Carved in stone

The 82 surviving stone steles recording the doctoral laureates graduating from royal examinations at Van Mieu offer a rich and fascinating insight into Vietnam’s proud academic heritage.

VnnNews – The 82 surviving stone steles recording the doctoral laureates graduating from royal examinations at Van Mieu offer a rich and fascinating insight into Vietnam’s proud academic heritage.
 
Hanoi’s Van Mieu – known as the Temple of Literature in English – was founded in 1070AD as a Confucian Temple. Only parts of the complex date back to the earliest period, although much of the architecture dates to the 11th to 14th centuries.

In 1076 Vietnam’s first university, the Quoc Tu Giam (The Imperial Academy) was established within the temple. Here bureaucrats, nobles, royalty and other members of the royal court came to study and sit exams.

The university functioned for more than 700 years, from 1076 to 1779. Given the extreme difficulty of the doctor laureate tests, few students passed final examinations.

Emperor Le Thanh Tong established the tradition – dating back to 1484 – of carving the names of the laureates of the university on stone steles that were placed on top of stone tortoises. Of the 116 steles corresponding to the examinations held between 1142 and 1778 only 82 remain.

The 82 stone steles have a great value of sculpture and calligraphy. All of them were carved from stone in Dong Son, Thanh Hoa province by artisans in Hong Luc and Lieu Chang villages in Kinh Mon district, Hai Duong province.

UNESCO heritage

These 82 steles have now been submitted to UNESCO as a possible world documentary heritage. The remaining stone steles are records of the royal examinations which took place under the Le and Mac Dynasties.

These steles were built over a period from 1484-1780 so their size and appearances vary, but each one was made from the same green stone from An Thach mountain in Dong Son district, Thanh Hoa province and mounted on a tortoise.

Traditionally Vietnamese believed the tortoise’s back was the sky and its belly was the earth. The tortoise also symbolises strength and longevity. Mounting the stone stele on the tortoise’s back was a great honour for the talented and virtuous people, who had been successful students at the Imperial Academy.

The 82 steles are undoubtedly an extremely valuable vestige for Vietnam and testament to Vietnam’s long history of education and examination. The steles might be considered to be “stone doctoral degrees”.

Examinations were held every three or four years. Each stele recorded the names and homelands of the laureates plus the name of the calligraphers and sculptors.

A rich insight

The steles are unique in style compared to steles from Japan, Korea or China. Confucian values and associated designs were of great significance for the Vietnamese.

According to the assistant professor Dr Trinh Khac Manh, the main difference is also the content of the script as they revealed an insight into life and society beyond in Vietnam.

By studying the script we can learn what the purpose of education and examinations was; we also see the importance of erecting the steles. Essentially the royal court wanted to honour the students for their role in developing the prosperity for the nation.

An excerpt from the text on the stele for the Canh Dan examination held in the third year of Dai Bao’s reign (1442) reads: “Virtuous and talented men are the essential vitality of a State. If the vitality is strong, the State will be powerful and prosperous but if it is weak, the State will be weak.

Therefore, the clear-sighted kings and emperors always regard the training and fostering of the State’s vitality as an urgent task”

More than that, the erection of the stele aims at encouraging good over evil. The text of a stele for an exam in 1680 records: “Setting up the stele so that goodness can be encouraged and evil is prevented, later generations taught by past experience are beneficial for the country governance…”

The tradition continues

Although these historical vestiges are centuries old, the spirit and value of the steles is still topical for present educational development policy – talent and training human resources is also crucial for the development of the state.

The script on the steles is written in Chinese characters. The art of engraving on stone steles at Van Mieu temple also reached a high level over the centuries. Art historians consider the stone steles as an important documentation on the history of sculpture in Vietnam from 15th to 18th century.

All 82 stone steles are different although there are three general categories. The first category includes the steles erected from 1484 to 1536. These steles were engraved in the shape of the moon or the sun with floral or heavenly motifs

The second category includes steles erected in mid-17th century. One stele from 1657 depicts two dragons flanking the moon. This indicated intellectuals’ importance in society. Another from 1717 shows two phoenixes flanking the moon indicating the rich development of society.

The image of the stone steles on the back of the stone tortoise has become a beautiful symbol of Vietnam’s fondness for learning, scholarly and academic pursuits. An immensely popular tourist site, Van Mieu temple also awakens the spirit of Vietnamese people by connecting the past and the present.

Source: Time-out

Tags: Stone Steles, The State, The Steles, The Stone, Van Mieu, Physics games

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