Dragon flying at Thai Hoa Palace

Historical evidence of the Nguyen Dynasty

Located behind Ngo Mon - the main gate to the Imperial City - on the sacred axis, Thai Hoa Palace is a prominent highlight, dominating a large space in the Imperial City. The central position of Thai Hoa Palace in the Imperial City was calculated and positioned by the planners and designers of the Nguyen Dynasty right from the construction of Phu Xuan Citadel in the early 19th century. It is one of the oldest architectural works in Hue Citadel, the most important work in many aspects: location, function, architectural - artistic value, cultural and historical value...

In 1802, Nguyen Anh defeated the Tay Son dynasty, unified the country, ascended the throne with the reign name Gia Long and established the Nguyen dynasty, the last feudal dynasty in Vietnamese history. Like the Nguyen and Tay Son lords, King Gia Long established the capital in Phu Xuan (Hue) and began planning and building the Imperial City. After a period of surveying and researching the reality as well as making plans, the construction of the Imperial City began in 1805 and lasted until 1832 when it was basically completed under the reign of King Minh Mang. However, the architectural works throughout the Imperial City as well as in the Imperial City area were built in succession to many later kings. The Thai Hoa Palace in particular had an important role, function and significance, so it was built very early, along with the time of the construction of the Imperial City. With the event of King Gia Long officially being crowned here, the Thai Hoa Palace became an extremely meaningful place for the origin of the Nguyen Dynasty. And of course, all later kings were crowned at Thai Hoa Palace.

From then until the last reigns of the Nguyen Dynasty, Thai Hoa Palace was the place where the king and his mandarins held court. Thai Hoa Palace was also the place where solemn court ceremonies were held, regularly or irregularly, such as the Coronation ceremony (ascension to the throne), the King's birthday, the King's birthday, the National Day, etc. Thai Hoa Palace was also the place where foreign ambassadors were officially welcomed, and where diplomatic ceremonies were performed. Almost all the most important events of the royal family, the dynasty, and the country originated from this palace. It can be said that, with more than two hundred years of existence and the ups and downs of the capital, Thai Hoa Palace was the place that marked and witnessed many historical events, both glorious and bitter, of Vietnam during the 13 dynasties of the Nguyen Dynasty from Gia Long - the founder of the dynasty to Bao Dai - the last king.

Thai Hoa Palace is where solemn court ceremonies, regular or irregular, are held, such as the Coronation ceremony (ascension to the throne), the King's birthday, the King's birthday, the National Day, etc. Thai Hoa Palace is also the official place to welcome foreign ambassadors and to perform diplomatic ceremonies.

The pinnacle of Hue royal architecture

From Ngo Mon - the main gate of the Imperial City in the south, across Trung Dao Bridge over Thai Dich Lake, through 3 levels of Dai Trieu courtyard, you will reach Thai Hoa Palace. It is the first construction in the system of constructions in the Imperial City in terms of location. Since its construction and over the past two hundred years of existence, Thai Hoa Palace has undergone many changes, many times of restoration and upgrading. Among the important times are as follows:

- Gia Long period (1802-1819): Thai Hoa Palace was built (1805), and became the central and important architecture of the Imperial City. The original construction location of Thai Hoa Palace was determined to be at the current Dai Cung Mon (main entrance to the Forbidden City), which is about 50m north (behind) of the Imperial City; and located on the sacred axis of the Citadel.

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- Minh Mang period (1820-1840): In 1833, while upgrading a series of architectural works in the Imperial Citadel and Forbidden City area, the king ordered"Move Thai Hoa Palace slightly to the south, massive and spacious"(BookDai Nam Thuc Luc- National History Institute of the Nguyen Dynasty). Thus, in addition to moving its location, Thai Hoa Palace has been renovated and upgraded in terms of scale.

- Thanh Thai period (1889 - 1907): In 1891, the king restored the palace, then in 1899, the palace floor was paved with ceramic tiles to replace the previous glazed Bat Trang tiles.

- Khai Dinh period (1916 - 1925): In 1923, the king ordered a major renovation of Thai Hoa palace to prepare for the "Tu tuan dai khanh" (celebrating the king's 40th birthday) the following year (1924). During this renovation, there were many significant changes. Many parts and architectural components were changed and renewed. These included installing two rows of glass doors (a new material imported from Europe) on the front and back of the palace; creating large round windows with the word "longevity" on the brick wall of the two wings of the facade; renewing the canopy (a canopy above the throne) with enamel and gilded carved wooden borders, replacing the old canopy made of embroidered felt; repainting and gilding all the wooden parts in the interior.

- Under the reign of Bao Dai (1926 - 1945), Thai Hoa Palace was also restored, and after the end of the feudal regime (1945), this building and the surrounding garden system were also restored many times in 1960, 1970, 1973, 1981, 1985, 1992...

Although it has undergone many changes, the architecture, structure, form, and core of the Thai Hoa Palace are still basically preserved, especially the structure and decorative art. In terms of overall layout, large-scale constructions in the North are often built in the style of the first - second - third, "cong" (public) or "dinh" (private), or "noi cong ngoai quoc" (internal public and external foreign) style. The reason is the limitation of the type of wood material - structure. Thai Hoa Palace was built in the style of "trung thiem trung luong", a typical architectural style in Phu Xuan. That is, merging two front and back houses on one ground to create a large, continuous space. The two front and back houses both have 7 rooms and two wings; from front to back there are 7 columns (not including the porch columns), including one common column between the two houses. The front house (front hall) has 3 columns; the back house (main hall) has a higher roof and a deeper heart than the front house with 5 columns (including the common column). The two wings of the house are built with bricks on the outside, separated from the seven-room space in the middle by a wooden wall and door system.

The front and back houses of Thai Hoa Palace are connected on a single platform, with a third sub-rafter system at the common column level, supporting a curved wooden ceiling system, called “crab shell ceiling”. Above this ceiling system there is no roof but a very large copper trough to collect rainwater collected from the back roof of the front house and the front roof of the back house. This copper trough receives and directs water to the two gables and drains out through two embossed dragon mouth-shaped drainage doors.

The truss system of the front house is made in the "stacked beam - fake head" style, with a sophisticated structure and carvings. In addition to its structural role supporting the entire tiled roof system, this truss system also plays an important role in creating the aesthetic value of the interior space. The truss system of the back house is made in the simpler "evil wing truss" style. And almost the entire truss system of the back house is covered with a yellow painted wooden ceiling (except for the last column next to the back door wall). The ceiling treatment at the back emphasizes the large front space with a delicate, aesthetic truss system; and creates a reasonable ratio and height for the throne position, convenient for decoration in this area.

The roof of Thai Hoa Palace is divided into three floors. This is a technique of Nguyen Dynasty architects to reduce the size and massiveness of the roof; creating a gentle and graceful element for the construction. The top floor (in both the front and back houses) is the upper roof, with two roof surfaces in front and back; next is the lower roof with four roof surfaces on four sides; finally, the porch roof has one roof surface, and only runs in the 7 middle compartments, not extending to the two wings. Previously, the entire roof of Thai Hoa Palace was covered with yellow glazed tiles (yellow glazed tubular tiles), but now many roof sections are replaced with other types of tiles. The ridge on the top of the roof and the separation between the upper and lower roofs - called the ancient roof strip - are divided into many compartments decorated with drawings and poems. Each compartment of drawing has a poem compartment, this is a very unique "one poem one painting" decoration style of Thai Hoa Palace. This decoration is also present in the interior of the temple, but differs in that instead of different drawings between the panels, there are repeating patterns.

The spacious interior of Thai Hoa Palace is splendidly gilded with gold. The throne is placed on a three-tiered wooden platform, in the central area of the main hall. Behind the throne is a system of panels separating it from the back, with doors in the middle and on both sides.

Thai Hoa Palace, like many other royal architectural works in Hue, is both solemn and quiet because of its architectural shape, but not gloomy and sad because of its bright colors. The work always combines harmoniously the elements in the method of creating shapes: proportion, rhythm, solid and void, contrast... with the colors and decorations on the work; and in the relationship with the exterior space, trees and nature.

Thai Hoa Palace is a typical work in the Hue royal architecture system as well as the palace architecture in particular of the Imperial Citadel. Here converges almost all the quintessence of architectural art - decoration, construction techniques of the Nguyen Dynasty, creating a very unique style of Hue. It can be said that Thai Hoa Palace is the pinnacle of Hue royal architecture.

Dragon Flying Space

Thai Hoa is the main palace of the Imperial City, where the king's throne is located, where the authority of the emperor is shown. Therefore, in addition to its large scale, magnificent architecture, and sophisticated decoration, the image of the dragon - the symbol of the monarch - is the main theme in the decorations of this palace.

The dragon image is shown in many places using many materials, with many postures, shapes, and angles. From the Dai Trieu courtyard to the palace steps, the dragon is carved on the stone railings. On the porch, the dragon is carved around the porch columns, the dragon is stylized on the wooden panels of the porch roof support structure. On the roof, the dragon is placed on the roof peak, on the ridge, the roof edges with the porcelain inlay art very typical of Hue royal architecture. The two roof drains at the gable end are decorated with the shape of an open-mouthed dragon face. The dragon decoration details on the roof are highly artistic, demonstrating the talent of the designers and the artisans who built the project. The dragon image on the roof is beautiful and graceful, enhancing the value of the roof and the entire project with its proud appearance reaching up to the blue sky.

The interior of the palace is also decorated with dragons in many places. The 80 ironwood pillars in the palace are painted with gold with images of dragons playing with clouds on water waves. The decorative border around the "Thai Hoa Dien" sign placed in front is a dragon image. On the compartments on the wall behind the throne, dragon images are also carved. And the throne - the most important and sacred position of the palace, dragon images are decorated with high density. Dragons are carved on the 4 sides of the 3-level platform for the throne. Dragons are carved on the wooden border around the canopy, painted on the canopy roof, painted on the door behind the throne. The details of the chair - the throne also have stylized dragon images...

It can be said that Thai Hoa Palace is the land of dragons, the space where dragons soar. This is a part of Hue Citadel and together with other relics belonging to the Complex of Hue Monuments, it was recognized by UNESCO as a World Cultural Heritage in 1993.

Article and photos:Hanoi