classical chinese was used by the royal court and for other official purposes. the temple of literature in hanoi was the best-known school for the study of chinese. students who passed the civil service examinations could go on to become magistrates. confucian scholars saw chinese as the language of education and looked down on nôm, while popular opinion favored nôm. only a small percentage of the population was literate in any language, but nearly every village had at least one person who could read nôm.