The Tomb of Tu Duc

Tu Duc had this complex built in the 1860s and used it while he was alive, fishing, writing poetry and holding court in a compound designed as a garden rather than a monument. A wall encloses pine-covered slopes, a lake with lotus and a small island, and the Xung Khiem pavilion standing on piles over the water. Behind the lake are the palace buildings, a modest court theatre, and a courtyard of stone attendants leading to a stele the emperor composed himself, unusually frank about his own failures. The tomb chamber beyond is symbolic. Where he was actually buried was kept secret and has never been established.

History

Tự Đức reigned from 1848 to 1883, longer than any other Nguyễn monarch, and having no son, perhaps after smallpox, he wrote his own epitaph, which he took as a bad omen; it stands on a stele, the largest of its kind in Vietnam, brought from a quarry over 500 kilometres away in a journey of four years. The main parts of the complex were built from 1864 to 1867, together with palace buildings that served him and his wives as a retreat, and the forced labour and extra taxes they demanded led to a failed coup in 1866. For the rest of his life Tự Đức used the tomb's palaces as his residence, boating on the lake and hunting on its small island (Wikipedia, Tomb of Tự Đức).

What you'll find

• Xung Khiem pavilion - a timber pavilion on piles over the lotus lake, the most photographed corner.
• Hoa Khiem palace - the halls he used in life, later given over to worship, with thrones and lacquer work.
• The self-written stele - a large inscribed slab in which the emperor assessed his own reign.
• The pine slopes - walled hillsides of pine and frangipani linking the scattered buildings.

When to go

February to April is driest, while the wet months leave the paths slick and the lake grey. Early morning avoids both the heat and the tour groups that come out from Hue after breakfast. Two hours allows an unhurried loop of the lake and the upper courtyards. A combined ticket for several tombs works out cheaper than paying at each gate.

Things to know

Being nearest the city makes it the busiest of the tombs, and the lake pavilions rarely empty out. The timber buildings are faded, some are roped off, and restoration scaffolding moves around the site. The grounds are hilly with uneven steps. Anyone expecting one grand monument will find instead a scattered park that takes some reading to understand.

Nearby

The tombs of Khai Dinh and Minh Mang are a short ride further south.

Key facts