Hue Architecture
When traveling to Hue, you will feel like you are going back in time to ancient Vietnam in the 17th and 18th centuries with many types of temple architecture, citadels, and mausoleums. Hue architecture is very diverse and rich with royal architecture, folk architecture, religious architecture, and temple architecture interwoven with traditional and modern architecture. Among them, the most prominent architectural work in Hue is the Hue Citadel. Each architectural work is a complete and unique work of art that partly reflects philosophical and psychological factors. Moreover, Hue architecture is also famous for its ancient architectural works with strong feng shui characteristics. Screens and rockeries are considered indispensable miniatures in traditional Hue architecture.
Hue Culture and Arts
Tuong art in Hue - Hue cultural characteristics
Tuong art developed early in the 17th century under the Nguyen Lords. During the Nguyen Dynasty, Tuong became a national drama and was highly regarded. The Nguyen Dynasty issued many policies to create favorable conditions for the development of Tuong art. Today, when traveling to Hue, you have the opportunity to visit the Hue Imperial City and visit Duyet Thi Duong, Tinh Quang Vien, and Thong Minh Duong theaters. Under the Minh Mang Dynasty, the king built Thanh Binh Thu as a place to teach Tuong to actors. King Tu Duc established the Hieu Thu Board to specialize in editing, proofreading, and composing Tuong. The royal Tuong plays that are still circulated and regularly performed today include: Son Hau, Duong Chan Tu, Tam Nu Do Vuong, Ho Thach Phu, Ly Phung Dinh, Giac Oan, etc.
Hue Songs
If you have not been to Hue, surely everyone has heard of Hue singing on the Perfume River. This is a form of entertainment art that is very popular with Hue people. Besides folk music and royal music, people put Hue singing in the middle. Hue singing has its own characteristics with deep lyricism that stirs people's hearts, containing many feelings about the lives of Hue people.
A Hue song has a tight, strict structure. When performing Hue songs, it will be combined with the quintet Tranh, Ty, Nhi, Nguyet, Tam mixed with Bau, Sao and Hue percussion instruments, sanh loan and sanh tien, creating deep melodies that touch the listener's soul.
Nowadays, joining a Hue tour sitting on a dragon boat drifting on the Huong River, listening to the lyrical lyrics of Hue folk songs will be a unique Hue cultural experience that visitors should not miss.
Hue Royal Court Music – Hue's Unique Cultural Arts
Hue Royal Court Music is a term used to refer to the official music used in the ancient feudal court on every occasion of ceremonies and court meetings, a product combining ceremony and music. Hue Royal Court Music originated from the Le Dynasty, but it was not until the Nguyen Dynasty that it developed systematically and methodically. Hue Royal Court Music was recognized by UNESCO as an intangible cultural heritage in 2003.
Hue Royal Court Dance
Royal dance is a product of the inheritance of the feudal regime for thousands of years and was crystallized under the Nguyen Dynasty. There are more than 15 major dances from ceremonial dances, banquet dances, and opera performance dances. The plays are often organized on a grand scale, with a large number of participants, expressing the bustling, sparkling beauty and displaying the sophisticated dance techniques that have been crystallized over thousands of years by the Vietnamese people.
Hue Festival
When traveling to Hue, you will experience two types of festivals: royal festivals and folk festivals. Royal festivals often focus more on the ceremony than the festival, reflecting the ceremonial activities of the royal court. Folk festivals include many rich festivals such as: Hue Nam festival in Hon Chen according to Cham Pa beliefs, festivals to commemorate the saints who founded the village, festivals to commemorate the ancestors of traditional craft villages. During the holidays in folk festivals, folk cultural activities take place bustlingly such as tug of war, wrestling, boat racing, ... attracting the attention of tourists.
In addition to the traditional festivals that have existed for a long time in Hue, Hue Festival in recent years is a traditional Hue cultural activity that attracts tourists to Hue. Hue Festival has been held since 2000, usually held every two years.
Hue Fine Arts
Hue fine arts are divided into two streams: royal fine arts (palaces, mausoleums, etc.) and folk fine arts (pagodas, communal houses, people's houses, etc.). Hue fine arts are the fusion of Cham culture and Western decorative arts. Hue royal decoration also absorbs and enhances Vietnamese folk fine arts. Hue fine arts are distinguished by carvings on many materials such as wood, mother-of-pearl, gold and silver, porcelain inlays, jade and ivory, etc. In addition, Hue is also the homeland of many oil painters, including the first oil painter of Vietnam, Le Van Mien.
Hue Cuisine
Talking about Hue cuisine, you will be amazed by the sophistication in their preparation and presentation. Just taking a tour around Hue to enjoy all the famous Hue specialties from beef noodle soup, mussel rice, mussel noodle soup to Hue specialty cakes, Hue sweet soup, you will feel that time is never enough to enjoy all these dishes.
The Hue people still preserve more than 1000 traditional dishes cooked in Hue style. Hue people focus on quality over quantity in cooking with beautiful presentation and delicate art. If you have the opportunity to admire the royal dining table of the Nguyen Dynasty kings, you will be amazed by the delicious dishes, meticulously arranged and elaborately cooked.
Hue culture is one of the attractive destinations that cannot be missed in your journey to the South Central Coast provinces. Such a poetic and lovely Hue is the place that all tourists who love peace want to set foot. Besides Hue, you can also join the Da Nang - Hoi An tour to make your trip to Hue more complete and memorable.