DAILY PHOTO: Yellow Room
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Temple of Literature? (Văn Miếu – Quốc Tử Giám?) It sounds like a grandiose name for a library, but it’s really what the Vietnamese call a Confucian temple. This one is in Hanoi.
Confucius was a Chinese philosopher famous for his ideas such as the hierarchical nature of relationships and how governance is practiced morally. His philosophy provided a popular counterpoint to the more free-wheeling Taoist belief system. Both Confucianism and Taoism came to be practiced by some as religion (though other advocates of each would say that it’s philosophy and not theology.)
Dragons feature prominently in Vietnamese temples. These mythical beasts are one of four sacred creatures common to Vietnamese folklore. The others are the Phoenix, Unicorn, and a kind of Tortoise. The unicorn isn’t the variety seen on the book covers of 16-year-old girls, it’s a nasty beast.