In the middle of Hoàn Kiếm Lake lies a small island called Đảo Ngọc, Jade Island. To reach it you cross a red-painted wooden bridge, and before you reach the bridge you pass a five-tier stone tower carved with three large Chinese characters: Tả thanh thiên, meaning writing on the blue sky.
Those three characters say everything about the spirit of this place. Đền Ngọc Sơn (Ngọc Sơn Temple) is not a place to pray for wealth or fortune. It is a place that venerates learning and letters. Its principal deity is Văn Xương Đế Quân, the god who watches over study and the civil service examinations in the Taoist pantheon, and the person who gave the temple its present appearance was a Confucian scholar.
IWho is worshipped here
The temple honors two principal figures, placed side by side without one overshadowing the other: Văn Xương Đế Quân, who presides over letters, and Hưng Đạo Đại Vương Trần Quốc Tuấn, who presides over arms.
Văn Xương Đế Quân is the deity of the examinations and of literature in the Taoist pantheon. In earlier times, candidates came to pay their respects to him before the examinations, not to ask for a pass but to ask for a clear mind and a steady brush. That understanding fits the inscription on the tower: the pen writes on the sky, not on paper, which is to say it writes for something higher than rank and title.
On the side of what can be verified, the temple is the result of several layers of worship laid one over another on the same island. In the Vĩnh Hựu era of the Lê dynasty, roughly the years 1735 to 1739, Lord Trịnh Giang had the Thụy Khánh palace built here. Earlier still, the site was linked to the veneration of the Trần dynasty heroes who fought the Mongol-Yuan invasions. Later, following the practice of the charitable altars (thiện đàn) of the late Lê and early Nguyễn periods, the temple added other Taoist deities to its altars. In short, this island has changed its objects of worship many times, and each change kept a part of the layer before it.
IIThe scholar and the stone pen
In 1865, the Confucian scholar Nguyễn Văn Siêu led a major restoration of the temple and added the structures that have since become familiar images of Hanoi. This is what sets Ngọc Sơn Temple apart from other temples: most temples and shrines were built by kings and lords, but the appearance of this one was determined by a man who held a brush.
A square stone tower of five tiers, 9 meters tall, built in 1865 on the Ngọc Bội mound outside the temple gate. Its shaft is carved with the three characters Tả thanh thiên, meaning writing on the blue sky.
An ink slab of blue stone set on top of the gate, carried on the backs of three stone toads. The slab bears an inscription composed by Nguyễn Văn Siêu himself.
A red-painted wooden bridge joining the shore to Jade Island. Its name means the place where the morning sunlight comes to rest, and the bridge is turned due east to receive that meaning.
A small pavilion in front of the temple whose name means holding back the waves. It was built in the same restoration as a place to pause before entering the temple.
The pen and the ink slab stand some distance apart, and the builders counted the sun's shadow into the design. At a certain moment of the year, the shadow of the Pen Tower falls so that it touches the mouth of the Ink Slab. The pen dips into the ink and only then writes on the sky: an entire poetic conceit built of stone and light, never set down on paper.
IIIThe approach and the layout
The way into the temple is a sequence with a rhythm, not a straight path. From the lakeshore, visitors pass the Pen Tower on its mound, then the gate with the Ink Slab above it, and only then step onto Thê Húc Bridge to cross to the island. On the island comes Trấn Ba Pavilion, and after that the successive halls of worship.
The sequence is deliberate. Each structure is a small threshold that makes a person slow down by one beat, and by the time they set foot on the island they have passed through four beats, each slower than the last. That is how the builders of old used architecture to change the state of the person entering, instead of using a spoken reminder.
Within the temple grounds is a display of a preserved specimen of the Hoàn Kiếm turtle, an object tied to the legend of King Lê returning the sword, from which the lake takes its name. This is the part visitors come to see most, and it is also where two layers of the story meet: the layer of legend and the layer of physical fact.
IVThe lie of the land and the facing
This section is the library's reading through the eyes of traditional feng shui, not something recorded on the temple's stone stelae. The library states this plainly so that readers can tell source material from interpretation.
The temple stands on an island in the middle of a lake, with water on all four sides. In the art of reading land, this configuration is called thủy trung đảo, land rising out of water. When water encloses all four sides, qi has no way to escape. That is the tightest gathering of qi that a piece of land can have, and the price is that the qi circulates little. The builders of old dealt with this by means of a bridge: Thê Húc Bridge is both the walkway and the channel that lets qi flow from the shore out to the island.
As for the facing, Thê Húc Bridge is turned toward the east and carries a name meaning the place where the morning sunlight comes to rest. East is the direction of the Wood element, of spring, of growth and beginnings. For a temple devoted to letters and the examinations to open its entrance toward the direction of beginnings is to open it the right way, because study is precisely the work of beginning again every day.
The Pen Tower and the Ink Slab must be read as a pair. The pen is yang, upright, reaching upward. The slab is yin, lying flat, holding and containing. A pen without an ink slab runs dry, and an ink slab without a pen goes stagnant. To set these two objects at the two ends of the approach, and then let the sun's shadow join them once a year, is to build a complete image of yin and yang in union right at the temple gate. In feng shui, the place where yin and yang meet is the place where vital qi arises, and the builder placed that spot exactly where visitors walk in.
VFestivals and customs
| Occasion | What takes place | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Early spring | New Year rites | The busiest time of the year. Many come to ask for calligraphy and to pray for their children's and grandchildren's studies. |
| Before examination season | Prayers for study | A custom rooted in the temple's dedication to Văn Xương Đế Quân, who presides over the examinations. |
| The 20th day of the 8th lunar month | Death anniversary of Hưng Đạo Đại Vương | The shared memorial day of Saint Trần (Đức Thánh Trần), observed everywhere he is venerated. |
| The 1st and 15th of every lunar month | New moon and full moon days | Regular offerings of incense. |
VILocation And How To Get There
- Address
- Đảo Ngọc, hồ Hoàn Kiếm, phường Hàng Trống cũ, quận Hoàn Kiếm cũ, Hà Nội
- Getting there
- On Jade Island in the middle of Hoàn Kiếm Lake, entered by Thê Húc Bridge from the Đinh Tiên Hoàng street side. Within walking distance of the Old Quarter and the Opera House area.
- Coordinates
- 21.0308, 105.8524
This is an active place of worship in the middle of a heavily visited heritage cluster, so it has both the customs of a temple and the customs of a crowded place: visitors are expected to dress modestly, remove hats on entering the inner halls, walk softly and speak quietly, and avoid pushing on Thê Húc Bridge, which is narrow and made of wood.
Those who wish to see the shadow of the Pen Tower touch the Ink Slab need to pick the right time of year and the right hour of the day. This is a matter of sunlight rather than of the festival calendar, so visitors are advised to ask the temple keepers about the next occasion.
Nearby places in the library
XIIContribute To This Page
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?Quick Questions
Who is worshipped at Ngọc Sơn Temple
The temple honors Văn Xương Đế Quân, the god who watches over study and the civil service examinations in the Taoist pantheon, and Hưng Đạo Đại Vương Trần Quốc Tuấn. Other deities were added following the practice of the charitable altars of the late Lê and early Nguyễn periods.
What does Tả thanh thiên mean
It means writing on the blue sky. The three characters are carved on the shaft of the Pen Tower, the five-tier stone tower 9 meters tall built in 1865 outside the temple gate.
Who gave Ngọc Sơn Temple its present form
The Confucian scholar Nguyễn Văn Siêu led the major restoration of 1865 and added the Pen Tower, the Ink Slab, Thê Húc Bridge and Trấn Ba Pavilion. The island had places of worship before that, but its present appearance dates from that restoration.
Does the shadow of the Pen Tower really touch the Ink Slab
This was the builder's intention: the pen and the slab were placed at the two ends of the approach so that at a certain moment of the year the tower's shadow falls on the mouth of the slab. To see it you must choose the right day and the right hour, so ask the temple keepers.
Is the temple a ranked heritage site
Yes. The historic and scenic cluster of Hoàn Kiếm Lake together with Thê Húc Bridge and Ngọc Sơn Temple was ranked a special national heritage site on 9 December 2013.