In Hoi An ancient town: An ancient house over 280 years old does not use nails, inside there are many precious antiques

(Dan Tri) - Over 280 years old, Tan Ky house (Hoi An) is the oldest remaining ancient house in Hoi An. The interesting and special point of the house is that there are no nails.

Located at 101 Nguyen Thai Hoc, Hoi An city, Quang Nam province, Tan Ky ancient house is considered a "living museum", preserving the cultural, artistic and historical values ​​of the ancient town of Hoi An.

The house was built in 1741 and has been inhabited by seven generations of the Le family. Currently, the owner still lives on the upper floor of the house, while the ground floor is for visitors.

Tan Ky ancient house has a frontage on the busy Nguyen Thai Hoc street (Photo: Ngo Linh).

According to the Quang Nam Province Tourism Promotion Center, this house was built by artisans from the famous Kim Bong carpentry village of Hoi An.

Tan Ky ancient house has suffered historic floods, the worst of which was in 1964, when water reached the ceiling of the first floor. However, the house still preserves almost intact its ancient cultural and architectural values.

The house has 2 floors and 3 rooms, with multinational Vietnamese - Chinese - Japanese architectural features, and is one of the most intact and beautiful remaining ancient houses in Vietnam.

The most prominent is the traditional Vietnamese architecture, including a 3-room house with a ceiling covered with yin-yang tiles. The main highlight of the house is the pillars, rafters... all of which are carved with sophisticated lines, depicting typical images such as fish heads, dragon tails, pomegranates, pumpkins, peaches, bats...

Japanese architecture is reflected in the living room area, built according to the feng shui of Metal, Wood, Water, Fire, and Earth. In addition, there is also a harmonious yin-yang tiled roof.

The house has a combination of Vietnamese - Japanese - Chinese architecture (Photo: Ngo Linh).

Tan Ky ancient house has a typical tubular shape of Chinese architecture, inside are many separate rooms.

The special thing about this old house is that it has no windows, but it is not stuffy or hot. In the middle of the house, there is a skylight to maximize the natural light source and regulate the air flow in the house.

The interior materials in the house are mainly made of precious wood, carved and sculpted very delicately, showing the prosperity of the generations of owners. The rafters and frames of the house are made of ironwood, the doors are made of jackfruit wood, the tables and chairs are made of ironwood.

Besides wood, there is also stone brought back from Thanh Hoa , the floor tiles are Bat Trang tiles which help keep the house cool in summer and warm in winter.

An interesting and special point of this ancient house in Hoi An is that there is no appearance of any nails. All columns and beams are erected and fitted together with mortise and tenon joints, very solid and sturdy.

Tan Ky ancient house still preserves many parallel sentences, horizontal lacquered boards, parallel sentences and hundreds of priceless antiques such as drinking bowls, wine bottles, teapots, Pipa vases, Chu Dau ceramic vases... from the 16th century.

The ancient house still preserves hundreds of priceless antiques from the 16th century, especially the Confucius cup (Photo: Ngo Linh).

Among them is a cup associated with an old story about Confucius. The cup is simply decorated, when pouring water from the outside, you must pour slowly, when almost full, you must stop or the water will flow out.

In 1990, Tan Ky ancient house was honored to be granted a certificate of National Historical and Cultural Relic and was recognized by UNESCO as a world cultural heritage.

Tan Ky ancient house is in the special preservation area of ​​Hoi An, becoming an ideal place for tourists when coming to the old town and wanting to learn about long-standing historical and cultural values.

Source: https://dantri.com.vn/du-lich/nha-co-hon-280-tuoi-khong-dung-dinh-ben-trong-nhieu-co-vat-quy-20241108072618354.htm