After defeating the Ming invaders in the 15th century, in his Binh Ngo Dai Cao (Great Proclamation upon the Pacification of the Wu), Nguyen Trai wrote: “The Great Viet has long been a civilised nation.” If visitors want to find a location in Hanoi that represents the nation’s thousand-year-old civilisation, none stands out better than Van Mieu - Quoc Tu Giam. As the first university in Vietnam, it is where many distinguished scholars were nurtured and honoured. Today, the Van Mieu-Quoc Tu Giam is not only a tourist attraction but also a cultural and creative space, which holds the promotion of learning at its core.
Thousand-year-old way of learning
Along with relocating the capital to Thang Long in 1010, the Ly Dynasty also paid attention to building a strong country, which required men of immense erudition. Van Mieu (the Temple of Literature) was built in 1070 under the reign of Emperor Ly Thanh Tong (1054-1072). At that time, the temple housed the statues of the Duke of Zhou, Confucius and eminent Confucian sages. Six years later, Emperor Ly Nhan Tong had Quoc Tu Giam (the Imperial Academy) built behind Van Mieu as a school for members of the imperial family and court officials.
With the establishment of Van Mieu - Quoc Tu Giam, the first imperial examinations were held to select the best and the brightest for the court, which was the foundation of Vietnam’s tradition of fondness for learning.
Later in the Tran Dynasty, Emperor Tran Thai Tong ordered the expansion of Quoc Tu Giam and even recruited children of commoners with excellent academic performance. Quoc Tu Giam became the training establishment of the nation’s talents.
Starting from the Later Le Dynasty, Confucianism became the mainstream ideology of imperial dynasties, and the imperial examinations were held in a more well-organised manner.
"Talents are the vitality of a nation. Strong vitality denotes strong national footholds and prosperity, while languishing vitality heralds national weakness and decay.”
In 1484, Emperor Le Thanh Tong had steles erected at Van Mieu to honour those who were granted the doctorate from the 1442 examination onwards.
The first stele erected at Van Mieu features words penned by Doctor Than Nhan Trung: “Talents are the vitality of a nation. Strong vitality denotes strong national footholds and prosperity, while languishing vitality heralds national weakness and decay.”
“Talents are the vital energy of the nation” has become a truth not only in the feudal era, but also remains relevant today.
The architectural complex of Van Mieu - Quoc Tu Giam is arranged symmetrically in each area, each layer along the north - south axis, covering an area of over 54,000 m2.
The main gate of Van Mieu was built in the Tam Quan style, with three ancient Chinese characters “Van Mieu Mon” (Van Mieu Gate) on it. Van Mieu has a surrounding wall built of bricks. Inside, there are walls dividing the space into five areas, each area has a dividing wall and a gate.
Through the Van Mieu Gate, visitors come to Dai Trung Gate. From here, looking straight in, you will see Khue Van Cac.
Khue Van Cac is an architectural work that, although not massive, has harmonious and beautiful proportions. The architecture consists of four brick pillars below supporting the upper floor. The upper floor is a square eight-roofed floor, with round windows on the four walls of the floor in the shape of the sun radiating light. Although it dates back to the Nguyen Dynasty, thanks to its significance and exquisite beauty, Khue Van Cac was chosen as the symbol of Hanoi City.
Through Khue Van Cac is Thien Quang Tinh Lake (meaning well reflecting the sun), on both sides of the lake are doctoral steles. Each stele is made of stone, engraved with the names of the candidates who passed the exams of Trang Nguyen, Bang Nhan, Tham Hoa, Hoang Giap, and Tien Si. The steles are placed on the backs of stone turtles.
There are currently 82 steles about the exams which took place from 1442 to 1779. These are the most precious relics of the site.
The next area is the area to worship Confucius, the Confucian sages, and the sages with two large structures arranged in parallel and consecutively. The outer building is Bai Duong, the inner building is Thuong Cung. The innermost layer is Thai Hoc area, which was rebuilt by Hanoi City in 1999.
Van Mieu - Quoc Tu Giam has been recognised by the Prime Minister as a special national relic.
The Doctoral Steles of Van Mieu – Quoc Tu Giam were recognised by UNESCO as a World Documentary Heritage under the World Memory Programme on March 9, 2010.
Inspiring creativity
The Centre for Van Mieu – Quoc Tu Giam Cultural and Scientific Activities (under the Hanoi Department of Culture and Sports) is assigned to manage, operate, and promote the values of Van Mieu – Quoc Tu Giam. Every year, the site welcomes millions of tourists.
To breathe new life into the Van Mieu – Quoc Tu Giam heritage based on its inherent values, the activities at the site cannot be limited to just selling entrance tickets.
We are honoured to take care of such a special heritage site as Van Mieu – Quoc Tu Giam.
Le Xuan Kieu, Director of the Centre for Van Mieu – Quoc Tu Giam Cultural and Scientific Activities, said: “We are honoured to take care of such a special heritage site as Van Mieu – Quoc Tu Giam. The value of this heritage is not only in its architectural structures, steles, decorative motifs, and carvings. One of the prominent values of Van Mieu – Quoc Tu Giam is its embodiment of the tradition of valuing education and the scholarly traditions of Vietnam. Our direction is to turn Van Mieu – Quoc Tu Giam into a space for creativity, where creativity is built on the foundation of the educational and heritage tradition of Van Mieu – Quoc Tu Giam. This will not only attract cultural and creative professionals but also spread the value of heritage and the spirit of creativity to the community.”
In concretising this vision, the Centre for Van Mieu – Quoc Tu Giam Cultural and Scientific Activities is actively working to turn the site into a space that inspires creativity, hosts creative activities, and displays creative products, thus creating new values for the community and society while bringing contemporary values into heritage.
Heritage education programmes help children understand the Van Mieu - Quoc Tu Giam more.
Heritage education programmes help children understand the Van Mieu - Quoc Tu Giam more.
Today, Van Mieu – Quoc Tu Giam is not just a sightseeing destination but is gradually transforming into a cultural space with diverse and vibrant activities. Examples include heritage education programmes; research and composition competitions about Van Mieu – Quoc Tu Giam and the great teacher Chu Van An, an exemplary educator of Vietnam; and exhibitions of traditional and contemporary calligraphy.
One of the most highlighted events is the project titled ‘Dialogue between Calligraphy and Graffiti’. Calligraphy is an ancient art form of the East, known as an elegant hobby of intellectuals who are good at languages and passionate about literature. Meanwhile, graffiti is an art form of the West, starting from wall painting by young people, and representing the young generation, those who are “rebellious” and eager to express and assert themselves. The two art forms, one from the East, one from the West, one old, one new, seem to have very little in common. However, the Van Mieu - Quoc Tu Giam Culture and Science Centre, and the National Institute of Culture and Arts have brought together calligraphers and graffiti artists to work together to produce works that show the similarity and interaction between the two art forms.
Creations of calligraphers in an exhibition.
Creations of calligraphers in an exhibition.
This September, the exhibition entitled ‘Brush and Inkstone’ is taking place at Van Mieu - Quoc Tu Giam, attracting great interest from the public because it is the first calligraphy exhibition to go beyond the rules of using a brush and Chinese ink to write. In this exhibition, ‘Chu Quoc Ngu’ (the modern writing script for Vietnamese) appeared as artistic works of calligraphy.
Sharing about this exhibition, calligrapher Ngau Thu (Nguyen Thanh Tung) said that the writer must understand the unique beauty of each alphabet and then combine them into a work with rhythms like a symphony. Participating calligraphers at the exhibition not only explore the simple rhythm of each letter but also make them more sparkling thanks to the effects of light and colour. As a result, the letters are no longer simply arranged in a row but have become unconventional calligraphy works, bringing viewers many different emotions. Through the works on display, one can see a Thang Long covered in legends, a Hanoi shrouded in mist, or romance of the gentle autumn weather”.
The exhibition is like a “manifesto” of calligraphers for the development of the cultural industry.
In implementing the plan for "Innovation and quality improvement in educational propaganda on the Van Mieu - Quoc Tu Giam Heritage Site”, the centre has developed more than 30 heritage education topics and organised visits for hundreds of student groups at all levels to experience the site. The centre also launched the Heritage Experience Room, a space where groups of students or children with their families can engage in activities and in-depth exploration. It also serves as a venue where visitors can participate in immersive activities to gain a deeper understanding.
Telling thousand-year stories through modern technology
Digitalisation is an inevitable path for institutions and organisations. The Van Mieu – Quoc Tu Giam Heritage Site has introduced a 12-language automated explanation system, created a 3D digital database for the entire site, including the most important relics and artifacts, particularly the 82 steles of doctoral laureates. Additionally, intangible values, related research documents, and works about Van Mieu - Quoc Tu Giam have been digitised.
A highlight of the digitalisation process is the application of technology in the nighttime experience tour “The Essence of Confucianism”. During this tour, upon entering the main gate of Van Mieu - Quoc Tu Giam, visitors are immersed in a mystical atmosphere, enhanced by the use of lighting technology and 3D Mapping technology (a technique that combines light and animated images to create 3D effects on surfaces, allowing images to interact within a three-dimensional space), accompanied by traditional music.
The first surprise for visitors is a beam of light from a window in the Khue Van Cac (the pavilion of the constellation of literature), which shines directly onto the roof of the Dai Trung Gate. This light transforms the Khue Van Cac into a “beacon” symbolising a lighthouse of intellect.
The area around the steles and the Thien Quang Well offers new delights. The entire canopy of trees surrounding this area is illuminated with changing colours, making the rows of buildings that house the steles on either side of the well appear to be set in an enchanted space.
The Bai Duong area recreates the entire history of the formation and development of the cradle of talent training for the country for nearly 800 years, under the feudal period with a contemporary design style, but still bearing the mark of traditional values. Visitors can also experience new technological products in the area, such as writing calligraphy using virtual reality technology.
The main highlight of the Van Mieu-Quoc Tu Giam Night Experience programme is the 3D Mapping projection activity. The entire facade of the Tien Duong house in the Thai Hoc area is transformed into a giant screen to help visitors explore the most quintessential values in Vietnamese philosophy.
These are stories related to the oldest university in Vietnam when expressing the themes: examination school, the old scholars, related to the will, the dream of passing, studying, carp turning into a dragon, and the difficulties and challenges that each person needs to overcome, or the architectural works of the relic, are all present in the product introduced to visitors. In addition, tourists can also enjoy unique traditional art performances.
The Van Mieu-Quoc Tu Giam Night Experience programme brings a wonderful feeling. 3D mapping technology, used for the first time for outdoor relic spaces, has created a special effect for the relic.
The Vietnam Tourism Association Vice President commented: "The Van Mieu-Quoc Tu Giam Night Experience programme brings a wonderful feeling. 3D mapping technology, used for the first time for outdoor relic spaces, has created a special effect for the relic".
It also shows that the night tour at the Van Mieu - Quoc Tu Giam maintains its attraction over time.
Published: September 2024
Production Manager: Kieu Huong, Nam Dong
Content: Da Lien
Photos: Da Lien, Thanh Dat, NDO
Design: Hoai Anh
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