Ngoc Son Temple

Just off the sidewalk of Đinh Tiên Hoàng Street, past a brick gate, the roar of motorbikes suddenly falls away behind. Ahead, a giant pen points straight up at the sky. The path into Ngọc Sơn Temple is short. But every step on it touches a layer of the old tales of Thăng Long, the city now called Hanoi.

That pen is the Pen Tower, Tháp Bút. It stands on a small rocky hill about 4 meters high, called Độc Tôn Hill. The tower is square and five levels tall, wide at the base and slimmer toward the top. At its tip sits a writing brush 90 centimeters tall, its point aimed straight at the blue sky. Look closely at the north face of the three lower levels, and three Chinese characters appear. They read Tả Thanh Thiên, which means write on the blue sky. A pen as tall as the whole tower, writing across the whole sky. People long ago dreamed up an image that grand.

A few more steps lead to an arched gate. Above it, right in the middle, sits the Inkstone Stand, Đài Nghiên. An inkstone is the stone on which ink is ground for writing. This one was carved from a single block of blue stone, shaped like half a peach, and it rests on the backs of three toads. Carved into it is an inscription of 64 Chinese characters, written by the Confucian scholar Nguyễn Văn Siêu himself. The pen stands outside and the inkstone lies within, like two friends waiting for each other to begin a very long page.

Then the lake opens up. The Thê Húc Bridge, painted vermilion red, arches from the shore to Jade Island and casts its reflection on the water of Hoan Kiem Lake. The bridge is about 45 meters long, with 15 spans. Each span is about 3 meters long. The deck rests on 32 round wooden posts, set in 16 pairs. The planks laid across the bridge are ironwood. The two words Thê Húc on the bridge are gilded.

The name Thê Húc has an unfamiliar ring. Some explain it as the bridge where the morning sunlight rests. Others say it means a drop of light that has come to rest. Early in the day, when the first sunlight spreads across the lake, the red bridge seems to hold a strip of that light for itself.

The bridge was built in 1865. At first it had no handrails. Only after many restorations did it take on its rainbow curve, with railings and the red color it wears today.

At the end of the bridge, a two-story brick gate stands waiting, its eight curved eaves sweeping upward. This is the Đắc Nguyệt gate, in the shade of an old banyan tree. Raised reliefs of a dragon horse and a sacred turtle flank the gate, and couplets on it speak of the lake water and the moonlight. Through this gate lies Jade Island.

This small island in the northeast of the lake has had many names. Old accounts say it was once called Tượng Nhĩ, meaning the elephant's ear. Later, Emperor Lý Thái Tổ moved the capital to Thăng Long. The island was then named Ngọc Tượng. The name changed again to Ngọc Sơn under the Trần dynasty, which ruled Vietnam from 1225 to 1400.

Since the time of the Lê dynasty, the island has had places of worship. Lord Trịnh Giang once built the Thụy Khánh Palace here and had two earth hills raised. He was one of the Trịnh lords, a noble family who dominated northern Vietnam. Later, a philanthropist named Tín Trai founded Ngọc Sơn Pagoda on the old palace grounds, to worship the Buddha. In the early 19th century, the pagoda still stood on the island. In 1843, a charitable society took down the bell tower and rebuilt the main halls. It brought in a statue of Văn Xương Đế Quân for worship and renamed the place Ngọc Sơn Temple.

Then, 22 years later, the Confucian scholar Nguyễn Văn Siêu took charge of a major restoration of the temple. He came from the village of Kim Lũ, which people around the area simply called Kẻ Lủ. He raised the Trấn Ba pavilion, built the Thê Húc Bridge, and put up the Pen Tower and the Inkstone Stand. The path from the pen on its rocky hill to the red bridge mostly bears his hand.

Nguyễn Văn Siêu and Vũ Tông Phan led a society of many patriotic Confucian scholars of the day. It was called the Hướng Thiện Society, and it met at the temple. The society printed many kinds of books: books of medicine, scriptures, and books that discussed belief. On this island in the middle of a lake, scholars once talked over words and learning and cared for every page.

The Trấn Ba pavilion stands on the island facing south, its roof resting on eight columns. The main temple is made of two buildings joined together. The northern one honors Trần Quốc Tuấn, a famous general of the Trần dynasty. He is also known by the title Hưng Đạo Đại Vương. Beside him is Văn Xương Đế Quân, the god who watches over study and examinations. The temple also has an altar to the Buddha. On one side stands the man who held the sword to defend the country, and on the other, the god of the pen. Letters and arms live together under one tiled roof.

Every exam season, many students come here with their parents to pray that their exams will go well. The red bridge fills with footsteps again.

The temple also keeps something very special. Two revered old turtles that once lived in the depths of the lake have been preserved and placed side by side. One died in 1967. The other died in January 2016. Its body is more than 2 meters long and more than 1 meter wide.

According to the legend, Emperor Lê Thái Tổ was out boating on the lake one day. Suddenly a great turtle rose to the surface and asked for the precious sword back. The emperor drew the sword and returned it. The sacred turtle took it in its mouth and dove beneath the water. From then on, the lake was called Hoan Kiem, which means Return the Sword.

In 2013, the historic complex of Hoan Kiem Lake and Ngọc Sơn Temple was ranked a Special National Monument.

Between the red wooden spans of the Thê Húc Bridge, the Pen Tower rises against the sky above the shore, its tip pointing straight up. A few lines of folk verse, passed down among Hanoians for generations, seem to drift in on the wind off the lake. "Come, let us see the sights of Kiếm Hồ. See Thê Húc Bridge, see Ngọc Sơn Pagoda. The Inkstone Stand and the Pen Tower have not worn away. Ask who built this land and water." Below the bridge, the lake ripples gently. High above, the pen is still quietly writing on the blue sky.