Temple of Literature Founded in Hanoi

1070

Emperor Ly Thanh Tong ordered the construction of the Van Mieu - the Temple of Literature - in Thang Long, dedicating it to Confucius and the scholarly tradition. Six years later his successor would establish within its grounds Vietnam's first national university, the Quoc Tu Giam. The temple complex, with its courtyards of stelae honoring examination graduates, would endure for nearly a millennium as the physical embodiment of Vietnamese reverence for learning.