The Temple of Literature Visiting hours:
Summer time: From 07:30 to 18:00
Winter time: From 08:00 to 18:00
Entrance fee:
Price : 30,000 vnd/ ticket
Free for children under 15 years old
People with disabilities are especially servere
The Temple of Literature (Vietnamese: Văn Miếu, Hán-Nôm: 文廟) is a Temple of Confucius in Hanoi, northern Vietnam. The temple hosts the Imperial Academy (Quốc Tử Giám, 國子監), Vietnam’s first national university.
The temple was built in 1070 at the time of Emperor Ly Thanh Tong. It is one of several temples in Vietnam which is dedicated to Confucius, sages and scholars. The temple is located to the south of the Imperial Citadel of Thang Long. The various pavilions, halls, statues and stelae of doctors are places where offering ceremonies, study sessions and the strict exams of the Đai Viet took place. The temple is featured on the back of the 100,000 Vietnam đong banknote. Just before the Vietnamese New Year celebration Tet, calligraphists will assemble outside the temple and write wishes in Han characters. The art works are given away as gifts or are used as home decorations for special occasions.
The temple was built in 1070 and was reconstructed during the Tran dynasty (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 Tuat, the second year of Than Vu (1070), in the 8th lunar month, during the reign of King Ly Thanh Tong, the Van Mieu was built. The statues of Confucius, his four best disciples: Yan Hui (Nhan Uyên), Zengzi (Tăng Sâm), Zisi (Tử Tư), and Mencius (Mạnh Tử), as well as the Duke of Zhou (Chu Công), 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’s first university, the “Quoc Tu Giam” or Imperial Academy, was established within the temple to educate Vietnam’s bureaucrats, nobles, royalty and other members of the elite. The university remained open from 1076 to 1779. In 1802, the Nguyen dynasty’s monarchs founded the Hue capital where they established a new imperial academy. The academy at the Hanoi temple lost its prominence and became a school of the Hoai Đuc District.
Under the French protectorate, the Văn Mieu – Quoc Tu Giam was registered as Monument historique in 1906. Campaigns of restoration were pursued in 1920 and 1947 under the responsibility of École française d’Extrême-Orient (French School of the Far East) and again after World War II.
The Emperor Ly Nhan Tong built the school. It was built in 1076 AD at the time of Emperor Ly Nhan Tong. It was built as a school for the rich and royals to study because education is very important. After that, it was used as university for everyone because there weren’t enough universities for everyone in Hanoi. They wanted that a lot of people would go to the school so they expanded to make more space for more people and since it was expanded for more people wanted to go to the school to study well. It was rebuilt because the wood that the Emperor used in the olden days had been so old that it started to break and fall apart. As the days went by, the kings kept replacing the wood and now we have replaced the wood with concrete or metal,stone and new wood. When the French ruled Vietnam at around 1945- 1954, they destroyed some parts of the temple to make room for the sick and wounded since the hospitals were full.