Sites touristiques

Sites touristiques et historiques du Vietnam ou du monde.

Le voyage à Hà Giang, Cao Bằng (Chuyến đi Hà Giang, Cao Bằng)

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Le voyage à Hà Giang et Cao Bằng

Devant la chute d’eau impressionnante de Bản Giốc (Cao Bẳng)

Version vietnamienne

Je n’ai aucun moment  de visiter jusque-là tant d’endroits durant mon séjour au Vietnam comme je viens de le faire cette fois. Cela vient peut-être de mon ambition ancrée en moi depuis longtemps malgré mon âge assez élevé. Si je ne fais pas cette fois une excursion à Hà Giang, je pense que je n’ai plus l’occasion pour y aller même si j’ai tant d’argent. En prenant habituellement un circuit touristique, on n‘est jamais gâté car on n’a pas l’occasion de faire des photos à l’endroit désiré mais on est obligé de respecter les horaires imposées par le guide. De plus on a besoin de justifier qu’on est en bonne santé et qu’on est accompagné par des proches durant le voyage. Grâce à l’aide apportée par le patron d’un hôtel situé dans la vieille ville de Hanoi, Mr Trung et à l’encouragement de mes enfants, je suis plus motivé pour réaliser ce projet. La veille de notre départ, tout le monde me recommande d’y renoncer car les routes de Hà Giang ont été dévastées par le typhon Sơn Tinh la semaine précédente. Mais je suis entêté dans ma décision car je pense que chacun de nous a son destin et Dieu continue à soutenir ma volonté d’y parvenir. En arrivant à Hà Giang, je m’aperçois qu’il y a tellement de tronçons de route sinueux dévastés. La pluie continue à tomber à des endroits où le nuage s’assombrit et la route est très dangereuse pour moi et mes proches. Il ne faut pas oublier de remercier le jeune chauffeur Minh tellement doué dans la conduite et aimable que ma peur s’estompe au fil de mon voyage malgré la succession des pentes particulièrement plus raides que celles trouvées en Corse (France). Minh ne cesse pas de répondre à mon attente et de me permettre à faire des photos à mon gré malgré sa fatigue visible sur son visage à cause de son assiduité pour parer à toute éventualité. Il faut reconnaître que j’ai la chance d’avoir des gens extrêmement gentils et d’être dans cette région. C’est aussi une occasion pour moi d’admirer la beauté naturelle et grandiose, une caractéristique de la forêt du nord-ouest semblable à un tableau naturel du créateur, de pouvoir visiter la vieille ville Đồng Văn, grimper les 384 marches de l’escalier pour voir le drapeau flottant à Lũng Cú, admirer les chutes d’eau impressionnantes de Bản Giốc (Cao Bằng) occupées en grande partie aujourd’hui par les gens du Nord dans une région jusque-là défendue vaillamment par nos ancêtres avec des larmes et du sang. Je suis à la fois triste et heureux quand je rencontre à Lũng Cú deux jeunes garçons routards vietnamiens âgés à peu près de 16 à 18 ans venant de la région Thái Nguyên avec leur moto. Leur but est de pouvoir réaliser quelques photos avec la tour du drapeau flottant à Lũng Cú en grimpant comme moi les 300 marches de l’escalier. Ce geste m’émeut tellement que je ne retiens pas mes larmes. Je me rends compte qu’il y a toujours  l’amour intense de la jeunesse vietnamienne face à la menace des gens du Nord.

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Chuyến đi Hà Giang và Cao Bằng

Chưa có bao giờ tôi về Việt Nam mà đi tham quan nhiều nơi như vậy có lẻ vì hoài bão mà mình có từ lâu ở nơi mình nhưng cũng có phần nào vì tuổi tác của mình. Nếu không đi thì không bao giờ đi được nửa dù có tiền đi nửa. Đi tour thì không thích thú chi cho mấy không được chụp những nơi mình thích mà còn vô cùng vội vã tranh thủ thì giờ theo lịch trình của hướng dẩn viên . Vã lại còn phải bảo đảm không bệnh hoạn có bảo hiểm và có người thân đi chung khi đi tour. Vi thế nhờ biết cháu Trung, nguời quản lý của khách sạn mình ở và quen biết từ lâu và nhờ có các con cháu đi chung mà mình mới có động lực thực hiện được hoài bão nầy. Trước ngày đi, mọi người khuyên bỏ ý đinh nầy đi đang sạt lở đường xá ở Hà Giang với bão Sơn Tinh tuần trước. Nhưng mình nhất định đi vì mình nghĩ rằng mỗi người đều có số mạng vã lại Trời không phụ ý định tâm quyết của mình đấy. Khi đến Hà Giang, mình mới nhận thấy sạt lở ở những đoan đường quanh co, mưa vẫn còn khi có mây đen ở từng đoạn đường, rất cực kỳ nguy hiểm cho mình và mọi người. Cũng phải cảm ơn Minh, cháu tài xế trẻ lái rất giỏi và rất dễ thương khiến sự sợ hải của mình không còn nửa nhất là đèo nầy vừa qua thì đèo khác lại tới còn hơn ở đảo Corse của Pháp nhiều lắm. Chú ơi, chú muốn ngừng ở đâu chụp, cháu ngừng ở nơi đó dù đôi khi Minh tỏ ra mệt mỏi đau lưng vì quá chăm chỉ. Thật sự tôi có duyên với mọi người nhất là với mãnh đất nầy. Mới có dip nhìn thấu tận vẽ đep cực kỳ hùng vĩ đặc trưng của rừng Tây Bắc như một bức tranh thiên nhiên của tạo hóa, có dip đến tham quan làng cổ Đồng Văn, leo 384 bậc thang lên xem cột cờ Lũng Cú, đến nhìn thác Bản Giốc(Cao Bằng) hùng vĩ nay bị mất đi một phần ở mãnh đất đia đầu của Tổ Quốc được bao lần giữ gìn bởi ông cha chúng ta. Rất vui buồn lẫn lộn khi thấy hai đứa trẻ cở chừng 16, 18 tuổi chạy xe gắn máy từ Thái Nguyên ngủ bờ ngủ bụi đi phượt để trèo lên như mình qua 300 bậc thang để chụp hình cột cờ Lũng Cú rồi quay về Thái Nguyên, một niềm hảnh diện của tuổi trẻ làm mình chảy nước mắt vì tinh thần yêu nước của tui trẻ nầy vẫn còn nồng nàn, vẫn còn mãnh liệt trước hiểm họa của người phương bắc.
Hà Giang ngày 24/7/2018

Pyramide du Louvre (Kim tự tháp kính Louvre)

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La pyramide du Louvre au milieu de la cour Napoléon du musée Louvre

Version française
Version anglaise
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Theo lời yêu cầu của cố tổng thống Pháp François Mitterand vào năm 1983, kim tự tháp kính  Louvre được xây bằng kính và kim loại ở giữa sân Napoléon của bảo tàng Louvre. Đây là tác phẩm của kiến trúc sư người Mỹ gốc Hoa , ông Ieoh Ming người được nhận nhiều giải mà  trong đó có giải Pritzkert thường đựợc xem là giải Nobel về kiến trúc. Khi kiến ​​trúc sư Ieoh Ming thiết kế kim tự tháp Louvre, ông đã thiết kế nó theo cùng tỷ lệ với kim tự tháp Kheops. Kim tự tháp kính Louvre có bề cao là  21,64 thước với đáy  hình vuông  mỗi cạnh là 35,42 thước. Toàn bộ kim tự tháp được xây bằng kính cùng các khớp nối bằng kim loại , gồm có tất cả là  603 tấm kính hình thoi (losange)   và 70 tấm hình tam giác (triangle). Lúc đầu kim tự tháp là môt đề tài tranh luận sôi nổi vì  có người cho rằng không phù hợp với khung cảnh cổ kính của cung điện Louvre nhất là  với  phong cách vị lai. Nhưng cuối cùng sự kết hợp của hai phong cách kiến trúc cổ đại và hiện đại nó đem lại không những một kết quả mỹ mãn mà còn đem lại một nét đẹp độc nhất ở giữa thành phố Paris, một viên kim cương hoàn hảo của điện Louvre . Kim tự tháp kính  Louvre trở thành hiện nay một trong những  biểu tượng tham quan không thể thiếu xót cùng tháp Eiffel và nhà thờ Notre Dame de Paris khi ai có dịp đến tham quan Paris.

Version française

À la demande du feu président français François Mitterand en 1983, la pyramide du Louvre a été conçue et réalisée en verre et en acier au milieu de la cour  Napoléon du musée Louvre. C’est l’œuvre de l’architecte américain d’origine chinoise  Ieoh Ming  ayant reçu plusieurs prix parmi lesquels figure le prix d’architecture Pritzker considéré jusqu’alors comme le prix Nobel de l’architecture.  Quand l’architecte Ieoh Ming imagine la pyramide du Louvre, il lui donne les mêmes proportions que celles du Kheops. La pyramide du Louvre s’élève à 21,64 mètres sur une base  carrée  de 35,42 mètres de côté. Étant réalisé  avec une structure métallique en acier et en aluminium, le tout de la pyramide comporte 603 losanges et 70 triangles en verre. Au début de sa construction, la pyramide du Louvre est l’objet d’âpres  controverses  car selon certains, la pyramide est mal incorporée  dans le classicisme du palais Louvre avec un style futuriste. Mais finalement l’association de deux styles d’architecture classique et futuriste apporte non seulement un franc succès mais aussi un charme unique au cœur de la ville de Paris, un joyau d’architecture  parfait du palais Louvre.  La pyramide du Louvre devient aujourd’hui l’une des attractions touristiques qu’il est impossible de manquer avec la tour d’Eiffel et l’église  Notre Dame lorsqu’on a l’occasion de visiter Paris. (8,9 millions en 2011).

Version anglaise

At the request of the late French President François Mitterand in 1983, the Louvre Pyramid was designed and built in glass and steel in the middle of the Louvre’s Cour Napoléon. It is the work of Chinese-born American architect Ieoh Ming, whose many awards include the Pritzker Architecture Prize, considered until then to be the Nobel Prize for architecture. When Ieoh Ming designed the Louvre pyramid, he gave it the same proportions as those of Kheops. The Louvre pyramid rises to a height of 21.64 meters on a square base measuring 35.42 meters on each side. Constructed from a steel and aluminum structure, the pyramid features 603 rhombuses and 70 glass triangles. At the start of its construction, the Louvre Pyramid was the subject of bitter controversy, as some felt that the pyramid was poorly incorporated into the classicism of the Louvre Palace with its futuristic style. But in the end, the combination of classical and futuristic architectural styles not only proved a resounding success, it also added a unique charm to the heart of Paris, making the Louvre Palace a perfect architectural gem. Today, the Louvre Pyramid is one of the must-see tourist attractions, along with the Eiffel Tower and Notre Dame Church, when visiting Paris (8.9 million in 2011).
 

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pyramide

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Bái Đính (English version)

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Tràng An landscaped  complex

French version 

Pagoda Bái Đính

Located on the karst mountain range of Tràng An in Ninh Bình, the Bái Đinh pagoda has a long history dating back several centuries. Its fame has been attested for a long time under successive dynasties: Đinh, Early Lê, and Lý. Today, it has become a religious complex where one can find not only the ancient temple but also new temples under construction since 2003. The Bái Đính pagoda is considered in Southeast Asia as the pagoda housing the gigantic bronze Buddha statue imported from Russia. It has a height of 16 meters and weighs 100 tons. The 500 white marble arhats of the pagoda are spread over approximately 2 kilometers along a corridor. This complex has a total area of 539 hectares, of which 27 hectares are attributed to the old pagoda, 80 hectares to the new temples, a Buddhist study center, reception areas, parking lots, as well as a system of lakes 

World cultural heritage of Vietnam

 

Ninh Bình (Hạ Long cạn

 

 

Mekong delta river (Đồng Bằng Cửu Long)

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Version française

Cửu Long nơi có chín rồng
Có sông nhiều cá có đồng lúa xanh
Thưở xưa là đất tranh giành
Người Nam nhắc đến không đành lìa xa

The Mekong delta is the former territory of the kingdom Founan (Phù Nam). The Mekong delta’s natives are  the mixing of several Vietnamese, Khmer, Cham and Chinese peoples. A fifth of the population lives in this delta. The least hectare, the least cultivable parcel of the delta are exploited by peasants consisted of Vietnamese of Khmer origin, Chinese,Chàm, and Vietnamese. That is why a multitude of religions is found there: Buddhism, Catholicism, Caodaism, Islam, and Hoà Hảo. Irrigated and sprinkled by the Mekong River, this delta produced itself alone one-half of the rice of the country, which allows Vietnam to become the third largest exporter of rice in the world.

The Mekong delta is currently divided into  12 provinces: Long An, Tiền Giang, Bến Tre, Ðồng Tháp, An Giang, Kiên Giang,  Vĩnh Long, Trà Vinh, Hậu Giang, Sóc Trăng, Bạc Liêu  and Cà Mau.

Đồng Bằng Cửu Long

Before becoming an integral part of Vietnam, this delta belonged to the Khmer people. The first Vietnamese colonists appeared only at the beginning of the 16th century on this territory that was until then just a marshy area infested with crocodiles and filled with mangroves. It is only in 17th century that this territory became Vietnamese under the scepter of the lords Nguyễn. It was also the arena of violent clashes between the Tay Son’s armies and the Nguyen’s partisans supported by the mercenaries recruited by Pigneau de Béhaine at the end of 18th century.

One finds in this delta a labyrinth of channels and rivers that add up to 4,000 kilometers, which is equivalent to the length of the Mekong river itself. This river is born out of the snows from Tibet in the province of Qing Hai, flows for more than 4,500 km before reaching the delta and crosses six countries: China, Burma, Thailand, Laos, Kampuchea, and Vietnam. It divides itself at the capital of Kampuchea, Phnom-Penh into two branches, Mekong and Bassac that enter Vietnam separately. In Vietnam, its upper course is divided into four arms at Vĩnh Long to throw itself into the East Sea. (Biển Đông).

The great lake Tonlé Sap, located at the center of Kampuchea is not only a natural fish tank but also a natural regulator of the water flow making it possible to prevent the flood of the delta. In summer, because of monsoon rain, the level of Mekong is higher compared to that of the lake to which it is connected by a channel. The lake fills itself, passing from 3,000 square kilometers in season of low waters to more than 10,000 square kilometers at the end of the monsoon. The lake begins to reverse its water into the delta by the time the rain ends. The Mekong delta does not need big water management works or dikes to protect itself from swelling, which proves to be essential for the delta of the North. Thanks to the irrigation of Mekong, the delta is so fertile. Gardens, fields, rice plantations and orchards are seen everywhere.

These orchards are in fact small plots of land irrigated by channels connected to each other by bamboo bridges often called Cầu Khỉ (Monkey Bridges). When referring to the delta, the term « cò bay thẳng cánh«  is often used. This means the delta is so vast that the cranes can extend their wings as they fly over. 

It is in this delta, at Sadec, that Marguerite Duras’ mother ran the girls’ school. A young Chinese of good family lived there too. He will become the hero in « The Lover « . This novel has made Marguerite Duras a superstar of the French literature overnight allowing her to win the Prix de Goncourt in 1984 and ensure the sale of one million three hundred thousand copies in paperback in Midnight Editions and one million copies in hardcover at France-Loisirs.

It is also in this delta that are seen every morning, hundreds of sampans converging toward the famous floating market of Phùng Hiêp at the crossroad of seven channels in the direction of Cần Thơ to Sóc Trăng, or toward lesser known markets such as Cái Răng and Phong Ðiền. Also seen are merchants with conic hats trailing their mountains of fruits, legions of ducks, chickens and pigs to the market on their small boats, or other rudimentary means of transportation (bicycles, rickshaws). It is thanks to the orchards of the delta that one finds a great number of fruits: sapotilles, ramboutans, caramboles, corrosoles etc… at the markets of Saigon. It can be said that the delta feeds Saigon and a greater part of Vietnam. In the northeast of the peninsula lies the Plain of Reed ( Ðồng Tháp Mười ) which was a Việt Cộng refuge yesterday and which becomes the Asian Camargue today.

In spite of its lack of archaeological richness, the delta continues to play a vital role economically for Vietnam. It becomes thus the object of greed and confrontation for so many years. It was French Cochinchina at one recent time. Even Hồ Chí Minh, when alive, has agreed to its importance by burying his father at Sadec. There are folks whose names remain anchored in the memory of the Vietnamese people. Phan Thanh Giản, Võ Tánh, Nguyễn Trung Trực, Hùynh Phú Sổ, are among these folks and are issue of this corner.

Without the delta, Vietnam is never free and independent….. 
It is the granary of Vietnam.

Hà Tiên (English version)

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French version

Vietnamese version

Facing to the Gulf of Siam, Hà Tiên is located about 8 kilometers from the Cambodian border. It is also the city marking the end of the long walk towards the South started by the Vietnamese. Before being known as Hà Tiên, it initially was called  Phương Thành then Mang Kham in the past. Its economic growth has been due to the massive arrival of the Chinese, supporters of the former Ming dynasty (or Minh Hương in Vietnamese) whose most known was Mac Cửu (Mac King Kiou).

Being hostile to the new dynasty of the Manchus (Qing) and leaving China at the 17 years age, this one,was established with his family in Cambodia in 1671. He was appointed a few years later by the Cambodgian king as provincial chief of Mang Khảm . Thanks to his generosity and business talent, he succeeded to transform Mang Kham into a port city flourishing and animated in the region. For countering against the Siamese’s ambition, he needed the Vietnameses protection, in particular that of the Nguyễn lords to the detriment of the Cambodian ones. They agreed to confer to him the title of commander of troops (tổng binh) in this region. Consequently, Mang Kham belonged to Vietnamese territory and changed name into becoming Hà Tiên. According to the legend, one saw appearing on the river, the ballad of Immortals (Hà river in Vietnamese). It is also the reason for choosing this name. Hà Tiên became a few years later the starting point for the conquest of Cambodian districts: Long Xuyên (Cà Mau today), Kiên Giang (Rạch Giá), Tran Giang (Cần Thơ), Tran Di (Bạc Liêu) with his son Mac Thiên Tứ. This latter was a character out of the ordinary. His fate was tied closely to that of Nguyễn Ánh, future emperor of the Nguyên Dynasty. It became the famous rampart of the Nguyễn against the Tây Sơn. With the years of vicissitudes of Nguyễn Ánh, he had to take refuge in Thailand with all the family and the son of Nguyễn Ánh, Prince Xuân. To sow doubt among the Siamese, the Tây Sơn did not hesitate to falsify documents and make them responsible for a conspiracy against Siamese king Trịnh Tân (Phraya Tak Sin).

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His entire family was executed with the prince Xuân. To preserve his honor and fidelity, he committed suicide in September 1780. Mac Thiên Tứ was also a greatest poet of his time. He made Hà Tiên famous by his volume of poems entitled « Hà Tiên Thâp vịnh » praising the beauty of its natural and marvellous sites.

This volume continues to grow in the coming years with the addition of 10 poems written by each of 31 poets belonging to the club of the poets « Chiêu Anh Các » created under the initiative of Mac Thiên Tứ. That constituted in all 320 poems to which Nguyễn Cư Trinh added the last ten poems to give a value priceless to this volume that continues to be transmitted to the posterity.

Ones does not forget his famous poem in Six-Eight to tease an young girl in Quảng Nam (Center of Vietnam), disguised as a young student taking part in the evening of the illumination festival. By seeing this young man, he does not hesitate to send the following four verses:

Bên kia sen nở nhiều hoa
Người khen hoa đẹp nõn nà hơn em
Trên bờ em đứng em xem
Mọi người sao bỗng không thèm nhìn hoa

On the other side, the lotus has many flowers
The person who admires them is more prettier than you.
On land, you continue to admire them
Everyone is not be interested to admire your « flower »

Without hesitation, he replied promptly by the four following verses:

Mặt ao sen nở khắp
Trông hoa lẫn bóng người
Trên bờ ai đứng ngắm
Sao chẳng thấy hoa tươi?

The surface of the pond is filled with flowers of lotus
Ones finds here at the same time these flowers and the people’s shadows
On land, each one is admiring them
Why isn’t a beautiful flower found?

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Lotus

This poetic exchange enabled him to have sympathy and to discover that this young student was only one girl disguised as a boy to avoid the pirates, coming from the Center of Vietnam, following her father to make the trade and bearing the name Nguyễn Thi Xuân. Mac Thiên Tứ took her later as wife of second rank . But the latter failed to die because of the jealousy of his wife . She was forced to withdraw herself in a pagodon to finish her last remaining days. Before her death, she left a poem showing her purity and nobility in a nauseaous world filled with turpitudes by comparing her with a lotus flower:

Vươn khỏi bùn nhơ thoát vươn lên
Phỉ lòng trong trắng giữa thiên nhiên
Xuân thu đậm nhạt bao hồng tía
Ðừng sánh thanh cao với đóa sen.

Leaving mud, the lotus flower continues to open out
It is glad to be pure in nature
Its perianth becomes more or less purple in the course of time
But one should not compare the nobility with this flower.

hatien_2

When one evokes Hà Tiên, one does not forget to think of Mac Cửu and his son Mac Thiên Tứ because it is thanks to them that Vietnam succeeded in achieving its long walk towards the South. Nothing is more astonishing than to see the deep attachment and respect which the Vietnamese reserved for Mac Cửu and his family through his temple in Hà Tiên.

Tự Đức mauseolum ( English version)

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Version française

 

Xung Khiêm Tạ

Unlike other royal tombs of the Nguyễn Dynasty, Tự Ðức mausoleum  is primarily a possible place of refuge during his reign. That is why there is not only a palace which was later transformed into a place of worship after his death but also a theater and two small and pretty pavilions in red wood (Du Khiêm and Xung Khiêm) where he liked to sit for the relaxation and the composition of his poems. This mausoleum which was built during 1864-1867 by three thousand soldiers and workers, had approximately fifty buildings surrounded by a stone and brick wall 1500 meters in length in an area of 12 ha.

Khiêm Lăng (謙陵)

Tự Đức was crowned king at a time where he have had to cope not only with development of Western capitalism but also internal strife (war grasshoppers led by  poet Cao Ba Quát, the eviction of his elder brother Hồng Bàng at his enthronement etc..). For taking refuge, he did not hesitate to order the construction of his tomb as a place of relaxation in his lifetime and remains a place of residence for eternal future life.

 

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In this mausoleum, the pavilion Hoa Khiêm is the main building where the Emperor worked and the pavilion Lương Khiêm is where he lived and slept. One finds also in the domain of his mausoleum two other tombs: those of his wife, Queen Lê Thiện Anh and one of his three adopted son, King Kiến Phúc.

The architecture of this mausoleum reflects not only the nature of the romantic poet emperor Tư Ðức but also the freedom that is lacking so far in the other mausoleums. Nothing is surprising to see this mausoleum become one of the favorite places choosen by most foreign and Vietnamese tourists.

 
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Mausoleum of Minh Mạng emperor (English version)

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lang_minh_mang

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Mỗi lăng mộ vua chúa đều có một cảnh quan và một nét quyến rũ riêng. Lăng Minh Mạng nổi tiếng với sự hài hòa hoàn hảo giữa kiến ​​trúc và môi trường tự nhiên. Lăng bắt đầu được xây dựng dưới triều đại của ngài (1820-1841) và chỉ được hoàn thành vào năm 1843, hai năm sau khi ngài qua đời bởi người kế vị là vua Thiệu Trị.

Đền Sùng Ấn, được người kế vị  (vua Thiệu Trị) dâng tặng cho  vua Minh Mạng và hoàng hậu, được hoàn thành thông qua ba tầng lầu và cổng  Hiền Đức. Phía bên kia của ngôi đền này, có ba cây cầu đá bắc qua hồ Thanh Minh (Hồ Minh Trung). Cây cầu trung tâm được gọi là « cầu của Trí tuệ và Chính nghĩa » (Trung Đạo Kiều), được xây bằng đá cẩm thạch và chỉ dành cho hoàng đế sử dụng. Đình Minh Lâu (Đình Ánh Sáng) tượng trưng cho Tam Hoàng: Trời, Người và Đất. (Thiên Nhân Địa).

Từ cây cầu đá bắc qua hồ Tân Nguyệt, người ta có thể đi qua một cánh cổng bằng đồng, một bức tường tròn tượng trưng cho mặt trời và ở giữa hàng rào thiêng liêng này là lăng mộ của hoàng đế, một gò đất được bao quanh bởi những cây thông tự nhiên.

Each royal tomb has a particular landscape and a own charm. That of Minh Mang is known for perfect harmony between architecture and  natural environment. It began to be built during his reign (1820-1841) and was completed only in 1843, two years after his death by his successor Thiệu Trị.

The temple Sung Ấn , dedicated to Minh Mang and his wife by his successor, may be achieved through  three terraces and the gate Hiền Ðức. On the other side of this temple, there are three stone bridges spanning Lake Pure Clarity. (Hồ Minh Trung). The central bridge known as the « bridge of the Intelligence and righteousness » (Trung Ðạo Kiều , built in marble was used only by the emperor. Pavilion Minh Lâu (Pavilion of Light) represent the Triad: Heaven, Human being and the Earth. (Thiên Nhân Ðịa).

From a stone bridge spanning the lake Tân Nguyệt (Lake of the New Moon), one can reach through a gate in bronze, a circular wall symbolizing the sun and in the middle of this sacred fence it is the emperor ‘s tomb, a mound of soil surrounded by natural pines.

Trung đạo kiều

Hiếu Lăng (孝陵)

Map of  the Minh Mạng emperor mauseoleum

langminhmang1

 

  • 1 Ðại Hồng Môn
  •   The red main gate
  • 2 Sùng Ấn Ðiện
  •   The cult of temple
  • 3  Hoàng Trạch Môn
  •    The Hoàng Trạch gate  of pavilion of light
  • 4  Minh Lâu
  •    The pavilion of light
  • 5 Trung Ðạo Kiều
  •     The bridge of the Intelligence and righteousness
  • 6  Mộ của vua Minh Mạng
  •      The mausoleum of Minh Mang emperor

 

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Huế city (English version)

j050807 Art, Culture, Histoire, Lịch sử, Sites touristiques, Văn Hóa , ,

 

titre_hue 

Version française

For the majority of Vietnamese, Huế always remains the intellectual and artistic foyer of Vietnam. It always looks like a sleeping princess. It knows how to keep its charm and grace that it has had since the Champa occupation with its citadel, the Perfume river and above all the famous Thiên Mụ ( or The Celeste Lady ) pagoda . The cruel beauty of its women wearing the white tunic ( áo dài ) accompanied by a conical hat (or nón bài thơ) , the fineness of its poetry, the union of its parks and pagodas with varnished tiles, the culture of its madarinal court make it more charming, noble, and majestuous.

One remembers Hue through the follwing two famous popular verses:

Gió đưa cành trúc là đà
Tiếng chuông Thiên  Mụ, canh gà Thọ-Xương
While the wind smootly moves the bamboo branches 
One hears the Thiên Mụ bell, and the Thọ-Xương rooster’s song

Before becoming the imperial capital of the Nguyễn, it was first the strong place of Chinese Jenan’s command of emperorQin ShiHuangDi in 3rd century B.C., then it was gradually integrated in the kingdoms of Lin Yi and Champa since 284 of our era. Then it was the object of greed of the Chinese and the Vietnamese when the latter  gained their independence. It was partially controlled by the Vietnamese in 1306. This control was only wholly when Hue became a dowry from king Chế Mẫn of Champa to the Vietnamese in exchange of his marriage with princess Huyền Trân.

Cố Đô Huế

It was the imperial capital of a reunified Vietnam from 1802 to 1945 and knew no less than 13 emperors of the Nguyễn dynasty, of whom the founder was Nguyễn Ánh known under the name of  » Gia Long ». On the left bank of the Perfume river, in the middle of the city center, three surroundding walls circumscribe the imperial city and protect the forbidden purple city whose orientation was set in relationship with four cardinal points by geomancers of the court. As an admirer of the Ming dynasty, emperor  Gia Long did not hesitate to give Huế a striking resemblance of the Forbidden City of Peking.

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The royal tombs were built  at the exit of the city, along the river. Hue was the target of several conquests, French first in 1885, Japanese next in 1945 and then French in 1946. It was the witness of deadly combats during the Mậu Thân Tết offensive in 1968. Many times, it was also the actor of nationalist resistance in colonial time and during the last five decades.

Despite its aristocratic appearance, Huế knows how to conserve in difficult time the history of Vietnam that is to say the Vietnamese soul.