Daytripping around Hà Nội: One Pillar Pagoda (Chùa Một Cột/Diên Hựu tự/Liên Hoa Đài)

Another day, another pagoda. Just kidding. The One Pillar Pagoda was a little bit anticlimactic for me, I think, only because of its accessibility and approachability. It really is an impressive and beautiful structure, located inside Ba Đình Square, where Ho Chi Minh remains can be visited in the mausoleum. This happens to be about a 10 minute walk (only that long because I'm short) from my house, which did make me feel a little sheepish when I realized how easily I could have visited this pagoda at any time. Still, better late than never, right?

One Pillar Pagoda was originally constructed in 1049 after the emperor of that time, Lý Thái Tông, had a dream that a Bodhisattva handed him a son in a lotus flower. I doubt the dream proved to be prophetic in the literal sense but he did later have a son with a peasant girl and ordered the temple constructed out of gratitude.

Dan fighting against the crowds to escape.

It was destroyed by retreating French forces in the 1950's but was rebuilt later. The pillar is stone and the rest of the temple is wood.

Nearby altars.

Housemates Laura, Dan, and I participating in the sin of the tourist selfie. Oh well, at least we weren't using a selfie stick. That counts for something.... right?

Walking away from the pagoda, a lane of Vietnamese flags can be seen leading towards the mausoleum.

Living in Hanoi, you see a lot of soldiers everywhere all the time. But this was the first time I ever saw soldiers in white uniform. I don't know what that means, or if that makes them more or less important than the light green/dark green/khaki guys, but I was definitely impressed, if for nothing else then for their ability to maintain the pristine whiteness in the overwhelming smog/dirt/rain that is everyday Hanoi. Even here you can see my lens fogging up from the beginnings of an afternoon shower. How they do it, I'll never know. I headed off to get some jasmine tea with Laura before taking a long, summer rain-filled afternoon nap.

Daytripping around Hà Nội: The Temple of Literature (Văn Miếu - Quốc Tử Giám)

A few months ago, around the time when I was teaching summer school and I spent every free day I had off in the office lesson planning or in bed, I decided that when those summer classes ended I was going to make an active effort to get out and see more of Hanoi. I knew I had a whole year to check everything out, but when you only have 2 non-consecutive days off a week (or, in my first couple months, 1 day a week) and one of those is often taken up with errands or work administrivia, time moves pretty quickly and it's really up to you to get your Ferris Bueller on and look around once in a while. That being said, on a beautiful Monday/Wednesday afternoon (I don't remember but those are my days off so it was one of those), Dan I and I headed around the corner to check out the Temple of Literature in the Đống Đa district.

Somehow I managed to visit it and NOT take a picture of the very famous front gate, from the front anyway. Here's a shot from inside. 

It's actually a big complex that takes up a triangular shaped block in the city, so when you enter through the first gate this is the delightfully bucolic and peaceful sight you're met with.

First courtyard. Much shrubbery.

Gate leading to the second courtyard.

Making our way further into the temple system. Some of the buildings were closed. This is the Constellation of Literature Pavilion. The Temple of Literature was the first national university in Vietnam. It was part of the old Đại Việt country, the precursor to modern Vietnam. It was built in 1070. You can find all of this on the Wikipedia page.

The "well of Heavenly Clarity" and the Stelae of the doctors, third courtyard. 

The stelae [n., pl., an upright stone slab or column typically bearing a commemorative inscription or relief design, often serving as a gravestone] of doctors who passed their exams and the mandarins who administered the exams.

Apparently you used to be able to rub the turtles' heads for good luck but not any more, as they are trying to preserve them. The turtle is one of the four sacred animals in Vietnam and is considered very lucky (it also features heavily at the temple on Hoan Kiem which I'll write about soon, promise!). The other three animals are the Vietnamese dragon, the phoenix, and the qilin (although I have also heard it described as the unicorn, I think because it's a horned creature).

The writing system predates the change to latin characters, in the late-19th/mid-20th century.

Fourth courtyard. Housing for altars to Confucius and his disciples.

People still actively using a religious icon/building to worship even as it is available to the general public for tourism purposes. A pretty common phenomenon in every country I've visited, but still never not fascinating, and definitely an element of tourism around Hanoi, where you can walk up to and inside pagodas where people are in the middle of prayer/leaving gifts at the altars.

In Vietnam, it really is turtles all the way down.

Entrance way to the fifth courtyard, where the Imperial Academy is.

Behind the academy are two giant drums and giant bells, presumably meant to be beaten/rung on momentous occasions.

The back of the academy, and the edge of the park.

Circling back around to explore the inside of the academy, where there was a museum of sorts dedicated to the doctors who studied there.

Altar among the museum.

Upstairs are altars dedicated to three monarchs who contributed to the construction of the academy Lý Thánh Tông, who founded the temple in 1070, Lý Nhân Tông, who founded the academy, and Lê Thánh Tông, who ordered/organization the construction of the stelae.

From the second floor of the Imperial Academy, looking at the first building in the fifth courtyard (aka the Confucius temple where Dan stuck his head in the bell).

Heading back out, there was a pretty cool space in the front building of the academy that was devoted to cultural and educational events. Although apparently there is a daily performance, we were too late for the morning one and too early for the afternoon one.

Tiny decorative instrument filled with tinier decorative instruments.

Bonus for band.

Although most of the structures within the Temple of Literature are recreations and restorations due to heavy damage sustained over the years (notably in 1920, 1954, and 2000) it still maintains the style it was orginally built in. It's an important site for Hanoians and Vietnamese alike and the front gate is actually portrayed all over the city as its symbol, like this:

All in all, it doesn't take more than an hour or two (depending on how contemplative you're feeling, some of the shadier courtyards would definitely be a great place to bring a picnic or a book and just relax) to visit the whole thing and it's definitely worth the, like, $2 it costs to go in.

One more structure, which is actually outside Temple of Literature complex, in the parking lot, but still pretty aesthetically pleasing anyway.