Unique ancient houses in Nghe An
(Baonghean) - In the process of building new rural areas, besides many villages that have "turned into cities" with modern, spacious houses, many rural areas of Nghe An still preserve ancient houses that are hundreds of years old.
Depending on the natural conditions, habits, customs, aesthetic concepts... of each region, the architecture and construction of ancient houses have many different features. In general, the ancients paid great attention to feng shui (wind direction, water direction, light direction...) when building houses.
The ancient houses of the Kinh people in Nghe An that are being preserved in the villages are all ground-floor houses, with many pillars, long, low, and roofed with scale tiles. These houses have frames made from good types of wood (lim, jackfruit, doi...) with the structure of "tu tru" (four pillars), "ngu tru" (each pillar has 4-5 pillars). Each house is divided into 2 parts: the "outer house" is used for worship and receiving guests, the "inner house" is used for living.
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| An ancient house in Tho village, Phuc Thanh commune, Yen Thanh district. Photo: Huy Thu |
In Yen Thanh rice district, Phuc Thanh commune is one of the localities that still preserves the most ancient houses. In the space of the ancient Tho village, there are currently more than a dozen ancient houses with beautiful gardens, ranging from one hundred to several hundred years old. These are wooden houses with 3 to 6 compartments, regardless of even or odd compartments. Inside these houses, the wooden parts are often made in the style of "rung ke, cot thu, ha thach", many parts such as rung, door panels... are carved with elaborate and beautiful grass, flowers and leaves.
Some houses have tiled roofs with double-layered gables, which look quite impressive. The special thing about the old houses here is that they do not have cupboards or ceilings like in the flooded countryside. Many houses also hang elaborately woven bamboo blinds to block the sun and rain, which can be raised or lowered as desired. Among the old houses in Tho village, the houses of Nguyen Viet Quynh, Pham Gia Ngon, and Nguyen Viet Linh are the most typical.
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| Ancient houses in Nghe An villages are often divided into two parts: the "outer house" used for worship and receiving guests, the "inner house" used for daily activities. Photo: Huy Thu |
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| Patterns on the lines of the 6-room house of Mr. Nguyen Viet Linh in Tho village, Phuc Thanh commune, Yen Thanh district. Photo: Huy Thu |
In flood-prone rural areas such as Cu Thon, Giang Thuy, Hung Loi commune (Hung Nguyen) or Luong Dien, Ke Sap, Thanh Xuan commune (Thanh Chuong), ancient houses have relatively similar architecture. Unlike in Yen Thanh, ancient houses here only have an odd number of rooms (3, 5, 7), with cupboards - ceilings to store things, to avoid floods. Ancient houses in Nhut land are more unique, often built in the style of "ke xang troi ban" (raising the roof with a system of rafters), "ha cham dau, ha quai giang" (attaching to columns, with mortise and tenon). Wide roofs, covered with yin-yang tiles or single tiles. In the front, there are many types of doors, arranged on different types of thresholds: large door - threshold 1, side door - threshold 3 (dia thu, ban am, ngoa), window - threshold 5.
Some houses have beams, bamboo cladding, and many sliding doors at the back for ventilation and escape. Currently in Thanh Xuan, Mr. Nguyen Van Hoa's house is the most beautiful, Mr. Nguyen Canh The's house is the most original, and the longest house (7 rooms) is Mr. Nguyen Van Lieu's.
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| The ancient houses in Thanh Xuan commune, Thanh Chuong district, usually have many doors (main door, side door, windows) in the front opening on different thresholds. Photo: Huy Thu |
Currently, some ancient houses in the countryside have been restored and embellished, but still retain the original wooden structure and style. Mr. Nguyen Viet Quynh's family in Nam Chinh hamlet, Phuc Thanh commune (Yen Thanh) has invested a lot of money to restore and renovate an ancient house system including a house, kitchen, guest house, "T" shaped structure with a full garden, ornamental plants, like a museum. Mr. Nguyen Van Hoa's family in Xuan Nam hamlet, Thanh Xuan commune (Thanh Chuong) has also invested hundreds of millions of dong to renovate a 5-room house that has been through 7 generations, with the desire to "preserve the house of our ancestors as a souvenir for a long time".
In recent years, "playboys" have been constantly hunting for and buying old houses in the countryside, but almost no one who owns these houses wants to sell, because for them "preserving old houses is also the responsibility of descendants to their fathers and ancestors".
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| Luong Dien village, Thanh Xuan commune is the rural area that still preserves the most ancient houses in Thanh Chuong district. Houses here often have single rooms, ceilings and cupboards to avoid floods. Photo: Huy Thu |
Ancient houses have been associated with the countryside for generations. Inside these houses, some families still preserve almost intact the worshiping objects and familiar household items, such as bamboo trays, tables, beds, betel boxes, hat racks, etc. What is more precious is that after hundreds of years of existence, the ancient houses continue to be the shelters and homes of families.
Many generations were born, grew up and matured in these beloved old houses. Whether they go to the South or the North, every time Tet comes, when the apricot and peach blossoms are in full bloom, they return to gather and feel warm under the old roof, wrap banh chung, offer incense to the ancestral altar, share love and cherish the family values of filial piety.
