A corner of Hoi An ancient town (Quang Nam Province).

Along with the charming ancient houses, hidden deep within the quiet beauty of the ancient town is a cultural treasure that has been preserved and creatively restored, creating the soul of an ancient heritage town.

Twenty-five years have passed since Hoi An was recognised by UNESCO as a World Cultural Heritage Site. With constant efforts to preserve and promote the value of one of Southeast Asia's most unique ancient towns, Hoi An has become a symbol of the harmonious combination between heritage preservation and sustainable economic development.

Preserving the heritage spirit

Hoi An currently has four craft villages and one traditional craft recognised as a National Intangible Heritage. Several other traditional crafts are in the process of applying for recognition.

The ecosystem of craft villages, craft village communities, and the long-standing customs, activities, and beliefs of residents have contributed to inspiring, forming, and nurturing the richness and diversity of many unique folk art forms, most notably Bai Choi singing, which was recognised as a Representative Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity in 2017.

Thereby, it truly and vividly reflects the cultural and social characteristics of the land and becomes an essential part of the spiritual life of the people of Hoi An.

Over the years, Hoi An has worked hard to care for, train, foster, and attract talented, passionate people to participate directly in art performances, especially folk art. Hoi An now has a team of actors and performers with a strong identity, becoming an easily recognisable beauty for Hoi An when performing in the ancient urban space or anywhere at the invitation of domestic and international art programmes.

Hoi An has promoted intangible cultural values ​​and succeeded in creating cultural tourism products to serve the needs of visitors while at the same time breathing artistic soul into the heritage.

Vice Chairman of the City People's Committee Nguyen Van Lanh shared that Hoi An is a heritage city, but a living heritage. People have lived in heritage for generations, lived with heritage, and lived for heritage.

The previous generations in Hoi An built a once prosperous international port - urban area, leaving behind priceless heritages for future generations. Generations of Hoi An residents continue to preserve and create new values, making the heritage our ancestors built even more sparkling and radiant - Nguyen Van Lanh, Vice Chairman of the City People's Committee

"The previous generations in Hoi An built a once prosperous international port - urban area, leaving behind priceless heritages for future generations. Generations of Hoi An residents continue to preserve and create new values, making the heritage our ancestors built even more sparkling and radiant," emphasised Nguyen Van Lanh.

Since becoming a World Cultural Heritage site, the authorities and people of Hoi An have taken many measures to preserve, promote and enhance the value of the heritage.

Not only restoring, embellishing and protecting each tangible cultural value, Hoi An has promoted the role of intangible culture inherent in the heritage. Many achievements have been made, but Hoi An cannot avoid facing challenges and unwanted impacts on its heritage.

Nguyen Su, former Secretary of the Hoi An City Party Committee, said that when Hoi An was recognised as a World Cultural Heritage, its economy developed, and people's lives improved. However, if we were focused on developing the old town, the tranquility of Hoi An would be lost. If Hoi An were as bustling as other cities, it would no longer be Hoi An.

Therefore, the issue of Hoi An people in heritage conservation, starting from behavioral culture and lifestyle, is the top priority. “The old town may still be there, the old houses may still be there, the roads, the assembly halls, the pagodas may still be there, but if the way of life fades, or even changes, the characteristics of Hoi An, gentle, slow, quiet, hospitable, and polite, will not be careful, but will only be a memory, losing the soul of the heritage,” Nguyen Su worried.

Looking at Hoi An over the past quarter century, although there are still challenges and concerns, the living heritage city continues to be preserved.

Promoting heritage values

Hoi An authorities and people have not only preserved a living museum of architecture and urban lifestyle symbolising the unique East-West cultural exchange but also promoted those values to preserve and sustainably develop this heritage. From a bustling international trading port hundreds of years ago, Hoi An now retains 27 national-level relics, 49 provincial-level relics and more than 1,330 relics on the city's protection list. All of these create a unique architectural space, a fusion of Vietnamese, Chinese, Japanese and Western styles.

Since 2008, more than 400 relics in Hoi An ancient town have been restored with a budget of more than 150 billion VND from the state budget and contributions from the community, including the completion of the demolition and restoration of Hoi An's iconic relic, the Japanese Covered Bridge.

Not only preserving ancient architecture, becoming a World Cultural Heritage has also created conditions for Hoi An to preserve and nurture unique cultural spaces, from hundreds of years old famous craft villages such as Thanh Ha pottery, Kim Bong carpentry and Tra Que vegetables to unique customs, practices, beliefs and folk arts such as the Lantern Festival, Bai Choi singing and Mid-Autumn Festival.

The diverse and rich intangible heritages and folk arts in Hoi An have become attractive cultural tourism products for domestic and international tourists. Now, Hoi An is considered a model in preserving and promoting heritage values, ​​thanks to the consensus and cooperation of the community, businesses and the city government.

Joining the UNESCO Creative Cities Network in the field of crafts and folk arts also creates conditions for Hoi An to continue pursuing the goal of sustainable development.

Since the ancient town of Hoi An was honored as a World Cultural Heritage, Hoi An culture has been increasingly recognised as a complex of historical, cultural, humanistic and urban architectural heritage. The ancient urban architectural complex, in particular, and Hoi An's cultural heritage in general, are managed, preserved and promoted better and more effectively, highly appreciated by UNESCO and international organisations and presented many awards.

"What we have now is the result of the tireless efforts of the Party Committee, government and people of Hoi An, with the attention and support of central and Quang Nam provincial levels, international organisations and friends. Hoi An's cultural heritage has truly become the foundation, launching pad, driving force and goal of socio-economic development, contributing significantly to the development of Hoi An's tourism-service economy, increasing income and improving people's lives," Nguyen Van Lanh emphasised.

Vice Chairman of the People's Committee of Quang Nam Province Ho Quang Buu shared: Up to now, the ancient town of Hoi An has gone through an emergency rescue phase, still maintaining its quiet and ancient appearance. The space of the traditional urban architectural complex is almost perfectly preserved.

In the coming time, the World Cultural Heritage of Hoi An's ancient town will continue to be preserved, and its value will be promoted in contemporary life. From there, it will contribute to building Hoi An into an ecological-cultural-tourist city by 2030, aiming to establish Hoi An as a driving force in the development of tourism and services in the central coastal region and the whole country, reaching out to the Asian region and becoming an attractive destination in the world.

Le Anh Quan - Translated by NDO