Van Mieu, Temple of Literature

Van Mieu, the Temple of Literature, is a Confucian temple complex and former university in Hanoi, Vietnam. The compound extends across five connected courtyards with ceremonial halls, gardens, study pavilions, and stone tablets mounted on turtle pedestals.

Emperor Lý Thánh Tông founded the temple in 1070 as a Confucian site for honoring scholarship. Six years later Vietnam's first national university opened here, training mandarins for over seven centuries until 1779.

Stone tablets resting on turtle pedestals honor 1307 scholars who passed doctoral examinations between 1442 and 1779. Visitors today see students dressed in traditional robes praying before the stelae for luck in their own exams and posing for photographs.

The complex opens daily and works best for a morning visit when the courtyards remain relatively quiet. Visitors move through the five courtyards in sequence, following shaded pathways that run between the pavilions.

The Khuê Văn pavilion in the second courtyard appears on the 100,000 dong banknote and serves as a symbol of the country's educational tradition. The wooden structure from 1805 shows four circular windows with sunburst patterns symbolizing enlightenment through knowledge.