Published:  00:00 Monday - January 11, 2010

A statue of Quang Trung Emperor, who defeated Qing dynasty’s 200,000 troops of out of Vietnam in the spring of 1789, was inaugurated at the Ban mountain square in the ancient imperial city of Hue on January 9.

The national hero’s 21m high marble statue is made of 18 slabs, weighing 10-60 tonnes each. It was created by sculptor Le Dinh Quy. The total construction of the statue costs VND19.8 billion.

The inauguration was one of major culture activities being held in the central province of Thua Thien-Hue towards the Thang Long-Hanoi millennium anniversary and this year.

After the inauguration ceremony, a festival to describe the national hero’s coronation was held with the participation of 1,480 artists.

Apart from the statue, the city has temples dedicated to Emperor Quang Trung, Empress Le Ngoc Han and the mandarins of the Tay Son dynasty and a showroom displaying documents and objects from the Tay Son uprising.