The incense offering ceremony at the Temple of Literature of the National Excellent Student Contest’s Hanoian team
On the morning of December 21st, representatives, teachers and the National Excellent Student Contest’s Hanoian team participated in the incense offering ceremony at the Temple of Literature and Imperial Academy, a sacred historical landmark, symbolic of the studious tradition of our countrymen, to express their reverence and gratefulness for the sages, the gods in the past, while simultaneously showing the determination to preserve the good values that have been cultivated by our ancestors long ago.
Representatives and leaders of bureaus sending their wishes to the team
The student sending his thanks and showing his determination to succeed on behalf of the team
The Temple of Literature was built in 1070 under the reign of Ly Thanh Tong to honor Confucius, the Duke of Zhou and the Four Sages. In 1076, Ly Nhan Tong commissioned the establishment of the Imperial Academy next to it as a university for children of kings and nobles. During the reign of Tran Thanh Tong, the Imperial Academy changed its name to National Academy and opened itself to children of commoners with excellent academic abilities. In the Later Le dynasty, the Le Thanh Tong reign started erecting stone stelae of doctoral laureates that passed the imperial examinations. The Imperial Academy was moved to Hue during the Nguyen dynasty. The Temple of Literature in Thang Long was rebuilt to be the Temple in the North, later changed to the Temple in Hanoi.
The Temple of Literature and the Imperial Academy is the first ever university of the country, the fire fueling the studious tradition that has been burning since time immemorial, using the glorious success of generations of scholars in the past to encourage the modern students to be steadier on their journey of education and discovering knowledge.
The formal and respectful incense offering ceremony of the team from the Capital
In the formal and respectful atmosphere, the leaders of the bureaus, the teachers representing the schools with students in the team and the team leaders representing the 12 teams participating in the National Excellent Student Contest offered their incense to express their gratefulness and respect to the sages at the temple.
The ceremony ended in a formal, reverent atmosphere, where the land holds great historical values. The team took commemorative pictures to preserve good memories during the visit to the Temple of Literature.
The Temple of Literature and the Imperial Academy still exist to this day with a great many cultural and historical values; they are the motivation for modern generations of students to preserve the passion for education, to do their best on the education journey in order to contribute to building a better country.
The editorial board at Ams Wide Web would like to send our best wishes to the team and the teachers: we hope the team succeed, keep your physical and mental health in top shape, do their best in the contest and bring back great news for our school!
Reporter: Hoang Van Anh – 1922 Literature
Photographer: Le Khanh Linh - 1922 Literature
Translator: Dinh Thu Ngan - 1922 English
