Classification of Architectural Works in Hoi An by Type of Ownership (2008)

Special type: Preserves the original elements of all construction items, with many unique architectural and artistic details. These elements have special historical, cultural and scientific value.

Type 1: Preserves the original elements of all construction items. These elements have high historical, cultural and scientific value.

Type 2: Basically preserves the original elements of the previous house structures. These elements have historical, cultural and scientific value.

Type 3: Preserves traditional tiled roofs and some original elements of the construction items. These elements have some historical, cultural, and scientific values.

Type 4: Constructions built and cast in concrete in a modern style, not using traditional materials. Have concrete roofs or roofs made of other materials other than yin-yang tiles [78].

Besides, these relics also have diverse ownership characteristics, specifically:

Table 2.2. Classification of architectural works in Hoi An by type of ownership (2008)

STT

Type of ownership	Quantity	Ratio (%)
1	State property (communal houses, temples, pagodas, mausoleums, shrines, bridges, well, grave,...)	205	16.4
2	Collective ownership (family church, association hall, etc.)	120	9.6
3	Private property (old house)	929	74.1
	Total	1,254	100.0

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Source: [125 , p.31 ]

How to systematize architectural works according to conservation value and ownership to serve the allocation of budget support for restoration and repair of these relics. According to Decision No. 2687/QD-UB dated June 28, 2004 on approving the feasibility project for urgent investment in restoration of relics at risk of collapse in Hoi An World Cultural Site of Quang Nam Provincial People's Committee, the investment capital ratio for restoration of state-owned relics is 100%, for relics owned by private and collectives, the support ratio is allocated as follows:

Table 2.3. Investment capital ratio for restoration of privately and collectively owned relics

Unit: %

Type of monument

House location along main road		House location along alleys
State support	Owner of the Monument contribute capital	State support	Owner of the Monument contribute capital
Special type	60	40	75	25
Type I and II	45	55	65	35
Type III	40	60	60	40

Source: [80]

Architectural heritage is not the only element that makes Hoi An famous and special as we see it today. Hoi An is more than just its unique appearance. The unique intangible cultural heritages that contribute to the soul of this ancient city include festivals, traditional customs, crafts, performing arts, folk games… and especially the lifestyle of Hoi An people past and present.

According to data from a comprehensive study by the Institute of Culture and Information (now the Vietnam National Institute of Culture and Arts) in 2004, Hoi An has 60 festivals with different scales and characteristics in 12 wards and communes of the city [62].

Table 2.4. Classification of festivals by relics

Classification by monument

Number of festivals	Rate (%)
Communal house festival	19	31.70
Temple festival	17	28.40
Tomb Festival	18	30.00
Assembly Hall Festival	4	0.67
Temple festival	2	0.34
Total	60	100.00

Source: [62, p. 106]

Traditional performing arts in Hoi An are also well preserved and developed, including folk songs, boat racing, lion dance, lake tour, etc. Cuisine is also one of the unique intangible cultural values with typical dishes of Hoi An such as cao lau, wonton, Quang noodles, Phuc Kien noodles, banh bao, chi ma, banh vac, etc.

With the characteristic of possessing a complex of diverse and rich cultural heritages, Hoi An poses many challenges to managers in preserving and promoting heritage. Temporarily grouping Hoi An's heritages into two sources: cultural heritage

The above mentioned tangible and intangible cultural heritage aims to present a complete and systematic view of the resources at this heritage site. In essence, these two groups are inseparable in the heritage system of Hoi An: Accompanying the ancient houses is an architectural style that harmoniously integrates the traditional architectural style of the Vietnamese people with the architectural style of other countries such as China, Japan, France and the traditional lifestyle of the people living in them; Accompanying the religious works such as communal houses, temples, pagodas are the traditional festivals and beliefs of the people; Associated with the ancient Cham wells is the Cham people's understanding of the location and well-digging techniques. In the work of preserving and exploiting heritage, managers in Hoi An always need to consider this mixed nature of their cultural assets to come up with appropriate plans and policies.

Another characteristic that also poses many difficulties for the management and conservation of this massive system of tangible and intangible cultural heritages of Hoi An is the living nature of these heritages. Hoi An ancient town not only includes architectural works, historical and cultural relics, archaeological sites, tangible artifacts and intangible cultural values associated with these tangible assets, but also includes the vivid and direct existence of the owners of these heritages, which are the local community. Hoi An ancient town is home to tens of thousands of people and these people are practicing intangible cultural heritages that give life to the tangible cultural heritages. The management and conservation of this system of heritages will have to take into account ensuring the interests, needs and desires of all aspects of the people living and operating these heritages. Compared to many other cultural heritage sites such as My Son, Hue, Ho Dynasty Citadel,..., this is a big difference that requires more complex policies, measures and management orientations.

Another reality of Hoi An Ancient Town that has been posing a major challenge to the management, conservation and exploitation of the cultural heritage of this place is the impact of climate change, which has been increasing in recent years. Hoi An is affected by the tropical monsoon climate and is governed by the Thu Bon River system due to its location at the estuary - coastal, at the end of the left bank of the Thu Bon River. Every year, the unique wooden architectural works of Hoi An are affected by the impact.

of floods, causing many old houses or many historical relics with wooden structures to be damaged and collapsed. This danger comes from the impact of a global and increasingly intense environmental change trend, which is difficult for a locality or a country to prevent. Therefore, another measure is to proactively respond to this threat through more effective heritage protection measures. This is also a big and heavy challenge for the heritage management work of this locality in recent years.

2.2. Cultural heritage system of Hoi An Ancient Town

2.2.1. Tangible cultural heritage

Ancient houses: According to statistics, Hoi An currently has 1,064 ancient houses. These structures make up most of the appearance of the old town from the past to the present. Most of the houses in Hoi An have architecture from the 19th and 20th centuries and are built mainly of wood. The architecture of these structures is very unique due to the cultural exchange when building these houses, showing a combination of traditional Vietnamese architecture and construction techniques with foreign architectural elements from China, France and Japan. This cultural exchange occurred when many merchants and refugees from Japan and mostly from China came to Hoi An, traded and settled, building their own houses and shops. Most of the houses in Hoi An ancient town are located along small, straight streets running parallel to the East - West direction such as Tran Phu, Bach Dang, Phan Chu Trinh, Nguyen Thi Minh Khai or streets intersecting the above streets such as Le Loi, Nhi Trung, Hoang Dieu, Hoang Van Thu,.... In those houses, many generations, sometimes three or four generations, live and do business together.

Family temples: Hoi An still preserves 39 family temples, which have high historical, cultural, architectural and spiritual values. These architectural works were built to serve the needs of ancestor worship and family activities. This architectural style is designed similar to a house, on the left and right sides of the main building there are two small wings and in front there is a yard. Normally, each family has an ancestor's death anniversary and on this day, all descendants in the family gather together, worship their ancestors with fruits, wine, food, ... and perform ancestor worship ceremony. Sometimes, the whole family

The clan gathers on special occasions of the year, worships, exchanges, shares and teaches children and grandchildren. The clan temple is where the younger generation in a family receives moral lessons and experiences from their uncles and grandparents, and where family relationships are increasingly strengthened. The clan leader is usually the one who receives the clan's responsibility to preserve, manage and organize the annual death anniversaries at these clan temples.

Communal houses: The ancient urban area of Hoi An currently has 22 communal houses with quite diverse ages and architectures, reflecting many cultural and spiritual features of the communities that own these relics. Communal houses in Hoi An are the center of cultural and religious activities of a village, often located in the most beautiful locations in the village. Most of the communal houses in Hoi An are places to worship the ancestors who founded the village, or founded traditional crafts (carpentry, pottery, carving, ...), traditional economic activities of the village (fishing, trading, growing herbs, ...). The oldest communal house in Hoi An is currently the communal house of Xuan My village, dating back to the early 19th century [119, p.314].

Pagodas: In the 17th - 19th centuries, Hoi An was a fairly important Buddhist center in Central Vietnam. This explains why within the framework of a small urban area like Hoi An there were up to 19 Buddhist pagodas (mainly the Lam Te sect of Pure Land Buddhism transmitted from China in the 17th century). Most of the pagodas have 19th century architecture because this was the period when pagodas were restored or rebuilt throughout the entire region. However, we can still see some elements of 17th and 18th century architecture in the decorations, motifs or artistic styles, etc. In Hoi An, there are two types of pagodas: One type has two parallel houses with identical internal structures and the other type is in the shape of a T, consisting of a main building and a sanctuary (communal houses and pagodas in Vietnam are commonly built in this style). Village pagodas such as Kim Buu Pagoda, Cam Ha (Thanh Ha), Phat Minh Huong Pagoda, Vien Giac Pagoda, etc. are located in the heart of villages, closely associated with the cultural and spiritual activities of the villagers. Pagodas with a religious nature such as Chuc Thanh, Van Duc, Phuoc Lam, Long Tuyen, Vien Giac, etc. are often separated from concentrated residential areas to facilitate the religious work of monks.

Assembly halls: These are religious architectural works of the Chinese community in Vietnam. The Chinese have lived in Hoi An for many centuries and are the collective owners of these architectural works. Usually, Chinese people from one region will live together, each group has their own assembly hall. Currently, there are 5 assembly halls in Hoi An, 4 of which were formed by 4 groups of Hoi An Chinese people from 4 different localities: Trieu Chau Assembly Hall (1845), Hai Nam Assembly Hall (1875), Phuc Kien Assembly Hall (1697), Quang Trieu Assembly Hall (1885); The 5th assembly hall is a common assembly hall for all 5 groups of residents, which is Duong Thuong Assembly Hall (1741). In addition to being a place for cultural activities, the assembly hall is also a place to worship the ancestors, the descendants, the gods who protect the material and spiritual life of the community belonging to that assembly hall. Each assembly hall usually has a three-door gate, then a front yard, with a rockery. The most important part of the assembly hall is the front hall, where the sacrificial rituals take place. The entire structure of the assembly hall is often decorated very delicately and harmoniously, in accordance with feng shui [119, p.320].

Temples - Mausoleums: Hoi An currently has 16 temples and mausoleums. These relics have quite different architecture and scale: large temples such as Quan Cong temple on Tran Phu street, Van Chi Cam Pho, Van Thanh Minh Huong temple,... have a Quoc-shaped structure with the main deities being sages, Confucian scholars or ancestors of professions. Some other medium and small temples such as Ngu Hanh temple, Thai Giam temple, Nam Dieu are often located outside the village, or in the middle of rice fields. In general, a temple usually has three rooms, the middle room has an altar and is a place to worship ancestors, people who formed the Minh Huong community in Vietnam, ancestors of professions (bird nest catching, pottery, carpentry,...), with construction locations located right in residential areas or at the beginning of the village (hamlet).

Ancient Bridge: This is a special architectural relic of Hoi An, the only remaining ancient bridge in this ancient town. This bridge has Japanese architecture. It is also called Lai Vien Kieu, named by Lord Nguyen Phuc Chu in early 1719 to commemorate the close relationship between Vietnam and Japan. The bridge is located in the west of Hoi An ancient town, connecting Tran Phu and Nguyen Thi Minh Khai streets. The northern side of this bridge was later added with a shrine to the god Bac De Tran Vo, who is believed to protect the bridge and the people here against evil spirits, protecting Hoi An, so later people

commonly known as the Japanese Covered Bridge. According to legend, the bridge was built by the Japanese community living in this port city in the 16th century and has undergone several repairs and renovations. The current state of the bridge is the result of a major renovation in 1817 (this is clearly stated on a stele and on a beam). The bridge lies across a small canal flowing into the Thu Bon River, and is made entirely of wood and painted red.

Cham wells: There are 10 Cham wells still in use today in Hoi An (two in Thanh Chiem village, two in An Bang village, one in Tra Que, one in Cu Lao Cham and five or six near Trung Phuong lake) [119, p.118]. These wells have the characteristics of the Cham people: round at the mouth and square or rectangular at the bottom, the bottom is often paved with wood. In particular, the water in Cham wells is very clear, clean, cool and rarely dries up in the dry season. This shows that the Cham people's technique in digging wells is very high. It is believed that these wells have a famous source of cool, clear water that the ancient Cham people provided to Arab and Persian traders when they arrived at this port in the 9th and 10th centuries. Until now, Cham wells are still in use and well protected.

Besides, Hoi An also has 39 ancient tombs of artistic value located in the outskirts of the old town. These tombs are the tombs of Cham, Vietnamese, Japanese, Chinese and Dutch people in the past. The construction techniques of these tombs are of great interest to many archaeologists, history and culture researchers.

In general, most of the relics in Hoi An are concentrated in the old town area and along the Thu Bon River. The architecture of these works represents the cultural exchange between indigenous cultures such as Cham, Viet and foreign cultures such as China, Japan, France, etc. It is clear that the architectural works and relics in Hoi An are evidence of the ups and downs of this ancient city. It can be seen that it is thanks to the weakening of the port city at the end of the 19th century that Hoi An still exists intact to this day.

2.2.2. Intangible cultural heritage

As mentioned above, architectural heritage is not the only element that makes Hoi An famous and special as we see it today. It would be a mistake if we only mentioned the relics, sites, alleys, ancient houses, ...

Forget the unique intangible cultural heritage that also contributes to creating the soul of this ancient city.

Festivals: This is one of the most typical traditional cultural activities of the Vietnamese people. According to data from a comprehensive survey by the Vietnam Institute of Culture and Arts in 2004, Hoi An had a total of 60 festivals with different scales and characteristics in all 12 wards and communes of the town at that time.

Table 2.5. Festivals in Hoi An (Classified by type of relic)

Type

Quantity
Communal house festival	19
Temple festival	17
Tomb Festival	18
Assembly Hall Festival	4
Temple festival	2
Total	60

Source: [62, p.106]

In terms of function, festivals in Hoi An are divided into many types such as craft festivals (Thanh Ha pottery village ancestor festival, Thanh Chau bird's nest village festival, fishing festival, Kim Bong carpentry village festival, etc.), agricultural festivals (crop praying festival, new rice festival, Than Nong worshiping festival, etc.), seasonal festivals (Lunar New Year, Thuong Nguyen festival, June, August, etc.), religious festivals (Minh Hai monk worshiping festival, Buddha's birthday, etc.) and other festivals such as Whale worshiping festival, Long Chu festival, etc. In general, these festivals are quite small and focus mainly on worshiping rather than the festival part. However, in some large festivals, we can still see community-serving activities such as traditional art performances and traditional games. For Hoi An people, festivals have an important meaning in their lives. Festivals are occasions for them to express their gratitude to their ancestors, guardian gods, and saints; It is an opportunity to escape from the daily grind, have fun and at the same time strengthen community ties.

Crafts: Hoi An has several craft villages and traditional craft villages.

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