Ha Noi, the capital of Vietnam (3/3)

The President Ho-Chi-Minh's Mausoleum

(cont.)

17. President Ho-Chi-Minh's Mausoleum:

- Inaugurated in 1975. It faces Ba-Dinh Square. President Ho's body lies inside a square stone - walled room - on a three tiered platform.

18. No 43, Hang-Ngang Street:

- Here in the 1945, President Ho wrote the famous Declaration of Independence.

19. The Museum of the Revolution:

- Relicas from various phases of the Vietnamese people's patriotic and revolutionary struggle.

20. The Museum of History:

- Developments of the Vietnamese nation. Rich collections of archaeological findings, including some relating to the era of the Hung Kings about 3,000 years ago.

21. The Museum of the Army:

- Great periods of the armed struggle of the Vietnamese people's. War trophies.

22. The Museum of Fine Arts:

- Artistic works ranging from bronze drums (1st millenium B.C) to sculptures, paintings, engravings, and lacquer works by contemporary artists not to mention folk art.

23. Tay-Phuong (West) Pagoda or Sung-Phuc Pagoda:

- 40km from Hanoi, Built in the 8th C., rebuilt in 1680, 1792. Three parallel one - storeyed structures. Its 76 statues carved out of jack-tree wood are valuable art objects. The collection of arhat statues (18th C.) is wonderful.

(A Handbook for the English Language Translator - Hữu Ngọc et al.)

Ha Noi, the capital of Vietnam (2/3)

The Khue-Van Pavilion (Van-Mieu)

(cont.)

7. Quan-Su Pagoda (The Ambassadors' Pagoda):

- In the 15th C. it was the site of a Guesthouse for ambassadors coming from buddist countries, with a small pagoda close by. Rebuilt in 1936 - 1942.

8. Ba-Da Pagoda (The Pagoda of the Stone Lady):

- While the soil was being dug for the building of the citadel of Thang-Long (ancient Hanoi), the stone statue of a woman was unearthed. Hence the name of the pagoda.

9. The Temple of the Two Ladies:

- The Trung sisters (1st C.) rose against the Chinese Han invaders. They became queens but were in the end defeated.

10. Quan-Thanh Temple (Tran-Vu Temple):

- Built under the Ly (1010 - 1225); later rebuilt. Tran-Vu was the god of the North. (attributes: a Tortoise and a Snake). Bronze statue (1677): 3.7m in height, 4 tons in weight.

11. Tran-Quoc Pagoda:

- Built probably on the site of an old royal Summer Place. A stele (1639) on its history.

12. The Literature Temple (Van-Mieu):

- Built in 1070; later rebuilt. Dedicated to Confucius. Also the first University in Vietnam. Portico, Khue-Van Pavilion, 82 stone steles bearing the names of the laureates of "Tien si" royal examinations (1484 - 1789).

13. The Temple of the Kneeling Elephants (Voi-Phuc Temple):

- Built under Ly-Thanh-Tong (1054-1072) and dedicated to Ling Lang who used his war elephants to defeat the Chinese Song aggressors. Thu-Le 200 park and lake.

14. Lang Pagoda:

- First built under the Ly dynasty (1010-1225). Statues of the Monk Tu-Dao-Hanh and King Ly-Than-Tong - re-incarnation of Tu-Dao-Hanh - Stone stele (dated 1656).

15. Ngu-xa Pagoda:

- The biggest bronze statue of Buddha in Vietnam.

16. Co-Loa Citadel (Spiral-shaped Citadel):

- In Dong-Anh suburban district. The remains of a fortness with walls arranged in a spiral, built in the 3rd century B.C to serve as capital for King An-Duong-Vuong. Temple to him and Princess My-Chau whose love for her husband caused the fall of the Kingdom.

(to be continued...)

(A Handbook for the English Language Translator - Hữu Ngọc et al.)

Ha Noi, the capital of Vietnam (1/3)

The Lake of the Restored Sword

922.8 sq.km - population: about 2.700.000

- City proper (4 districts: Hoan-Kiem, Hai-Ba-Trung, Dong-Da, Ba-Dinh) + 11 suburban districts.

1. The old quarter:

- In the 15th century, the "City with 36 guilds and streets" was the embryo of present - day Hanoi's Old Quarter with narrow streets bearing evocative names (Silk St, Sugar St, Vermicelli St, Votive Objects St, etc...) The Dong-Xuan market intruduces you to tropical fruits, flowers and vegetables, and such hand-icrafts as basketwork, ceramics, etc...

2. The Lake of the Restored Sword (Ho Hoan-Kiem):

- Legend has it that one day, after victory over the Chinese Ming invaders, when King Le-Thai-To was boating on the lake, a golden tortoise came up out of the water to take back the sacred sword that had been given to him by the god to save the homeland (15th C.) - Noteworthy: The-Huc Sunrise Bridge, Tower of the Pen Brush, Portico of the Ink - Slab, Ngoc-Son (Jade Hill) temple built in the 19th C., on an islet: dedicated to General Tran-Hung-Dao, 13th C., who defeated the Mongols in the 13th C., Van-Xuong (God of Literature) and La-To (Patron Saint of Physicians).

3. The West Lake (Ho Tay): 833 hectares.

- According to a legend, this place was formerly a forest - covered mountain on which lived a fox spirit with 9 tails. The monster was later drowned under huge waves unleashed by a dragon god and a lake was born.

- According to another legend, the Vietnamese Buddist monk Khong Lo (XIth. C.) was rewarded with a vast amount of bronze by the Emperor of China for his outstanding services; with this bronze, he had an enormous bell cast. The sound of the bell carried so far that a Golden Buffalo Calf, believing this to be the voice of its mother, rushed down from the North. It trampled the ground so hard that a lake appeared under its hoofs.

4. The Truc-Back Lake (Truc-Bach: white silk of the Ivory Bamboo Village)

- The Trinh Lords (18th C.) built on its shore a Summer Palace turned later into a reformatory for offending royal concubines. The latter were put to work and weaved a fine silk called Truc-Bach.

5. The Lenin Park:

- It was reclaimed from swamps. One year after the liberation of Hanoi (1955) the population started voluntary work for its building.

6. The One Pillar Pagoda (Mot-Cot Pagoda):

- Built in 1049 in the shape of a lotus. According to a legend, King Ly-Thai-To, who had no male offspring, once saw in a dream the Goddess Quan-Am sitting on a lotus and handing him a boy. He later married a peasant girl he had met by chance and a son was born to them. Therefore he had the pagoda built.

(to be continued)

(A Handbook for the English Language Translator - Hữu Ngọc et al.)