Remembering the trading port of Hoi An

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According to Associate Professor Do Bang of the Thua Thien Hue Historical Society, when Lord Nguyen Hoang and the governor of Quang Nam, Nguyen Phuc Nguyen, wrote many letters calling on foreign merchants to come and trade, the West turned its attention to the East. Japanese and Chinese merchants came to Hoi An and stayed there, building streets and creating a very distinctive urban area, a blend of many cultures.

Lord Nguyen allowed Japanese and Chinese merchants to choose a location near the Hoi An trading port to establish a trading town and permanent residence. From then on, two autonomous districts were formed in Hoi An: one for the Japanese and one for the Chinese. They lived separately, appointed their own officials, and followed the customs and traditions of each country.

At that time in the Quang Nam region, Lord Nguyen also received many Portuguese and Dutch merchant ships for trade and planned to grant the Portuguese 3-4 miles of land near Da Nang port to establish a town with amenities and privileges similar to those Lord Nguyen had granted to the Japanese and Chinese.

Information from an international conference on Hoi An in 1990 revealed that, in the 17th century, the urban landscape of Hoi An was defined as follows: To the east was the Japanese Quarter, located downstream of the river; to the west was the Chinese Quarter, located upstream of the river; to the south was the large river (the Thu Bon River at that time); and to the north was the Vietnamese Quarter (An Nam Quarter).

The Japanese Quarter is located in the site of Hoai Pho village, an ancient village, so the section of the Thu Bon River flowing through Hoi An is also called the Hoai River. The place name Faifo (the name given to Hoi An by the French) also originates from the name of that village and river. Hoai Pho village is recorded in the book O Chau Can Luc (1555). In the 18th century, the village changed its name to Hoa Pho; later it was changed to Son Pho village. Son Pho is currently part of Cam Chau commune, Hoi An city.

According to Dr. Do Bang, the Japanese bought 20 acres of land in Hoai Pho and An My villages to build streets and settle there; they also established a temple named Tung Bon. “In the Pho Da Son Linh Trung Phat stele at Ngu Hanh Son (Da Nang), inscribed in 1640 and which we surveyed and published in 1985, there are nine mentions of the Japanese residence and one mention of the Tung Bon residence, where the Japanese lived in Hoi An and donated a lot of money to this temple. This was the peak period of the Japanese quarter in Hoi An, so Westerners called Hoi An the Japanese city. The first mayor recognized in 1618 was Furamoto Yashiro; there were many mayors with great power in Dang Trong, such as Simonosera. One mayor even intervened with Lord Nguyen to grant special favors to Alexandre de Rhodes during the period when Catholicism was banned,” Associate Professor Dr. Do Bang shared.

Many relics reveal the prosperous life and lifestyle of the Japanese in Hoi An, from markets and seaports to ships and boats, and even the burial practices of the Japanese here: "In 1981, we also found four ancient Japanese tombs in Hoi An, also recording the year of death in the last decade of the 17th century." (According to "Cities of Dang Trong under the Nguyen Lords," Dr. Do Bang)

The Japanese quarter in Hoi An emerged and flourished in the first half of the 17th century and lasted until the end of that century. Due to various embargo policies, the Japanese were forced to return home, while the remaining few married Chinese and Vietnamese people, and the quarter gradually faded away.

In 1618, Chinese merchants began to gather in Hoi An. Besides the horizontal plaque bearing the inscription "Thien Khai - Tan Dau year" (1621) belonging to a Chinese family on Tran Phu Street, which is considered the oldest artifact of the Chinese quarter.

Documents also indicate that during the heyday of the Chinese quarter, the Chinese built an ancestral temple called Cam Ha Palace in 1626, on the border of Cam Pho and Thanh Ha villages, located west of present-day Hoi An city. Numerous documents provide evidence of Chinese immigrants buying land in Hoi An to establish the quarter, as evidenced by land and house purchase deeds on what is now Tran Phu Street.

Tran Phu Street at that time had become a bustling Chinese neighborhood with two rows of houses as Bowyear described (1695): "This harbor has only one main street on the riverbank, with two rows of 100 houses on either side, all inhabited by Chinese people."

Also in 1695, Thich Dai San, upon arriving in Hoi An, recorded in his "Overseas Chronicle" (translated by Hue University, 1963): "Along the riverbank, there is a road 3-4 miles long, called Dai Duong Nhai. The houses on both sides are closely packed. The shop owners are all from Fujian and still dress in the style of the previous dynasty."

In his article "Hoi An: 400 Years of Legend," researcher Chau Phi Co stated: "The Japanese established their settlements at the sunrise end of the city, while the Chinese built their streets at the sunset end." The connection between the Japanese and the Chinese further enlivened Hoi An's heritage. The Japanese built a bridge called the Japanese Bridge (Lai Vien Bridge), and the Chinese built a temple on it to worship the Northern Emperor, hence the name Cau Temple (Dog Temple). This is a landmark that everyone visiting Hoi An should see.

The map "Thien Nam Tu Chi Lo Do Thu" drawn by Do Ba (1630 - 1655) shows names like Hoi An Street, Hoi An Style, etc., which helps us confirm that Hoi An Street and Hoi An Bridge (Japanese Bridge) were built in the first half of the 17th century.

Heritage sites such as the Hoi An communal house and the Ong Voi temple on Le Loi Street are believed by historians to have been part of a Vietnamese urban area that emerged in the first half of the 17th century, alongside the Chinese and Japanese quarters. Thus, within Hoi An, Japanese, Chinese, and Vietnamese people lived together, creating a diverse and interconnected urban environment, although the customs of each community remained distinct.

Decline due to circumstances and geography.

After a period of prosperity, Hoi An lost its position as a leading trading port in Vietnam. This was partly due to geographical changes and partly due to the Nguyen dynasty's policy of prioritizing Da Nang port.

In the 19th century, many lagoons and ponds were altered. The silting up of Cua Dai estuary was one of the factors leading to the decline of Hoi An trading port. The Thu Bon and Cho Cui rivers changed their course; sections that were once deep channels were filled in and shallowed, forming new land areas. When Hoi An no longer had lagoons deep and wide enough for ships to anchor, the economic significance of this area gradually diminished.

This was also the period when the Nguyen dynasty implemented a policy of "closed-door policy." "The more important Da Nang became, the less important Hoi An became. Da Nang became an ideal trading port in Central Vietnam – a target for Western imperialist powers, a strategic gateway to penetrate and conquer Vietnam," Dr. Ta Hoang Van stated in his article "Urban Planning and Architecture of Hoi An under the Nguyen Lords."

An English merchant named Chapman, upon arriving in Hoi An and witnessing the desolation of the town after the Tay Son dynasty, wrote: “Upon arriving in Hoi An, this great city was left with hardly any of the well-planned streets of brick houses and cobblestone roads; instead, I saw only a desolate landscape that filled me with sorrow. Oh my God, those structures now only remain in memory.” (From “Architecture of Hoi An Ancient Town” - Vietnam, The World Publishing House 2003).

According to Dr. Ta Hoang Van, many factors contributed to the decline of Hoi An: “After the Tay Son period, Hoi An was unable to recover. By the end of the 18th century, neither Dang Trong nor Dang Ngoai had any European trading posts left, and their trade in Hoi An gradually declined. In 1792-1793, Hoi An was merely a stopover point for unsold goods. Having lost its role as a commercial hub, Hoi An became a ‘gateway port for Da Nang’.”

By the 20th century, with the appearance of the North-South railway from Quy Nhon to Da Nang and the paving of national highways, "Hoi An was like a forgotten bag of goods; mansions, streets, and ports were also built along that road in Da Nang." (according to "Vietnam's Commercial Economy under the Nguyen Dynasty" - Do Bang, Thuan Hoa Publishing House 1977).

Dr. Ta Hoang Van argues that, in addition to changing political policies regarding foreign merchants, the phenomenon of river transformations is also seen in other cities. Therefore, all goods flow to Da Nang as a hub. “Until 1847, only the Da Nang seaport had a large volume of ship traffic. As Da Nang grew stronger, Hoi An became increasingly deserted and quiet beside the shallow river,” Dr. Van stated.

On October 9, 1888, King Thành Thái issued a decree establishing Faifo (Hội An) as the provincial capital of Quảng Nam. On October 9, 1905, the railway line was opened. Da Nang became the largest and most dominant seaport city in Central Vietnam at that time.

In the late 19th century, Da Nang was considered a strategically important area by the Nguyen dynasty. To strengthen the country's defense forces, the Nguyen dynasty established a mountain outpost in Quang Nam. The political, economic, and social center of Quang Nam remained the provincial capital of La Qua (Dien Ban) and Hoi An, where the French had their Resident's office. In his travelogue "Journey to Cochinchina," Captain John White described "Hoi An as being in a state of poverty and decline, with no visitors except for the local fleet and a small ship from Tonkin..." ( Xua va Nay Magazine , 1998).

Tuan Ngoc

Source: https://baophapluat.vn/nho-ve-thuong-cang-hoi-an-post551040.html