This set is from Tu Ducs palace and mausoleum, a short journey downriver from Hué. Emperor Tu Duc, who died in 1883, presided over a regime that combined domestic repression of the peasantry and religious minorities with military defeat against European invaders. Duc, preferring the latter to the former, signed over much of the southern part of his country to the French in 1862s Treaty of Saigon. Shortly after, he ordered construction of the palace grounds shown here, where he retreated to spend the rest of his days. The grounds today are, as even my ropey photos show, somewhat decayed. But even without that vivid appearance of decline, they look not so much like the palace grounds of great Emperor, as something like the eccentric folly of a nouveau riche mid-Victorian gentlemen, keen to give the impression of wealth, splendour, and history - and failing. They feel false. There are some restoration works taking place: a better monument to the Emperor who signed over Vietnam to the colonialists might be to leave them to slowly crumble.
Posted on: Sun, 10 Aug 2014 04:39:33 +0000
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