Feng Shui is a traditional Chinese practice that aims to harmonize individuals with their surrounding environment through the arrangement of objects and orientation of spaces. In the context of the Hue Royal Tombs, Feng-shui principles were used in the construction of the Hue Royal Tombs to ensure their alignment with the natural surroundings and to create a beautiful and poetic environment.
During the construction of the tombs, the architects under the Nguyen Dynasty paid close attention to the topography of the region, including rivers, mountains, lakes, and streams, and selected sites that met all of the Feng-shui principles. The surrounding natural surroundings were also utilized to create a beautiful and poetic environment. The Hue Royal Tombs are situated on grass-covered hills in peaceful pine forests, hidden behind luxuriant century-old trees or reflected in serene and clear lakes. This blend of natural surroundings and man-made architecture is a hallmark of ancient Vietnamese landscape architecture.
Most of the Hue Royal Tombs were built when their masters were still on the throne. It took many consecutive years to complete each royal mausoleum and the construction depended on the Emperor’s skill, as well as drawing massively on the country’s human and material resources. It was the Emperor himself who established the artistic theme and idea, approved the architectural project and frequently supervised the construction.
The mandarins in the Ministry of Rites, Astronomical Service, and some other agencies had the duty to take care of Feng shui. Whether the Hue Royal Tombs would be good or not, as well as whether the royalty’s future would be bright or not, depending on the choices of site, direction, and date for the construction of the mausoleum. Each mausoleum had to be built in compliance with the rules related to the topography such as rivers, mountains, lakes, and streams. In particular, the mausoleum must be built on a good layer of earth. The best geomancers at that time had to spend months or even years traveling throughout the mountainous areas to the west and southwest of the Hue Citadel to choose a site that would meet all the Feng-shui principles.
When visiting or studying the Hue Royal Tombs, one should pay attention not only to the architectural structures within the perimeter but also look a further 10 kilometers to see all the natural geographical entities associated with them and to enjoy the imposing natural beauty of the entire extended area of the mausoleum complex. Most of the hills, mountains, rivers, streams, lakes, and trees in the foothills of Hue were utilized or transformed for the background of the tomb. The skillful artisans in those days exploited the space and natural surroundings to the full, proactively bringing them into the architectural design, and forcing them to comply with the intentions of the project managers. Simultaneously, they also reshaped the natural surroundings if they were imperfect, or introduced architectural structures into them to create an appropriate level of beauty.
The Vietnamese know how to choose the most beautiful natural settings for their architectural works for worship. This is proved most clearly through the architectural art of the royal tomb in Hue.
Each royal mausoleum here is a blend of the colors of the sky, water, high mountains, thick forests, winds blowing over the tops of the trees, and streams murmuring through stone caves. It is the combination of a beautiful natural setting and a marvelous man-made one. It reflects the artificial factors as an embellishment for the landscape, and it is hard to describe in words the strange and extremely pleasant feeling it brings to us. It is hard to find anywhere else the harmony between the architecture and landscape, the palaces are in the same colors as the surrounding mountains and trees, as if those mountains and trees matched nothing but those palaces, as if those palaces fitted nothing but those mountains and trees.
The royal tomb in Hue is a unique achievement of landscape architecture and inspires a special echo in visitors’ emotions. To learn more about the architecture of Hue, the lifestyle of Hue city, and the culture of Hue, consider booking a guided tour of the Hue Royal Tombs tour with us. Make a reservation now.
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