Huế Rooftop: where a leaf decides to become a dragon

If you take the trouble to look up while walking through the Imperial City, you'll notice something strange: the patterns on the roofs don't stay still. They transform.

The above French-era documentary drawing correctly records its name: "Feuillage se changeant en dragon" — the leaf that is turning into a dragon. Starting from the right is an ordinary leaf branch, and gradually moving to the left, it curls up, sprouts scales, and by the time it reaches the top of the roof, it has already become a horned dragon's head.

This is a royal decorative technique colloquially called "transformation" — one object turning into another. Leaves transform into dragons, clouds transform into dragons, and even written characters transform into dragons. It seems the artisans of old were obsessed with the idea that everything was on its way to becoming something else.

Here's why you should pay attention: most visitors to the Imperial City just snap a photo of Ngo Mon Gate and move on. But the finest craftsmanship here is up high, in places even the king himself had to look up to see — and yet the artisans worked it just as meticulously.

Little tip: bring a zoom lens or use your phone's zoom function. If you just stand and look with the naked eye, the pattern is just an undulating yellow-brown strip. Only when you zoom in do you see the dragon.