Temple of Literature in Hanoi

  -   Address: Pho Van Mieu, at the corner of Pho Quoc Tu Giam in Hanoi
  -   Contact Number: Phone: +84 4 942 1061 (VNAT)
  -   Open from 8 am to 5 pm from Monday to Sunday

Temple of Literature in Hanoi preserves the academic and scholarly expertise of the capital of Vietnam. A popular spot for sightseeing in Hanoi, it also speaks about the gradual development of the city from just being the centre of colonial targets. Located in Pho Van Mieu i.e. at the corner of Pho Quoc Tu Giam in Hanoi, Temple of Literature was built in 1070 so that academicians and literary men can be felicitated.

Van Mieu or Temple of Literature in Hanoi was established by King Ly Thanh Tong and it just took six years to graduate itself to a university in Hanoi in Vietnam. Actually in 1076 a university called Quoc Tu Giam was founded beside the complex so that it could function as a civil service college for the bureaucratic staff of the Ly state. This was a measure to commemorate Confucius and his 72 disciples. Later during the Mongol invasions, the civil service examination pattern of the university was modified so that even commoners could be served.

Even now, if you visit the courtyards, you will be able to enjoy the ambience of academics. After the Chinese regime between 1407 and 1427, Vietnamese leader Le Loi gifted a new library, lecture halls and introduced a poetry composition section to the examinations. It was during this time that the custom of engraving names of successful examinees on stone steles was introduced. However, the practice of holding the civil service examinations came to a grinding halt in 1919. Known as the first university in Vietnam, Temple of Literature remained redundant till it was again revived as a tourist spot.
Features of Temple of Literature in Hanoi

  -   The Temple of Literature or Van Mieu displays ancient Vietnamese architecture.
  -   There are five courtyards to denote five essential elements of Nature
  -   The premise is divided into two parts by a central path that represents the Middle Path preached in Confucianism.
  -   The first courtyard is the Entrance to the Way and the second courtyard is the Great Middle Gate.
  -   Thereafter you reach the Constellation of Literature Pavillion, which represents the city and leads you to the third courtyard, the Garden of the Stelae with stone turtles.
  -   You will find the names of its graduates encrypted on stone steles. You will also find stone tablets kept on the back of stone turtles
  -   After absorbing the dictums of Confucious, you can go to the fourth Courtyard of the Sages for offering worship to the great teacher.
  -   The fifth courtyard, the School for the Sons of the Nation, housed dormitories and classrooms for the university. It was all but destroyed by French shelling in 1947, and little remains of the original structure.
  -   You will have to buy a ticket to enter Temple of Literature in Hanoi