Tomb of Duc Duc

In 1883, beside the Phước Quả mound in Hue, near Tường Quang Pagoda, people buried an emperor who had held the throne for just three days. Before him ran the Mụ Niệm stream. Behind him rose Tam Thai Mountain. There was no hall of worship yet, and no one lay beside him. There was only one grave and one stream.

The second photograph shows the same spot, today. It is a tomb complex of about six hectares, with some 20 buildings, beside a street named Duy Tân. Three emperors from three generations in a row rest here together: father, son and grandson. The place is called An Lăng.

Between the two photographs lie more than 100 years. Between them, too, lies a story of journeys very far from home, and of coming back.

The father was named Nguyễn Phúc Ưng Chân, and he was born in 1852. When he was two, Emperor Tự Đức adopted him as a son. In 1883, the old emperor died. In July of that year, Ưng Chân took the throne. This was Emperor Dục Đức, the fifth emperor of the Nguyễn dynasty. That was Vietnam's last royal dynasty, which reigned from 1802 to 1945.

But the will the late emperor left behind held a line criticizing this adopted son. It said he had trouble with his eyes, and it doubted he could handle great affairs of state. On July 23, he was deposed by the two regents, Tôn Thất Thuyết and Nguyễn Văn Tường. He had spent just three days on the throne, the shortest reign of all 13 Nguyễn emperors.

After that, he was held prisoner and left to go hungry. He died on October 6 of that year, 75 days after he lost the throne. He was only 31 years old. He was laid to rest beside the Phước Quả mound. That is the first photograph.

He had a small son named Nguyễn Phúc Bửu Lân. The boy's mother was Phan Thị Điều, who later became Empress Từ Minh. The boy went with his mother to her home village, and he grew up at ease among working people. In 1888, mother and son came to the Citadel to tend the incense for the dead emperor.

Just a year later, that boy was brought into the Imperial City and placed on the throne, under the reign name Thành Thái. He was the tenth emperor of the Nguyễn dynasty. In August 1899, the young emperor had the Long Ân Hall built near his father's grave, as a place to worship his father. Around the hall stood rows of small buildings. There, seven secondary wives of Emperor Dục Đức stayed on to keep the incense burning.

In 1906, Empress Từ Minh died. The court built her grave right beside her husband's, so that the two could lie side by side. The grave by the stream had company at last.

Emperor Thành Thái reigned for 18 years. He would not accept life under the French protectorate. He pretended to be mad to deceive the French, and he even formed a unit of women soldiers inside the palace. In 1907, the French deposed him and sent him to live under guard in Vũng Tàu.

That same year, his son was put on the throne, also while still a boy. The boy's name was Nguyễn Phúc Vĩnh San, and he became Emperor Duy Tân, the 11th emperor of the dynasty. In 1916, the young emperor prepared an uprising against the French with Trần Cao Vân and Thái Phiên. The plan failed. After nine years on the throne, he too was deposed, like his father.

Late that year, father and son were put on a ship and sent into exile on Réunion, an island in the Indian Ocean.

On that faraway island, Emperor Thành Thái told the whole family to keep their mother tongue and their Vietnamese customs. He also had them wear traditional dress for holidays and festivals. To support his large family, he opened a shop that made horse saddles. His saddles were handsome and sturdy, and people on the island liked them very much.

Emperor Duy Tân, for his part, worked hard at French and English and learned a technical trade. Then he opened a shop designing radio receivers to earn his living.

Emperor Thành Thái was finally allowed to return home in 1947, 31 years later. On March 24, 1954, he died in Saigon. His body was brought back to Hue and buried at An Lăng, near his father's grave.

The son never made that journey home in his lifetime. In late December 1945, the plane carrying Emperor Duy Tân from Paris to Réunion crashed in the skies over Central Africa. He died at 45, and he was buried in the Central African Republic, very far from home.

It took 42 more years for him to come back. In 1987, the remains of Emperor Duy Tân were buried at An Lăng, right beside his father's grave.

Two gates, each with three entrances, lead into the tomb of Emperor Dục Đức. Here there is no stele pavilion and no row of stone statues, as there are at many other royal tombs. At the center of the inner enclosure, Bửu Thành, stands a small roofed shelter. Inside are a stone platform and a stone table, where offerings are laid out on each anniversary of the emperor's death. On either side lie the graves of the emperor and Empress Từ Minh.

Behind the Long Ân Hall lie the tombs of Emperors Thành Thái and Duy Tân, side by side. They are much smaller than the tombs of the other Nguyễn emperors. Each has two rings of walls and a screen wall decorated with a dragon. A restoration that began in 2018 was finished in August 2024.

Inside the Long Ân Hall are three altars. In the middle are Emperor Dục Đức and his empress. On the left is Emperor Thành Thái. On the right is Emperor Duy Tân. The father reigned for three days. The son lived on an island far from home for 31 years. The grandson lay in foreign soil for 42 years.

Now place the two photographs one on top of the other. The Phước Quả mound is still in front, and Tam Thai Mountain is still behind. The only difference is that beside the old grave, there are now a wife, a son and a grandson. And the Mụ Niệm stream still flows past in front, softly, as if counting each one who has come home.