An Dinh Palace, Hybrid Arts, and Modernity in the Context of Vietnam's Last Monarchy

Abstract

ABSTRACT

The An Dinh Palace, part of the Hue Monuments Complex, Vietnam, was built in 1917, the early 20th century, when French culture and art deeply penetrated Vietnam's cultural and social life, especially the fine arts of the Nguyen Dynasty. During the reign of Emperor Khai Dinh (1916 - 1925), Hue royal architecture took on a new look, clearly showing the era's characteristics. The An Dinh Palace is the first work marking a significant change. The An Dinh Palace's architectural and artistic style bears the talented Emperor's mark. As a creative person in thinking and action, Khai Dinh left behind for posterity unique architectural works, including the mark of An Dinh Palace, contributing to embellishing the diverse beauty of the Nguyen Dynasty architectural complex.

The research objectives of this thesis include the following: The first is to study the political, socio-economic, and cultural context of Vietnam before and after Khai Dinh became Emperor. The second is to study the architectural style and Art decoration of Hue royal architecture in the period before and after Khai Dinh became Emperor. The third is to study and analyze Hybrid art and Modernity at An Dinh Palace. The fourth is to study and analyze An Dinh Palace's characteristics, cultural, and artistic values in the history of Vietnamese Fine Arts. The research objectives are presented in order corresponding to chapters 2, 3, 4, and 5 of the thesis.

This thesis is qualitative research, mainly using two main research concepts: Artistic hybridity and Modernity. It includes relevant research, surveys, statistics, and interviews. The data is primarily divided into two groups related to An Dinh Palace. During the study, data was collected through field investigations of the following groups: Monument management agency, experts in architecture, fine arts, cultural researchers, royal family, and people near An Dinh Palace.

The thesis proves and clarifies the characteristics, values, formation, and development of decorative art in the royal architecture of the Khai Dinh period (1916 - 1925), contributing to affirming the artistic effectiveness in the combination between traditional art and modern architecture, typically An Dinh Palace. In practice, the thesis has analyzed and summarized the artistic value of An Dinh Palace, which was the origin of the development of royal architecture in this period, compared with related relics of the same period to identify the architectural trend of the Khai Dinh period in the royal architecture system of the Nguyen Dynasty (1802-1945). Thereby discussing and evaluating the contribution of An Dinh Palace art to the tangible cultural heritage of the Nguyen Dynasty (1802-1945) in the ancient capital of Hue, supplementing documentary information on Nguyen Dynasty art, thereby contributing to the collection and provision of documentary information for research on the artistic value of the Nguyen Dynasty in the current context.

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