Van Mieu’s stone stelae recognised by UNESCO

82 doctorate graduates, who passed the doctoral exams organised by the Le and Mac dynasties from 1442 to 1779, engraved on stone stelae in the Hanoi-based Van Mieu-Quoc Tu Giam (Temple of Literature), were recognised as the world’s document heritage, announced UNESCO on March 3rd at an annual meeting of the World’s Memory Committee-Pacific Asia, held in Macau, China.
The first stele was erected in 1484 under the rule of King Le Thanh Tong to mark the doctoral exams organised in 1484, and the last one in 1780 to mark the exams organised in 1779.
Van Mieu’s stone stelae are the Vietnamese second property recognised by UNESCO as the world’s documented heritage, after the wooden documents from the Nguyen dynasty.
The event is highly significant as it is to mark the 1,000th anniversary of Thang Long-Hanoi.