How dignified and lavish was the funeral of Lord Trinh Trang?

When Lord Trinh Trang died, missionary FGDe Marini present in Thang Long carefully recorded the funeral of the Lord.

King Trinh Trang died on May 26, 1657, at the age of 82, and ruled for 37 years. When news of his father’s death, the crown prince Tac (Western King) and his younger brothers immediately changed into mourning clothes and immediately went to the royal palace.

In the main hall, which usually celebrates great ceremonies, King Thanh Do’s body is placed on a precious and fragrant wooden stand, like the image of the throne he usually sits on, very ornate; golden felt, the two ends did not fall to the ground, but pulled up to cover his whole body. The crown prince and the princes, princes, and relatives of the Trinh government, dressed in soga, wore a crown of thorns on their heads, knelt down and cried beside the price, recalling the merits that he had bestowed upon everyone during his life. The princess wore a white mourning robe and covered herself with a veil of thorns; The ceremony was held according to the order of the royal consort. The first day’s ceremony, that’s all.

On the morning of the 28th, the sun had just risen, and the crown prince, together with the princes and princes, still dressed in mourning clothes the day before, went to the royal palace to carry the lord’s coffin from the main hall to another hall. The coffin is placed on a gilded table, the table is covered with fragrant flowers; The scent of flowers mixed with the burning incense made the room filled with the light of many white lanterns. The filial lords waited until the early twenty-third hour (Rat time) – selected and considered good by astrologers – to begin the process of carrying the coffin into Thanh Hoa province, where the lord’s house was discovered and was chosen as a mausoleum. of the Trinh family.

Three high-ranking ministers were sent to escort the coffin for four days on the road; the three magistrates, before receiving the honor given to them by the lord, promised in advance that the mandarins would do their best to show respect to the fairy god, so as not to betray the filial piety of the new lord and his brothers; so that the funeral, if not worthy of the merits of the fairy god, also shows their devotion, reverence and respect for a benevolent and generous lord. His father also swore an oath to keep the secret from anyone knowing where they had to bury the fairy god. The swearing-in ceremony had just finished when a drum rang to signal the beginning of the funeral. The crowd was almost a mile long from the royal palace to the river. The forbidden army took the lead, each wearing a dark blue fine cloth robe, a hat of the same fabric, the same color as the shirt. One and a half thousand soldiers, carrying guns or holding halberds, stood in two rows, along the road – the road was very wide – like a fence to keep order because the people went to see it. A group of soldiers in white coats with paint sticks in their hands came to close the streets to prevent people from passing, except for those in authority.

In the first procession we see in the palace, a pillar measuring six cubits in diameter and sixty cubits high, on top of which are placed three spheres. The body of the column is covered with precious silk once, with gold and silver letters, describing the career of King Thanh Do.

Behind that pillar was another chariot, almost entirely of gold, on which was emblazoned with a relief of a walled city surrounded by many wide roads and surrounded by fortresses. Then came a third chariot on which sat a throne that was both beautiful and luxurious and expensive and splendid in gold and ivory; on the throne put the crown of the fairy god. The treasures above are all open to the public. The eight-tone ward has many musical instruments that are not sung, but are accompanied by the lamentations and sighs of the bereaved and mourners of Thanh Do Vuong. Behind the Bat Am ward are the mandarins and princes, wearing rough, hard white mourning clothes, sewn with bark and leaves that poor villagers often use.

The eunuchs and the high and low martial officers of the Lord were allowed to go near the funeral home covered in coffins and had someone carry them until the grave was lowered. The mandarins and other princes went immediately before the “blow”. The crown prince and the princes following the “blow” were still wearing the clothes I described above, barefoot, wearing a wig and fake beard, white, holding a cane in their hands, stooping like tall old men. young, weak, miserable and helpless, it seems to show that the loss of the fairy god means that they have lost all hope and that they can no longer depend on anyone. The number of men, mandarins and family members of the lord who attended the funeral was not less than one thousand; The princesses and wives of the royal palace numbered eighty nine hundred. Finally, there were four thousand armed soldiers. When they reached the riverbank, everyone stopped to rest.

The lord’s dragon boat was already anchored and lined up more solemnly than usual; When the coffin was brought to the boat, a series of cannons and rifles were fired. The bow was covered with golden textiles, and the deck was covered with expensive and precious Persian carpets; The sailors wore strange and splendid clothes. Two other boats, from the bow to the helm, gilded inside and out, came close to the shore to carry the first one with the embossed city scene; the second one, the mortuary.

After the preparations were completed, the boat signaled for anchorage. Waiting for the boat to go to the bend of the river where it disappeared, the crown prince and his brothers returned to the palace.

Folks have to mourn for the Lord 27 times, during this period no one is allowed to eat, drink, get married or sue. The lord’s house also issued an order for three years not to enter any solemn festival, strictly forbidden to sing, dance, act or have similar fun.