Kaleidoscope - The Living Heritage

Hoi An is situated on the northern banks of the Thu Bon River in Quang Nam Province. By today’s standards it is just a town with a population of around 120,000 people. But if 200 years had not passed by, it would be the picture of a metropolitan city of many nationalities coming together to trade, exchange cultures and live as neighbours. It was one of the most important mercantile exchange centres in South-East Asia especially in its heyday from late 16th to early 18th century. Ships came from elsewhere in Asia and Europe. Ceramics from China were known to have reached Egypt in the African continent transferred through its port.

Chinese and Japanese settlers built their homes in styles that were imported from their countries of origin. Chinese art and culture combined with Vietnamese are most distinctive in Hoi An today. Their legacies are reflected in the pagodas and temples, community houses, cult houses for ancestor worship, residences and tombs that remains. They were mostly constructed in the 19th century though many have features of the 17th and 18th centuries. Buildings in local architecture were raised in traditional form – entirely wooden structures with clay tile roofs. The enclave consisting of the old city is now a UNESCO World Heritage site for being exceptionally well preserved example of a South-East Asian port of the 15th – 19th centuries.

Though its days of glory dates to more recent history, Hoi An was already a trading port for its indigenous people of Sa Hyunh culture as early as 2nd century BC. Known by the name of Lam Ap Pho in the 15th century, it grew to become the most important port dealing in spices for the powerful Champa Kingdom. It continued to expand after its absorption into Vietnam and administered by the Nguyen Lords in the 16th century. However, during the Nguyen Dynasty, Hoi An port was operated following a ‘closed-door policy’ in the 19th century. Though it retained its role as the main port in the central region, the opening of new ports particularly Danang and silting at its harbour led to the final eclipse of the city. Ironically, economic stagnation preserved its appearance in a remarkably intact state till present day.

Balconies and roofs overgrown with flowers are now symbols of Hoi An’s past glory. This row of neo-classical Sino-western style houses were once residences cum shops of rich merchants and those of affluence.

In a timeless zone. While descendents of the materially rich may not possess the same fortune as their ancestors once did, their cultural wealth were sustained. Life continues in traditional ways of the past.

An old lady sells bananas door-to-door, street-to-street on foot. Bicycles remain a key means of transport while motorbikes are a more ‘modern’ option.

Shops of colourful silk lanterns. The annual festival - Hoi An Lantern Festival is part of the lunar new year or Tet celebrations.

A souvenir shop on the ground floor and residence upstairs. The old city now survive mainly on an economy moved by tourists - visitors from ‘another time zone’.

The antique rickshaw has seen its days of usefulness. In its glorious days, Hoi An attracted visitors, immigrants and expatriates of Chinese, Japanese, Indians and Dutch origins here. Later French arrival changed its entire fate.

Between 7th – 10th centuries, Hoi An controlled the spice trade in South-east Asia. It started as a harbour town of the then powerful Champa Kingdom at the estuary of the Thu Bon River.

A rare sight. Roof of alamanda flowers in a shop building of traditional Vietnamese architecture. The building is completely constructed in wood with the roof in clay tiles.

Exceptionally well preserved - a row of beautiful traditional wooden shop-houses. Most of the wooden buildings are built in the 19th century but have traces of features of the 17th and 18th centuries. It is probable that original wooden parts of earlier periods were replaced periodically by newer ones because of decay and the later date was registered as time of construction.

An art gallery with a rich collection of traditional Vietnamese crafts in ceramics and metal works. Two millennia ago – before the arrival of the Vietnamese – the indigenous Cham people were already very advance in their skills. Archaeological excavations revealed iron items in use during the Sa Huynh cultural age, ahead of their northern counterparts who were still working with bronze.

Hoi An has a distinctively Chinese atmosphere. This Fukian (Fujian) Assembly Hall was built in 1697 by immigrants from Fujian Province in China. It is dedicated to the ‘Sea Goddess’ Thian Hou, the protector of ships at sea. The early merchants pray for their safety and goods.

A Chinese-style community house which is now used as a restaurant. Yesteryears’ predominant Chinese characters on signboards and banners across entrances and on pillars in commercial and residential buildings are preserved till present day.