As a cultural space associated with the daily life of the people, the traditional houses of the ethnic minorities in Quang Ninh province also express the concept of the universe, humanity and beliefs in life... Sadly, these houses are gradually disappearing and need to be "urgently" protected for the purpose of cultural preservation and tourism development.
Tired of looking for
Finding a traditional house in Thuong Yen Cong commune (Uong Bi city) is not an easy task. When asking the commune officials if there are any newly built houses in the traditional style of the Dao people, we were introduced to the family of Mr. Trieu Van Dien in Khe Su 2 village. Although his family's house is almost completed, although built of reinforced concrete, at first glance it is clearly different from the surrounding tube houses and Thai-roofed houses.
Simulating the traditional architecture of the Dao Thanh Y people, Mr. Dien's family's house has 2 floors, the lower floor is for living, the upper floor is for worship. The entrance is from both sides, in the middle is a relief with many decorative features similar to a temple. It turns out that because his father is a shaman in the village, every holiday, people in the village and neighborhood come to visit and burn incense. He built this house not only for his family to live in, but also as a place for spiritual activities and to preserve the culture of the Dao Thanh Y community in Thuong Yen Cong commune.
“It is very difficult to build a 100% traditional house now. The houses of the Thanh Y Dao people were made entirely of bamboo. Now, the forest is no longer allowed to be exploited. The raw materials are very difficult, we can only switch to sand, stone, and cement. The advantage is that the house will be more solid, but if we say it is an original traditional house of the Dao people, it is not completely true,” said Trieu Van Dien.
Located right at the foot of Yen Tu mountain, Thuong Yen Cong commune has over 60% Dao people living. In Khe Su 2 village, the proportion of Dao people is even higher, however, the number of traditional houses here is not proportional to the number of Dao people living. Newly built houses in the old style or with an old appearance can be counted on the fingers. As for the old houses, there are no exact statistics. This is also the situation in many ethnic minority areas of Quang Ninh province.
Fate of the old house
Dai Duc Commune (Tien Yen District), where the majority of San Chi people live, used to be the place with the most traditional San Chi houses in Quang Ninh Province. However, according to the latest statistics of Dai Duc Commune, there is only one ancient house of the San Chi people left in the whole commune. In less than 3 years, the number of ancient houses here has rapidly decreased, from 8 remaining houses in 2021 to only one house in 2024.
The only remaining San Chi house in Dai Duc belongs to the family of Mr. Ninh A Lieng and Mrs. Ninh Moc Mau, in Khe Luc village. This is also a traditional house with a favorable location, high landscape and aesthetic value. The house is located under the trees, making a strong impression with its neat stone fence. The stilt house has 5 rooms, is light yellow in color and made of earthen bricks, and has 2 layers of yin-yang tiled roofs. The large yard is where the homeowner dries agricultural products and stores fuel, while the small kitchen is where the main activities of the family take place.
It is known that the house was built in 1969 from local materials such as wood, cobblestones, bricks, and tiles. The house was built and preserved until now according to the wishes of Mr. Ninh A Lieng. That is to let his descendants "know the origin of the San Chi ethnic group." Now Mr. Lieng has passed away, the old house is only looked after by his old and weak wife. His children have also moved to Tien Yen town to live, taking care of their mother alone in the old house. They have repeatedly urged her to leave the house and move to town to live with them, but she refuses because "If you leave, who will look after the house? Without anyone living there, the house will quickly deteriorate!"
After 5 decades of exposure to sun and rain, the brick house gradually became stained with time, the wooden columns, partitions, and rafters is no longer as sturdy as before . The recent super typhoon Yagi was also a heart-stopping challenge when dozens of tiles were blown away and a wall collapsed. Mrs. Ninh Moc Mau, who lives alone in the old house, was also evacuated by her children before the storm. Up to now, the damaged parts of the house have been reinforced, but who can guarantee that the house will continue to stand the test of time when natural disasters are erratic and the next generation of owners of the house is no longer interested?
The fate of old houses is closely tied to their owners. When the previous generation of owners gradually passes away, the next generation inherits the house and no longer wants to keep this property, the inevitable fate of old houses is soon determined.
Need to be more proactive
Associate Professor, Dr. Lam Ba Nam, Chairman of the Vietnam Association of Ethnology and Anthropology once suggested: To preserve traditional houses, the most important thing is to come from the ethnic people themselves. To preserve, it is necessary to mobilize and propagate for people to understand the cultural identity through the traditional houses of their ethnic groups. Preservation must also be closely linked to current needs and life. When building, people can replace them with new materials, but still have to preserve the soul and cultural living space inside the house. In addition, when preserving intact traditional houses of ethnic people, it is advisable to build them in tourist areas and cultural villages, thereby helping people to both preserve and generate income through attracting visitors.
In November 2024, Binh Lieu district officially opened two homestays built in the traditional rammed earth architecture of the Dao Thanh Phan ethnic group, located in Khe Tien village, Dong Van commune. For tourists, this promises to be an attractive tourism product that they wish to experience once: Staying in a Dao house, living with Dao people and experiencing Dao culture. This will certainly be a very unique experience! And for those who are passionate about Binh Lieu culture, the two homestays have a greater meaning, making them more excited.
Ms. To Thi Nga, Deputy Head of the Department of Culture and Information of Binh Lieu district, said: The two homestays were built in the direction of improving materials but still preserving the traditional architecture of the Dao people's rammed earth houses. After these two homestays, it is expected that in 2025, another household in Khe Tien village will register to build a homestay with traditional architecture combined with modern technology. In the future, we plan to turn Khe Tien into a Dao tourist village with at least 30 homestays.
Determining the necessary steps to preserve culture in general and save ancient houses in particular, the People's Committee of Quang Ninh province issued Plan No. 161/KH-UBND dated June 21, 2023 on piloting the construction, preservation and promotion of cultural identity values of 4 ethnic minority villages associated with the development of community tourism in mountainous areas, period 2023-2025. These are the Dao village in Po Hen hamlet, Hai Son commune (Mong Cai city), the Tay village in Ban Cau hamlet, Luc Hon commune and the San Chi village in Luc Ngu hamlet, Huc Dong commune (Binh Lieu district), the San Diu village in Vong Tre hamlet, Binh Dan commune (Van Don district). The plan is expected to create positive changes in 4 villages of Quang Ninh where most ethnic minorities live. However, so far, only Vong Tre village, Binh Dan commune (Van Don district) has implemented the first steps of the plan to build a cultural village. In the remaining villages, the implementation is still slow due to many problems.
I think that villages and hamlets where ancient houses with many values are still preserved need to be more proactive and determined in conservation work, clearly showing their passion for the culture of their own community and people; to avoid the situation where all the ancient houses are lost before building tourist villages.
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