As part of an outdoor exhibition at the Vietnam Museum of Ethnology (VME) another two ancient houses built in Tho Xuan District, Thanh Hoa Province will be on display from later this month. Phuong Lien reports
The two houses were built by carpenters in Dai Tai Village, Hoang Hoa District of the same province in 1906. In December 2005, the museum bought the houses from Le Duy Thiet and Le Duy Thu, two descendants of the previous owner of the houses, Co Hoi. Both houses include a nha ngang, an extension built to accommodate children, guests and store food. According to one of the museum’s archaeologists, Vu Hong Thuat, these sort of houses are few and far between in Thanh Hoa province. The good news is there will now be four such houses on display at the museum. “These ancient houses are valuable relics symbolising the traditional culture of the country. But the province has faced a threat of losing such houses over recent years due to a rising trend among locals to build large brick houses,” said Thuat. The provincial authorities, therefore, issued a ban on the removal or devastation of old styled houses. Co Hoi’s house was held under this ban until the museum asked the government to allow the house to be transferred to the museum for preservation. The Kinh ethnic group accounts for 86 per cent population of Vietnam and Kinh people can be found throughout the country, but are mainly concentrated in delta areas and houses located along the Red River Delta, Ma River Delta and Chu River Delta were of particular interest to the museum as they are part of a rich cultural past. After research trips to Ha Tay, Hai Duong, Bac Ninh, Nam Dinh, Ninh Binh, Hai Phong and Thanh Hoa provinces the museum’s researchers selected the first two houses in 2000, before securing the sale of the other two in December 2005. Both of the previously acquired houses have been at the museum since 2000. One is called nha chinh, which is a major house comprising five compartments for worshipping, receiving guests and accommodation, while the other is called nha hoc, a house with five compartments for teaching and study. Co Hoi inherited these houses, amongst others, from Le Duy Hoi, her great grandfather. Hoi was an intelligent man, well-educated and proficient in French and Chinese as well as an active revolutionist before 1945 and died at 1953. After the country’s land reform in 1954, the house was divided up and distributed to others, some who were relatives and some who were not. On a second trip up to Thanh Hoa province for the additional two houses, the VME team discovered an interesting detail: an engraved clock. When rays of sunlight are partly blocked by the roof, there are certain lines of sunshine on the yard. The family took advantage of it to engrave a line and note the time. So the yard has four “clocks” that were used to check the time during the four seasons. The carpenters of the Dai Tai Village have been renowned for their skill and were invited to reset the two houses at the museum. It is expected that a perfect traditional house of Kinh people, including nha chinh, nha hoc, nha ngang and kitchen, together with a brick yard paved in middle of the houses, a well, a house gate leading to village passage, which will be surrounded by a garden of trees banana, orange, lemon, star fruit, papaya, guava and grape fruit, will be completed and shown to public at VME by the end of April, making it a true home away from home.
