by Jim Goodman
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| laureate's procession, depiction inside Quốc Từ Giám |
After over a thousand years of
Chinese administration, in 938 Vietnam won back its independence. But after five years the new nation’s
first ruler Ngô Quyền died and more than two decades of poly-sided civil
war ensued. Eventually Đinh Bộ
Lĩnh prevailed and in 968 moved the capital to his hometown Hoa Lư. After eleven years he was assassinated
and the throne passed to Lê Hoàn, the military chief, just in time to
repel a Chinese invasion. He also
defeated the Chăm on the southern front, but died in 1005.
Four years of chaos followed
until in 1009 Lý Thái Tô founded a new dynasty, stable enough to last over two
centuries. Buddhist monks had supported
his enthronement and Buddhism became the state religion. Government administrators came from the
royal and aristocratic ranks and monks were in charge of education.
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| the Temple of Literature at the turn of the century |
But over time the Court came
to the conclusion that, as an ideology for running the country and stabilizing
society, Confucianism worked better.
It had been the ideology of statecraft in China since the Han Dynasty
and the Vietnamese had had several centuries of experience living under
it. They may have revolted against
individual Confucian administrators, but believed the system was the best way
to hold a nation together.
Confucian ethics would guide the behavior of citizens towards the state
and each other, with everyone aware of their place in society and their
responsibilities to it. Men
familiar with the classics of Confucian principles would know how to properly
manage state affairs.
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| entrance to the Văn Miếu compound |
This line of thought elevated
education to a level of prime importance and respect. It culminated in 1071 when King Lý Thánh Tông, in the final
year of his reign, ordered the construction of the Temple of Literature on a
small island in the big lake that existed then just south of the Citadel. In
1075 the Court began the tutoring of royal princes in the compound of Văn Miếu
(as the Vietnamese call the Temple of Literature). The following year the Court inaugurated the National School
(Quốc
Từ
Giám) on the Văn Miếu premises to educate members of the aristocracy in
order to appoint them as mandarins to administer the country and manage affairs
at Court. In subsequent years it
established the examination system.
 |
| pond in a Văn Miếu courtyard |
The Temple of
Literature we see today is no longer on an island. Only a small pond opposite the entrance remains of the lake
that once surrounded it. Modeled
on the temple to Confucius in his hometown in Qufu, China, the walled,
rectangular compound encloses five courtyards. A tall, columned, ornamented gate marks the entrance on the
south side.
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| courtyard tower, Văn Miếu |
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| Confucius image in the Temple of Literature |
To enter the service of the
Court, monks and priests took the Tam Giáo (Three Religions) examinations,
while sons of aristocrats, who were to hold most high mandarin positions, took
the Thái Học
Sinh exams. The most prestigious
examination system was for attaining a doctorate (tién sĩ) and was open to any landowner or his son who had already
passed the lower level of exams.
As the prevailing inheritance system was division among the children
(including the daughters) rather than primogeniture, the class of eligible
hopefuls constantly expanded.
 |
| private classes in the old days |
To pass the series of exams
and make it to tiến
sĩ required a sophisticated knowledge of the Chinese classics, Confucian
mores, history, literature, philosophy and statecraft. The arts and sciences were not part of
the curriculum. The emphasis was
less on practical matters and more on molding a character and worldview proper
for a socially responsible administrator.
Those who got high marks in
the provincial examinations (thi hương) won the title of cứ nhân and were eligible for the next
level--thi hội. If they passed four rounds of thi hội exams they won the
coveted title of tiến sĩ and eligible
for the final, royal set called thi đình,
carried out to rank the tiến sĩ and
apportion honors and positions.
Even those who failed at the thi hội
level were still compensated, for they usually wound up being teachers, still a
prestigious occupation and sometimes very well paid.
 |
| Quộc Từ Giám, the National University |
Thăng
Long played host to all three of these examinations. The thi hội
examinations were held in the lakeside Giáng Võ palace, southwest of the
Citadel. The site for the thi hương examinations, like the thi hội
examinations held every three years, though not the same year for each, was the
spot now occupied by the National Library on Tràng Thi street, off the
southwest corner of Hoàn Kiếm Lake. Ordinarily a vacant lot, at thi hương
time it became the intellectual and social focal point for all of Thăng Long.
Two thick fences and a moat
lined with rows of pikes surrounded the examination grounds. The compound was divided into four
equal parts, all fenced in with a gate surmounted by a watchtower. City authorities posted guards around
the camp’s perimeters. An office
in the center of the compound stamped the examination papers, announced the
subjects and collected the candidates’ compositions.
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| huts and beds in the examination ground |
The Ministry of Ceremonies
organized the event, though the king himself appointed the inspectors and the
mandarins in charge of supervision and control. The ministry announced the list of examiners ten days prior
and they immediately were locked in seclusion inside the camp, cut off from
contact with the outside world.
When the candidates arrived camp guards searched their belongings three
times before letting them in to find which quarter of the camp to which they
had been assigned. All this
searching and sequestering was intended to eliminate any chance of cheating in
any way. The government viewed
these examinations with the utmost gravity. The candidates themselves were equally serious. Since their whole future depended upon
their performance, no event in their lives until now was as important.
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| punishing violators of the examination rules |
Citizens of Thăng Long were
also well aware of the importance of these examinations and enjoyed the
excitement when the scholars thronged the city every three years. The candidates were recognizable by the
baggage they lugged into the city’s inns and hostels, containing the set of
items they would live off during the days they were ensconced in the
examination camp. A tent of
lacquered cloth and a bamboo bench were the most obvious items, things only
ever toted by examinees. They also
carried some clothes, a water canteen, a wooden cylinder for storing exam
papers and a wooden box with paper, ink and brushes, which doubled as a table
for meals. Thăng Long residents
were especially hospitable to them.
After all, today’s noodles customer might one day be the mandarin
governing this district.
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| examination day |
Candidates had to write four
successive compositions (they had a full day for each) in addition to fielding
questions from the examiners. A
serious mistake in a composition meant failure. As a result, as time progressed, there were fewer and fewer
candidates remaining, so less time waiting around to be scheduled. By law, though, the maximum time
permitted between the first and last exam was twenty days. When the examinations were concluded
some candidates returned to their villages, while others waited around for
several days for the posting of the results.
The urban mood was at its
liveliest and merriest at this time.
With the immediate pressure off, the candidates relaxed at the West Lake
pavilions, went boating on the lake around the Temple of Literature after
visiting the shrine to Confucius, indulged in their famous propensity for
pranks and practical jokes, visited theaters and dined and drank in the inns. Finally the results would be known and
those who passed and attained the cứ nhân degree filed off to
the palace, from where mandarins led them in a well-observed procession through
the city. High-ranking families
with marriageable daughters paid particular attention to which of the cứ nhân
were single.
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| honoring the scholar and his horse |
The treatment accorded those
scholars who went on to make tiện sĩ and pass the thi đình examinations at the palace was
even grander. The king awarded
them ceremonial clothing and the Ministry of Ceremonies hosted a banquet in
their honor. Mandarins gave them a
guided tour of the royal gardens and the streets of the capital, lined with
citizens applauding their success.
Then officials led them in a
procession all the way back to their villages, led by drummers and including
separate palanquins for the scholar’s teacher and parents, the tiến
sĩ riding in the last, most elegant palanquin or on a specially outfitted
horse. If he scored
extraordinarily high marks, at the entrance to the village four men grabbed the
horse’s legs and carried both the animal and the seated scholar to the village
center, thereby honoring both horse and rider. This theme of the successful scholar’s return home has
inspired countless paintings and carvings over the centuries and is one of the
most common skits presented in shows by contemporary water-puppet troupes.
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| stele house at Văn Miếu compound |
Upon arrival the laureate
performed rites to his ancestors.
His village organized a welcome ceremony and feast in his honor. They also granted him certain favors and
honors. They invited him to direct
village affairs, to have the seat of honor at assemblies and rituals at the đình (communal house) and to supervise
the distribution of votive offerings to the villagers at festivals. Meanwhile, unless he had already made
employment arrangements as a tutor he awaited his appointment to office by the
Court. When it came he was not
given a salary, but instead an estate in which he collected taxes and services
from its serfs.
The system continued through
the Lý and Trần Dynasties, was interrupted by the two decades of
Chinese occupation early 15th century, and after their expulsion,
revived by the Lê Dynasty.
Confucianism then became the official state ideology. In 1475 the dynasty’s most accomplished
emperor, Lê Thánh Tông, began the custom of erecting steles inscribed with laureate’s
name, on the grounds of the Temple of Literature (which are still there).
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| steles honoring tiến sĩ ar Văn Miếu |
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| entrance to Văn Miếu at Huế |
In the early 16th
century the Lê government, plagued by a succession of incompetent, cruel and
lecherous teenage tyrants, fell to Mác Đăng Dung in 1527. Lê forces retreated, but eventually
launched a long campaign against the Mạc that restored them in
1592. Yet throughout the turmoil
the examination system continued in the capital, even under siege. And with the Lê restoration it was
back.
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| scholars' steles at the Huế Văn Miếu |
The restored Lê emperor was just
a figurehead, though, and in the 17th century the country split into
administrative halves. The Trịnh
Lords ruled the north and the Nguyễn Lords controlled the
south. The Trịnh
Lords continued to rely on the examination system for their officials and after
1695 the Nguyễn Lords adopted the system. The Tây Sơn Revolt (1778-1802) destroyed both
administrations, but after Nguyễm Ánh, the last surviving Nguyễn Lord, reunited
the country, classic Confucianism made a comeback.
Now known by the royal name
Gia Long, the new emperor made Huế the national capital and in 1808 built a new
Temple of Literature on the Perfume River a few km downstream from the
Citadel. National examinations
took place here until the end of the system entirely in 1919. Gia Long also continued the custom of
erecting steles inscribed with the names of the laureates. Today, two rows of these, plus two
compound entry gates, are all that remain on the site.
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| compound gate to Văn Miếu at Huế |
In contrast, the original
Temple of Literature in Hanoi still stands, albeit with renovated buildings,
but still roughly in the original layout.
It’s naturally a top tourist attraction, but is also revered by Hanoi
residents. In the past, the
examination system was more than just a tri-annual season of intellectual and
social excitement. It instilled a
sense of status and respect for education that has persisted through to the 21st
century, even though it’s an entirely different system of education now. It made residents feel that their city
was the epicenter of culture and civilization in Vietnam, the major source of its
intellectual ferment, artistic innovation and cultural inspiration. It’s a claim that can still be
made.
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| the tiến sĩ's triumphant procession--popular water-puppet skit |
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The Temple of Literature is one of the stops in Hanoi on Delta Tours Vietnam's visit to the city. See the itinerary at https://www.deltatoursvietnam.com/destinations
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