Temple of Literature, Hanoi
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Văn Miếu (Vietnamese: ''Văn Miếu'', Hán tự: 文廟) is a temple dedicated to Confucius in
Hanoi Hanoi or Ha Noi ( or ; vi, Hà Nội ) is the capital and second-largest city of Vietnam. It covers an area of . It consists of 12 urban districts, one district-leveled town and 17 rural districts. Located within the Red River Delta, Hanoi is ...
, northern
Vietnam Vietnam or Viet Nam ( vi, Việt Nam, ), officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam,., group="n" is a country in Southeast Asia, at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of and population of 96 million, making i ...
. The temple also hosts the Imperial Academy (, ), Vietnam's first national university. The temple was built in 1070 at the time of Emperor
Lý Thánh Tông Lý Thánh Tông (30 March 1023 – 1 February 1072), personal name Lý Nhật Tôn , temple name Thánh Tông, was the third emperor of the Lý dynasty and the 8th ruler of the Vietnamese kingdom Đại Việt. In his reign, Lý Thánh Tông ...
. It is one of several temples in Vietnam which is dedicated to
Confucius Confucius ( ; zh, s=, p=Kǒng Fūzǐ, "Master Kǒng"; or commonly zh, s=, p=Kǒngzǐ, labels=no; – ) was a Chinese philosopher and politician of the Spring and Autumn period who is traditionally considered the paragon of Chinese sages. C ...
, sages and scholars. The temple is located to the south of the Imperial Citadel of Thăng Long. The various pavilions, halls, statues and stelae of doctors are places where offering ceremonies, study sessions and the strict exams of the Đại Việt took place. The temple is featured on the back of the 100,000
Vietnamese đồng The dong (Vietnamese: ''đồng'', Chữ Nôm: 銅) (; ; sign: ₫ or informally đ in Vietnamese; code: VND) has been the currency of Vietnam since 3 May 1978. It is issued by the State Bank of Vietnam. The dong was also the currency of the pre ...
banknote. Just before the Vietnamese New Year celebration
Tết Tết (), short for Tết Nguyên Đán (Chữ Hán: 節元旦), Spring Festival, Lunar New Year, or Vietnamese Lunar New Year is one of the most important celebrations in Vietnamese culture. The colloquial term "Tết" is a shortened form of , ...
, calligraphists will assemble outside the temple and write wishes in
Chữ Hán Chữ Hán (𡨸漢, literally "Chinese characters", ), Chữ Nho (𡨸儒, literally "Confucian characters", ) or Hán tự (漢字, ), is the Vietnamese term for Chinese characters, used to write Văn ngôn (which is a form of Classical Chinese ...
. The art works are given away as gifts or are used as home decorations for special occasions.


History


The temple was built in 1070 and was reconstructed during the
Trần dynasty The Trần dynasty, (Vietnamese: Nhà Trần, chữ Nôm: 茹陳)also known as the House of Trần, was a Vietnamese dynasty that ruled over the Kingdom of Đại Việt from 1225 to 1400. The dynasty was founded when emperor Trần Thái T ...
(1225–1400) and in the subsequent dynasties. For nearly two centuries, despite wars and disasters, the temple has preserved ancient architectural styles of many dynasties as well as precious relics. Major restorations have taken place in 1920, 1954 and 2000. :"In the autumn of the year Canh Tuất, the second year of Thần Vũ (1070), in the 8th lunar month, during the reign of King
Lý Thánh Tông Lý Thánh Tông (30 March 1023 – 1 February 1072), personal name Lý Nhật Tôn , temple name Thánh Tông, was the third emperor of the Lý dynasty and the 8th ruler of the Vietnamese kingdom Đại Việt. In his reign, Lý Thánh Tông ...
, the Văn Miếu was built. The statues of
Confucius Confucius ( ; zh, s=, p=Kǒng Fūzǐ, "Master Kǒng"; or commonly zh, s=, p=Kǒngzǐ, labels=no; – ) was a Chinese philosopher and politician of the Spring and Autumn period who is traditionally considered the paragon of Chinese sages. C ...
, his four best disciples:
Yan Hui Yan Hui (–481 BC) was a Chinese philosopher. He was the favorite disciple of Confucius and one of the most revered figures of Confucianism. He is venerated in Confucian temples as one of the Four Sages. Names Yan Hui is also known by his cou ...
(), Zengzi (),
Zisi Zisi (; c. 481–402 BCE), born Kong Ji (孔伋), was a Chinese philosopher and the grandson of Confucius. Intellectual genealogy, teaching, criticism Zisi was the son of Kong Li (孔鯉) ( Boyu (伯鱼)) and the only grandson of Confucius. ...
(), and
Mencius Mencius ( ); born Mèng Kē (); or Mèngzǐ (; 372–289 BC) was a Chinese Confucianism, Confucian Chinese philosophy, philosopher who has often been described as the "second Sage", that is, second to Confucius himself. He is part of Confuc ...
(), as well as the
Duke of Zhou Dan, Duke Wen of Zhou (), commonly known as the Duke of Zhou (), was a member of the royal family of the early Zhou dynasty who played a major role in consolidating the kingdom established by his elder brother King Wu. He was renowned for acting ...
(), were carved and 72 other statues of Confucian scholars were painted. Ceremonies were dedicated to them in each of the four seasons. The Crown Princes studied here." In 1076,
Vietnam Vietnam or Viet Nam ( vi, Việt Nam, ), officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam,., group="n" is a country in Southeast Asia, at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of and population of 96 million, making i ...
's first university, the "Quốc Tử Giám" or Imperial Academy, was established within the temple during the reign of
Lý Nhân Tông Lý Nhân Tông (22 February 1066 – 15 January 1128), personal name Lý Càn Đức, temple name Nhân Tông was the fourth monarch of the Lý dynasty, ruling the kingdom of Đại Việt from 1072 until his death in 1128. Succeeding his fat ...
to educate Vietnam's bureaucrats, nobles, royalty, and other members of the elite. The university remained open from 1076 to 1779. In 1802, the
Nguyễn dynasty The Nguyễn dynasty (chữ Nôm: 茹阮, vi, Nhà Nguyễn; chữ Hán: 阮朝, vi, Nguyễn triều) was the last Vietnamese dynasty, which ruled the unified Vietnamese state largely independently from 1802 to 1883. During its existence, ...
's monarchs founded the
Huế Huế () is the capital of Thừa Thiên Huế province in central Vietnam and was the capital of Đàng Trong from 1738 to 1775 and of Vietnam during the Nguyễn dynasty from 1802 to 1945. The city served as the old Imperial City and admi ...
capital where they established a new imperial academy. The academy at the
Hanoi Hanoi or Ha Noi ( or ; vi, Hà Nội ) is the capital and second-largest city of Vietnam. It covers an area of . It consists of 12 urban districts, one district-leveled town and 17 rural districts. Located within the Red River Delta, Hanoi is ...
temple lost its prominence and became a school of the
Hoài Đức District Hoai is a given name (Vietnamese have their surname first, followed by their given name). Notable people with this given name include: * Phạm Thị Hoài (born 1960), Vietnamese writer, editor and translator * Trần Văn Hoài Trần (陳) or ...
. Under the French protectorate, the Văn Miếu - Quốc Tử Giám was registered as a ''
Monument historique ''Monument historique'' () is a designation given to some national heritage sites in France. It may also refer to the state procedure in France by which National Heritage protection is extended to a building, a specific part of a building, a coll ...
'' in 1906. During the period of 1945–1954, the French demolished parts of the temple to make additional room for the Saint Paul Hospital since hospital capacity was full during times of war. Campaigns of restoration were pursued in 1920 and 1947 under the responsibility of
École française d'Extrême-Orient The French School of the Far East (french: École française d'Extrême-Orient, ), abbreviated EFEO, is an associated college of PSL University dedicated to the study of Asian societies. It was founded in 1900 with headquarters in Hanoi in wh ...
(French School of the Far East).


Layout

The temple layout is similar to that of the
temple A temple (from the Latin ) is a building reserved for spiritual rituals and activities such as prayer and sacrifice. Religions which erect temples include Christianity (whose temples are typically called churches), Hinduism (whose temples ...
at Qufu,
Shandong Shandong ( , ; ; alternately romanized as Shantung) is a coastal province of the People's Republic of China and is part of the East China region. Shandong has played a major role in Chinese history since the beginning of Chinese civilizati ...
, Confucius' birthplace. It covers an area of over , including the Văn lake, Giám park and the interior courtyards which are surrounded by a brick wall. In front of the Great Gate are four tall pillars. On either side of the pillars are two stelae commanding horsemen to dismount. The gate opens onto three pathways which continues through the complex. The centre path was reserved for the monarch and above the center path there is a big bronze bell, The path to the left is for the administrative Mandarins and the path to the right is for military Mandarins. The interior of the site is divided into five courtyards. The first two courtyards are quiet areas with ancient trees and trimmed lawns, where scholars would relax away from the bustle of the outside world. The bell located above the main gate was used to signify that an important person was coming through and was added to the Văn Miếu in the 19th century. The bell was made out of Bronze and could only be touched by monks. On the bell several patterns can be found including an outline of a phoenix, which represents beauty, and a dragon, which represents power. Both of these symbols are used to represent the Emperor and Queen. A bell can be found in all of the pagodas in Vietnam.


First Courtyard

The first courtyard extends from the Great Portico to the Đại Trung, which is flanked by two smaller gates: the Đạt Tài gate and the Thành Đức gate.


Second Courtyard

The second courtyard is known as the great central courtyard or sometimes the courtyard of great success. It features the Khuê Văn pavilion (), a unique architectural work built in 1805 and a symbol of present-day Hanoi. The Khuê Văn pavilion is built on four white-washed stone stilts. At the top is a red-coloured with two circular windows and an elaborate roof. Inside, a bronze bell hangs from the ceiling to be rung on auspicious occasions. Many beautiful poetic phrases preserved on the pavilion glorify Vietnamese traditional culture. Beside the Khuê Văn pavilion are the Súc Văn gate and the Bi Văn gate. These two gates are dedicated to the beauty of literature, both its content and its form. In the first and second courtyards there are
topiaries Topiary is the horticultural practice of training perennial plants by clipping the foliage and twigs of trees, shrubs and subshrubs to develop and maintain clearly defined shapes, whether geometric or fanciful. The term also refers to plants w ...
(bushes that are cut into particular shapes) that represent the 12 zodiac animals.


Third Courtyard

One enters the third courtyard from the Khuê Văn pavilion. In the third courtyard is the Thiên Quang well. On either side of the well stand two great halls which house the treasures of the temple.


Doctor's stone tablets

The construction of the stone stelae began in 1484 under the Emperor
Lê Thánh Tông Lê Thánh Tông (黎聖宗; 25 August 1442 – 3 March 1497), personal name Lê Hạo, temple name Thánh Tông, courtesy name Tư Thành, was an emperor of Đại Việt, reigning from 1460 to 1497, the fifth and the longest-reigning empe ...
. He erected 116 steles of carved blue stone turtles with elaborate motifs to honour talent and encourage study. The Turtle (Quy, 龜) is one of the nation's four holy creatures - the others are the Dragon (Long, 龍), the Unicorn (Ly, 麟) and the Phoenix (Phượng, 鳳). The turtle is a symbol of longevity and wisdom. The shape and size of the turtle changed with the passage of time. The doctors' steles are a valuable historical resource for the study of culture, education and sculpture in Vietnam. 82 stelae remain. They depict the names and birthplaces of 1307 graduates of 82 triennial royal exams. Between 1442 and 1779, eighty-one exams were held by the
Lê dynasty The Lê dynasty, also known as Later Lê dynasty ( vi, Hậu Lê triều, chữ Hán: 後黎朝 or vi, nhà Hậu Lê, link=no, chữ Nôm: 茹後黎), was the longest-ruling Vietnamese dynasty, ruling Đại Việt from 1428 to 1789. The Lê ...
and one was held by the
Mạc dynasty The Mạc dynasty ( vi, Nhà Mạc / ''Mạc triều''; Hán Nôm: 茹莫 / 莫 朝) (1527-1627), as known as House of Mạc ruled the whole of Đại Việt between 1527 and 1540 and the northern part of the country from 1540 until 1593, and ...
. 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 organising the exams. It used to be common to rub the stone turtles' heads, but now there is a fence that is meant to prevent people from doing this in order to preserve the turtles. They are a valuable historical resource for the study of philosophy history, culture, education, society and sculpture in Vietnam. The stelae were inscribed on
UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) aimed at promoting world peace and security through international cooperation in education, arts, sciences and culture. It ...
's
Memory of the World Register Memory is the faculty of the mind by which data or information is encoded, stored, and retrieved when needed. It is the retention of information over time for the purpose of influencing future action. If past events could not be remembered, ...
in 2011.


Fourth Courtyard

One enters the fourth courtyard through the Đại Thành gate. On either side are two smaller gates: Kim Thanh gate and the Ngọc Chấn gate. This courtyard is the ceremonial heart of the complex. On each side of the ceremonial fourth courtyard stand two halls. Their original purpose was to house altars to the seventy-two most honoured disciples of
Confucius Confucius ( ; zh, s=, p=Kǒng Fūzǐ, "Master Kǒng"; or commonly zh, s=, p=Kǒngzǐ, labels=no; – ) was a Chinese philosopher and politician of the Spring and Autumn period who is traditionally considered the paragon of Chinese sages. C ...
and
Chu Văn An Chu Văn An (1292–1370, born Chu An) was a Confucian, teacher, physician and high-ranking mandarin of the Trần Dynasty in Đại Việt. Biography He was born in Văn Thôn village, Quang Liệt commune, present day Thanh Tri district, Ha ...
(a rector of the Imperial Academy). In the centre of the fourth courtyard is the House of Ceremonies (''Đại Bái Đường''). The next building is the ''Thượng Điện'', where Confucius and his four closest disciples Yanhui, Zengshen, Zisi and Mencius are worshipped. The sanctuary also hosts altars to ten honoured philosophers. These pavilions reflect the style of the early 19th century. A small museum displays ink wells, pens, books and personal artefacts belonging to some of the students that studied at the temple.


Fifth Courtyard

In 1076, Emperor Lý Nhân Tông ordered the construction of an imperial academy as a fifth courtyard. Literate mandarins were selected as students. In 1236, the academy was enlarged and named ''Quốc Tử Viện'' and later ''Quốc Học Viện''. In the Lê dynasty it was called Thái Học Viện and was developed further. This development included the Minh Luân house, west and east classrooms, a storehouse for wooden printing blocks and two sets of three 25 room dormitories. The Khải Thánh shrine was built to honour the parents of Confucius. In 1946, the courtyard was destroyed during the First Indochina War. In the year 2000, the fifth courtyard was reconstructed on grounds of the original "Imperial Academy". It honours the talents, the national traditions and the culture and education of Vietnam. The design of the new fifth courtyard were based on the traditional architecture in harmony with the surrounding sights of the temple. Several buildings were constructed including the front building, the rear building, the left and right buildings, a bell house and a drum house. The Thái Học courtyard occupies 1530 sq.m. of the temple's total area of 6150 sq.m.In Standard of The front building has a number of functions. Ceremonies in memory of cultural scholars are organised from the front building as are scientific activities and cultural events. The rear building has two levels. The ground floor has a statue of Chu Văn An (a rector of the academy) and shows exhibits of the temple and the academy with a display on Confucian education in Vietnam. The upper floor is dedicated to the three monarchs who contributed most to the foundation of the temple and the academy: Lý Thánh Tông (1023–1072), who founded the temple in 1070, Lý Nhân Tông (1066–1127), who founded the Imperial Academy, and Lê Thánh Tông (1442–1497), who ordered the erection of the turtle stone stelae of doctor laureates in 1484. On either side of the rear building are square buildings which hold a drum and a bronze bell. The drum is wide, high, has a volume of 10 m3 and weighs . The bell was cast in 2000, with dimensions of .


Study at the Imperial Academy

The organization of instruction and learning at the Imperial Academy began in 1076 under the
Lý dynasty The Lý dynasty ( vi, Nhà Lý, , chữ Nôm: 茹李, chữ Hán: 李朝, Hán Việt: ''Lý triều'') was a Vietnamese dynasty that existed from 1009 to 1225. It was established by Lý Công Uẩn when he overthrew the Early Lê dynasty an ...
and was further developed in the 15th century under the Le dynasty. The academy was headed by a rector (''Tế tửu'') and a vice-rector (''Tư nghiệp''). The professors of the academy held different titles: ''Giáo thụ'', ''Trực giảng'', ''Trợ giáo'' and ''Bác sĩ''. File:Mandarin in Van Mieu1.jpg, Mandarin at Văn Miếu, performing a ritual. File:Mandarin in Van Mieu2.jpg, Mandarin at Văn Miếu, performing a ritual. File:Mandarin in Van Mieu3.jpg, Mandarin at Văn Miếu, performing a ritual. Many students lived and studied at the Temple. Most students (''Giám sinh'') had passed the regional exam (Hương Examination - ''Thi Hương'') before enrolling at the academy. During the course of study at the academy, the students focused on discussion of literature and wrote poetry as well. The students learned Chinese, Chinese philosophy, and Chinese history. They had textbooks printed on paper which were in both Chinese and Vietnamese. They read ''
The Four Books ''The Four Books'' ( ar-at, ٱلْكُتُب ٱلْأَرْبَعَة, '), or ''The Four Principles'' (''al-Uṣūl al-Arbaʿah''), is a Twelver Shia term referring to their four best-known ''hadith'' collections: Most Shi'a Muslims use dif ...
'' (''Tứ thư'', 四書): "
The Great Learning The ''Great Learning'' or ''Daxue'' was one of the "Four Books" in Confucianism attributed to one of Confucius' disciples, Zengzi. The ''Great Learning'' had come from a chapter in the ''Book of Rites'' which formed one of the Five Classics. I ...
" (Đại Học, 大學), "
Doctrine of the Mean The ''Doctrine of the Mean'' or ''Zhongyong'' is one of the Four Books of classical Chinese philosophy and a central doctrine of Confucianism. The text is attributed to Zisi (Kong Ji), the only grandson of Confucius (Kong Zi). It was originall ...
" (Trung Dung, 中庸), "
The Analects The ''Analects'' (; ; Old Chinese: '' ŋ(r)aʔ''; meaning "Selected Sayings"), also known as the ''Analects of Confucius'', the ''Sayings of Confucius'', or the ''Lun Yu'', is an ancient Chinese book composed of a large collection of sayings a ...
" (Luận Ngữ, 論語) and "
Mencius Mencius ( ); born Mèng Kē (); or Mèngzǐ (; 372–289 BC) was a Chinese Confucianism, Confucian Chinese philosophy, philosopher who has often been described as the "second Sage", that is, second to Confucius himself. He is part of Confuc ...
" (Mạnh Tử, 孟子); '' Five Pre-Confucian Classics'' (''Ngũ Kinh'', 五經): "''
Classic of Poetry The ''Classic of Poetry'', also ''Shijing'' or ''Shih-ching'', translated variously as the ''Book of Songs'', ''Book of Odes'', or simply known as the ''Odes'' or ''Poetry'' (; ''Shī''), is the oldest existing collection of Chinese poetry, co ...
'' (Kinh Thi, 經詩), "
Book of Documents The ''Book of Documents'' (''Shūjīng'', earlier ''Shu King'') or ''Classic of History'', also known as the ''Shangshu'' (“Venerated Documents”), is one of the Five Classics of ancient Chinese literature. It is a collection of rhetorica ...
" (Kinh Thư, 經書), "
Book of Rites The ''Book of Rites'', also known as the ''Liji'', is a collection of texts describing the social forms, administration, and ceremonial rites of the Zhou dynasty as they were understood in the Warring States and the early Han periods. The ''Book o ...
" (Kinh Lễ, 經禮), "
Book of Change The ''I Ching'' or ''Yi Jing'' (, ), usually translated ''Book of Changes'' or ''Classic of Changes'', is an ancient Chinese divination text that is among the oldest of the Chinese classics. Originally a divination manual in the Western Zho ...
" (Kinh Dịch, 經易) and "
Spring and Autumn Annals The ''Spring and Autumn Annals'' () is an ancient Chinese chronicle that has been one of the core Chinese classics since ancient times. The ''Annals'' is the official chronicle of the State of Lu, and covers a 241-year period from 722 to 481 ...
" (Kinh Xuân Thu, 經春秋); ancient poetry and Chinese history among others. The students enrolled for three to seven years. They had minor tests each month and four major tests per year. Success in the exams, certified by the Ministry of Rites (Bộ Lễ, 部禮) qualified them to sit the national exam (Hội Examination - ''Thi Hội''). Success at the Hội Examination qualified the student to sit the royal exam, the Đình Examination (''Thi Đình''), held at court. At this exam, the monarch himself posed the questions, responded to the candidate's answer and then ranked those who passed into different grades. The Imperial Academy was the largest centre in the country.


Culture


Television

*The temple was featured in the 5th leg of ''
The Amazing Race 22 ''The Amazing Race 22'' is the twenty-second season of the American reality television show ''The Amazing Race''. It featured eleven teams of two competing in a race around the world. The season premiered on CBS on February 17, 2013, and the two ...
''.


Gallery

File:Trang phục nho sinh.JPG, Uniforms of students of the imperial academy File:Orchestre de musique traditionnelle (Hanoi).jpg, Orchestra performing traditional music in honour of the royal founders and Confucius File:Van Mieu Hanoi 11400475 d4f3400470 t.jpg, Fourth Courtyard File:Van Mieu Hanoi 16.jpg, Fifth Courtyard, grounds of the imperial academy


See also

*
Confucian examination system in Vietnam The Confucian court examination system in Vietnam (Chữ Nôm: 制度科舉越南, Vietnamese : ''Chế độ khoa cử Việt Nam'') was a system for entry into the civil service modeled on the Imperial examination in China, based on knowledge of t ...
* Văn Miếu Trấn Biên in Đồng Nai, Vietnam *
Literary Chinese in Vietnam Literary Chinese (Vietnamese: 文言, 古文 or 漢文) was the medium of all formal writing in Vietnam for almost all of the history of the country up to the early 20th century, when it was replaced by vernacular writing in Vietnamese using ...


References


Further reading

* Forbes, Andrew, and Henley, David: ''Vietnam Past and Present: The North'' (Chapter on history of Hanoi's Temple of Literature). Chiang Mai. Cognoscenti Books, 2012. ASIN: B006DCCM9Q. *


External links

* *
Temple of Literature Hue- Nguyen Dynasty
{{DEFAULTSORT:Van Mieu - Quoc Tu Giam, Hanoi 1070 establishments in Asia Confucian temples in Vietnam Temples in Hanoi Historical sites in Hanoi 11th-century Confucian temples