Hue Information

Information in Hue

The Imperial City of Hue, Vietnam’s ancient Imperial Capital, lies at the mouth of the Perfume River. It, too, has been disfigured by warfare, first by French colonists who sacked and burnt the Imperial Library as a reprisal for resistance, and then by a massive US barrage during 1968 Tet Offensive that destroyed much of Hue’s ancient Citadel. Nevertheless, the restoration work, and Hue’s status as a World Heritage Site, makes it an important destination for visitors. Hue has a small airport with regular flights from Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City. At present, the few good hotels in Hue City are often fully-booked for most of the peak season. However, several new hotels of a higher standard are under construction, so four and five star accommodation should be easier to come by in 2004


A hue refers to the gradation of color within the visible spectrum, or optical spectrum, of light."Hue" may also refer to a particular color within this spectrum, as defined by its dominant wavelength, or the central tendency ofits combined wavelengths. For example, a light wave with a central tendency within565-590 nm will be yellow.

In painting color theory, a hue refers to a pure color —one without added white (tint) or black(shade) pigment. A hue is a color on the Color wheel.

In an RGB color space, hue can be thought of as an angle φ in standard position. To calculate φ, let R, G, B be the color coordinates in RGB space, defined on a scale from zero to one. Then, after obtaining the brightness μ and the saturation σ, the hue could be obtained from

Manufacturers of pigments use the word hue e.g. 'Cadmium Yellow (hue)' to indicate that the original pigmentation ingredient, often toxic, has been replaced by safer (or cheaper) alternatives whilst retaining the hue of the original. Replacements are often used for Chromium, Cadmium and Alizarin.


Massacre at Hue

The Massacre at Hue is the name given to describe the summary executions and mass killings that occurred during the Viet Cong and North Vietnam's capture, occupation and withdrawal from the city of Hu¿ during the Tet Offensive, considered one of the longest and bloodiest battles of the Vietnam War. During the months and years that followed the battle, dozens of mass graves were discovered in and around Hu¿ containing 2,800 civilians. In some of the graves victims were found bound together; some appeared tortured; others were even reported to have been apparently buried alive. Estimates vary on the number executed, with a low of two hundred to a high of several thousand.

A number of U.S. and South Vietnamese authorities as well a number of journalists who investigated the events took the discoveries, along with other evidence, as proof that a large-scale atrocity had been carried out in and around Huế during its four-week occupation. Some of these same sources also contended these killings were premeditated, and part of a large-scale purge of a whole social stratum. The opposition to the war contended that the numbers and circumstances of the casualties were exaggerated or fabricated for war propaganda reasons.


Background

In the early morning hours of January 31, 1968, during the Lunar New Year celebrations, the North Vietnamese Army (NVA) and National Liberation Front (NLF), or Viet Cong (VC), troops simultaneously attacked 70% of the major cities and villages in South Vietnam, including Saigon and Huế. While the Communist forces saw initial success, their assaults were quickly turned back in all areas except Huế. Commonly referred to as the Tet Offensive, this period of several weeks is generally regarded as a military disaster, but a psychological and propaganda victory for the NLF and Northern forces, as this marked a sharp turning point in American sentiment and support for the war effort.

During the initial battle, occupation and retaking of Huế, forty percent of the city was destroyed during 26 days of intense combat, and 116,000 of Huế's 140,000 population were left homeless. The U.S. and South Vietnamese forces claimed over 5,000 enemy forces were killed within the city, and another 3,000 in the immediately surrounding area.


Executions during Tet occupation and withdrawal

The NLF set up provisional authorities shortly after capturing Huế, and was charged with removing the existing government administration from power within the city and replacing it with a revolutionary administration. Working from lists of "cruel tyrants and reactionary elements" previously developed by VC intelligence officers, many people were to be rounded up following the initial hours of the attack. These included Army of the Republic of Vietnam (ARVN) soldiers, civil servants, political party members, local religious leaders, American civilians and other foreigners. These individuals, according to VC documents captured during and after the siege, were to be taken out of the city and held and punished for their “crimes against the Vietnamese people”. The disposition of those who were previously in control of the city was carefully laid out, and the lists were detailed and extensive. Those in the Saigon-based state police apparatus at all levels were to be rounded up and held outside the city. High civilian and military officials were also removed from the city, both to await study of their individual cases. Ordinary civil servants working for "the Saigon enemy" out of necessity, but did not oppose the revolution, were destined for reeducation and later employment. Low-level civil servants who had at some point been involved in paramilitary activities were to be held for reeducation, but not employed. There are documented cases of individuals who were executed by the NLF when they tried to hide or otherwise resisted during the early stages of Huế's occupation.

Within days of the capture, US Marine Corps (USMC) and US Army as well as ARVN infantry units were dispatched to counterattack and recaptured the city after weeks of fierce fighting, during which the city and its outlying areas were exposed to repeated shelling from US Navy ships off the coast and numerous bombing runs by U.S. aircraft. It was inferred that during the USMC and ARVN attack, North Vietnam's forces had rounded up those individuals whose names it had previously collected and had them executed or sent North for re-education.

It was determined by piecing together bits of information from several sources that a large number of people had taken sanctuary from the battle in a local church. Several hundred of these people were ordered out to undergo indoctrination in the "liberated area," and told afterwards they would be allowed to return home. After marching the group south 9 kilometers, 20 of the people were separated, tried, found guilty, executed and buried. The others were taken across the river and turned over to a local Communist unit in an exchange that even included written receipts. Douglas Pike notes that while “'It is probable that the Commissar intended that their prisoners should be re-educated and returned, but with the turnover, matters passed from his control.” Sometime within the following several weeks, the Communists decided to kill the individuals under their control. After being informed of this by VC defectors, local authorities released a list of 428 names of people they claimed were identified from the bones found over a 100 yard area of the Da Mai creek bed.

Philip W. Manhard, a US province senior advisor in Huế, was taken to a POW camp by the NVA and held until 1973. Manhard recounted that during the NVA withdrawal from Huế the NVA summarily executed anyone in their custody who resisted being taken out of the city or who was too old, too young, or too frail to make the journey to the camp.

Don Oberdorfer spent five days in late 1969 with Paul Vogle, an American English professor at the local Huế University, going through Huế interviewing witness of the North Vietnamese and Viet Cong occupation. Oberdorfer classified all the killings into two categories: the planned execution of government officials and their families, political and civil servants, and collaborators with Americans; and those civilians not connected to the government who ran from questioning, spoke harshly about the occupation, or the occupiers believed “displayed a bad attitude” towards the occupiers. While unable to confirm this with first-hand accounts, Oberdorfer reported that in the Catholic area of Huế, Phucam, virtually every able bodied man over the age of 15 who took refuge in the cathedral was taken away and killed. In an interview with Ho Ty, a Viet Cong commander who took part in the advanced planning of a general uprising, Oberdorfer reported Ty's statement that the Communist party "was particularly anxious to get those people at Phucam... The Catholics were considered particular enemies of ours."