Temple Of Literature

This guide to the Temple of Literature centers on its stelae garden, where eighty-two stone turtles carry the names of scholars who passed Vietnam's hardest royal exam between 1442 and 1779, a tradition Emperor Le Thanh Tong began carving into stone in 1484. You'll hear about the old belief that touching a turtle's head brings exam luck, and about the university volunteers now stationed here to stop it. Look closely at which turtle heads are worn smoothest.