Ho Hoan Kiem

(or Lake of the Restored Sword) was once part of the Red river (songHong). Throughout thousands of years of geographical changes, the lakemoved eastward to its present position kilometers from the river.Before the famous historical legend of King Le Loi here, Hoan Kiem Lakeused to be called Luc Thuy Lake (or Green Water Lake) since the waterwas green all the year round. In 15^th century, it was namedHoan Kiem Lake after the legend of Emperor Le Thai To, which is somehowsimilar to the story of King Arthur and the Lady of the Lake's.

Now please close your eyes and turn back time to the Le Dynasty 6 centuries ago to witness the legendary story.During the war against the Minh aggressors, King Le Thai To was given aprecious fairy Sword by the Golden Turtle God. After 10 years ofcontinuous struggling, the King finally defeated the Chinese andreclaimed the nation’s independence. After that, on a nice day, whileboating on lake Luc Thuy, a large turtle came towards him.

It immediately grabbed the sword with its mouth andsubmerged. The king mourned the lost of such a valuable sword, yetcould not find either the turtle or the sword. He realized that the Godmust have lent him the sword to drive back the enemy, but then that hisnation was free, the sword must be returned. Hence, King Le Thai Tonamed the lake Ho Hoan Kiem or Lake of the Restore Sword after thisepisode.  

Since the reign of King Le Trung Hung (XVI century),every King in the Le dynasty, and Lord Trinh have all contributed tothe beauty of the lake. Lord Trinh Giang built Khanh Thuy shrine onNgoc island on the north end of the lake. He also had the two man madehills built across from Ngoc son Shrine. At the end of the LeDynasty, Khanh Thuy was toppled by Chieu Thong. A philanthropist namedTin Trai built Ngoc Son pagoda, which was renamed into Ngoc Son shrineduring the reign of Thieu Tri III (1843) as it was no longer a Buddhistshrine. Instead, it became  a shrine of Van Xuong, adeity, in charge of literature and the various tests required to becomea Mandarin. It has also been a shrine of General Tran Hung Dao, anational Hero who secured numerous victories against the Mongols.

Hence, Hoan Kiem Lake is now situated inside a complex of Ngoc Son Temple, The Huc Bridge, Pen Towerin the surroundings, making a sparkling colorful natural picture! NgocSon has undergone a lot of renovations, one among which was theaddition of Thap But (translated as Pen Tower) on its hill, which wasonce called Dao Tai. Three words were inscribed on the tower: "Ta ThienThanh" or "write on blue sky". Inside the gate a pool resembling theshape of an ink well was added. Beyond the ink well is The Huc bridge,which means "where the sun light is absorbed". The bridge leads to DacNguyet Lau (or "Moon Light tower") - Ngoc Son shrine. Beyond the gatesto the shrine, there are two walls called bang Rong and bang Ho (dragonand tiger slate), where the names of those who passed the nationaltest were inscribed.

What could not be missed in this beautiful complex is the Turtle Tower,which lies in the middle of the Lake, so as to remind Vietnamese peopleof the Turtle God of his great assistance. It was told that King LeThanh Tong used to fish here. Lord Trinh also built the structure tohouse his entourage while visiting the lake.

Despitethe time’s ashes and dust, Hoan Kiem Lake - the popular historical andlegendary beauty-spot is eternal for good as an evidence of a fairy& heroic Hanoi during the past wars, and a romantic & charmingHanoi of Today!