The Doctoral Quarter or Khu Thai hoc is in the campus of the Temple of Literature in Ha Noi. Originally this site for training doctoral degree candidates was constructed in 1076, six years after the completion of the Temple of Literature. With the addition of the National University (Quoc Tu Giam) to the Confucian Temple of Literature, the complex became uniquely Vietnamese in character.
By 1777, the University and the Doctoral Quarter had become a large institution, comprising 300 classrooms, a large lecture room, and a printing house. After Emperor Gia Long acceded to the throne in 1802, however, the function of the entire complex was transferred to Hue, the capital city of the new Nguyen Dynasty. The Temple of Literature survived, but war destroyed the Doctoral Quartre in 1946.
During the last years of the twentieth century, the Ministry of Culture and Information and the Ha Noi City People's Committee decided to restore historic areas of the capital. During the first phase, they restored the Temple of Literature. By 1996, four courts of the Temple had been rebuilt. In the second phase, they restored the remaining areas, including the National University. Artisans used time-consuming but authentic ancient techniques instead of power tools and tried to work as quietly as possible since the University is a sacred area.
The craftsmen could not restore the University to its original design because the area was heavily damaged at the beginning of the nineteenth century; the original architectural drawings had vanished. Artisans built the Doctoral Quarter from scratch in an architectural style that fits with the Temple of Literature.
The Temple of Literature and National University, now restored to their original scope, remind students, parents, teachers, and other visitors of Viet Nam's national passion for learning and talent. The following excerpt from a Chinese text on the doctoral stele erected in 1484 for the 1442 royal exams remains relevant:
"Talent is the life source of a nation. A thriving life source strengthens a country; a declining life source weakens it. Thus, among enlightened emperors and princes, there is not a one who does not perceive that their most pressing work is nurturing talented individuals, placing confidence in scholars, and cultivating the nation's life source."