Mount Quyet

A small mountain stands in the middle of the city of Vinh, right beside the Lam River. From many high spots in town, it can be seen rising out of the streets. This is Mount Quyết, which many sources call Mount Dũng Quyết.

Traditional belief calls this mountain a land of the four sacred beings, tứ linh. The land is said to have four parts. The first is Long Thủ. The second is Phượng Dực. The third is Quy Bối. The fourth is Kỳ Lân.

This is a feng shui reading of the ground. It shows how people long ago looked at a landscape and gave it meaning. You do not need to believe in feng shui to find this place special, because the real shape of the land already says so.

The story starts with a much older name.

In 1039, Lý Nhật Quang was governor of Nghệ An. He had a lookout called Vọng Hải Đài built on the highest peak of Mount Dũng Quyết, to watch over the sea. At the same time, he set up a post called Đồn Thủy beside Cồn Rùa, right at the foot of the mountain. It was meant to control the waterway on the Lam River. Nearly a thousand years ago, this spot was already seen as vital.

The mountain's greatest mark, though, comes from an event in 1788.

In early October of that year, which was the ninth month of the year Mậu Thân, Nguyễn Huệ wrote a letter. He later became Emperor Quang Trung. He addressed it to Nguyễn Thiếp, who held the title La Sơn Phu Tử, the Master of La Sơn.

In the letter, he praised the Dũng Quyết mountain area on the Lam River. He called the shape of the land "broad and open," and its air "bright and fresh." And he chose this land for a new capital. It would not be at Phú Xuân, far away in Hue. It would stand in the middle of the country, in Nghệ An, where it could hold both the south and the north.

The capital was to be called Phượng Hoàng Trung Đô. Phượng Hoàng means the phoenix, a noble symbol. Trung Đô means a capital at the center.

Work began. The scale was very large. The outer citadel measured about 2,820 meters around. It covered about 22 hectares. The inner citadel measured 1,680 meters around. Inside were a three-story dragon pavilion and an area for holding court.

But Phượng Hoàng Trung Đô was never finished.

In 1792, Emperor Quang Trung died. He was only about 40 years old, and his new capital was still half built. After his death, Trung Đô was abandoned. Phú Xuân remained the capital. What had been built on Mount Dũng Quyết slowly turned into ruins.

Phượng Hoàng Trung Đô was the great ambition of a great emperor.

The temple on the mountain today is the Temple of Emperor Quang Trung. It is not an original palace from the Tây Sơn era. The Tây Sơn were three brothers who led an uprising from 1771 and for a time ruled Vietnam. This temple was built by Nghệ An Province to honor Quang Trung. Work began in 2005, and it opened on May 7, 2008. It stands on the second peak of Mount Dũng Quyết, at a height of 97 meters, and belongs to the part called Phượng Dực.

The temple has all the parts of a traditional place of worship. There is a lower hall, a middle hall and an upper hall. There are side houses on the left and right, an inner ceremonial gate and an outer ceremonial gate, and a three-entrance gate.

From the temple grounds, when the weather is kind, the view takes in the city of Vinh and the Lam River. It reaches Hồng Mountain and, in the direction of the sea, Cửa Lò. The view helps explain why Quang Trung once saw Nghệ An as land that could join south and north, forest and sea. It also helps explain why Phượng Hoàng Trung Đô became a symbol, even if it is a symbol of something that never had time to happen.

Twice a year, the temple holds its major ceremonies. One falls on the fifth day of the first lunar month, in memory of the victory at Ngọc Hồi and Đống Đa. The other falls on the 29th day of the seventh lunar month, the anniversary of the emperor's death. On those days the temple is crowded, and the mood is solemn and moving.

Standing on this peak, looking down at the Lam River and out over the wide city, a visitor can feel why an emperor once chose this place for his dream of moving the capital. The dream never had time to come true. But it is still there, in the wind and the earth of Mount Quyết.