Architecture of Khai Dinh Tomb in Hue Vietnam

The Tomb of Khai Dinh is the smallest imperial tomb in Hue city. Its dimensions are 117 meters in length, and 48,5 meters in width. Total area is smaller than 1 hectare.

From a distance, Khai Dinh Tomb looks like a majestic European castle on the hillside. It’s designed by Khai Dinh king who is keen on French culture, architecture, art, and fashion. He brought together architectural and decorative elements and religions (Buddhism, Hinduism, Confucianism, Christianity) from east to west, to create an extraordinary work. This combination was unseen anywhere else in Vietnam before his birth. Interestingly, local architects and designers nowadays often visit the tomb to seek inspiration.

Before seeing Thien Dinh Palace on the highest location, visitors need to climb 127 steps, and pass by some great buildings. On the first level, there are 2 houses where mandarins and family members prepare everything once ceremonies occur. On the next level, the Stele Pavilion (Bi Dinh) is in the middle, and on each side, there are statues and one tall tower. The octagonal pavilion houses a 3-meters-tall stone stele made in 1925 (the Stele of Divine Merits and Sacred Virtues), with 950 Chinese words to honor the merits and virtues of the dead king. Because his son (successor) Bao Dai studied in France, therefore he didn’t know Chinese mandarin well, and one official would help him to convert his essay into that language. Behind the stele, somebody believes that a tunnel existed and was used to bring the king’s coffin into the sepulchre (later covered).  

Statues at Tomb of Khai Dinh are popular for taking photos. Total number of statues is 24, including 2 elephants, 2 horses, 4 military mandarins, 4 literature mandarins, and 12 soldiers. On each side of the yard, there is an elephant, a horse, four mandarins, and six soldiers. All of them stand in two horizontal rows, the first row with mandarins, and the second row with other figures. The collection of statues here is larger than any other imperial tombs in Hue and Vietnam. Instead of one row each side in common, the king designed two, showing his distinct personality.

Thien Dinh Palace is the main building of Khai Dinh Tomb. It’s used to worship Khai Dinh king, the last Nguyen emperor who had his own royal mausoleum. Its three doors are opened but not allowed anybody to go in, to show a respect to him. Visitors need to access the palace by two side doors (the one in the right is better to start the visit). Its interior is widely known for sophisticated wall paintings made by small pieces of ceramic and glass. All of them were manually cut and arranged by local artisans who spent 11 years to complete. They still follow traditional topics, such as four seasons, four beautiful flowers, holy animals (especially dragons), precious treasures, scenic landscapes. The altar where the picture of the king is placed on, was also fully mosaiced. Couples of ‘crane standing on turtle’ are made by metal.

The ceiling of Thien Dinh Palace is painted by the topic ‘nine dragons hidden in the clouds’. The head artist is Phan Van Chanh (man). Interestingly, he used his legs to make it, instead of hands. When Khai Dinh king visited the construction and saw this man did it, he got angry and asked why. Chanh answered that he needed to use hands to hold the ceiling, so he had free legs only to paint. The king didn’t punish him then, but said: if there are 2 ‘Chanh’ in this world, one of them would be killed. After completing the painting excellently, he received a bonus from the king.  

The inner room of Thien Dinh Palace has a life-size statue of Khai Dinh king. It portrays the king sitting on the throne, and looks outwards, just like when he’s still alive. Two sculptors created this statue in 1920 in France, and then shipped to Vietnam. About 9 meters below it, there is the coffin of Khai Dinh king. For the first time, a Vietnamese emperor let people know his exact burial place (the reason might be that he was influenced by western culture). Above the statue, there is a canopy decorated by ceramic and glasses, but looks like a light and soft embroidery. Behind the king sculpture, the sunset recalls the death of an emperor (he looks to the sunset direction too). On the wall, wreaths were given by French colonists in the funeral ceremony. The innermost rooms are not opened to the public, always private for family members.

In the last room, visitors have the chance to see pictures of Khai Dinh king, from his portrait, half-body (when he visited France), full body (when he went on a hunting trip), to when he works. Photos about the construction process of the mausoleum, funeral ceremony of the king, and king’s personal belongings are also exhibited.

To exit Khai Dinh Tomb, visitors should go downstairs, back to the main entrance.