In 1802, the city of Hué in Thua Thien-Hue Province was made the capital of Vietnam. It was the political, cultural and religious center of the country under the Nguyen dynasty until 1945.
The Tu Duc Tomb is the final resting place of Emperor Tu Duc, who ruled from 1848 until his death in 1883. During his reign he not only had to deal with increasing colonialism from the west, but also unrest from his own people – particularly about the construction of his tomb.
The tomb was supposed to take six years to build, but in an attempt to reduce this to three years managers of the project took away breaktime from the laborers. This resulted in a rebellion.
Construction eventually resumed and the park-like tomb complex was completed with a design that reflects the extensive education Tu Duc had in history, philosophy, literature, and art.