Temple of Literature, Hanoi, Vietnam

Temple of Literature was the last stop of our Vietnam trip that was part of our babes tour.  We were tired, but still were excited, and as in all our trips wondered, why did we not think of staying here for a few more days?

At the entrance of Temple of Literature

This was one academia we had decided on visiting and was originally built as a university in 1070 dedicated to Confucius, scholars and sages of his time. The entire university is well maintained and is a superb example of traditional Vietnamese architecture that uses a lot of wood and tiles.  This is an ancient revered place of the older dynasties of Vietnam, which was frequented by the elite and royal class and these historic buildings have seen many doctors’ graduate from their  annals and now has become a memorial to education and literature.

Can you see the Steles and turtle heads?

The university campus offers a lake of literature, well of heavenly clarity, turtle steles, pavilions and passage ways that were once open only to the royalty.  Initially this university had its gates open only for the elite aristocrats, bureaucrats, nobles and the members of royal family, but later extended it to the bright commoners.  Names of successful graduates are carved on the stone stele on top of stone turtles.

The steles of carved blue stone turtles with elaborate motifs were made to honor talent and encourage study. The Turtle is one of the nation's four holy creatures - the others are the Dragon, the Unicorn and the Phoenix. The turtle is a symbol of longevity and wisdom. The doctors' steles are a valuable historical resource for the study of culture, education and sculpture in Vietnam. 82 stelae out of the original 116 remain. They depict the names and birth places of 1307 graduates of 82 triennial royal exams. The ancient Chinese engravings on each stele praise the merits of the monarch and cite the reason for holding royal exams. They also record the mandarins who were tasked with organizing the exams. It used to be common to rub the stone turtles' heads,  for good luck in exams by the students and tourists, but now there is a fence that is meant to prevent people from doing this in order to preserve the turtles.

The campus is the focus here.  ( remember our narcissism, and thats why we are there) 

I

Temple of literature is rather a place of study than a place of religious worship and probably that’s the reason we found many groups of young children from Vietnam who were brought in here for a tour of this place. The layout of the temple is based upon the birthplace of Confucius with a magnificent main entrance and a path, once reserved solely for the king, running through the center. The immaculate gardens are rich in ancient trees and are considered a serene place in which students can relax. There are stone statues and inscriptions dotted throughout the temple which has retained many of its original features as the most renowned landmark of academia in Vietnam.

The babes at the Well of Heavenly clarity!!!

Statue of Confucius

There are five courtyards at the temple, two brimming with landscaped gardens, the third is home to a large pond known as the Well of Heavenly Clarity, the fourth courtyard is called the Sage Courtyard and features a statue of Confucius and a house of ceremonies, and the last courtyard is Thai Hoc in which stands a large drum and bell tower. This historic site is ranked as one of Hanoi’s most important cultural places and is steeped in Vietnamese history.

At Thaihoc which houses the large drum and bell tower, with children who were posing

Hanoi  has puts effort into maintaining this elegant space, and the temple’s lawns and gardens are still carefully manicured today as they were hundreds of years ago. Hanoi flaunts an endless amount of history, grandeur, and mythical tales to enchant even the most seasoned traveler. The hustle and bustle of Vietnam’s capital city is entangled with hidden sites of peace and serenity. One such treasure is Hanoi’s ancient Temple of Literature, Vietnam’s first national university and we were glad we stopped by this place sacrificing our shopping time..  Yes! We had to cut short our shopping to just one hour, but yeah, no regrets on that one.  But wait, really?

At the entrance of the third courtyard

Post script:

The temple is featured on the back of the 100,000 Vietnamese banknote.

100,000 Vietnamese Dong