Truc Bach Lake

From the middle of Thanh Niên Street, you can take in two lakes at once. To the west lies West Lake, wide and open, with wind blowing in from far across the water. To the east lies Trúc Bạch Lake, smaller and stiller, like a mirror set down among the city streets.

These two lakes were once one.

According to the Hanoi Moi newspaper, in the 17th century the fishing villagers of the area began to build up a small bank. It ran from Yên Hoa down to Yên Ninh, so that they would not have to go all the way around the big lake when they headed out on the water. As the years passed, waves and silt added to the bank, until the little strip of earth grew firm and became a true dike. People named it the Cố Ngự dike, meaning a dike held firm, one that had to be built up again every year so it would not crumble.

Then the French came. In French mouths, Cố Ngự slowly became Cổ Ngư. That name stuck to the road, and through the road it passed into books and maps. Not until the early 1960s was the road widened into a boulevard. Then President Hồ Chí Minh gave it a new name himself: Thanh Niên Street. The name means youth. From then until now, the dike that divides the two lakes has carried the name of a generation.

The smaller lake to the east has a name of its own: Trúc Bạch. According to the same paper, the name is tied to a trade that once existed here, back in the time of the Trịnh lords. The Trịnh lords were a noble family who dominated northern Vietnam. In those days the lakeshore was home to people who grew mulberry, raised silkworms and wove silk. They made a white, fine silk, light as air, known as the silk of Trúc village. The lake beside the village slowly took the same name, Trúc Bạch, which is close in meaning to the white silk of Trúc village. No linguistic study has fully confirmed this reading.

In the same period, the eastern side of the lake also held Ngũ Xã village. According to the Nhân Dân newspaper, in the early 17th century five craftsmen from five villages in Thuận Thành, Bắc Ninh came here to settle and cast bronze. Ngũ Xã became a village famous for bronze casting in Hanoi. The clearest trace still standing is the bronze Buddha statue in Thần Quang Pagoda, right beside the lake. It was cast from 1949 to 1952.

Today Trúc Bạch Lake is part of everyday life for people of the Ba Đình and Tây Hồ neighborhoods. Early in the morning the shore fills with people exercising. Some walk, some cycle, some do gentle health exercises. Cafes along the water open from morning, with tables and chairs set out facing the lake. Trúc Bạch Street runs along the southern shore, about 1,000 meters long and 8 meters wide. The city gave it its official name after 2001.

The air here feels different from the shore of West Lake. The lake is smaller, with less wind, and easy to walk around in a morning. The sites around the lake lie close together. Quán Thánh Temple stands at the northwest corner. Ngũ Xã village sits on the eastern peninsula, and Châu Long Pagoda is to the north. Phủ Tây Hồ and the Quảng Bá lotus area are only a short way farther north.

Trúc Bạch Lake is smaller than people usually think. But that is exactly what keeps its close, easy rhythm of life. People of Hanoi come to this lake in the morning not to admire the view, but to start the day. A small lake, a stretch of quiet in the middle of the city. Behind it lies the whole story of a dike, a silk trade, and the name of a road that President Hồ Chí Minh gave in the early 1960s.