Huế, Vietnam –
Symmetry.
Some find it comfortable.
Safe.
Balanced.
Predictable.
Others can find it boring.
So, when someone desires symmetry in their abode, it tells you something about them.
And, when you get right down to it, this is an abode.
Just because they’ve been dead for a while…
Looking out across the lake, it was so peaceful, so quiet. It felt far from the constant hustle and bustle of the city.
Across the water, the buildings were all aligned, so symmetrical, all in a single line, separated by space and water, all leading up to the gate.
The locked gate.
The gate that lead to the inner sanctum, where the actual tomb lay, somewhere, supposedly.
The sign at the gate said that no one knew the actual location of Minh Mang’s tomb, only that it lay somewhere on the other side of the gate.
Minh Mang is the second of six emperors whose tombs are located in and around Hue. It was also the first of the three that I would visit.
Of the three tombs that have been restored and are open to the public, this one is the furthest out of town.
Construction of the tomb was begun about a year before his death, and completed about two years after.
Unlike Tu Duc’s tomb, this was only a tomb, with all of the requisite ceremonial structures.
This was not a country estate.
My driver had dropped me off just outside the left entrance gate, where a government official sat collecting admission fees.
I didn’t realize that this was the left entrance gate when he dropped me off. I assumed it was the only entrance gate.
Well, it turns out there are three entrance gates in the outside wall, the center one being the largest and most ornate, while the two on either side were smaller.
And the two on either side were the two through which you were allowed in. The middle one is never opened.
I think it was designed that way. I think the middle gate was intended to be used only one time.
By the emperor.
As he was being laid to rest.
Once through the gate, there was a path along the shore of the lake that led to the ceremonial plaza, complete with stone statues of mandarins, horses, and elephants.
It was kind of a stone reproduction of his court, with all of his ministers and color guard standing in wait.
Although there wasn’t much color in the guard.
And the animals weren’t life-sized.
Unless they had miniature elephants in his court, about the size of a small pony.
This all led up to the Stele pavilion, where the Stele inscribed with his biography stood in a small covered shelter.
From there it was a long, open plaza to the next set of structures, a gate followed by a set of temples and other buildings around a plaza. Behind some of the buildings were small gardens.
Well, gardens may be too strong of a word, more like spaces where vegetation is allowed to grow as it desires.
After passing through another gate, there’s a set of three parallel bridges, leading to an “island” (really a peninsula) where the Enlightening Pavilion is located.
I’m assuming that there’s something symbolic about all the gates along the path to the actual tomb. Probably also something about the type of gates, as they vary as you are leaving one part of the grounds and entering another. Some being doorways in walls, while others are decorative panels above and between poles.
There’s also probably something symbolic about the bridges as well.
Now, only the emperor is supposed to use the middle bridge, so us peons should be using either of the outside ones. Of course, some of the other visitors I saw were apparently pretenders, because they were using the middle bridge.
The Enlightening Pavilion is where the Minh Mang’s soul supposedly returns for contemplation on clear nights.
And like the rest of the main grounds, this pavilion is laid out symmetrically.
I guess it’s a good thing I’m here in the daytime, so I don’t have to worry about Minh’s soul haunting me during my visit.
Not that I’m superstitious.
On the backside of the temple of the Enlightenment Pavilion I find yet more symmetry. There’s a set of flowerbeds that are shaped to form the Chinese symbol for longevity (or so I’ve been told, since I don’t read kanji). To either side of these are small hills, each with a tall obelisk, surrounded by trees.
From here is an ornate gate and another bridge, this one wider than the three previous bridges, across a smaller lake, with another ornate gate on the other end. These led to a set of steps up a small hill to a locked gate.
This is the only entrance in a wall surrounding an enclosed area where the actual tomb is located.
Somewhere.
Unlike one of his followers on the throne, Tu Duc, from what I can tell, Minh Mang is actually buried here, somewhere within this shut-off area.
Still, the location of his actual tomb is unknown, because his corpse was delivered to it via an underground tunnel, which I assume has since been lost, or was filled in, or something…
Even though the gate is chained and locked, it may not stay that way for much longer. The handles on the gate through which the chain is looped look like they are on the verge of pulling off.
I assume that part of the maintenance that is regularly done to keep up the tomb is also keeping an eye on this gate and is ready to spring into action to re-attach the handles when they do eventually fall off.
Making my way back across this final bridge, I decided not to return through the temples and plazas that I came through, and which all of the other visitors I saw were returning through, but instead to take the path along the shore of the lake, the path least travelled.
After all, I could see signs along the shore, explaining some small somethings along this path.
There was a small shelter at the edge of the water. It had a name so I assume there was some reason for it being there.
There were also steps that led into the water, as if the lake was a very large swimming pool.
Then there were the crumbling steps going up the hillside to the remnants of some other structure in the trees overlooking the lake.
And another that didn’t even have steps, just a path up the hillside.
Apparently, these were a series of shelters where someone could sit and contemplate.
Maybe the emperor, maybe someone else…
And if it was for the emperor, I don’t know if he was supposed to contemplate in these while still alive or after his death.
Either way, it doesn’t look like anyone sits in these to contemplate any more.
Dead or alive…
For more photos of Minh Mang’s Tomb, click here.
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