Stone monuments of the doctorate examination period of Le - Mac at Hanoi Temple of Literature

The stele of Dr. Van Mieu is composed of 82 stone steles engraved with epitaphs known as Vietnamese Confucian doctorate of the faculties in Dinh Le and Mac dynasty (1442-1779) in Van Mieu - Quoc Tu Giam, Hanoi. . Beer is placed on the back of stone turtles to signify the longevity of the national essence, reflecting the country's cultural and historical value for 300 years.

Stone stele of the doctorate of doctoral examination during the Le - Mac period - Documentary heritage of the world

In 1484, with the policy of promoting Confucianism and honoring Confucian knowledge to pass the university, King Le Thanh Tong (1460 - 1497) built the first 10 doctoral steles at Van Mieu for examination departments in 1442. , 1448, 1463, 1466, 1469, 1472, 1475, 1478, 1481 and 1484. However, only 7 steles remain. In the following years, the Le kings built five more stelae of doctoral examinations in 1487, 1496, 1502, 1511 and 1514. By the time of the Mac dynasty, due to the civil war with Le Trung Hung's house, only There are 2 doctoral steles designed for examination departments in 1518 and 1529.

After the re-acquisition of Thang Long , Le Trung Hung's house has regularly organized examination faculties but it is not until 1653 that it is allowed to carry out the largest doctoral erection at Van Mieu with 25 steles for departments. From 1554 to 1652. In 1717, a second large-scale beer erection under the Le Trung Hung dynasty was held, including 21 doctoral steles for examination departments from 1656 to 1712. With two rounds of beer erection The great monk and then the beer erection right after each examination, in 1779, Le Trung Hung's house built most of the doctoral steles in the total number of beers in Van Mieu (68/82).

To the Tay Son dynasty (1788 - 1802) and the Nguyen Dynasty (1802-1945), the capital was transferred to Phu Xuan (Hue), so the doctorate was no longer built at the Temple of Literature. The Nguyen began to build a doctorate stele in Hue from the examination department in 1822.

All 82 doctoral steles are crafted according to the same style: flat beer, arched, arched beer. The steles are placed on the backs of turtles, turtles are styled in a general style: big, bold and strong. The way to build beer is also very unique: the stone erection is carefully selected, then designed, decorated, carved patterns and signatures. Because it is made entirely by hand, this work requires great patience and skill of the workers.

82 stone steles in Van Mieu - Quoc Tu Giam (Hanoi) are the only doctoral steles in the world that have a memoir (epitaph) not only to honor the Ph.D. 300 years (from 1442 to 1779) but also record the history of examinations and the philosophy of the dynasty in education and training, use of talents, thus having a great impact on contemporary society and a posteriori. The epitaphs also clearly state the date of the brewing, the name of the writer of the epitaph, the brewer. This confirms the authenticity, originality and uniqueness of the material. The epitaphs are all compiled by cultural and intellectual celebrities of the country, so they are basically invaluable literary works.

These epitaphs are written in Chinese characters with different spellings that make each stele a literal picture, a calligraphic work. Each of the words on 82 stone steles is an extremely valuable source of data to help us study the people and careers of many Vietnamese celebrities such as Nguyen Trai, Ngo Si Lien, Nguyen Quy Duc, Dang Dinh Generals . Moreover, of the 1304 doctors who had their names engraved on 82 stone steles, there were 225 people who went to Chinese porcelain, such as Dr. Nguyen Nhu Do, Dr. Le Quy Don . This shows the unique value and affirmation. International significance of Doctor Van Mieu - Quoc Tu Giam beer.

In addition, each stele is also a delicate and unique sculpture work with highly stylized decorative patterns such as flowers, clouds, moon, long, glass, and phoenix. Letters on beer, patterns decorated with beer styling, turtles all bear the mark of the era of producing them. Many art researchers have considered this as an important document in the study of the history of Vietnamese art and sculpture from the 15th to the 18th centuries.

Up to now, Dr. Van Mieu's beer has remained the only originals kept in place, continuously since the erection. Most of the patterns and texts are clear and readable. Rare and irreplaceable in the content and method of building beer, historical value - art and social influence of the stele made 82 doctoral steles in Van Mieu - Quoc Tu Giam (Hanoi) become So incredibly unique, no place.

On the afternoon of March 9 , 2010 in Macau, China, the Memorandum of the World Asia - Pacific region recognized 82 stone steles for the doctoral examination of the late Le Le and Mac dynasties in Van Mieu - Quoc Tu Giam. (Hanoi) is a world-class heritage of UNESCO's world memory program.