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In this series on ancient universities we now go to Hanoi in Vietnam to visit the Palace of Literature. Just the name makes it sound like a paradise for all students and scholars. Quoc Tu Giam was built in 1070 with the intention to provide a learning centre for the elite on the teachings of Confucius.
A period of Chinese occupation had just come to an end after lasting almost one thousand years and the building of the Palace of Literature was an expression of national identity and pride. It continued as an institute of Confucian teachings for seven hundred years.
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One of the greatest universities of ancient times was the Buddhist University of Nalanda near Bihar, India. A lot of the information on this centre of Buddhist learning comes to us through the writings of a Chinese Buddhist monk, scholar, and traveller, Xuanzang.

As far as can be ascertained, it is believed that the university at Nalanda was built by the Gupta emperors in 450 CE. It consisted of separate compounds with dormitories, temples, and lecture halls. With over ten thousand students and two thousand lecturers, Nalanda was famed for its learning across South-East Asia, Tibet, Turkey, Iran, and China. Nalanda was already known as a place visited by the Buddha in 500 BCE so it was fitting that as an institution of Buddhist scholarship its influence proved to be significant to the Buddhist world. It is said that Mahayana Buddhism has its origins in Nalanda and Tibetan Buddhism was greatly influenced by scholars who taught at Nalanda together with the traditions of the Tibetan Bon religion.
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The Royal Library of Alexandria possessed one of the greatest collections of papyrus scrolls of its time. Destroyed by fire, the history of its demise is surrounded in mystery. But there is still a great deal that historians do know about this ancient centre of learning.
The library was built in the third century BCE in Alexandria, Egypt by Ptolemy II. Alexandria was the capital of the last Pharaonic dynasty. It was attached to a temple of the muses known as the Museion in Greek. This was probably a research centre that concentrated on editing texts. This was an important work because of the variety of editions of a single text. A smaller library was attached to the main library and known as the Serapeum because of its dedication to the Greek god Serapis.
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The House of Wisdom in Baghdad
University education is not new. The Bayt al-Hikmah, a centre of learning and translation, was founded by the Caliph Al-Ma’mun and his father, Harun ar-Rashid in the ninth century C.E. Islam had spread rapidly from the seventh century onwards and the genius of the new Muslim rulers lay in the fact that instead of destroying what they found they built on it and thereby laid the foundations for the flowering of a new synthesis of ancient skills and knowledge with the insights of Islam. Later, in the region of Al-Andalus, this was to lead to an unprecedented progress in the arts and sciences as well as metaphysical philosophy and pave the way for the Renaissance in Europe. The Bayt al-Hikmah was a pivotal mover in this history as it was here that the activity of translating ancient and invaluable documents was begun.
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