Nostalgia for Tu Lang

The tomb of King Đồng Khánh, also known as Tư Lăng, is a fairly large mausoleum complex, connected to and located within the mausoleum of King Tự Đức, forming a vast complex of mausoleums covering more than 220 hectares.

Within this area alone there are several different tombs: Tu Lang of King Dong Khanh, Thien Thanh Cuc of Kien Thai Vuong (father of King Dong Khanh and two other kings, Kien Phuc and Ham Nghi).

The tomb of Empress Phu Thien Thuan (also known as Lady Thanh Cung, wife of Emperor Dong Khanh), the tomb of Empress Dowager Doan Huy (Lady Tu Cung, mother of Emperor Bao Dai), the tomb of Prince Canh, and several other tombs of members of the royal family, all built at different times.

Originally, this mausoleum area contained the tomb of Kien Thai Vuong. After ascending the throne (1886), King Dong Khanh ordered the construction of the Truy Tu Palace, about 100m to the southeast, to worship his father.

While the construction was still unfinished, King Đồng Khánh fell ill and passed away on January 28, 1889, at the young age of 25. King Thành Thái, his successor, decided to use the Truy Tư Palace to worship King Đồng Khánh, renaming it the Ngưng Hy Palace. The ancestral tablet of Kiên Thái Vương was moved to the Hân Vinh ancestral temple on the banks of the An Cựu River. King Đồng Khánh's tomb was built about 100 meters southwest of the palace, but it was very simple.

In August 1916, King Khai Dinh, son of King Dong Khanh, ordered the renovation of the mausoleum using modern materials. In 1921 and 1923, the shrine area was further restored. Thus, the construction of the Dong Khanh mausoleum took place in several phases over a period of nearly 35 years (1889-1923). The complexity of the mausoleum's construction history has left a very clear mark on the architecture of this mausoleum complex.

Heritage Magazine