Under the Ly, Tran and Le dynasties (11th - 18th centuries), Van Mieu - Quoc Tu Giam (Temple of Literature-FirstNationalUniversity) in Thang Long/Hanoi wa a place of worship and was the largest educational center of the country to train and educate Confucian intellectuals and civil mandarins.
Early in the Nguyen dynasty (19th century), Van Thanh Mieu, Quoc Tu Giam was constructed in Phu Xuan, Hue, the vestige got narrow and no longer had the function of an education center and was regarded as Van Mieu at a provinciallevel (Van Mieu Hanoi or Pagoda of Crows are official names of the vestige used in official documents under the French domination).
During the period 1884 -1945, before 1900 Van Mieu and other vestiges in Hanoi changed their functions. Van Mieu was turned into a French military area, a military music school of the French expeditionary and then a clinic for the city. The space within the vestige was violated and used for civil purposes...
Those events led to an enduring struggle by the people of Hanoi and Ha Dong to protect this heritage from military and civil invasion for 61 years (1884-1945). Finally, with the support of progressive French intellectuals, Van Mieu was returned to the Vietnamese people as a place of worship; thus this site was ranked as a historical and cultural vestige, restored and preserved and the violated land was returned to the vestige. With nearly 100 images, document, maps, the exhibition "Van Mieu-Quoc Tu Giam (1884-1945) in archives "introduces more about the ups and downs of this special National Heritage Van Mieu- Quoc Tu Giam to the public.
Relationship tours:
Hanoi City tour and cooking class with Viet Unique tours
