2/8–Hanoi day 1–Temple of Literature

This morning finds us up and refreshed after our long previous day of travel, enjoying our coffee on the patio in the nice cool temps of Hanoi.

It’s a refreshing break after the rising temps in Chiang Mai, but it’s not quite as peaceful as our little balcony overlooking the back of the Shangri La hotel.  It’s Hanoi after all, and that means traffic. Plenty of traffic. And horns.  They do so love their horns!  We’re pretty used to it by now, so it is more amusing than annoying.  We could spend hours up here just watching the craziness down below. But, not today. We have a whole day planned out and need to get a move on. 

So, after a lovely breakfast of made to order omelets, we finally venture out into the city in search of the Viettel store to buy a SIM card.  While we had looked at the location earlier, I didn’t mark it on the map – not the smartest of moves.  I knew it was very close to a bar I wanted to visit later on, and we found the bar, but not the Viettel store.  After some heated debate, and no luck searching a few blocks around the bar landmark, I went into a nearby hotel to ask directions.  They told us to go back virtually to where we had started near our hotel, which I didn’t think was correct.  Instead we decided to circle the block that is adjacent to the Hoan Kiem Lake, where a lot of big stores are located. We still didn’t find the store, and were getting more and more frustrated, when I once again entered some business with a front desk and asked about the store.  The guy said, “That’s easy!”  Turns out it was literally around the corner and next door to where I was asking. Phew. Crisis averted.

With our $3 USD SIM card safely installed (after some minor google play glitches), we headed back out into the crazy Hanoi streets to walk across town to the Temple of Literature, a Confucian Temple dating from 1070, and the Fine Art Museum, located across the street.  It’s about a 2 mile walk to the temple, taking us through the main shopping streets of Old Hanoi, then turning close to the train station – where the narrow tracks are that I want to visit later – and up toward the newer, modern section of the city.  It’s a gorgeous day, cool and a little cloudy, perfect for walking.  On the way we pass a great bar that has created a holiday tree out of beer bottles, a cute spot to possibly come back to after we finish our cultural explorations.

Arriving at the Temple, we have to traverse its entire length outside the walls to get to the entrance.  It’s not as terrible as it sounds, it’s two very long city blocks, but the outside walls are carved with interesting bas relief and traditional old Vietnamese gates and designs.

We pay our entrance fee of 30,000 VND each (about $1.30 USD), buy a cool little brochure for 10,000 VND (that is laminated on this great thick linen stock) and proceed through the Great Portico and into the gardens surrounding the temple, heading toward the Great Middle gate. 

Originally founded as Vietnam’s first National University, the only way to gain access was through noble birth.  In the 1400’s, the university was rebuilt and allowed entrance to gifted students all across the nation. Passing through the Great Middle gate is yet another peaceful garden path that leads to the Khue Van pavilion – the entrance to the Well of Heavenly Clarity – a pond surrounded by 82 Doctor Stalae erected between 1484 and 1780 with engravings of the names and birthplaces of the doctor laureates who sat for exams during that time period.  The Stelae are “stone historical books” recognized by UNESCO as documentary heritage.

As we are examining the Stelae, complete with Kumquat tree decorations for Tet, a group of little school children come parading by. They are so adorable, most in their traditional Vietnamese garb, we can’t resist standing back and snapping some pictures of the parade.

Moving on, we cross the Gate of Great Synthesis to enter the Courtyard of the Sage sanctuary and the main teaching area of the Temple/University.  The first room we enter it the “House of Ceremonies” with a large altar guarded by huge stork like creatures that, judging from the others here in groups, you can apparently rub for good luck.

The next building contains altars to Confucius, with several likenesses surrounding the room on pedestals covered with various offerings.

Our final destination is the reconstructed 5th Courtyard buildings.  The original structures were destroyed by the French in 1946 and rebuilt on the grounds of the original “Imperial Academy” in 2000.  The buildings showcase traditional Vietnamese design and architecture, while paying homage to the great founders of the academy.  On the bottom floor, a huge statue of Chu Van An, the director of the academy who taught Princes and many other successful students, and is worshipped as one of the most remarkable educators in Vietnam.  This building also houses some amazing examples of old school books and student notebooks.

Upstairs, statues commemorating the three great sages and Confucian scholars (three Kings) who founded the University. Ly Thanh Tong who founded Van Mieu in 1070, Ly Nhan Tong who founded Quoc Tu GIan (the first National University) in 1076 and Le Thanh Tong who ordered the erection of the first doctors’ stone stelae in 1484. As with all the other altars, many offerings are placed around these statues as well.  The coca cola is particularly interesting – we’ve not seen that before, but as days go by here in Hanoi, we’ll end up finding it on many of the offerings around town.

In addition to the statues, there is also another display of old school materials – the ones shown below are actually textbook carriers the students used while studying.

Exiting the building, we wander around the courtyard a bit, snapping shots of the large bells and gongs displayed in the courtyard, as well as some cool shots of the side gates to different courtyards.

The first part of our touring complete, we make our way out of the Temple and across the street to the Fine Arts Museum for our second visit of the day.