Emperor Minh Mạng

Tiger Pit Emperor Minh Mạng was born in 1791 and passed away in 1840. He had 40 wives, 87 sons and 64 daughters. In 1830, emperor Minh Mạng built "Hổ Quyền" or Tiger Pit on the southern region of the Perfume River, approximately 4 kilometers from Huế, the ancient imperial capital of Viet Nam. Hổ Quyền was built primarily for royal entertainment purpose. The main event involved the pitting of tigers against elephants. Hổ Quyền is a unique and rare architecture of Southeast Asia. It is probably one of a kind architecture known to exist in the world. It's not as magnificent as the coliseum in Rome but it has its own imposing and majestic feel. The earliest record of matches among tigers and elephants were organized under the Nguyen's Lords period (1558-1775). These early matches were probably held at some less well-built pits Pierre Poivre, a French intellect gave a short account of tiger and elephant match at the Dã Viên island on the perfum river in 1750. "Lord Nguyễn Phúc Khoát and his royal court arrived on 12 royal boats to the Dã Viên island to watch a match between elephants and tigers. Forty elephants killed eighteen tigers in the fight to mark the ceremony of worship offering to the Gods." Hổ Quyền has thick, solid wall of a typical castle. The shape of the pit is made up of two circular brick walls. The thickness of the outer wall is 1.1 meter at the base and .5 meter at the top. It has a wider base and smaller top. The circumference on the outer wall is 44 meters and the area is 145 meter. The height is 4.75 meters high The podium where king sits was built higher with plenty of room in the back. On the opposite of the podium, there were five cages for tigers. The cages were built conveniently between the two walls. There is a sign carved out of stone written in Chinese that says "Hổ Quyền". (Hổ = tiger, Quyền = punch) The inner wall has a circumference of 35m, a height of 5.9m and an area of 110m. Dirt was filled between the two walls to form a 4 meters-wide area where spectators stood to watch the fight. There are two exterior stairs from the base of the wall to the top. The first stair has 24 steps and was reserved for the emperor and the royal families. The second stair has 15 steps and was used by soldiers and the public. Between the two stairs, there is a gate with 1.9m wide and 3.9m high used as the entrance for the elephants. On fight day, people lined up the path from the pit to the river bank with flower mats to welcome the emperor. When the time has come, the emperor would arrive by the Royal Dragon Boat followed by the Royal Musician Band. The Royal Guards would line up along the path with their sword drawn. The mandarins kneeled along the path and follow the emperor to the gate of the pit. Matches among tigers and elephants were an old form of entertainment under the Nguyen's Lords. In ancient time, the event was held on a yearly basis. The last tiger fight was held in 1904 under the reign of emperor Thành Thái. Back to cockfighting