Temple of Literature and Citadel

Sunday 1 December

Another sunny day in Ha Noi and I decided to tick off a few more sights on the map. First was the Temple of Literature. I can see why it’s called that but the name gave me a false steer. In fact it is a quite extensive area of buildings that was a National University founded in 1070 under King Li Thanh Tong to give scholars a Confucian education. Its full name is Van Mieu – Quoc Tu Giam. One progresses through a series of courtyards. One courtyard contains 82 stone steles that are carved with the names of doctors who passed the court examinations between 1442 and 1779 under the early Le and Mac dynasties. Information on history of the royal examinations, on the successive dynasties’ conceptions of education, and their philosophy of state governance are also engraved in these steles.  Each stele is placed on a stone tortoise, symbol of longevity. The buildings are mainly rebuilt, the originals having been destroyed in various wars, particularly by the French.
 

The day I went was graduation day and the site was flooded with graduates having their pictures taken in their capes and mortar boards.

There was also a photographic exhibition (the International Artistic Photo Contest) with the chosen exhibits on display outside in one of the courtyards.

From there, I was attracted to the nearby Flag Tower. Again this proved a lot more than the map suggested. In fact the flag tower is one building in the ancient citadel that covers an extensive area. As with the Quoc tu giam, many of the original buildings had been destroyed and there is extensive archeological work taking place on the site to rediscover the past. One of the new buildings was the HQ of the Vietnamese army in the American war and the rooms have been left as they were at the time. It prompts one to let one’s mind wander back to create an image of the key generals meeting with a coffee to discuss their plans. It struck me how warfare has changed even in the brief time since the 1960s/70s. The old phones and maps all seem very ancient technology!

The area still appears to have some military significance and next door is the army museum with a display that includes captured American aircraft and massive helicopters.

In addition to these two unexpectedly interesting sites, I also visited a couple of temples. One was right by the Temple of literature; the other on Hang Gai where a man was chanting from a text to the accompaniment of a drum and bell. It was quite mesmerizing and even the brief exposure stuck in my mind.

So now it was time for the train. It left bang on time and my 4-berth soft sleeper was shared with a guy on his own and two others who occupied the top bunks and sort of ruled the compartment. They came in as the train left, locked the door, switched off the lights, and jabbered to each other.  I felt a bit intimidated to carry on reading for long and decided to have an early night.