Walk to the end of Quốc Tử Giám Street and you meet a long wall of dark brown brick, with old trees rising inside it and closing over the sky. Pass the gate and the sound of horns fades behind each courtyard in turn. In the third courtyard two rows of stele houses appear: eighty-two stone steles standing on the backs of tortoises, set in two lines that face each other across a square pool of still water.
Vietnam has many temples of literature, many village shrines to learning (văn chỉ) and many temples to famous scholars. But only here does a whole complex still keep both halves of Confucianism: the temple (miếu) for worship and the academy (giám) for study, built side by side on a single axis. And only here is there a forest of stone steles carved not with victories or with merit, but with the names of those who passed the examinations.
IWho is worshipped and what was taught
The name of this place joins two parts. Văn Miếu, the Temple of Literature, is the temple to Confucius and the earlier worthies of the Confucian tradition. Quốc Tử Giám, the Imperial Academy, was the school of the state, at first teaching the sons of the king and of high officials, since quốc tử means the children of the nation. The two parts stand together not because the land was convenient, but because in Confucian thought learning and worship were one and the same work.
In Confucian teaching, Confucius is honored as the First Sage and First Teacher (Tiên Thánh Tiên Sư), the first teacher of all generations. The sacrifice to Confucius is not a prayer for blessings but a rite of gratitude to the one who handed down learning. Worshipped with him are the four figures who share in his offerings, the Four Correlates: Yan Hui, Zengzi, Zisi and Mencius, followed by the Seventy-two Worthies among his disciples. The learning this place carried was learning first to cultivate oneself, and only then to order the family, govern the state and bring peace to the world. In the Confucian view, a person with talent but without virtue has not yet become a true scholar.
As far as can be verified, the Temple of Literature was built in 1070 under King Lý Thánh Tông. Six years later, in 1076, King Lý Nhân Tông founded the Imperial Academy just behind the temple. At first the school took only the children of the royal family and of officials. In 1253, under the Trần dynasty, it was renamed Quốc Tử viện and began to admit gifted children of commoners as well. Chu Văn An served as Director of Studies at the academy, and after his death in 1370 he was worshipped in the inner sanctuary alongside Confucius.
Two mistakes are common. First, many people see the incense table and the smoke and take this for a Buddhist pagoda. It is not. It is a temple of Confucian rites, with no Buddha statues and no monks or nuns. Second, many people think the old Imperial Academy still stands. In fact the old school buildings are gone, and the Thái Học hall seen today was rebuilt between about 1998 and 2000 on the old ground.
IINine hundred years of study
The history of this place is unbroken but far from calm. Each dynasty that passed left a layer: the Lý built it, the Trần opened its doors to more students, the Lê began the custom of setting up steles, and the Nguyễn built the Khuê Văn Pavilion.
- 1070The Temple of Literature is builtUnder King Lý Thánh Tông, the temple was built to honor Confucius and the earlier worthies of the Confucian tradition.
- 1076The Imperial Academy is foundedKing Lý Nhân Tông had the Imperial Academy built right behind the Temple of Literature, at first for the sons of the king and of high officials.
- 1253Renamed Quốc Tử việnUnder the Trần dynasty, the school took the name Quốc Tử viện and opened its doors to children of commoners with outstanding ability.
- 1370Chu Văn An is worshippedAfter Chu Văn An died, he was worshipped in the inner sanctuary together with Confucius, a rare honor for a Vietnamese teacher.
- 1483The Thái Học hallUnder the Lê dynasty, the school grounds were enlarged and took the name Thái Học đường.
- 1484The first stele is set upThe Lê court began the custom of carving steles with the names of doctoral laureates. The earliest stele was set up this year and records the examination of 1442.
- 1780The last steleThe latest stele was set up, recording the examination of 1779. The full set surviving today numbers 82 steles.
- 1805The Khuê Văn Pavilion is builtThe Khuê Văn Pavilion was built under the Nguyễn dynasty and later became a symbol of Hanoi.
- 1962National heritage siteRanked as a national historical and cultural heritage site.
- 2010 and 2011The doctoral steles join the Memory of the WorldIn 2010 UNESCO inscribed them in the Memory of the World Register for Asia and the Pacific, and in 2011 in the international Memory of the World Register.
- 2012Special national heritage siteThe whole site was ranked as a special national heritage site on 10 May 2012.
- 2015National treasureThe Prime Minister signed Decision No. 53/QĐ-TTg of 14 January 2015, recognizing the 82 doctoral steles as a national treasure. The announcement ceremony was held at the site on 23 November 2015.
IIIFive courtyards and a forest of steles
The whole site covers 54,331 square meters. The Temple of Literature itself is about 300 meters long and about 70 meters wide, enclosed by a wall of old-style brick. Inside, it is divided into five areas linked along one axis. Walking in from outside means passing through five courtyards, each with its own rhythm, growing quieter the further in you go.
Văn Lake, 12,297 square meters, lies outside the gate, with a mound rising in the middle of the water. It is the buffer between the street and the place of worship.
The main gate, with three openings and two storeys, leads into the first courtyard, planted with old trees.
The gate into the second courtyard. Its name, Great Middle, takes its words from the Confucian teaching of the Doctrine of the Mean.
A small pavilion built in 1805, with four square brick pillars holding up a wooden upper floor. Each of its four sides opens in a round window with bars radiating like rays of light. It stands in the third courtyard, just in front of the Thiên Quang Well.
A square pool in the middle of the courtyard, flanked by two rows of stele houses holding the 82 doctoral steles on the backs of stone tortoises.
The inner sanctuary, with the House of Ceremonies (Đại bái) in front and the Hall of Great Accomplishment behind, where Confucius and the earlier worthies are worshipped.
The fifth area is the Thái Học hall. It was once the school, then became the Khải Thánh shrine honoring the parents of Confucius. The present building was rebuilt between about 1998 and 2000, and inside it is a place of remembrance for three kings who served the cause of learning in Vietnam: Lý Thánh Tông, Lý Nhân Tông and Lê Thánh Tông.
The forest of steles is the most precious part. The 82 steles were set up over almost three hundred years, from 1484 to 1780. They record the examinations from 1442 to 1779 and name more than one thousand three hundred holders of the highest degrees, from first laureate (trạng nguyên), second laureate (bảng nhãn) and third laureate (thám hoa) to doctors of the second rank (hoàng giáp) and doctors (tiến sĩ). Each stele stands on the back of a stone tortoise. The carving of the tortoises and the decoration of the stele borders changed from period to period, so the rows of steles are also a history of art that can be read with the eyes.
IVThe lie of the land and the facing
This section is the library's own reading through the eyes of traditional feng shui, not something recorded on the steles. The library marks it clearly so that readers can tell documented fact from interpretation.
The first thing the people of old did when choosing land was to look for a place that gathers qi (tụ khí), a place where qi settles instead of blowing away. Here the qi is held by three layers. Outermost is the water of Văn Lake, next is the brick wall closing in all four sides, and innermost are the five courtyards linked by narrow gates. Water stops it outside, the wall holds it in the middle, the gates draw it tight within. These three layers make visitors slow down as they go in, and the qi slows down with them.
Văn Lake lies right in front of the main gate. This is the pattern of water gathered in the bright hall (minh đường tụ thủy). The bright hall (minh đường) is the open ground in front of a building, and by the old rules still water in the bright hall governs wealth. But this place does not seek wealth, so that gathering is read in another sense: still water governs clarity and calm, fitting for study. In the middle of the lake a mound rises, the pattern of an island in the water (thủy trung đảo), land standing out of water. In the reading of land, a raised point (đột) in the middle of flat ground is where qi knots together, and the people of old were used to building houses of letters on such points.
The main axis of the site follows the pattern of sitting on the north and facing south (tọa bắc hướng nam), the facing most favored by temples and palaces in northern Vietnam, because it receives the light and the southeasterly breeze of summer and turns its back on the cold northeasterly wind of winter. On that axis stands a striking pair of shapes: the square Thiên Quang Well and the round windows of the Khuê Văn Pavilion, set close together. The square is the shape of earth, the circle the shape of heaven. Standing in the stele courtyard, you see round heaven shining down on square earth in a single frame. The name of the well means the light of heaven, and the pavilion is named after the Khuê star, the star that ancient astronomy charged with watching over literature.
In terms of the five elements and the directions, the pattern here fits together closely. Water is the Water element, governing calm and clear understanding, and it is placed in the outer layer and in the middle of the stele courtyard. The stone steles and stone tortoises are the Earth element, governing endurance, placed in the middle layer to keep the names of the laureates for a long time. The old trees in the courtyards are the Wood element, governing growth, matching the work of teaching people. These three elements are arranged from outside inward in the order of Water giving birth to Wood, Wood nourishing people, and people carving their names into Earth for later generations. That is one reading. The steles do not say so, but the land and the buildings are laid out that way.
VRites and customs through the year
The sacrifices at the Temple of Literature follow the Confucian pattern of the spring and autumn sacrifices (Xuân Thu nhị kỳ), two great sacrifices a year in spring and autumn, held on the first đinh day of the month. Alongside that old custom, the place keeps several Hanoi customs tied to writing and learning, most clearly asking for calligraphy at the start of spring and offering incense for success in study before the examination season.
| Lunar date | Occasion | What happens |
|---|---|---|
| First đinh day of the 2nd lunar month | Spring đinh sacrifice | The spring sacrifice to the First Sage and First Teacher, according to old Confucian custom. |
| First đinh day of the 8th lunar month | Autumn đinh sacrifice | The second sacrifice of the year, with the same ritual as the spring one. |
| 1st lunar month | Asking for calligraphy at the start of spring | A Hanoi custom. Calligraphy is given in an area the site sets aside outside the inner sanctuary. |
| 15th day of the 1st lunar month | Vietnam Poetry Day | In many years held in the Thái Học courtyard and the inner sanctuary. |
| Before the examination season | Offering incense for success in study | Students and their families come to offer incense, mostly in the months before the year's examinations. |
One recent custom is often mistaken for an old one: rubbing the heads of the stone tortoises for luck in examinations. This is not a traditional Confucian rite, and rubbing hands on the stone wears the objects down, so the stele houses have been fenced off. The old way of asking for success in study is to offer incense at the Thái Học hall and the Hall of Great Accomplishment, not to touch the steles.
VILocation And How To Get There
- Address
- Số 58 Quốc Tử Giám, phường Văn Miếu Quốc Tử Giám, Hà Nội
- Getting there
- On the ground of the two former districts of Đống Đa and Ba Đình. The main front faces Quốc Tử Giám Street, and the other three sides border Văn Miếu Street, Nguyễn Thái Học Street and Tôn Đức Thắng Street.
- Coordinates
- 21.0294, 105.8355
This is a site of active worship, not only a place to visit, so its own customs are the ones to follow. A few points are commonly mentioned. Visitors are expected to dress modestly in the inner sanctuary, remove hats on entering the House of Ceremonies and the Hall of Great Accomplishment, walk softly and speak quietly in the stele courtyard, not climb onto the tortoise plinths, not touch the faces of the steles and not lean against the wooden columns of the Thái Học hall.
The stele houses are fenced off, and visitors are asked to read from outside the fence. Whether photography is allowed in the inner sanctuary depends on the custom of the moment, so the surest way is to ask the site staff before raising a camera. Those who want to read the steles do best to come early in the morning, when the sun is still low and the carved characters stand out far more clearly than at midday.
Nearby places in the library
VIIContribute To This Page
Contribute photos, information or video for Temple of Literature
Master Ưng Khiêm welcomes the community to enrich this page: a photograph taken on site, a historical detail not yet noted, or a short video. Every contribution is read and answered.
No community contribution yet. You could be the first.
?Quick Questions
Who is worshipped at the Temple of Literature
Confucius, as the First Sage and First Teacher, together with the Four Correlates, Yan Hui, Zengzi, Zisi and Mencius, and the Seventy-two Worthies. Chu Văn An, who served as Director of Studies of the Imperial Academy, is also worshipped here, having been brought into the temple after his death in 1370.
Are the Temple of Literature and the Imperial Academy the same thing
They are two parts of the same complex. The Temple of Literature is the temple, built in 1070 under King Lý Thánh Tông. The Imperial Academy was the school of the state, founded in 1076 under King Lý Nhân Tông and placed just behind the temple.
How many doctoral steles are there and what do they record
There are 82, set up over the years from 1484 to 1780. They record the examinations from 1442 to 1779, carved with the names of more than one thousand three hundred holders of the highest degrees, together with a text on the meaning of each examination.
When did UNESCO inscribe the doctoral steles
In 2010 they were inscribed in the Memory of the World Register for Asia and the Pacific, and in 2011 in the international Memory of the World Register. In 2015 the 82 steles were recognized as a national treasure.
Is the present Thái Học hall an old building
No. The old school of the Imperial Academy is gone. The Thái Học hall seen today was rebuilt between about 1998 and 2000 on the old ground, and inside it is a place of remembrance for three kings: Lý Thánh Tông, Lý Nhân Tông and Lê Thánh Tông.