Temple of Literature

Vietnam’s first national university and a well-preserved Confucian temple complex dedicated to scholars and learning.

Founded in 1070 and later home to Vietnam’s first national university, the Temple of Literature enshrined Confucian education as the route to officialdom and social prestige. Its stone steles of doctors and tranquil courtyards are a physical record of centuries of imperial examinations, shaping Vietnamese notions of merit, scholarship and social mobility.