The Legend of Hoan Kiem Lake

According to the Treasury of Vietnamese Fairy Tales by Nguyen Dong Chi

During the Ming invasion of Vietnam in the early 15th century, people's lives were extremely miserable and miserable. Patriots gathered together to launch an uprising to fight against the cruelty and tyranny of the invaders.

However, the insurgents were just peasants wearing simple clothes and weapons. They had not recruited many people and did not have enough fighting power, so they were defeated by the Ming army every time. Seeing the brave fighting spirit and patriotism of the insurgents, Duc Long Quan (Lac Long Quan) immediately decided to lend them the magic sword.

One day, Le Loi led his troops through Thanh Hoa and stopped at Le Than's house to rest. As soon as they entered the house, Le Loi and his generals saw an old sword thrown in the corner of Le Than's house emitting a bright halo. Everyone approached and picked it up to see the two words "Thuan Thien" engraved on the blade, meaning "following the will of heaven" (implying that Le Loi's uprising against the Ming invaders would definitely be victorious). Everyone was extremely surprised but thought it was just a normal sword.

After that, the insurgents organized many battles to fight back the Ming army. In one unfortunate defeat, Le Loi was chased by the enemy into the deep forest. At that time, he saw a shining object on a tree branch. Curious, Le Loi climbed up and saw a sword hilt studded with sparkling gems. Remembering the day at Le Than's house when the sword blade was shining, Le Loi immediately brought the hilt back.

When meeting Le Than, Le Loi told him the story of finding a glowing sword hilt and asked Le Than to lend him the old blade. Unexpectedly, after inserting the blade into the hilt, it fit together like a pair, the blade became extremely bright and sharp. Le Than and everyone there knelt down at Le Loi's feet and said: "Perhaps this is a precious sword given by heaven to help the insurgents fight foreign invaders. Now, please, commander, bring the precious sword and lead the insurgents to drive the Ming invaders out of the country, so that all people can enjoy a peaceful life."

Le Loi received the sword from Le Than, promising to devote himself to leading the army in accordance with the will of heaven. Not long after, under the leadership of Le Loi and thanks to the magic sword, the army defeated the Ming army, and the people enjoyed peace again. Le Loi ascended the throne and ruled the country.

A year later, the king and his trusted subjects were on a boat on Ta Vong Lake in front of the capital. When the boat reached the middle of the lake, suddenly from under the clear blue water, a golden turtle raised its head and said: "Your Majesty, the Dragon King once lent you the magic sword to fight the enemy. Now that your great cause has been accomplished, please return the magic sword!" After hearing this, Le Loi immediately took off the sword from his side and presented it to the golden turtle. The sword suddenly flew from the king's hand into the golden turtle's mouth. The golden turtle took the sword in its mouth and dived into the lake, disappearing.

Artist Trinh Tuan was born in 1961 in Hanoi; graduated from the University of Industrial Fine Arts in 1985, then became a lecturer at the Hanoi University of Industrial Fine Arts; is a member of the Vietnam Fine Arts Association; participated in nearly 200 solo exhibitions as well as with domestic and international artists in Vietnam, Europe, Asia, England, America, and Australia from 1996 to 2023.

Painter Trinh Tuan is the organizer of the annual Hanoi Art Connecting event since 2016, connecting painting and art exchanges between Vietnamese and international artists and painters, which was evaluated by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism as one of the 10 national events on fine arts and exhibitions in 2018.

Heritage Magazine