's literary and
intellectual circles, was worshipped there. National hero Tran Hung Dao
was also worshipped after he led the Vietnamese people to victory over
the Nguyen aggressors.
The temple as it is today is the result of renovations made by
Nguyen Van Sieu in 1864. A great Hanoi writer, Nguyen Van Sieu had a
large pen-shaped tower built at the entrance of the temple. On the upper
section of the tower, also called Thap But, are three Chinese
characters Ta Thanh Thien, which literally means "to write on the blue
sky is to imply the height of a genuine and righteous person's
determination and will"; Dai Nghien , meaning "ink stand", is carved
from stone resembling a peach placed on the back of the three frogs on
top of the gate to the temple; and The Huc, meaning "where rays of
morning sunshine touch". On the way to the temple there are several cau
doi, parallel sentences, written on the walls. These cau doi were part
of traditional word puzzles played by educated individuals.
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That's called beauty of nature and a green path for trekking is awesome.
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