Kim Lien Temple

Kim Liên Temple is the guardian of the south, the last of the four guardian temples of the capital Thăng Long. Thăng Long is the city now called Hanoi. Bạch Mã guards the east. Voi Phục guards the west. Quán Thánh guards the north.

The temple stands at 148 Kim Hoa Street, in the Đống Đa area. It lies about a kilometer and a half from the Temple of Literature. It is not crowded like Bạch Mã Temple in the Old Quarter. It has no big park beside it like Voi Phục Temple. But Kim Liên has something the other three do not: a stone stele nearly 500 years old, still standing intact.

In 1509, Emperor Lê Tương Dực had just put down a rebellion, taken the throne and restored the fortunes of the Lê dynasty. He believed that the god Cao Sơn Đại Vương had answered and protected him, and that this was how he won. To thank the god, he had a grand, beautiful temple built for Cao Sơn in Kim Hoa ward, south of the capital.

A year later, in 1510, the emperor had a commemorative stele set up. The author of the inscription was the court historian Lê Tung, one of the best-known scholar-officials and historians of the early 16th century. The stele bears the title "Cao Sơn Đại Vương thần từ bi minh". That means an inscription recording the merits and virtues of the god Cao Sơn Đại Vương.

The stele stands in the temple's front ritual hall. It is 2.43 meters tall, 1.57 meters wide and 22 centimeters thick. It is one of the largest stone steles in Hanoi that survive today. The finely carved dragon and phoenix patterns along its border are the high point of stone carving in the early Lê period. The text records how the god Cao Sơn answered and helped the emperor. It also names the three generals who fought beside him to put down the rebellion. They are Nguyễn Bá Lân, Nguyễn Hoàng Dụ and Nguyễn Văn Lữ.

The stele is a historical record as well as a work of art. It is one of the few original texts from the 16th century that survive intact.

Cao Sơn Đại Vương is worshipped in many places in northern Vietnam, and his name means "the Great King of the high mountain". Each place tells a different version of who he was. According to the stone stele of 1510 here, the god answered and helped the Lê dynasty. According to some other sources, Cao Sơn is one of the mountain gods from the earliest ages of the world. Kim Liên Temple is the most important place of worship for Cao Sơn in Hanoi.

The site is called both Kim Liên Communal House and Kim Liên Temple. It is a communal house because it honors the guardian spirit of the old village of Kim Liên, and it is where the village held its community festivals. It is a temple because it is one of the four guardian temples, the one that honors Cao Sơn for the whole capital. The two roles exist together in one building.

The name Kim Liên has a story behind it. The popular explanation is that this area was once called Kim Hoa, which means "golden flower". At some point in the Restored Lê period, the word Hoa clashed with a name that was forbidden to use, so it had to be changed to Kim Liên, which means "golden lotus". The name changed, but people still use both.

On January 18, 2022, Kim Liên Temple was ranked a Special National Monument. The three other guardian temples were ranked together with it.

The main festival is on the 16th day of the third lunar month, which usually falls in late April or early May. There is a palanquin procession, ca trù singing and folk games. Ca trù is a form of sung poetry from the north of Vietnam. The most distinctive custom is the traditional offering tray with seven tiers. It is an art of arranging offerings found only at Kim Liên Temple. Cakes, fruit and vegetarian dishes are laid out by rules of design, from the first tier up to the seventh. None of the other guardian temples has this tradition.

The small Kim Liên Lake lies right beside the temple. It reflects the shadows of old trees on its green water. And inside the front ritual hall, the stele, nearly 500 years old, still stands, silent and steady, carrying a whole stretch of Lê dynasty history that has not faded.