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The perfect combination of a 3-room house as the front hall of the shrine with porch columns and European-style decorative details on the foundation
This is the place of worship for Princess Ngoc Son, whose maiden name was Nguyen Phuoc Hy Hy, daughter of King Dong Khanh (1885 - 1889). She married Trung Quan Do Thong Nguyen Huu Tien, son of Dong Cac Dai Hoc Si Nguyen Huu Thang, a high-ranking mandarin of the Nguyen Dynasty. After giving birth to a baby girl, Princess Ngoc Son became seriously ill and passed away at the age of 20. Following her wishes, her husband Nguyen Huu Tien remarried a member of the Nguyen Dynasty royal family, Princess Cong Ton Nu Thi Tran, daughter of Kien Quan Cong Nguyen Phuoc Ung Quyen, younger brother of King Dong Khanh.
The worship space is arranged according to the principle of "first Buddha, then spirit"
In 1921, Mr. Nguyen Huu Tien built on a garden of nearly 2,400m2.2 a mansion in the typical architectural style of Hue garden houses, used as a place to worship the spirit of Princess Ngoc Son, his first wife. This is also the place where his family lives, along with 7 children with his second wife, Princess Cong Ton Nu Thi Tran. For more than 90 years, the shrine of Princess Ngoc Son has been preserved, worshiped and preserved almost intact by the descendants of the son-in-law Nguyen Huu Tien, despite the fact that the ancient capital of Hue and the Gia Hoi area in particular have gone through many ups and downs.
Most of the palaces of the Nguyen Dynasty kings and queens (which have now become temples) have either been divided into several parts due to overpopulation or have been transformed by the urbanization process. Meanwhile, the temple of Princess Ngoc Son seems to still retain its ancient appearance, from the landscape outside, to the interior decoration and worship, and the family life of the descendants in the family.
This is also one of the famous private libraries in the ancient capital of Hue.
The first interesting thing is that the shrine of Princess Ngoc Son does not have a three-door gate in front of the house like other shrines in Hue. The entrance to the shrine is opened from behind the house by a winding path between two rows of tea leaves and two rows of areca nuts at the left gable of the house. The end of the path is a large yard, in front of which is an architectural complex including a shallow pond with lotus flowers and a rockery made from stone blocks and strange and interesting miniature models of communal houses, pavilions, bridges, and towers. Unlike traditional houses in Hue, in front of the shrine of Princess Ngoc Son there is no screen. The beautiful rockery itself takes on the role of a front door for the house. The owner of the house has taken full advantage of feng shui elements, combined with a delicate aesthetic sense to create very reasonable architectural and decorative complexes: the rockery is not too low, enough to shield the shrine from all disasters coming from the outside, but not too high to block the view so that the owner cannot enjoy the fragrance of herbs and the cool breeze coming from the large lotus pond in front of the shrine.
Dry pond and rockery seen from the interior of the shrine
At the two ends of the main hall are two small gardens, each side has a strange stone acting as a “left dragon, right tiger” facing the front of the temple, along with flower pots, bonsai, miniature landscapes… creating philosophical and meaningful spaces in the grounds of the temple.
The main architectural structure of the Ngoc Son Princess Temple is a double building: the front hall has three compartments with a row of brick columns, painted yellow, with decorative details in the style of European houses, which were very popular in Hue in the early 20th century; the main hall has three compartments and two wings, in the style of Hue's traditional houses with tiled roofs, decorated with lime and mortar details with the theme of "clouds turning into dragons", has a wooden frame with four rows of columns on each side and rafters with delicate carvings, along with horizontal lacquered boards and parallel sentences carved with Chinese characters decorating the three compartments of the house.
Interior of the shrine of Princess Ngoc Son
Right in the middle of the main road is the central altar, arranged according to the principle of "first Buddha, then spirit", in front is the Buddha, behind is the altar for the souls of: Dong Cac Grand Scholar Nguyen Huu Thang, son-in-law Nguyen Huu Tien, two princesses, district princesses, and the deceased descendants of the family. The mementos of the son-in-law, from the medals bestowed by King Khai Dinh (1916 - 1925), to his entertainment items such as a set of bone incense sticks, a set of wooden bowls, Chinese-style porcelain, a set of silver or ivory betel and tea trays with very delicate carvings... are all carefully preserved by generations of descendants and displayed in wooden cabinets tinged with the color of the past, making the altar look like a small private museum. Along with the family heirlooms are thousands of precious books in many languages, making this place one of the largest and rare family libraries in the ancient capital.
Connected to the main building is a corridor leading to the annex on the right, which was formerly the “world of the cannibals”, but is now the family's common living space.
Overall, the main architectural complex of the Ngoc Son Princess Temple is an architectural block that harmoniously combines the traditional architecture of Hue - the "double-sided" architecture - with European decorative details and materials clearly shown in the porch columns of the front hall, in the decoration of the house foundation, in the mirror lamps attached to the porch columns and the system of cement cones supporting the roof at both ends of the house. That architectural complex is cleverly placed in a campus that is "arranged" based on the principles of feng shui and Eastern philosophy, with the front desk (rockery), the minh duong (lotus pond and dry pond), the left dragon and the right tiger (two stone flags arranged on both sides of the front hall). In that campus, in addition to the house that is both a place to worship the deceased and a place to live for generations of descendants of the son-in-law Nguyen Huu Tien, there is also the tomb of the district princess. Hue is a place where the living are not afraid, but willing to share their living space with the deceased. That spirit has been concretely manifested in the grounds of the Ngoc Son Princess Temple for the past several decades. Between life and death is a space of grass, trees, flowers, leisure and luxury in the character and spirit of the Hue people and in the standards of Hue culture.
The tomb of Princess Cong Ton Nu Thi Tran in the grounds of Princess Ngoc Son's shrine
The current heir of the shrine is Mrs. Nguyen Thi Suong, granddaughter of the royal son-in-law Nguyen Huu Tien. Her husband is the famous historian of Hue, Mr. Phan Thuan An. The understanding of Hue history and culture, the respect for ancestors of Mr. Phan Thuan An and Mrs. Nguyen Thi Suong are the important factors that make the shrine of Princess Ngoc Son properly preserved and kept intact. That heart, that spirit has been passed down by the grandparents to their three children, who are doing work related to the cause of preserving and promoting the values of Hue cultural heritage, including the shrine of Princess Ngoc Son, to the community and the outside world.
Visiting the shrine of Princess Ngoc Son, people not only have the opportunity to visit a model of Hue garden house architecture, but also have the opportunity to learn about the "house customs" of Hue people, explore the hidden corners deep in the soul of Hue, which is also a part of Hue's cultural heritage.
More information:
- From Hue Imperial City, go out Thuong Tu gate, turn left onto Tran Hung Dao street, pass Dong Ba market, cross Gia Hoi bridge, turn left onto Bach Dang street to the foot of Dong Ba bridge, turn right onto Nguyen Chi Thanh street; or from inside Hue Imperial City, go through Chinh Dong gate (Dong Ba gate) on the left, then cross Dong Ba bridge to enter Nguyen Chi Thanh street, go another 200m to address number 31, which is the shrine of Princess Ngoc Son.
- You can go to Princess Ngoc Son's shrine by taxi, cyclo, or motorbike taxi. The shrine is open every day and ready to welcome visitors. Those who want to hear historian Phan Thuan An talk about the value of the shrine, about the history, culture and architecture of Hue should register in advance by calling (054) 3 525 411.
Article and photos: Tran Duc Anh Son
