Exactly 540 years ago, the first Doctorate List steles were erected by King Le Thanh Tong in 1484 to honor successful scholars. After more than half a millennium of existence, with many ups and downs of history, the number of Doctorate List steles at the Temple of Literature - Quoc Tu Giam currently has 82 steles, recording the names of 1,304 Doctors.
This is not only a valuable archive of history, culture, society and education in Vietnam during the monarchy, but also unique works of visual art, where stone artisans send many meaningful messages.
Tourists admire the dragon image on the Doctor's stele at the Temple of Literature.
Among the patterns and motifs used to decorate the foreheads and borders of Doctorate steles, the dragon image has always been given a very solemn position. As the first mascot in the list of four sacred animals (dragon, unicorn, turtle, phoenix), the dragon has always been considered a sacred, noble representative and is reserved only for kings.
Therefore, the dragon image mainly appears on the stele's forehead - the most solemn part of the stele's body - and is often depicted in the composition of a pair of dragons facing the sun surrounded by clouds of fire. The image of the sun and clouds of fire itself is perhaps also considered a typical image of the endless source of knowledge and enthusiasm of each Confucian scholar on the path to success.
Sharing with the press, Dr. Le Xuan Kieu - Director of the Center for Cultural and Scientific Activities of the Temple of Literature - Quoc Tu Giam said: "The special exhibition "Dragon image on Doctoral steles" aims to bring visitors new discoveries about the dragon motifs on 82 Doctoral steles of Thang Long, which are currently being kept and preserved at the special National Monument of the Temple of Literature - Quoc Tu Giam.
The works introduced at the exhibition are all presented on the principle of respecting the original lines on the Doctor's stele, thereby helping viewers to visualize more clearly the talent and skill of the stonemasons, or more precisely, the stone artisans, who have devoted all their heart to creating truly impressive sculptures.
Although many centuries have passed, each stele has had to endure many adverse effects of weather such as sun, rain, dew, and wind, causing the stele surface to be eroded quite a bit, and the motifs are more or less covered by the dust of time. However, thanks to the technique of stamping, researchers have not only recovered the stele inscriptions containing a lot of useful information, but also discovered a series of extremely sophisticated patterns and motifs.
The dragon motifs and patterns clearly appear on the foreheads of the Doctorate steles created during the erection of the steles in 1653, many of which were erected after the previous examinations decades ago. Since then, the image of a dragon facing the sun and clouds of fire has often appeared on the foreheads of the steles.
However, if the stele erection in 1653 depicted the dragon in a realistic way, then from the stele erection in 1717 onwards, most of the dragon images were created by artisans in extremely diverse ways, completely breaking away from the usual patterns, even with versions of dragons transforming into clouds, dragons transforming into fire or dragons transforming into trees and leaves.
"Those changing shapes will be recreated in the exhibition "Dragon image on the Doctor's steles" to bring visitors unexpected discoveries about the incredible aesthetic values of the stone historical records about the royal examination tradition at the Temple of Literature - Quoc Tu Giam" - Dr. Le Xuan Kieu added.
After hundreds of years, the steles still stand the test of time. On the steles, the names of the Doctors are engraved, all of whom are famous people who have contributed much to the country. Through the information engraved on the Doctor's steles, we can see that education and training of talents has always been a matter of concern in every era.
The works introduced at the exhibition are all presented on the principle of respecting the original lines on the Doctor's stele, thereby helping viewers visualize more clearly the talent and skill of the stonemasons...
In particular, the stele also preserves a lot of valuable information about the examination such as the number of candidates, how many Doctors passed, and the names of the officials who supervised and graded the examination, all of whom were high-ranking officials and scholars. The content of the stele also states that after passing the examination, the Doctors were rewarded by the king such as: The names of the Doctors were written on a golden board, given hats, clothes, belts, attended banquets, and precious horses to return home in glory. Students and people in the Bible gathered to admire and watch.
In addition, the stele clearly shows the dynasties' respect for talented people at that time: "Talented people are the vital energy of the nation. When the vital energy is strong, the nation is strong and prosperous. When the vital energy is weak, the nation is weak and lowly. Therefore, wise and holy kings never fail to consider educating talented people, selecting scholars, and cultivating the vital energy of the nation as urgent tasks."
The thematic exhibition "Dragon image on Doctoral steles" takes place from July 31 to August 26, 2024, at Thai Hoc House, Special National Monument of Van Mieu - Quoc Tu Giam.
Source: https://www.congluan.vn/chiem-nguong-hinh-tuong-rong-tren-bia-tien-si-o-van-mieu--quoc-tu-giam-post305742.html
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