The Temple of Literature is basically what is left of the Imperial
Academy created to educate Vietnam’s elite in medieval times. This is where they
held Vietnam’s civil service examinations and I can’t help thinking that it
mirrored Chinese imperial
examination system. This educational institution was dedicated
to Confucius and a couple of sages and scholars and functioned from 1076 till 1779.
I would say it had a pretty good run.
When I started writing this post it was difficult for me to figure out which
photos have been taken in which part of the temple, so I ended up drawing a plan
shown below to make the post more visual and somewhat structured.
Images below show the main gate of the temple. I am not an expert on traditional
Vietnamese architecture, but it felt like there is something distinctly
Vietnamese about it.
Since the temple is surrounded by walls and its courtyards are separated
from each-other by walls as well, there are quite a few gates. They are all
different and well-integrated with the surrounding gardens. The image below
left shows the Dai Tai gate. It is one of the side gates located in the first
courtyard. The image below centre shows a bit of the first courtyard and the
gate leading to the second courtyard. Another gate is shown in the image below
right. It is called the Khue Van pavilion and it provides a passage from the Second
to the Third Courtyard.
The temple gardens feature a number of ponds. Images below show two
examples. The image on the left shows one of the ponds in the First Courtyard
and the image on the right shows the Thien Quang well in the Third Courtyard.
Below are images of the Fourth Courtyard
featuring trees growing in large concrete planters.
The focal point of the whole complex is the main hall of the temple
located in the Fifth Courtyard. Below are images showing some of its features.
The rightmost image shows the altar to Confucius.
Finally, let’s make this post relevant to the topic of bonsai. Below are
some examples of potted trees photographed in various areas of the temple.
Images below show larger potted trees located in the Fourth
Courtyard.
What can I say about the potted trees in the temple? They all display
some degree of styling. None of them are terribly refined, but given the
context, they probably don’t have to be. To me they provide historical context
for bonsai by linking Oriental style potted plants with penjing.
Overall, the Temple of Literature was a great place to visit. It taught me
that cultivation of styled potted plants was an important scholarly activity in
Vietnam.
