Old and New
We visited the oldest university in Vietnam again, with one of our newest missionaries, who was most excited to celebrate the day--Vietnam Women's Day--by wearing her brand-new ao dai (traditional Vietnamese dress) along with her companion in this very traditional place. I opted not to wear my ao dai, as I knew we would be walking through the streets of Hanoi. This type of exercise equipment is all over Vietnam! We finally made it to our destination... This place is called the Temple of Literature and was built in 1070 A.D. It is a beautiful, old, series of 5 courtyards inside the walls: "The Temple of Literature was initially established to honor Confucius, whose teachings heavily influenced Vietnamese governance and philosophy. In 1076, the complex became the country’s first university, known as the Quốc Tử Giám, which trained Vietnam’s royal and elite scholars for government positions. For centuries, it remained a prestigious center of learning, where students studied C...