History
West Lake was created from more than hundred years ago with a circumference of 17km and an area of 500 hectors. It is said that the lake used to be a small branch of the Red River, but the sudden change of river’s directions turned a part of its branch into a concave area, which is called as West Lake today.
West Lake at dawn
Vietnamese history recorded that this place was the resting place of Sam Cam, a rare birds with its high nutrient value and the fabulous tastes. Under feudalism, local people had to pay tribute to their emperors with the regulated amount of the birds.
Along with the characteristics above, West Lake is also well-known with lots of ancient stories about the formation of the lake and its strange phenomena. In the initial time of Vietnam history, there is a wicked fox with nine tails that the local people’s life is often threatened by dangerous magic. At that time, a hero Lac Long Quan uses his power to expel the fox get out of residential area. In the battle between fox and Lac Long Quan, he pulls the fox cave down. After that, the cave turns into West Lake as today. Another story is about “bell casting of a giant man”. When visiting Chinese king, the giant man takes his precious black copper treasure and creates a huge bell from this material. It is believed that the black copper is the mother of the golden buffalo, a precious animal of Chinese King. Therefore, the buffalo runs into Vietnam when the sound of black copper bell is raised. Vietnamese history also said that the feudal emperors built their palaces around West Lake for respites because of its peaceful beauty.
The romantic scenery in Guom Lake
West Lake Highlights
Tran Quoc Pagoda
Tran Quoc Pagoda used to belong to a palace under Tran dynasty (1225 -1400), which implements the important Buddhist rituals and a place for worship of royal class and local people. Like many Buddhist structures, Tran Quoc Pagoda still preserves the system of wood Buddha statues with the golden-covered outside layers. The most unique features of the pagoda is that there is a system of stupa. Each stupa includes many Buddha statues and the main stupa is added with lotus on the top. Vietnamese considers that the lotus is a permanent symbol of supreme knowledge, pure soul and the other good values as regards of Buddhist teachings.
A system of stupa in Tran Quoc Pagoda
Truc Bach Lake
Truc Bach Lake was a part of West Lake in the past time. Until 17th century, local people constructed a dyke in the South of West Lake for breeding fish. Therefore, this area becomes an independent lake as today.
Quan Thanh Temple
Erected in the period of Ly dynasty, Quan Thanh Temple worships Huyen Thien Tran Vu, one of four senior protectors for Vietnamese capital in the ancient time. His statue was made from black copper with 3.7m in height and 4 tons in weight. Along with other statues insides, Quan Thanh Temple expresses the sophisticated art of Vietnamese bronze-casting and sculpture under Ly dynasty.
Huyen Thien Tran Vu's statue in Quan Thanh Temple
