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Tran Le Xuan Mansion is located at 2 Yết Kiêu Street, in the city of Dalat, Lam Dong Province. The mansion is secluded on Lam Son Hill, surrounded by thousands of pine trees. It was initiated in 1958 on a 13,000m2 area. With its architecture consisting of three spacious villas, a Japanese-style garden, and preserving over 34,000 original Nguyen Dynasty wooden blocks, Tran Le Xuan Mansion has become a renowned Dalat tourist destination.
A glimpse into the owner of the mansion - Tran Le Xuan
Tran Le Xuan was born in 1924, the daughter of lawyer Tran Van Chuong. In 1943, at the age of 19, Tran Le Xuan obtained her French Certificate in Law, intending to pursue further studies in law after completing her studies. However, her family arranged her marriage to Ngo Dinh Nhu, who was 14 years her senior (he was a friend of her father from their studies in France). Mrs. Tran Le Xuan held positions as chairwoman or leader of several organizations at that time.
The years from 1954 to 1960 marked the peak of the Ngos' prosperity in the South. In 1958, they commissioned the construction of a grand mansion in Dalat, not only vast and imposing in appearance but also unique in every detail, arousing curiosity among many. This mansion became so famous that after the coup overthrowing the regime of Ngo Dinh Diem in 1963, tourists from all over rushed to the city of Dalat to visit.
The magnificent three luxurious villas of the mansion
The 'First Heaven in the South' mansion once comprised three villas named: Bach Ngoc, Lam Ngoc, and Hong Ngoc. These three villas were connected to each other by a garden designed in Japanese style. Each villa was built for different luxurious purposes, symbolizing the fame and power of the owner.
Bach Ngoc villa served as the entertainment venue for the Tran Le Xuan family and Saigon generals. Among the three villas of the mansion, Bach Ngoc was considered the most extravagant and luxurious, featuring meeting rooms, offices, ballrooms, dressing rooms… This villa has a long staircase and an outdoor water pool, with the facade facing Yết Kiêu Street.
Lam Ngoc villa serves as the weekend retreat for Mrs. Tran Le Xuan's family. Meanwhile, the Hong Ngoc villa was a gift from her biological father, Tran Van Chuong, who was then the Republic of Vietnam Ambassador to the United States.
Behind Lam Ngoc villa lies a small garden designed by a Japanese engineer. Within this garden is a special water pond, which, when filled with water, reveals a map of Vietnam. This contributes to making the mansion a captivating Dalat tourist attraction.
Preserving over 34,000 original Nguyen Dynasty wooden blocks
Under the Nguyen dynasty, due to the widespread need for social standards and laws that people were obliged to follow, to perpetuate the reputation and career of kings, ongoing historical events in the country..., the court engraved many sets of history books and literary works for distribution to various places or circulation among the people. The Woodblock Documents are wooden blocks carved with Han or Nom characters in reverse for printing books.
Despite all the upheavals and fluctuations, the mansion still preserves an intact historical treasure with 34,555 original Nguyen Dynasty wooden blocks. As a result, Tran Le Xuan Mansion has become the foundation of the National Storage Center IV (under the National Archives and Records Administration). These wooden blocks have been recognized by UNESCO as documentary heritage under the Memory of the World program.
At present, the woodblock documents have been printed onto paper, categorized, systematized, scanned, and recorded onto CD-ROM discs for backup and information retrieval purposes. Especially, our country has developed a program to manage woodblock documents on computers. Thus, everyone can search through this entire document repository using various criteria such as subject, author's name, work title, chronological order, characters... Additionally, readers can access each set of books, each volume, from the description section, table of contents... to any random page.
Above are the basic information about Tran Le Xuan Mansion. Vntrip hopes that tourists will have a wonderful visit to this Dalat tourist destination. Here, you will not only enjoy the scenery and capture memorable photos but also gain valuable knowledge.
