Minh Mang Tomb Hue, Vietnam

Minh Mang Tomb Introduction

Minh Mang Tomb also called Hiếu Lăng (孝陵) is the royal tomb of the 2nd emperor of the Nguyen dynasty. Lies on Cam Khe mount, near the junction of Bang Lang, the confluence of the two sides of the Perfume River, 12 km from Hue Citadel. The Tomb of Minh Mang built in 3 years from1840 to 1843, with ten thousand workers and soldiers.

Tomb Of Minh Mang History

In February 1820, the Minh Mang emperor came to the throne. After 7 years, he ordered Fengshui tellers to find the best place to build the tomb. It took 14 years until 1840, Minh Mang emperor chose the current site to build his royal tomb. He also chose the plan and design himself for his tomb and the construction started in 1840. While it lasted for 1 year, Minh Mang got sick and passed away. Thieu Tri emperor, the successor followed exactly the old plan to complete it in 1843.

From a mountainous area of wilderness, through the hand of labor and creativity of Vietnamese has formed a great mausoleum, just brilliant in architecture, just in harmony with nature and deeply by the value of thought.

What to see at Minh Mang Tomb?

The Three Door Gate

The Minh Mang tomb Hue built following the royal architecture. It means all the important monuments are on an axis and it is very symmetrical. Entering this royal tomb, you will see the Three Door Gate- it is opened only once when they took the coffin of the emperor into the tomb then close forever. On the right and left are the gates for civil and military servants. 

The Royal Courtyard

After that, there is a large courtyard with 2 rows of the sculpture of horses, elephants, civil and military servants. They are waiting for the emperor to serve him in the afterlife. 

The Stone Stele Pavillion

This is the 14 tons heavy stone stele made by bluestone written about the biography and merits of Minh Mang emperor to the country. It was erected by the Thieu Tri emperor to honor his father.

The Large Yard represents 4 seasons.

Right behind the stele Pavilion is the large yard. And if you stand in a large yard, you will feel lonely and very small but Minh Mang divided into 4 smaller parts. So when you stand on a small part of the yard, you don’t feel lonely and small and 4 parts represent 4 seasons. The center way is only for the emperor.

Hien Duc Gate

This is also a beautiful big gate with 3 entrances, the central yellow one only for the emperor, right and left entrances for the civil and military servants. The decoration on the tops all about dragons, the symbol for the emperor’s power.

Sung An Temple

As you know, the emperor thought that, what you needed in this life, you would need them in the afterlife. So in the Minh Mang Tomb, Sung An temple is the working office in the afterlife of Minh Mang. On the right and left of Sung An temple, are the working offices for the servants as well.

Remember it, everything inside this royal tomb has never been used in the past, only for his afterlife. When he was alive he came here to manage the construction. But when he passed away already, the royal family member set up a Royal altar to worship him and his Empress.

Minh Lau Pavillion

Walking through the Sung An temple, are the three bridges leading to Minh Lau (Bright palace), the place for the emperor spirit to take a break before entering into the afterlife.

After the Minh Lau is the small gardens with a lot of flowers and ornaments planted following the “Longevity” word shape.

The Burial Area.

Keep walking down the Minh Lau, which is the Buu Thanh burial area. But to get to Buu Thanh, you have to walk across the “Smart and Justice” bridge leading through the semicircle lake- the symbol of the Moon. Buu Thanh is 1 hectare wide around forest- the symbol of the Sun. As you can imagine, the Sun and Moon all in here means this is the center of the Universe.

Nowadays, we could not enter Buu Thanh because only royal family members have the key to get in once a year. Well, so far, we haven’t known yet, where the coffin is, it is still a secret.

To enjoy the scary secret of this royal tomb, please book the Hue City Group Tour or Hue City Tour 1 Day with us.  Our experienced tour guide will tell you the mysterious stories and secrets about this wonderful tomb.

Direction to get to Minh Mang Tomb

This is the Minh Mang Tomb Map from Hue Imperial City– Hue Citadel to the beautiful tomb of the second emperor. 

Minh Mang Tomb entrance fee

Well, to visit Minh Mang Tomb Hue Vietnam, you have to buy entrance tickets. It costs VND 150,000 roughly USD 7 for adults. VND 30,000 roughly 1.5 USD for children. Moreover, children under 5 years old are free. The open time is from 7 am to 5 pm every day. 

How to get there?

There are many different ways to get to this tomb. You can take a dragon boat to go along the Perfume River, take a taxi, a Grab bike, or book Hue City Tour By Private Car with us!