Temple of Literature Gate

Beyond Temple of Literature Gate begins the old temple and educational complex where Confucius was revered and people were prepared for state service. Brick pylons divide the gate into three passages, and two stones survive at the edges, once marking the order of entry. The central door was opened for the king and officials; students and all other visitors passed through the sides.

In seventeen seventy-one, the court scholar Nguyen Hoan ordered two stones to be placed before the gate, each bearing a short inscription: “Ha Ma”—“dismount from your horse.” He had just become head of the Imperial Academy, the state school behind the Temple of Literature, the temple of Confucius. Nguyen Hoan expanded its grounds, laid out roads, and removed the houses crowding around it. The stones marked the point at which the order he established began.

Nguyen Hoan lived through court service and knew well the value of rank. He passed the state examinations, became tutor to Trinh Sam, and when his pupil became ruler, received from him the rare title of state tutor, a house, and a hereditary estate. The same Trinh Sam appointed his tutor head of the Imperial Academy.

The boundary established by Nguyen Hoan made no exception for his patron. The king, princes, high officials, students, and commoners had to leave their saddle or palanquin, lower their ceremonial umbrella, and proceed on foot from one stone to the other. A violator faced punishment: “Ha Ma” was an order carved in stone in place of a herald posted at the gate.

Dismounting was required precisely here because the Temple of Literature was a sanctuary of Confucius and revered teachers, while the Imperial Academy prepared people for state service. At this boundary, a person lost the ability to display status in the most conspicuous ways: by riding, remaining in a palanquin, or sheltering beneath a tall umbrella.

Beyond it, distinctions returned. The central passage was opened for the king and officials; students and everyone else entered through the side doors. Nguyen Hoan did not make visitors equal; he made everyone first perform the same gesture before teachers and learning.

The two stones beside four brick pillars still mark the full width of the old boundary. Beyond them stands an arch bearing the inscription “Temple of Literature Gate.” Before examinations, incense and offerings are sometimes left by the stones, which are taken for sacred objects. But the words carved by Nguyen Hoan promise nothing. They still command people to dismount from their horses.