Ngoc Son Temple, Hanoi河内玉山祠
- Type
- Overseas Daoist Temples
- Location
- Vietnam · Hanoi · Hoan Kiem District · Jade Island, Hoan Kiem Lake, reached via the Huc Bridge (Cầu Thê Húc)
- Coordinates
- 21.0307, 105.8523 Map ↗
- First built
- Early nineteenth century (no reliable record of the exact year) · Its predecessor was a Tran-dynasty shrine commemorating soldiers who resisted the Mongol invasions; listed as a national historical and cultural relic on 10 July 1980, elevated to Special National Relic status on 9 December 2013 together with the Hoan Kiem Lake precinct
- Heritage status
- Vietnamese Special National Relic (2013)Vietnamese National Historical and Cultural Relic (1980)
Overview
Ngoc Son Temple stands on Jade Island in Hoan Kiem Lake, connected to the shore by the vermilion wooden Huc Bridge (The Huc); its predecessor was a shrine of the Tran dynasty commemorating soldiers who resisted the Mongol invasions, and the present temple was built around the early nineteenth century. It is dedicated principally to Wenchang Dijun, who governs literary fortune, with subsidiary worship of Guandi, Lü Dongbin, and the national hero Tran Hung Dao — a representative example of a Vietnamese shrine combining the Three Teachings, in which Daoist deities and a native hero are worshipped together in the same hall, reflecting the way Vietnam localized the Chinese belief system. Before the shrine stand the Pen Tower (Thap But) and the Inkstone (Dai Nghien), built in the Nguyen dynasty; the Pen Tower bears the inscription "writing on the blue sky," meaning "using Heaven as paper" — a distinctive sight combining Vietnamese examination culture with the cult of Wenchang. It was listed as a national historical and cultural relic on 10 July 1980, and was elevated, together with the whole Hoan Kiem Lake precinct, to Special National Relic status on 9 December 2013 — the highest grade of heritage status in Vietnam.
Highlights
- Dedicated principally to Wenchang Dijun
- The Pen Tower and Inkstone, "using Heaven as paper"
- The Huc Bridge and Jade Island in Hoan Kiem Lake
- Special National Relic (2013)