Temple of Literature, Literally Renowned

With these guys; it was pretty much written in stone.

After spending the morning rushing around the city and generally getting lost, I decided to do something with my only second consecutive day off since starting work here in Hanoi. Making sure to charge my camera, I headed out late in the afternoon, to have my roommate tell me that the temple closed at 4:30pm so I’d better hurry; thankfully for me, that didn’t seem to be the case. The temple itself was pretty easy to find thanks to Google maps and my ability to locate a sizeable city block dedicated to a single collection of buildings. Lying just south of the Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum, the Temple of Literature is a stark contrast to the rag-tag buildings and shops that pepper its circumference. Navigating my way to the parking area that was just to the left of the main entrance gate, on the south face of the block, I wasted no time in finding the ticket booth. I was surprised to see even this late into a chilly and slightly wet December afternoon, that there were many people still walking around the site. Entrance costs for a single, adult ticket were 30,000 VND (around US$1.33) and I picked up a leaflet for another 8,000 VND (US$0.40) which gave a little information and context to the site, but more than that I was greatly impressed by its durability – it had seemingly been printed onto laminated paper and would seemingly give non-tear playing cards a run for their money.

The Temple of Literature, or as the site was known: Quoc Tu Giam, was originally the first National University of Vietnam, constructed in 1076. The University taught students in the ways of Confucianism so that they may become doctor laureates and mandarins (I believe that is not the fruit.)

It was the tourist, in the garden, with a camera…

Walking through the first doorway of the site, named the Great Portico, you can’t help but to admire the rectangular symmetry that runs throughout the grounds; from the courtyards to the door frames, 4 sides and 90-degree angles are king. Veering around tourists and loved-up couples I rushed to photograph as much as possible before security or remaining daylight decided to end my day for me, as it turns out, I need not have worried so much. Although the gardens were clearly well looked after, the grey of the sky and the lack of warm temperature seemed to add a lifeless edge to the plant life present. Although there were some flower displays before the Great Middle Gate, there was a real lack of vibrant colour and especially of life in the four ponds of the garden before reaching Khue Van Pavillion. Shaking off thoughts of being a crime scene photographer I carried on, to the majestically named 82 Doctor Stelae, and the Well of Heavenly Clarity (it was not crystal clear, I would also add.)

The stelae were literally records in stone of the Doctors that graduated the University from 1442 to 1779 and of great pride to Confucian scholars, they have at least seemingly lasted the ages.

Let me check in the back for you.

Moving deeper into the grounds, you come to the Courtyard of the Sage Sanctuary which greets visitors with an intricate metal urn featuring three dragon heads twisting to the sky flanked by snaking dragons facing the bottom of the urn. Once again, the symmetry of the courtyard was beautiful, but it seemed sparse and barren. The courtyard was hugged by gift shops on each side and stared down by large rectangular building containing statues and a gold plated tortoise. There was no need to take shoes off and the staff were surprisingly relaxed about tourists taking pictures and walking around the entire building. It would seem that ceremony, more so than religion, was the general thought in place.

Heading back out into the courtyard, I followed a rather ominous sign and trail to the final segment of the grounds – Thai Hoc Gate and Thai Hoc Courtyard.

The courtyard here was even more lacklustre than its predecessors, but the real gem here was inside the main building at the far side of it – a few more gift stalls, but also more information on the site and its history, and numerous statues and displays with a great deal more grandeur to them. The highlight of an earlier building was a gold plated tortoise – here each statue on the upper level was gold plated. Left to my own devices, I casually wandered around the ground floor taking photographs and then graduated to the upper floor where there was a garish display of gold and colour. If colour had been shared across the site, I would say that the upper floor of the final building had stolen it from the gardens and earlier courtyards – or perhaps it was left as a reward for those willing to seek out the sight.

Taking an opportunity to step out onto a balcony, the fading light outside still did not damper my mood as I looked out over the grounds surrounding either front corner of the building. Unfortunately, the noise from the city could still penetrate the contrasting peacefulness of the temple, but my desire to see something new had been sufficiently satiated. Being one of the few visitors left on site, I made my way for the car park at around 5:30pm and had the pleasure of paying a hefty 5,000 VND (US$0.22) for being the last person to reclaim their bike.

Overall?

Whether a solo tourist, madly-in-love couple or a sheep on a tour, the Temple of Literature is definitely worth seeing; if not to learn about the history and culture of Vietnam, then at least to take some shameless selfies to show how world-cultured you are. There are plenty of benches lining the courtyards and gardens, so if you want to sit and people watch, the world is your goldfish bowl. You can attempt to learn how best to take photographs in low-level settings; chat to the air, and your lover, about how seemingly poetic it is that the trees so twisted and gnarled in an ugly way appear indisputably beautiful; then again, maybe you just like to be part of a garbled squad of cameras herded from one pen to the next by a knowledgeable shepherd – in either case, a total cost of 43,000 VND (under 2 US dollars) for entry, basic information and parking, isn’t going to break the bank and certainly isn’t worse than doing something meaningless elsewhere.