DAILY PHOTO: Yellow Room

Taken in Hoi An in December of 2015

Taken in Hoi An in December of 2015

DAILY PHOTO: Saigon Flowers

Taken in December of 2015 in Saigon

Taken in December of 2015 in Saigon

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DAILY PHOTO: Fruit of the Delta

Taken in December of 2015 in the Mekong Delta

Taken in December of 2015 in the Mekong Delta

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All these were taken on the islands near My Tho in the Mekong Delta of Vietnam.

DAILY PHOTO: Two Girls in the Blue

Taken in December of 2015 at the War Remnants Museum in Saigon

Taken in December of 2015 at the War Remnants Museum in Saigon

DAILY PHOTO: Saigon Street Scene with Yellow Daisies

Taken in December of 2015 in Ho Chi Minh City (a.k.a. Saigon.)

Taken in December of 2015 in Ho Chi Minh City (a.k.a. Saigon.)

DAILY PHOTO: Row, Row, Row Your Boat

Taken on December 31, 2015 in Bai Tu Long Bay

Taken on December 31, 2015 in Bai Tu Long Bay

DAILY PHOTO: In the Temple of Literature

Taken in Hanoi on December 30, 2015

Taken in Hanoi on December 30, 2015

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Temple of Literature? (Văn Miếu – Quốc Tử Giám?) It sounds like a grandiose name for a library, but it’s really what the Vietnamese call a Confucian temple. This one is in Hanoi.

Confucius was a Chinese philosopher famous for his ideas such as the hierarchical nature of relationships and how governance is practiced morally. His philosophy provided a popular counterpoint to the more free-wheeling Taoist belief system. Both Confucianism and Taoism came to be practiced by some as religion (though other advocates of each would say that it’s philosophy and not theology.)

DAILY PHOTO: Hoi An War Cemetery

Taken in December of 2015 in Hoi An

Taken in December of 2015 in Hoi An

DAILY PHOTO: Dragon Head Totem

Taken in December 2015 in the Saigon Delta

Taken in December 2015 in the Mekong Delta

 

Dragons feature prominently in Vietnamese temples. These mythical beasts are one of four sacred creatures common to Vietnamese folklore. The others are the Phoenix, Unicorn, and a kind of Tortoise. The unicorn isn’t the variety seen on the book covers of 16-year-old girls, it’s a nasty beast.

DAILY PHOTO: Yellow Lotus

Taken in December of 2015 in Saigon

Taken in December of 2015 in Saigon