Visitors at Van Mieu - Quoc Tu Giam (Photo VNA) Hanoi (VNA) – The Centre forScientific and Cultural Activities of Van Mieu – Quoc Tu Giam (Temple ofLiterature – National University) in Hanoi has put into operation an automaticmulti-language guide system to serve domestic and foreign tourists.
The system provides service in eight languages,namely Vietnamese, English, French, Spanish, Korean, Japanese, Thai, andChinese.
The centre’s director Le Xuan Kieu said hiscentre is in charge of providing guide services in foreign languages but it canonly serve a limited number of foreign guests with most popular languages,hence the idea of the automatic interpretation system.
The system contains storiesabout Van Mieu – Quoc Tu Giam, helping visitors learn about the establishmentand development of the relic site as well as its historical and culturalvalues.
The centre also put into service a ticket officeand a new signage system.
Van Mieu – Quoc Tu Giam is one of the mostimportant Confucian symbols in Vietnam, which was established in 1070-1076under the Ly Dynasty (1010-1225). After many royal examinations, in 1482 KingLe Thanh Tong (who reigned from 1460 to 1497) ordered the erection of stone stelesinscribed with the names and native lands of the first laureates of the royalexaminations, which was first held in 1442.
Between 1442 and 1779, 124 doctoral examinationswere held but now only 82 stone steles are preserved in Van Mieu – Quoc Tu Giam.The steles are placed on the back of stone turtles, symbolizing the immortalityof the national quintessence.
The 82 stone steles have a great value ofsculpture and calligraphy. All of them were carved from stone in Dong Son,Thanh Hoa province by artisans in Hong Luc and Lieu Chang villages in Kinh Mondistrict, Hai Duong province, which is famous nationwide for the craft ofmaking wood-blocks and inscribing on stele.-VNA
