Van Thanh Mieu Vinh Long

Beside the Long Hồ River, on Trần Phú Street in the city of Vĩnh Long, stands a shrine that people there point to when they speak of đất học. The phrase means land of learning, and they say it with pride.

Văn Thánh Miếu Vĩnh Long is a national monument of architecture and art, recognized in 1991. It stands as a symbol of how Confucian learning grew in Vĩnh Long, and in southern Vietnam as a whole. People call it one of the last three Confucian temples in Vietnam that still keep their original form. They see it as the centerpiece in the story of Vĩnh Long as a land of learning.

Building it did not begin with a smooth decision. At first the shrine was planned for the village of Tân Sơn, northwest of the Vĩnh Long citadel. Then in 1862, French colonial forces attacked and took Vĩnh Long for the first time, and the work was halted. Two years later, in 1864, the project moved to the village of Long Châu, in the Bình Long canton, southeast of the old citadel. It was finished in 1866.

The project was started by Đốc học Nguyễn Thông, and the shrine honors Confucius and his students. Once it was complete, a society called Hội Văn Thánh Miếu took charge of its management and worship. The court at Hue guided the rites of sacrifice and provided twenty caretakers to look after the shrine.

Confucius was an ancient Chinese philosopher and teacher, the founder of Confucianism. Across East Asia and Southeast Asia, temples honor him as a symbol of learning, of how to live as a good person, and of respect for teachers. At Văn Thánh Miếu, honoring him is more than a religious rite. It is a cultural statement for a whole region: here, study is held dear.

But Confucius is not the only one honored here. The Vĩnh Long Museum describes it as a place that also honors earlier generations, and the figures of culture and education who served the land of Vĩnh Long. Scholars and poets once gathered here to talk over verse and to discuss the affairs of the day. It was a place for the mind, and not only a place of worship.

After the French took Vĩnh Long, many cultural works of the Nguyễn dynasty were threatened with destruction. That was Vietnam's last royal dynasty. The Vĩnh Long Museum records one important detail. Bá hộ Trương Ngọc Lang stepped forward to negotiate with the French authorities so that the shrine would be kept, and because of him it has been preserved to this day. His name rarely appears in textbooks, but his act is the reason Văn Thánh Miếu still stands.

Today the site has three main parts: a gate, the Văn Xương các and the Văn miếu. Each carries the mark of traditional architecture, quiet among green trees and the reflections on the water of the Long Hồ.

The festivals are a living part of the shrine. There are four main rites each year. The Xuân đinh rite falls in spring, and the Thu đinh rite in autumn. Then comes the memorial rite for Phan Thanh Giản, who held the post of Kinh lược sứ in Nam Kỳ. Nam Kỳ was the name then used for southern Vietnam. It takes place on the fourth and fifth days of the seventh lunar month. The last is the memorial rite for the high court officials, on the twelfth and thirteenth days of the tenth lunar month. The Vĩnh Long Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism confirms that the rite honoring Confucius is one of the traditional festivals at this ranked historical and cultural site.

The rites of the festival include welcoming Confucius in procession, and offering incense, wine and tea. The sacrificial text is then burned. After that come cultural activities: đờn ca tài tử, calligraphy and folk games. Đờn ca tài tử is an art of music and song of southern Vietnam that evokes life on the Mekong Delta's land and rivers. At a festival, Confucian ritual is practiced in person, and not only read about in books.

The Vĩnh Long Museum is advising that the Văn Thánh Miếu Festival be put forward for the national list of intangible cultural heritage. That would be a fitting next step for a place with more than 150 years of history.

From the grounds, the Long Hồ runs slow and quiet. The builders left a message here. Through years of great upheaval, the people of Vĩnh Long still chose to raise a shrine to learning. That message is more enduring than any citadel.