Keep the soul of the city, the soul of the people
Stopping in front of Phung Hung ancient house (No. 4 Nguyen Thi Minh Khai) - a house over 240 years old, Manuel wondered about the two "door eyes" attached above the main door of this house and a series of other architectural works.
Manuel said that Innsbruck, the city where he lives, is one of the most charming destinations in Austria. Innsbruck has medieval neighborhoods, long narrow streets and tall Gothic-style buildings.
“However, Innsbruck and other places I have been to in Europe do not have such a “house guardian spirit”. I think the elaborately carved “door eyes” and decorative motifs in the buildings in Hoi An all carry Eastern philosophy,” Manuel said.
And Huyen My - a tour guide of the relics in Hoi An, quoted the words of cultural researchers to help Manuel Buemberger understand the meaning of this "mascot" in Hoi An.
Manuel Buemberger said that, in addition to the "door eyes" in the center of the old town, he especially likes the door frames made in the form of bars above and solid wood below.
Windows always suggest many things, because if you stand inside, you can look out and watch the sometimes noisy, sometimes slow movements on the street.
If looking from the outside, through the window, anyone can feel the warmth, airiness and peace of the house.
In the quiet and peaceful space of Hoi An, the windows create just enough space to instill in people many feelings about life.
“Hoi An people believe that humans and all things have eyes to see life and their hearts, so objects associated with humans must also have eyes. A boat or a floating house on the river must have eyes painted on it before launching, and a house on land must also have eyes to prevent disasters for the owner.
Hoi An people hang “door eyes” at the main door, considering it a “divine eye” that guards the house, guards the flow of life energy from outside into the house and vice versa, protecting the homeowner from risks and disasters; at the same time, it expresses the desire for a prosperous and happy life. Therefore, “door eyes” are both decorative objects and spiritual elements of Eastern people,” Huyen My said.
Huyen My (28 years old) is not originally from Hoi An. But the first time she came to the old town, she noticed the "eyes" that come in many shapes.
“There is a saying that I really like: if our eyes are not given a limit, they will wander everywhere. The limit of the “door eye” in Hoi An is to keep the house, keep the soul of the street - the soul of the people, so no matter the sun, rain, storms and floods, it is still the intact soul of Hoi An”, Huyen My expressed.
Gate god worship
There are many explanations for the “door eyes” in Hoi An. Hoi An people believe that this place used to be a bustling trading port. Following the customs of river dwellers in many places around the world, Hoi An people painted eyes on both sides of the bow of their boats to guide them through storms and reach fishing grounds full of shrimp and fish, and attached “door eyes” to their houses to protect them. However, no research has confirmed this explanation.
Notably, “door eyes” in Hoi An only appear in civil architectural relics and religious and belief architecture of the Chinese, but are rarely seen in Vietnamese houses, communal houses, and pagodas.
In China, many houses of the Bai ethnic group, about 40km from the center of Kunming city, Yunnan province, do not have as many "door eye" carvings as in Hoi An, but local people say that this is a form of worship of the "Door God".
Research from the Hoi An Cultural Heritage Management and Conservation Center shows that "door eyes" is one of the forms of worshiping "Door Gods" in the folk beliefs of the Chinese in Hoi An.
However, each tourist has a different perception of the “door eye” and therefore a different understanding. Luong Khanh Huyen (33 years old), from Hanoi, said that the “door eye” present in each ancient house makes her feel like there are eyes watching her every step, just like many other tourists.
Therefore, tourists suddenly realize the need to speak softly and walk more slowly when walking, visiting ancient houses, talking to locals, and buying goods.
Along with the integration trend, Hoi An cannot avoid collisions. In the flow of cultural assimilation, the "eyes" still exist with more than 1,400 relics, which need to be preserved to always be a unique beauty in the religious culture of Hoi An people.
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