Rough Guide to Vietnam - Jan Dodd [264]
Hanoi and around | The City | Ho Chi Minh’s Mausoleum and around |
Vietnam Fine Arts Museum
From the Military History Museum follow Hoang Dieu Avenue south, past the wonderfully flamboyant Chinese embassy, and turn right on Cau Ba Quat to find a three-storey colonial block with chocolate-brown shutters. The Vietnam Fine Arts Museum at 66 Nguyen Thai Hoc (Tues, Thurs, Fri & Sun 8am–5pm; Wed & Sat 8.30am–9pm; 20,000đ) not only boasts the country’s most comprehensive collection of fine art, but it is also unusually well presented, with plenty of information in English. Arranged chronologically, the museum illustrates the main themes of Vietnam’s artistic development, kicking off with a collection of Dong Son drums (See "The Museum of Vietnamese Revolution") and graceful Cham dancers. Though once again many are reproductions, there are some fine pieces, notably among the seventeenth- and eighteenth-century Buddhist art which spawned such masterpieces as Tay Phuong’s superbly lifelike statues (See "Tay Phuong Pagoda and Tram Gian Pagoda"). Other highlights include extensive collections of folk art and ethnic minority art, and an interesting exhibition of twentieth-century artists charting the evolution from a solidly European style through Socialist Realism to the emergence of a distinct Vietnamese school of art.
Hanoi and around | The City | Ho Chi Minh’s Mausoleum and around |
The Temple of Literature
Across busy Nguyen Thai Hoc Avenue is Hanoi’s most revered temple complex, the Temple of Literature, or Van Mieu, both Vietnam’s principal Confucian sanctuary and its historical centre of learning (daily: April–Sept 7.30am–5.30pm; Oct–March 8am–5pm; 5000đ). The temple is also one of the few remnants of the Ly kings’ original city and retains a strong sense of harmony despite reconstruction and embellishment over the nine hundred years since its dedication in 1070.
Traditional musicians at the Temple of Literature
Entry is through the two-tiered Van Mieu Gate on Quoc Tu Giam. The temple’s ground plan, modelled on that of Confucius’s birthplace in Qufu, China, consists of a succession of five walled courtyards. The first two are havens of trim lawns and noble trees separated by a simple pavilion; entry to the third is via the imposing Khue Van Cac, a double-roofed gateway built in 1805, its wooden upper storey ornamented with four radiating suns. Central to the third courtyard is the Well of Heavenly Clarity – a rectangular pond – to either side of which stand the temple’s most valuable relics, 82 stone stelae mounted on tortoises. Each stele records the results of a state examination held at the National Academy between 1442 and 1779, though the practice only started in 1484, and gives brief biographical details of successful candidates. It’s estimated that up to thirty stelae have gone missing or disintegrated over the years, but the two oldest, dating from 1442 and 1448, occupy centre spot on opposite sides of the pond.
Passing through the Gate of Great Success brings you to the fourth courtyard and the main temple buildings. Two pavilions on either side once contained altars dedicated to the 72 disciples of Confucius, but now house administrative offices and souvenir shops. At Tet (Vietnamese New Year) this courtyard is the scene of calligraphy competitions and “human chess games”, with people instead of wooden pieces on the square paving stones.
The temple’s ceremonial hall, a long, low building whose sweeping tiled roof is crowned by two lithe dragons bracketing a full moon, stands on the courtyard