Thứ Sáu, 2 tháng 1, 2015
One of the reasons that Hanoi tours has attracted so
many tourists over the years is its Old Quarter (36 old streets and guilds). It
is an area well-known for the history, the architecture, the enormous amount
and diversity of products and even the everyday life of its residents.
History of Hanoi
The Old Quarter marked its appearance in the 11th century, when
King Ly Thai To decided to build his palace. That means By 2010, Hanoi as well
as the 36 old streets turned 1000 years old. Originally a group of workshop
villages surrounding the royal palace, the Old Quarter has gradually
transformed into craft cooperatives, or guilds and soon gained its reputation
as the business trading areas of the Red River delta.
Skilled craftsmen migrated to the Quarter to live and work
together in the same guilds, which were made specialized for artisans
performing similar services. The new allocation of production and service
helped to create a cooperative system for merchandise transportation to
designated streets. Soon under French colony, the Old Quarter increasingly
became a marketplace for trade between the local and businessmen from China,
India and France.
Despite the damages that Vietnam War left in Hanoi, the Old
Quarter still retained much of the original traits that interests tourists,
especially those with architectural passion. These houses are neither tall
buildings as people normally see in cities nor stilt houses on lines of poles,
which were popular in Vietnams' mountainous regions these days. They are also
called "tubular houses" which are short and narrow but have great
length.
In the past, the king stipulated that "citizens' houses
could not be built higher than the height of the king's palanquin". And
because of the dense population in a limited area, people needed to spend the
front room for stores; the inside room is widened to its length in order to
divide places for manufacturing, dining and living of each family.
The house is sometimes too narrow that only one person can pass
by at a time. Standing close together, these tubular houses make up the ward
along the soil streets; some streets were paved with stone or brick. Only until
the later time, they were asphalted.
Old Streets and Traditional Trades
Hanoi has an old quarter of 36 streets, each being closely
attached to a traditional trade that is clearly shown by its name, such as Hang
Muoi (salt) Street selling salt, Hang Manh (curtain) Street selling bamboo
curtains, Hang Bac (silver) Street selling silver jewellery, etc.
Mentioning the old streets of Hanoi, the essay “Notes taken on
rainy days” by Pham Dinh Ho writes: “Dien Hung ward (present-day Hang Ngang)
and Dong Lac ward (present-day Hang Dao) are places where many cloths and silk
products are sold.” According to Hanoi researcher Nguyen Vinh Phuc, all kinds
of papers, such as Giay ban (tissue paper), Giay moi (inferior tissue paper),
Giay boi (coarse paper) and other popular papers made by people in Buoi and Cot
Villages were sold on Hang Giay Street in the past.
Some streets were named after a legend or special ana, such as
Hang Chao (rice porridge) Street which was the place selling rice porridge to
candidates who came to the capital to attend “Thi Hoi” (National Examination)
and “Thi Dinh” (Court Examination) or Trang Tien Street near Hoan Kiem Lake
where once existed a coin casting workshop of the Nguyen Dynasty (the 19th
century).
At present, the number of old streets in Hanoi is a matter of
controversy because someone said that 36 is only a symbolic number. However, it
is correct to say that people on each old street engaged in a trade. In the
past, people from all parts of the country flocked to the capital to set
themselves up in business. Following the trade motto “It needs friends when
trading and it needs to establish guilds when selling”, they lived together in
one place and gradually established guilds specializing in trades and products.
Due to this unique feature, Hanoians usually think of one street
where they can buy what they want. For example, the locals usually venture to
Hang Manh Street to buy bamboo curtains, Thuoc Bac Street to buy medicinal
herbs, Hang Chieu Street to buy mats, etc.
Hanoi is undergoing drastic changes daily and the old quarter
with “Hang” streets are also affected by the process of development. Hotels,
restaurants, coffee shops, etc., have mushroomed on these streets, so only a
few streets with the traditional trades remain, such as Hang Bac, Hang Ma, Hang
Manh, Hang Chieu, Hang Dong, etc.
The others have engaged in other trades, for example, Hang Than
Street now sells Banh com (green rice flake cakes), teas and cigarettes in
service of wedding ceremonies; Hang Vai Street sells bamboo products; Hang Chao
sells mechanical and electric products to meet the demand of customers in the
modern life. In addition, many new streets with new trades have been
established in Hanoi, such as Hai Ba Trung Street selling electronic products,
Ly Nam De Street selling computers, Luong Van Can Street selling children toys,
Hoang Hoa Tham Street selling ornamental trees and Dang Dung Street selling
second-hand mobile telephones.
Structure of Shophouse
Regarding the structure of shophouse, the house of 30 Phat Loc,
which we have studied in last year, is one of the best to preserve the original
form. Following this example, wooden frame structure is also observed in Hang
Buom at several houses. This structure is mainly consisted with steep beams.
The oldest pattern is found at 47 Hang Bac, having low-rise upper floor,
down-curved ridge beam, or partition wall on its both ends of roofs. On Hang
Buom, No.50 House is categorized in this type, having narrow width and
over-topped metal roof on the original tiled roof to prevent from rain leaking.
Next example is to mount a higher upper floor, even using the
similar wooden structure. This type sometimes hires Western motives on its
façade as it enlarged by higher roof. Between the two we can find a difference
in proportion, which should be regarded to be based on respective usage and
aesthetic. The latter case is typically found at No.57 House of Hang Buom.
On the other hand, it has more modernized one with reinforced
concrete structure built in the colonial period, estimated to be built in 1940s
or 50s, accommodating spacious void and Art Deco style handrails. This house of
No.60 Hang Buom shows modernity of the time. It is another task to define and
distinguish this sort of structure which is hardly to be distinguished from
recent usual buildings if not carefully watched.
Social Organizations
Besides shophouses, some larger institutions are also located in
the street, such as Bach Ma temple, Hoi Quan Quang Dong Chinese congregational
hall, Cantonese school, and Quan Cong Mieu temple. All of them except Bach Ma
Temple were once belonged to Chinese community nestled in this neighborhood,
show the history of Hang Buom to be flourished as China Town in Hanoi. Even
Bach Ma temple was then worshipped by the Chinese. This renowned land mark was
restored last year and also used as office of Phuong. Each stone plate is also
well preserved. The restoration work of Quan Cong Mieu is now undergoing.
Old Cantonese congregational hall has two parts; the frontage
designated to assemblage hall with theater stage, and the rear accommodates
worship place. The site is constituted three row of buildings in width, center
and besides. Shophouses attached on both side are also designed at the same
time. Old Cantonese school faced across the street is supposed to be developed
in the same manner. Finally the finding is that this neighboring site is once a
unified complex to serve the Cantonese community. Presently these structures
are re-used for people’s daily lives such as the Cantonese congregational hall
is designated to kindergarten, and the Cantonese school is used as the
journalist club. Each of them has good example of traditional structure and
still characterizes the streetscape.
Formation of City Block
Our study then reveals the relation between the formation
process of city block and specific figure of shophouses. Theoretically, the
shophouse belonging to old street has longer depth and abundant backyard, while
relatively new street has shorter ones and newer structure. This general idea
is to be examined in the study. On Hang Buom street the lots close to the
street side has narrow rectangular shape and in the enough deeper part of the lots
to be free from its fetter is in irregular shape. No.53 Hang Buom house has a
villa structure attached to the back of the shophouse of the frontage part.
This villa occupies the backyard of the next door lots. No.71 Hang Buom also
has villa on its back and preserves small path through to Hang Giay street.
These cases show phased steps to form city block, and are
applied to estimate its chronological process. In the studied area, Hang Buom
street once had regular depth of its shophouses in its early stage of
development, which might result from two reasons: a pond located on the back of
shophouse row, and village boundary run there. This pond was filled up to 1910s
and French authority rearranged administrative organizations, then in both
natural and social conditions no restriction existed to stop extension of
shophouse. Consequently rich families could occupy the back yard.
Newly-laid street was affected to the form of city block. On
these streets in the Colonial period, only houses of shallow depth are built.
In general, the longer history the street has, the deeper its shophouse ends,
which could be applied to measure street’s history in relative comparison of
neighboring ones. In the studied area, Luong Ngoc Quyen street is relatively
new street to connect and to widen existing paths.
On Hang Giay street which is the prolongation of the northern
part across Hang Buom street to Luong Ngoc Quyen, unique type of housing was
generated such as Apartment-style housing to be inserted in the narrow lots
alongside the street. The building itself is designed in late Art Deco style,
which was novel trend at that time.
Architectural figure and Streetscape -based on measuring work
and old photograph
When considering architectural figure in the streetscape,
measuring works or old photographs are referred to discriminate original parts
from lately attached modifications. Comparing the buildings in the photographs
and existing ones carefully, we can distinguish original form of them. These
old photos also exhibits relating materials such as goods, commodities,
clothes, or customs. Display of selling goods on the shops is very much
interesting. The old photos provides us much information on old Hanoi so that
we should promote collecting them to increase their stock as database.
Conclusion
Strolling through the old quarter or “36 streets” of Hanoi one
can perceive the beauty as well as typical feature of these streets which
should be preserved by not only the authorities but also the locals.
