Hue -- Capitol of unified Vietnam

For much of its history, Vietnam was either ruled by China, or governed by a series of warlords across the country. Each of these warlords ruled a group primarily composed of a single ethnic minority, which had the same cultural and religious practices. The first Vietnamese lord to unify the country was from the Nguyen lineage. The reason that so many Vietnamese carry the surname of Nguyen (38% of all Vietnamese, including our guides in both Hanoi and Hue) is related to the rule of this line of emperors. When Ming Mang (the second in the Nguyen line to rule over Vietnam) was the ruler, his subjects changed their names to Nguyen. And, to this day, Nguyen is the single most common name among Vietnamese.

Ming Mang ruled for 21 years, from 1820 to 1841. He had 500 “wives” and 142 children. His regime was considered to be the golden age of the Nguyen dynasty, but his rule was brutal. He is probably best known outside of Vietnam for banning missionaries, as he was opposed to Christianity. This eventually led to the French taking over Vietnam. Within this country, he is noted for the brutal methods that he used to subdue the Cham, one of the largest ethic groups in Vietnam at that time. Historians estimate that under his repressive regime, the number of Cham (who were Hindu and also had different cultural practices) declined from 3 million to less than 500,000 people. His primary method of reducing the number of Cham was to institute a rule by which his soldiers were only paid for those days on which they brought him (or his designee, I presume) the heads of three Cham who had been killed that day.

As ruler of Vietnam, Ming Mang devoted considerable resources to building an enormous temple complex in which he was buried.
We started our day with a visit to the complex which is just outside of Hue. The complex is in relatively good repair, in spite of the bombings in the area during both wars with France and they American/Vietnam war. The entire complex is still surround by a wall, within which there are gardens and ponds filled with coi. The first building is a temple in which Ming Mang was buried. There are statutes and other structures on the grounds, which are decorated with ornate carvings, mostly of dragons (which are symbols of power). The complex is beautiful in a very wild kind of way.

Our next stop was a boat ride along the Perfume river, in a dragon boat. The Perfume River used to be filled with fishing boats. As the number of fish declined (probably due to pollution, although the river looks pristine in comparison to the water we saw in Ha Long Bay), the boats were turned into private boats for short tours. The ride was lovely, and the breeze was appreciated, as it was incredibly hot and muggy.

We left the boat and went to see the Thien Mu Pagoda, which is seven stories tall and is considered to be one of loveliest pagodas in all of Vietnam. (Of course, I’ve heard other pagodas described in this way . . .). Thien Mu means Celestial Lady, and there are a series of conflicting legends about a lady in red who used to appear on this spot and predicted that something beautiful would be build there. The original pagoda was built in 1601, but has been repeatedly rebuilt due to damage from typhoons. Behind the pagoda are the living quarters of monks. Many of the monks who live at this pagoda are very young (under 10) and are brought to the monks from orphanages, or by poor families who cannot care for them. When the young men reach adulthood, they can choose to remain, or leave. This pagoda was also the home of the Thich Quang Duc, the monk who burned himself to death in 1963 in opposition to Saigon’s anti-religious government. The car in which he drove himself to Saigon is on display.Read more