Ngự Bình () is a mountain in the

Vietnam Vietnam, officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam (SRV), is a country at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of about and a population of over 100 million, making it the world's List of countries and depende ...

ese city of

Huế Huế (formerly Thừa Thiên Huế province) is the southernmost coastal Municipalities of Vietnam, city in the North Central Coast region, the Central Vietnam, Central of Vietnam, approximately in the center of the country. It borders Quảng ...

. It is also called the "Royal Screen".

History

The annals

Đại Nam Nhất Thống Chí The ''Đại Nam nhất thống chí'' (chữ Hán: 大南一統志, 1882) is the official geographical record of Vietnam's Nguyễn dynasty written in chữ Hán ( , ) are the Chinese characters that were used to write Literary Chinese in Vi ...

by the History Department of the

Nguyễn dynasty The Nguyễn dynasty (, chữ Nôm: 茹阮, chữ Hán: 朝阮) was the last List of Vietnamese dynasties, Vietnamese dynasty, preceded by the Nguyễn lords and ruling unified Vietnam independently from 1802 until French protectorate in 1883 ...

wrote about Ngu Binh Mountain as follows: "In the northeast of Huong Thuy emerges an even surface serving as a screen, a first bar in front of the citadel. It was called Nui Bang (Even Mount) and renamed Ngu Binh in

Gia Long Gia Long (Chữ Hán, Chữ hán: 嘉隆) ( (''Hanoi, North''), (''Ho Chi Minh City, South''); 8 February 1762 – 3 February 1820), born Nguyễn Phúc Ánh (阮福暎) or Nguyễn Ánh (阮暎), was the founding emperor of the Nguyễn dynas ...

's reign. Its top is flat with pine trees everywhere". Together with the

Perfume River Perfume (, ) is a mixture of fragrant essential oils or aroma compounds (fragrances), fixatives and solvents, usually in liquid form, used to give the human body, animals, food, objects, and living-spaces an agreeable scent. Perfumes can be de ...

, Ngu Binh Mountain forms a natural ensemble to Huế. For a long time, this mountain and the river have been the symbols of Huế, and people often call Huế, "The land of the Perfume River and Ngu Binh mount" or "Huong-Ngu Land". For many centuries, many generations of poets and travelers have recognized it as a place to admire nature.

Geography

The high Ngu Binh Mountain has a symmetric figure. On both sides of the Even Mount (''Bang Son'') are 2 small mounts called ''Ta Bat Son'' (Left Mount) and ''Huu Bat Son'' (Right Mount). After observing that ''Bang Son'' resembled a screen, the Nguyễn emperor decided to build up Huế which became known as their "Forbidden Purple City." Emperor Gia Long approved the design of

geomancer Geomancy, a compound of Greek roots denoting "earth divination", was originally used to mean methods of divination that interpret geographic features, markings on the ground, or the patterns formed by soil, rocks, or sand. Its definition has ex ...

s which chose this mount as a front altar of the imposing and solid defending wall system, and renamed it Ngu Binh. On fine days, from the top of Ngu Binh Mount, people can view the city and river, the pine forests on the hills and large plains of Huong Thuy, Phu Vang, Huong Tra Districts with plants and trees. In the distance, the dark purple Truong Son Mountain range lies hidden behind clouds. Towards the east is a dim white sand strip and Thuan An Estuary in the distance along the deep blue Eastern Sea. Some kilometres away from Ngu Binh Mountain is Vong Canh hill, across from Ngoc Tran Mountain. From the Vong Canh hill, people can behold fruit gardens green with

areca ''Areca'' is a genus of 51 species of Arecaceae, palms in the family (biology), family Arecaceae, found in humid tropical forests from the islands of the Philippines and Malaysia, India, and across Southeast Asia to Melanesia. The generic name ' ...

(betel nut) palms,

longan ''Dimocarpus longan'', commonly known as the longan () and dragon's eye, is a tropical tree species that produces edible fruit. It is one of the better-known tropical members of the soapberry family Sapindaceae, to which the lychee and rambu ...

trees,

orange Orange most often refers to: *Orange (fruit), the fruit of the tree species '' Citrus'' × ''sinensis'' ** Orange blossom, its fragrant flower ** Orange juice *Orange (colour), the color of an orange fruit, occurs between red and yellow in the vi ...

groves (including

mandarin Mandarin or The Mandarin may refer to: Language * Mandarin Chinese, branch of Chinese originally spoken in northern parts of the country ** Standard Chinese or Modern Standard Mandarin, the official language of China ** Taiwanese Mandarin, Stand ...

variety),

grapefruit The grapefruit (''Citrus'' × ''paradisi'') is a subtropical citrus tree known for its relatively large, sour to semi-sweet, somewhat bitter fruit. The flesh of the fruit is segmented and varies in color from pale yellow to dark red. Grapefru ...

trees, etc. Mingling with pine trees, grey roofs of pagodas and temples, as well as the ancient and meditative tombs, the Perfume River looks like a soft silk strip winding at the foot of the hill.

References

External links

Ngu Binh Mountain information

Ngu Binh Mountain Fengshui
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ngu Binh Huế Landforms of Huế Mountains of Vietnam Tourist attractions in Huế