Stone dragon hand rail by stairs inside Imperial City at Hue 852094800

Stone dragon hand rail by stairs inside Imperial City at Hue

This carved stone dragon serves as one of the hand rails for stairs inside the Imperial City at Hué. The design of the large-eyed, scaly dragon is similar to those found in Chinese art. Throughout East and part of Southeast Asia, dragon images represent power and protection.

Most of the original buildings and ornaments in Hué's Imperial City date to ambitious efforts by Nguyen dynasty rulers in the 1800s to control both the north and south of Vietnam from a centrally located capital. The architectural plan and decorative style of Hué's walled Imperial City was designed as a near replica of the Forbidden City in Beijing, China.

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