Hai Duong Tourism to discover "Vietnam's path to imperial examinations"

In the early days of Spring, Mao Dien Temple of Literature (Cam Dien commune, Cam Giang district, Hai Duong province) attracts a large number of tourists and students - not only in Hai Duong but also from many neighboring localities.

According to historical records, Mao Dien Temple of Literature was built in the early Le Dynasty (15th century) in Vinh Lai Commune, Duong An District (now Binh Giang District, Hai Duong Province). During the Tay Son Dynasty, the Temple of Literature was moved to Mao Dien, merged with the Huong examination school of Hai Duong Town. This place often held Huong examinations to select talented people in Hai Duong Town and the eastern region of Thang Long Citadel. The Mac Dynasty also held Hoi examinations here. Mao Dien Temple of Literature, from being a school of Hai Duong Town alone, became the examination school of the whole region, contributing to the education and training of talented people for the country.

During the journey to discover the “Vietnamese Path of Examinations”, visitors will visit Mo Trach communal house (Tan Hong commune, Binh Giang district, Hai Duong). This is considered the unique “doctoral village” in Vietnam.

According to Mr. Ha Quang Thanh - Head of the Mao Dien Temple of Literature Management Board, this place is a symbol of studiousness in the Eastern region: "In 2023, Mao Dien Temple of Literature welcomed 25,000 visitors to visit and worship; in which, in addition to visitors from Hai Duong province, there are also visitors from neighboring provinces, such as Hai Phong, Quang Ninh, Hung Yen. Children coming to the relic site can experience the source, such as offering incense, listening to an introduction to the relic, visiting the hut area to learn about the history of the examinations of our ancestors".

Mao Dien Temple of Literature is a destination in the imperial examinations tour that the Hai Duong cultural sector is building. On the journey to discover the “Vietnamese Imperial Examinations Road”, visitors will visit the Mo Trach Imperial Examinations Village (Tan Hong Commune, Binh Giang District), the temple of teacher Chu Van An, the temple of the two-nation champion Mac Dinh Chi (Nam Sach District) and the temple of Nguyen Thi Due, the first female doctor of our country. These destinations help to better visualize the tradition of studiousness and imperial examinations of the land east of Thang Long Citadel, which ranks first in the country in the number of people passing the imperial examinations, with nearly 500 Confucian doctors and 11 champions.

Mao Dien Temple of Literature, where the Huong exams were held to select talented people in Hai Duong town and the eastern region of Thang Long citadel in the past.

On this unique tour, Mo Trach village in Tan Hong commune, Binh Giang district will certainly bring visitors many surprises. Mr. Vu Quoc Ai - permanent member of the Management Board of Mo Trach communal house relic said that with 36 people passing the Confucian doctorate exams in the feudal period, including 1 Trạng Nguyên and 11 Hoàng Giáp, Mo Trach village is famous in history as the only doctoral village in Vietnam, called "doctoral village" by people near and far. Mr. Vu Quoc Ai added: "In particular, in the Binh Than exam (1656), 3,000 people from all over the country took the exam, and the King selected 6 doctors from that exam. When posting the Golden List, Mo Trach village had 3 doctors, all of whom were from the Vu family. When posting, King Tu Duc praised "Nhat gia ban thien ha", meaning a village is worth half the world, a family is worth half the world".

“The Vietnamese path to examinations” is a tourism product that has been oriented and built in the Project “Developing high-quality tourism in Hai Duong province in the period of 2021-2030, with a vision to 2050”. In recent times, this tour has been implemented quite effectively by the Department of Culture - Tourism of Hai Duong province in coordination with localities and travel companies. Many schools in Hai Duong and neighboring localities have organized to bring students to experience the relics. Hundreds of schools have registered with the relic sites to organize education on the tradition of studiousness and award prizes to students with high academic achievements.

In 2023, Mao Dien Temple of Literature welcomed 25,000 visitors, most of whom were students from schools.

In December 2023, Hung Thang Primary School (Binh Giang District, Hai Duong) organized for students in grades 4 and 5 to visit Mo Trach communal house on a tour of the imperial examination relics. Teacher Pham Thi Bao - Principal of Hung Thang Primary School said that after the experience trip, the students wrote articles and drew pictures describing the places they visited, thereby improving the educational effectiveness for students. "The students were very excited, at each location they visited, they took notes and observed very specifically. When they returned to implement, they were all excited, they saw the cultural traditions of their homeland; from there, they were aware of striving in their studies to follow the example of previous generations".

Academic tourism is a unique and exclusive tourism product of Hai Duong; however, the implementation of this tour has encountered some difficulties in the past. Tourism products are not diverse, only limited to sightseeing, and do not have many activities to attract tourists, especially children. The connection between destinations is not really tight.

The historical sites in the "Vietnamese Imperial Examination Road" tour are chosen by many schools to organize education on the tradition of studiousness and to award prizes to students.

Mr. Tran Van Toan - CEO of Thanh Loc International Travel Company, the unit that has organized many scholar tours in Hai Duong province, said that it is necessary to do better in promoting this unique tour: "Activities about scholarly regions have been implemented very successfully by us at schools. However, through many discussions with the relic management board, I still hope that the locations will be upgraded, from parking locations, reception organization, scale of relics and better communication and promotion of relics".

Along with introducing and widely promoting the "Returning to the land of scholars" tour to tourists in and outside Hai Duong province, the Hai Duong cultural and tourism sectors also identified the target audience as students from schools. The implementation of this tour in the past has involved the cooperation of the education sector and the local cultural sector. However, according to Mr. Do Van Dan, Head of the Department of Culture and Information of Binh Giang district, the units need to take more drastic action: "The Department of Education and Training and the Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism of Hai Duong province need to evaluate and draw lessons every year to create a connection between the two departments. To further promote this tour, I think there must be more support from the school board and the parents' association, creating excitement for students to better understand their homeland through experiences at the relics".

In early spring, come to the Eastern land to experience "The Vietnamese path to examinations" to understand the history of the nation, be more proud of the tradition of learning of our ancestors, love our homeland and country more, and each person will have more motivation in studying and life.

Source: https://vov.vn/du-lich/san-tour/ve-xu-dong-kham-pha-con-duong-khoa-cu-viet-post1076987.vov