Hanoi Open University – Faculty of Tourism Bk16

THE TEMPLE OF LITERATURE

INTRODUCTION
Good afternoon ladies and gentlemen!
Welcome to Hanoi - the capital of Vietnam, especially welcome to The Temple of
Literature. Today, I am very happy to be your tour guide.
First, let me introduce myself. My full name is Nguyễn Văn Huy; my first name is
HUY, spelling H-U-Y. In English, my name means Interesting. So you can call me by my
first name HUY. I hope I can bring to you many interesting things in our tour today. Now, I
am working as tour guide for Footprint Travel Company so on behalf of our company, I
would like to thank all of you for choosing our services!
Now, let me know more about you. As I know, Mr.Huy is the group leader. May I
know Mr.Huy? Good morning Mr.Huy, would you mind saying something about our group?
Thank you very much!
Our tour today is a half-day city tour. It will take 2 hours of your time, from 2pm to
4pm. We will visit The Temple of Literature and I hope that, after the tour, you will have
more knowledge about the architecture of the Temple of Literature, about our tradition and
the education of our country in the past.
To make our tour more successful, I would like to set up some ground rules. It is very
easy for you to remember and follow.
1. Firstly, please go with group and near me in order to avoid getting lost
2. Secondly, if you have any questions, please ask me one by one so I can answer all your
questions clearly and correctly.
3. Thirdly, please pay attention to me while I am talking in order to avoid missing
information.
4. There is one more thing I would like to mention, today I have a signal – a red flag, so
when I raise it up, please follow me, when I put it down, please make a half of circle in
front of me.
Is it clear for you? Do you have any questions?
Moreover, because we are now visiting The Temple of Literature so I have some advices for
you, it is necessary to follow.
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Hanoi Open University – Faculty of Tourism Bk16
 Please do not turn your back to the altar to so your respect.
 If you have any rubbish, please throw it into dustbin and if the dustbin is far, you can
give it to me, I have a plastic bag to collect them.
 In our tour today, you will have 30 minutes for break time to take photos, buy souvenir,
or do something you want.
 Our meeting point today is the Great Portico. So in case you get lost, please find the way
to come back there. I will pick you up as soon as possible.
I have told you some information and some rules in our tour; do you have any
questions for me? If there is no question, let us start our tour today! Before moving, I would
like to remind you, please go with group in order to avoid getting lost.
Ladies and gentlemen!
The Temple of Literature is one of the most famous destinations in Hanoi. It located
on Quoc Tu Giam Street, Dong Da District. The Temple of Literature is a complex of two
parts: The first part is The Temple of Literature, was built in 1070, where to worship
Confucius. And the second part is the first national university of Vietnam, was built in 1076.
At first, this university was only for the royal families, but then it was opened for all the
talented men all over the country, not only for the sons of kings or mandarins. Now, Temple
of Literature becomes the best place for everyone comes to worship Confucius and Chu Van
An teacher. Every day, there are many visitors come to seek traces of thousand years of
Vietnamese culture and history. Especially, students often come here to pray for lucky and
good examination.

The Temple of Literature covers 54.331 m2 and was divided into 5 courtyards:
1. The first courtyard is called Entrance to the way

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Hanoi Open University – Faculty of Tourism Bk16
2. The second courtyard is called the Great Middle Gate
3. The third courtyard is called Garden of the stele
4. The fourth courtyard is called Court yard of the Sages
5. The fifth courtyard is called QTG; it means School for the Sons of the Nation.
In Confucianism, as in Buddhism, the number five has a special place. There are:
 Five essential elements (metal, wood, water, fire and earth)
 Five basic virtues (humanity, righteousness, civility, knowledge and loyalty)
 Five commandments (against murder, theft, lust, lying and drunkenness)
 Five sorrows (life, old age, sickness, death and separation)
 Five cardinal relationship (king and subjects, father and son, husband and wife,
brothers, friends)
 Five classics (The Odes – Thi Kinh, the Annals – Thu Kinh, the book of Change –
Dịch Kinh, Rites and Ceremonies – Lễ Kinh, and the Spring and Autumn Annals –
Xuân Thu)
We have brief introduced to you the general information and now, to know clearer
and deeper about this destination. Please go inside to discover.

GREAT PORTICO, FOUR STONE PILLARS, HA MA TABLETS

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Hanoi Open University – Faculty of Tourism Bk16
In front of you is the Great Portico. This is the first outstanding point of this site.
Before we enter the first gate, we must pass two stone inscriptions and four stone pillars
over there. Now let me introduce them first.

You can see four stone pillars. They symbolize the 4 directions: east, west, south and north.
On the top of two lower pillars, there are some statues. They are phoenixes, a kind of sacred
animal in our culture. Each of two tallest pillars is stopped with a mythic beast that has the
power to distinguish right from wrong, god from evil. The beasts stand guard to let in the
good and keep out the bad.
(In our idea, Phoenix is a symbol of universe. Phoenix has beak like a parrot’s, her body
like the body of bird, neck like snake’s, and tail like the tail of peacock. With meanings,
justice is carried on phoenix's head; the sky is carried on phoenix’s back; her eyes are the
sun and the moon; her hair is plant; wings are wind; tails are stars; her legs are land. So
phoenix symbolizes the universe.)

You can see over there; there are two stone inscriptions, name “Hạ Mã”. They
command people to dismount their horse to show respect to Confucius. Even the King was
obliged to dismount, a sign that knowledge was held in higher esteem than royalty or
temporal power.

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Hanoi Open University – Faculty of Tourism Bk16

Now, we come back with the Great Portico. As you can see, there is a big board with
Chinese characters up there. It is “Văn Miếu môn”, read from right to left. In English, it
means the main gate of Temple of Literature. The Great Portico has three doors and two
pictures: three doors were designed with Vietnamese traditional style: “house upper, gate
lower”. It means the upper part is the small house and lower part is gate. It was used for big
and important buildings. There are two pictures at the both side of the gate. First picture, it is
“Dragon and carp combining together”. Carp stands for student. Dragon symbolizes doctor.
After many challenges and effort, carp can change into dragon. Because the dreams of all
students are, they can become doctors. The second picture, it is “Tiger going down
mountain”. Tiger represents bachelor, his strength is profound knowledge. He will try best
to contribute and support development country. Generally, Dragon and tiger are two ideal
ranks of Confucius students: Doctor and Bachelor. Two these pictures were considered the
good wished to them for their success.

There are a parallel sentences and I can translate it like this:

“Among the doctrine of the world, our is best and is revered by all culture starved land” (on
the right)
“Of all the temples devoted to the Literature, this is the head, the Perfume of culture floats
throughout the millennia” (on the left)
I have just told you about the main gate of Temple of Literature. Do you have any question?
If you don’t have question, I think we will move to the first courtyard of Temple of
Literature. Before moving please remember stay in-group to avoid getting lost.

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Hanoi Open University – Faculty of Tourism Bk16
FIRST COURTYARD AND DAI TRUNG GATE.
Behind the Great Portico, it is the first courtyard. In the past, the First courtyard was
a place where students relaxed after each period. First courtyard extends from the Great
Portico to the Dai Trung Gate.
You can see two carps on the roof of Dai Trung Gate. It connects to a legend “Carp
passing waterfall”. The legend had it that, once time when the God wanted to choose one
kind of fish to become dragon to help people in the living land. He put many challenges to
find out the excellent fish. All kind of fish tried to pass the challenges of God. However, at
the last challenge, it was a very high waterfall and too difficult to pass. Most of fishes gave
up, except for Carps, and then they became dragon. So the image of Carps passed the
waterfall becomes the symbol of strong spirit of students who against all difficulties in study
and life to reach to success. It is the reason why people put the Carps on the roof of Dai
Trung Gate.
Virtue and talent were the keys to passage from the first to second courtyard, deeper
into the doctrine that is the reason why there are two small gates of two side gates over
there. They are “Thành Đức” or “To Achieve Virtue” to the right and “Đạt Tài” or “to attain
talent” to the left.

SECOND COURTYARD:
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Hanoi Open University – Faculty of Tourism Bk16
Pass through the Dai Trung Gate, we are standing at the second courtyard, where has
Khuê Văn Các – one of the most beautiful building in Temple of Literature. In English,
Khue Van Cac means Constellation of Literature. It was built in 1805 under Nguyen
Dynasty and it means to reflect that brilliance. Constellation of Literature has a special
architecture; it is the typical symbol of yin and yang theory. There is contrast between high
and low, wind and water, sky and earth. The brick platform is square; the symbolic shape for
the earth, sky is presented in the wooden superstructure adorned with four circular suns,
outlined in wood, that radiate the right to the four directions. Dragon crowns the roof,
making obeisance to the moon. In the past, Khue Van Cac used to comments the excellent
exam papers of good students. In order for the student to pass through the gate to the next
level of knowledge, the virtue and talent of the first stage must be joined to excellence in
literary expression. The two smaller gates leading from this courtyard are called, right to
left, Súc Văn and Bí Văn. Súc Văn can be translated crystallization of letters, and refers to
literary expression that is profound and full of feeling. Bí Văn, translated magnificence of
letters, refers to ideas that are well and beautifully expressed.
Nowadays, Khue Van Cac becomes the symbol of Hanoi Capital. You can see it in
the logo of the Hanoi Television or on the paintings and postcards

THIRD COURTYARD:

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Hanoi Open University – Faculty of Tourism Bk16
Ladies and gentlemen! Now we are standing in the third courtyard, which is one of
the most important parts of Temple of Literature. The third courtyard is the place where
have preserved stone steles of doctoral laureates and it was divided into two parts on two
sides of the lake. This lake was called Thiên Quang Tỉnh or Well of Heavenly Clarity. The
lake reflects and radiates the Brilliance of the Constellation of Literature, as it is the
symbolism of the sacred duality: Low and high; cool and warm, square earth and round sky.
This is some information about The Well of Heavenly Clarity. Do you have any question for
me about this lake before learning about the steles – one of the most important parts of the
Temple of Literature?
Ladies and gentlemen, in the third courtyard there are 82 stone steles which recorded
the names and native villages of 1397 graduators in 82 royal exams held from 1442 to 1779.
In 1484, under the reign of King Le Thanh Tong, Confucianism reached the peak of
development and the first stele was built at that time. And the last stele was built in 1780.
Stone stele stood on the backs of stone tortoises. Do you know why our ancestor did like
this? Because In East Asian cosmology, the tortoise symbolizes the universe, the tortoise
shell represents the sky and its belly is the earth. The tortoise is symbol of permanent so it
implied that, the knowledge and the name of the graduators would last forever.
On 9/3/2010, UNESCO has recognized 82 steles at the Temple of Literature as a
World Documentary Heritage. The recognition would also help to raise the awareness in
heritage preservation. It is a great honor for all Vietnamese people.
Ladies and Gentlemen, we have visited the third courtyard with stone steles and
Thien Quang Tinh. I hope that you can know more about the meaning of the lake and 82
stone steles here. Do you have any questions for me about this site before we move on the
fourth courtyard, where you can find the main altar to worship Confucius and in the past, it
was the class to train many talented men for our country.
If there is no question, we will move to the fourth courtyard. Before moving, I would
like to remind you, please:
- Please stay your group and stand near me to avoid getting lost.
- Do not touch the objects to protect them.
FOURTH COURTYARD

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Hanoi Open University – Faculty of Tourism Bk16
Now we are standing in fourth courtyard, the most crowded courtyard in the temple
of literature. In the past, there were two large buildings; called Ta Vu- Huu Vu on two sides
was the place preparation and assembly rooms for student. Now it becomes some souvenir
shops for serving tourist. Some museums display ink well, pens, books, personal artifact
belonging to some of the students that studied here in the past
At the end of the fourth courtyard is altar with status of Confucius and 4 his close
disciples. It was called Great house of ceremonies that the King would make his offering to
Confucius and the new doctor would come to bow to show their honor. Nowadays, people
often bring incenses, flower to pray for knowledge, luckiness in their examination.
In the past, the fourth courtyard is very crowded in the Tet holiday because it is the
place to hold many activities such as traditional game, writing the calligraphy or talk about
the Tet poems. If you have chance to visit Viet Nam in Tet holiday, you can enjoy many
interesting traditional games, for example: people chess or you can see and give a
calligraphy letter from “Ong Do”. Ong Do is the man who is an old teacher in the past.
People believe that the calligraphy will bring the lucky, happy, success for them in New
Year. I am sure that it will be a special gift for your family and friends.
I have just told you some information about the fourth courtyard and some activities
in Tet holiday at here. I hope that all of you know more about the culture as well as the
education of Vietnamese people. Before we move on the fifth courtyard, the last part of the
Temple of Literature to find out about the famous teacher of Vietnam and the royal
examination, do you have any question for me?

THE FIFTH COURTYARD

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Hanoi Open University – Faculty of Tourism Bk16
We are now standing in Quoc Tu Giam that is the name of the first national
university of Vietnam. As I said, at first, in the past, only the son of the kings and mandarins
could come here to study. However, after 1434, the normal people could study here. There is
one special period in Nguyen dynasty that you should know. In 19 th century, Nguyen King
chosen Hue was the capital. Therefore, Quoc Tu Giam in Hue was the university. Quoc Tu
Giam in Hanoi was the place to worship the parents of Confucius. The building we are
looking at was last rebuilt in 1999 because the French destroyed it in the war, but it still
follows the style in the past. As you can see, the first floor displays the altar of Chu Van An.
He was the famous teacher in Vietnam history. He used to be the talented and virtuous
teacher. After he died, he was worshipped here.
The second floor displays three altars of three kings who had much supporting to the
Temple of Literature.
1. King Ly Thanh Tong was the person who built this Temple.
2. King Ly Nhan Tong, who built the first university of Vietnam, called QTG.
3. King Le Thanh Tong, who built the first stone stele in Temple of Literature.
On two sides of the building, there are a big bell and a big drum. According to the
architecture in the past, the bell is always in the left and the drum is always in the right. (Tả
chung hữu cổ). The bell and drum is used for alarm, to show the time in daily life.
Moreover, they are a part of celebration for victory battle, special events. The artisans in Ha
Nam Province made this drum and it was used the first time to commemorate 990 years of
Thang Long - Hanoi in 2000 in the Temple of Literature, and then it was the ceremony
welcoming the new millennium in the Square Opera House in Hanoi in 2001. The design of
this drum has a special meaning. The height of it is 2.65 m; 2.01 m diameter which
corresponds to the new millennium in 2001. On the body of the drum, there are 1999
bamboo nails, which symbolize the last year of last millennium; drum was coupled with 34
blank pieces of wood nearly 300 years old. Now please go to visit the Great Bell. The bell
was casted by pure copper in Hue city and Vietin Bank donated it to the Temple of
Literature in 2009. The bell weighs 1.970kg; the overall height is 2.34 m bottom diameter is
1.28 m. Bell is engraved on the body all the history of the Temple of Literature and the spirit
in studying of the Vietnamese people.

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Hanoi Open University – Faculty of Tourism Bk16
Nowadays, this university opened for the entire tourist comes to visit, to discover the
architect, the peace and the culture of Vietnam, especially the studying. The students before
examination often come here to pray for luck and success.

I have introduced to you about the fifth courtyard, the last part of our tour today; do you
have any last question for me about this courtyard before the break time?

CONCLUSION
Ladies and Gentlemen, we have finished our tour in the Temple of Literature. By
visiting five courtyard of this site, I hope you had more knowledge about the education of
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Hanoi Open University – Faculty of Tourism Bk16
Vietnam in the past as well as the meaning of the Temple of Literature with not only
Hanoian but also every Vietnamese person. Do you have any last question for my about the
Temple of Literature?
You can find the washroom on the right side of the fourth courtyard and there are
some souvenir shops on two side of fourth courtyard too. When you move on the fifth
courtyard, you can enjoy the Vietnamese traditional music with some traditional instrument
like T’rung, monochord.
This is my name card; you can see my name and my telephone number on it. Please
call me if you need my help, I am always willing to hear from you.
Because you ask me about place where you can join in a cooking class, so I think you
should go to Blue Butterfly Restaurant, here you can learn how to make some Vietnam
traditional food like Pho, spring roles and you can enjoy the food you made by yourself.
Do you have any last question for me about our tour today?
Now although I do not want but I must say good-bye to you, thank you all again for
choosing our company. Wish you had a good trip and hope to see you when you come back
Vietnam. Take care and good-bye.
QUESTION:
1. Meaning of festival flag:
- Five-color - symbol of 5 elements to make the world: metal, wood, water, fire, land
- Saw-tooth hem: like the wind is coming  happy
2. How many are there stone stele in the Temple of Literature?
- Actually, according to the history books, there were 117 stone steles
- But now, through the war, many things changed, there remained only 82 stone
steles and one stone tortoise without stele on his back.
3. How many Temple of literature in VIETNAM?
Seven others in 7 provinces from the North to the South of VIETNAM. Mao Điền – Hải
Dương, Xích Đằng – Hưng Yên, Nghệ An, Huế, Khánh Hòa, Đồng Nai and Vĩnh Long.

THE ROYAL EXAMINATIONS

Education at the T prepared students for the royal examinations, the gateway to becoming a
scholar madarin and serving at the court or in a high position in the provinces. Those who
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did not pass the exam still held a position as part of the nation’s educated class and often
return to their villages as school matter. Both the examination and the honors conferred
evolved over the centuries. The following description is of examinations in the 15th century.
The multi stage examination takes several months. The first step called the Thi Huong was a
regional examination held triennially.
Those who passed then came to Hanoi with their sleeping math, brushes and ink-stones to sit
for the four-part, Thi Hoi. A candidate had to pass each part in sequence in order to quality
to sit for the following parts:
- The first part, called King Nghia, was based directly on the Confucian classics.
Examinees were given few subjects from the four canons and told to choose one. In
addition they had to choose one of three questions based on the spring and the
Autumn Annals and told to synthesize them
- The second part, The Che, Chieu, Bieu, a candidate had to write as though they were
the King, discussing matters of state.
- Candidate who passed the second test were then required to write two different kinds
of Poems on given topics in the Tho Phu. The Tho was a poem of 28 words, divided
into 4 lines of words, the Phu a prose poem of 8 seven-word lines.
- The final part of the doctoral exam was the Van Sach in which candidates were asked
to comment on how to handle problems facting the country, drawing from their
knowledge of the four classics and the history of previous dynasties.
Those who completed all the four parts were conferred the title of doctor laureate (Tien si)
and invited to the palace for the Thi Dinh or palace exam. During the exam, the King
himself posed the question and read the responses of the candidates. He then ranked the Tien
Si into three groups, and conferred special distinction on the three most successful
candidates of the highest-ranking group.
The new mandarins were offers a hot, gown, given a banquet at the palace, and sent home to
their villages in triumphal procession. There they in turn offered a feast to the village
sometimes to their financial ruin.
From 1076 to 1779, the date of the last royal exam held in Hanoi, 2313 examinees were
awarded the title of Tien Si, or doctor laureate. Today 1036 of their names, beginning with
the exam in 1442 are still to be found on the 82 stele at the T.
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The number of the examinees awarded the Tien Si degree in anyone year ranged from 3 to
61. Ages of the laureates ranged from 16 to 61. The exam may have been held on the site of
what is now the national library, as suggested by some historians and by the street name
Trang Thi, or examination Street. With from 450 to 6000 candidates, the area had to have
been a large one.
The scholars differed greatly in their contributions to their country. Some were more
virturous than others were, some were nothing more than bureaucrats. Yet many were
brilliant: Mathematicians and philosophers, political leaders and finance minister, officials
renowned for fighting corruption and abuse of privilege.

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