National treasure Nine Tripod Cauldrons in Hue Imperial Citadel

The Nine Urns are nine bronze urns ordered to be crafted by King Minh Mang, starting in December 1835 and completed in 1837. Each urn has a separate name, including: Cao urn, Nhan urn, Chuong urn, Anh urn, Nghi urn, Tuyen urn, Huyen urn, Thuan urn, and Du urn. The Nine Urns are currently located in the courtyard of The To Temple, behind Hien Lam Pavilion, inside the Hue Imperial Citadel, and were recognized as a National Treasure in 2012.

After 200 years, through many devastating wars, the Nine Tripod Cauldrons are still intact as they were at the beginning. These are the original and only copies, never repaired, not even a small detail. Therefore, they have unique value and cannot be replaced. On each cauldron are carved 17 motifs and 1 calligraphy, including themes of the universe, mountains and rivers, birds and animals, products, weapons, ... together forming a panoramic picture of the unified Vietnam during the Nguyen Dynasty.

Placed in the center is the Cao Dinh, corresponding to the posthumous name of King Gia Long (the founder of the Cao Dynasty, whose real name is Nguyen Phuc Anh). On the Cao Dinh are carved images of the sun, the East Sea, Thien Ton Mountain, Nguu Chu River, Vinh Te River, pheasants, tigers, turtles, dragons, purple flowers, jackfruit, rice grains, agarwood, ironwood, onions, boats with many strings, and large guns.

Taking the Cao Dinh as the standard, on the left side are: Nhan Dinh, corresponding to the posthumous name of King Minh Mang (Thanh To Nhan Hoang De); Anh Dinh, the posthumous name of King Tu Duc (Duc Tong Anh Hoang De); Thuan Dinh, the posthumous name of King Dong Khanh (Canh Tong Thuan Hoang De) and Du Dinh, which does not correspond to the posthumous name of any Nguyen Dynasty king. On the right side are: Chuong Dinh, corresponding to the posthumous name of King Thieu Tri (Hien To Chuong Hoang De); Nghi Dinh, the posthumous name of King Kien Phuc (Gian Tong Nghi Hoang De); Tuyen Dinh, corresponding to the posthumous name of King Khai Dinh (Hoang Tong Tuyen Hoang De) and Huyen Dinh, which does not correspond to the posthumous name of any king. According to the Hue Monuments Conservation Center, out of the 13 Nguyen Dynasty kings, 6 were not given temple names and posthumous names, including: Duc Duc, Hiep Hoa, Ham Nghi, Thanh Thai, Duy Tan, Bao Dai.

In particular, among the 9 peaks, there are 3 peaks that King Minh Mang had engraved images of the sea to represent the whole picture of Vietnam's sea and islands: the East Sea at Cao peak; the South Sea at Nhan peak and the West Sea at Chuong peak, which are the 3 largest and most important peaks.

Close-up of the reliefs on the Nine Bronze Urns in the Imperial City of Hue, a documentary heritage of the Asia-Pacific region recently recognized by UNESCO. According to the Hue Monuments Conservation Center, of the 162 reliefs on the bronze urns of the Nguyen Dynasty, 90 are images of animals and plants typical of Vietnam. The motifs and patterns demonstrate a very high level and sophisticated craftsmanship of our country's bronze casting artisans under the Nguyen Dynasty.

According to the book "Kham dinh Dai Nam hoi dien su le", the Nine Tripod Cauldrons were cast in the traditional manual way, so the molds were created manually. To avoid copying, after the casting was completed, all the molds were destroyed.

The Nine Dynastic Urns of Hue are unique works of art, of high cultural and historical value to the Vietnamese people, containing the ideological content of an era, people's thoughts and ideas about the country, the universe and nature. In the world, there are few cases in which the same relic site has been recognized by UNESCO with many noble titles like the Complex of Hue Monuments.