5.

THE HERITAGE HOUSE AT 87 MA MAY

Welcome to the heritage house at 87 Ma May street. My name’s:…. the on-site guide. Today it’s
my honor to introduce to you about the heritage house. Hopefully you’ll have an interesting and
rewarding excursion.

Our tour will last for about 30 minutes and you’ll be introduced about the history of the heritage
house, the typical architecture of the Hanoi’s ancient houses, and also the lifestyle of Hanoians.

Ladies and gentlemen, in order to make our tour more successful, please follow the rules of the
site and please feel free to ask any questions after each of my commentaries.

Ladies and gentlemen, we are standing on the old street named Ma May which is derived from
the names of the two streets: Hang Mã (southern section) and Hang Mây (northern section).
During the French colonial period, these two streets were collectively referred to as Rue Des
Pavillons Noirs (street of the black flag troop). The reason why the street was given the named
was because in 1882, in Ma May, after the Battle of Cau Giay, the French were besieged in Don
Thuy and in the city, the black flag troop raged across the streets of Hanoi. One of their groups
came to Ma May Street. However, Hanoians are still familiar with the name Ma May. Ma May
Street has undergone a lot of changes, but the structure and architecture of the roadside houses
still retain their special original features.

And now we are visiting the typical relic which is the 87 Ma May Heritage House. This is the
typical ancient house in Hanoi’s Old Quarter. The house still preserves the traditional
architecture which is the tubular and multi-storey house; There is a courtyard in the center of the
house to get light and fresh air. The main structure of the house is the wooden truss system, roof
tile and a lot of decoration patterns.

This Heritage House was built in the early nineteenth century in the style of traditional
Vietnamese architecture with the functions used for living and selling. Prior to 1945, the landlord
lived here and selling rice as a business. After 1945 the house was sold to a family of Chinese
living and selling Chinese medicines. In 1954, the Chinese family immigrated to the South,
leaving the house under the management of the State. In 1954, the Department of Land and
Housing arranged 5 families to live in this house. The house we are visiting today was the result
of a restoration work in 1999 under the cooperation project between Hanoi City and Toulouse
City (France) on "Preservation - Restoration of Hanoi’s Old Quarter". "

The house covers an area of 157.6 m2. It is constructed perpendicularly to the street. It is 28
meters long and 5 meters wide at the front but 6 meters wide in the back .This, in
theVietnamese’s concept, is believed to bring good fortune in the future for the house owner.

The house has the architectural style of traditional houses in Hanoi Old’s
Quarter which includes the following parts: House - Courtyard - House -
Courtyard - Kitchen - House (toilet, warehouse). Please look at this house,
you can see the form of 3 or 5- section house of Vietnamese people.
According to the Feudal Law, the taxation of stores was based on the width
of the façade, therefore, houses in the Old Quarter often have narrow
facades and great length. That is why they are also called "tubular houses".
The 87 Ma May House has a typical spatial layout for the housing and sales –
This is the typical architecture in the early 19th century. With a street-type
backyard for business convenience, the tubular house was divided into
different sections that are ventilated and naturally illuminated by the
couryards.

And now we are going to visit the house together. The place we are standing
here is the front of the house. The façade is decorated with wooden
balustrades and typical architectural features at that time such as wooden
sliding doors, central doors, stepped bables, brick roofs, decorated roof
edgings, etc.

And now let’s go inside the house. The first floor of the house is divided into
5 rooms

Room 1: The most important factor for houses in the Old Quarter is to have
spacious stores facing the street because of the demand for doing business.
The first area where we are standing now is the outer layer of the house.
This is the place where the landlord used to do business and exchange
goods. Next is the couryard separating the trading area from the
resting area where owner enjoyed tea everyday. The first couryard is also
called the “dry yard” where the owners bring the nature into the house with
“bonsai” trees.

The second room is the “sky well” which is the open space where the air and light are introduced
into the house making the house vatinlated. Next to the well is the bedroom of the second and the
third generations of the family. At this time, the Western culture was already imported to the
country and the husband often dealt with paperwork while his wife handled the trade. Therefore,
the furniture in the room was designed according to the French style such as bed, bedside
cabinet, typewriter or phone ... The residents' demands were simple. They did not need as much
pivate space as they do nowadays.Therefore, the transition from room to room is a striking
feature of residential space in 36 Streets.

The fourth area is the yard and kitchen area. Part of the covered yard is the kitchen. The
kitchen is an important place for Vietnamese in general and Hanoians in particular. The kitchen
is indispensable in every family. The image of wood stove with tripod, wooden bowl or Slender-
waisted bowl with ceramic material and many hand-painted motifs, wooden trays or grinding
stones are familiar images for each of us. . Familiar fragrances like bồ kết – a special plants used
as shampoo mostly, pom pom oil - are also stored in this kitchen. And also in this small kitchen,
the mother woud pass on the lessons of the “industry, appearance, speech, behavior” (the four
attributes of an ideal woman) of the Trang An (another way to address Hanoians) to their
daughters or granddaughters. Elite cuisine of Hanoians was also originated and preserved here.

Ladies and gentlemen, tube houses usually have two doors and the main
door is at the front of the house. This is the place for doing business,
welcoming guests. The remaining door is on the back of the toilet facing the
river. From this door, water from river is taken into the house to wash clothes
or to clean the house. In addition to river water, Hanoians used rainwater for
cooking. They used the the trunk of palm trees, split them up, scraped
inside, hung under the roof to catch and bring water into the tank.

So we have visited all sections on the first floor of the house. Now let’s follow
the steps of the wooden stairs to find out the second floor.
The first space on the second floor is the place of worship. Worshiping
ancestors has become a traditional custom that play a particularly important
role in the spiritual life of the Vietnamese people. It is one of the elements
that make up the cultural identity of the nation. Worshipping shows the piety
of children and grandchildren to the dead. Therefore, worshipping space
must be placed in the most solemn area in the house to show the respect to
the ancestors.

On the altar, worship objects corresponding to the five elements of the universe (Kim: Metal,
Mộc: Wood, Thủy: Water, Hỏa: Fire, Thổ: earth) in which Kim is the candlestick, Mộc is the
altar, throne; Thủy is the cup of water; Hỏa is a lamp; And Thổ is the incense bowl. There is only
a single incese bowl on the altar of the ancient Hanoian which worships God spirits, Earth spirits
and family ancestors and a tray inclusing 5 kinds of fruits. Ancient Hanoians often hang parallel
sentences as the teaching reminder to their children. You can see the horizontal lacquered board
over there with three words: "Duc Quan Quan" meaning that “The morality will be lighted up
forever. There are parallel sentences which are “Tổ tông công đức thiên nhiên thịnh” meaning
that "the merit of our ancestors will be appraized forever" and “Con cháu thảo hiền vạn đại niên”
which means "The great grandchildren must be always pious." In this worshipping area, there are
also famous traditional paintings of Hanoi, Hang Trong paitings. The painting “Carp watching
the moon” is one of those. So, everyone, after visiting the worshipping area, we can know more
about the ancestor worshipping tradition of our ancient Hanoians.

And now, we will visit the traditional roof structure which is the wooden truss system based on
traditional style. This is the highlight of architectural arts. Decoration art at this heritage house
focused on the “vì vỏ cua” – a special traditional architectural style of the terrace on the second
floor. The theme of the decoration is the relief of botanical textures of the nineteenth-century art
style. In addition, decorative art is also displayed on the edge of the roof and the “bức bàn” door
system.

The next area of the second floor isplace for the host family to drink tea, recite poetry, read
newspapers or play chess. This is the place where grandparents teach the children. The special
thing in the architecture of this space is that the doors are designed in a very special architectural
style which includes two parts, the lower part with the block of wood, the upper part with wood
sticks. They are all decorated with wood carvings. With the special design of this door, the
landlord can read newspapers, take a rest and still observe the shopping area on the first floor.

Next to the reading and drinking space is the bedroom of grandparents. To pay homage to the
superior and also to ensure the quietness, gradparents’ bedroom is usually located on the second
floor. Wood bed, tea cabinet are the familiar images of the middle-class family in Hanoi in the
past. In this room, there is also a shelf for wash basin to serve grandparents or the wedding tray
of offerings the family used to go to the bride’s family on their son or grandson’s wedding. With
a small area, we can still see the neat folds of the old Hanoians. And now we are visiting the last
area of the second floor, behind the grandparent's bedroom, that is for drying yard or ornamental
plants. Hanoians used the yard to dry their herbal medicines, for children to play places or for
grandfather to drink tea and gaze at moon. Although the area of the house is not large, but we
still see the ingenuity of ancient Hanoians in getting light, fresg air and creating a green space for
the home.

So ladies an gentlemen, I have just introduced to you some of the most tupical features of our
heritage house at 87 Ma May street. I hope that you will understand more about the living space
of our Hanoians in the past. We can see the ingeniousness of Hanoians in arranging their living
space. We can understand more about the worshipping customs, life style and the pernonality
traits of Hanoi peole of the past. And every street in the Hanoi’s Old Quarter is attached to a
specific product which you should try and bring home as gifts to your relatives and friends.

Thank you for your attention. Hanoi’s Old Quarter is not only famous for the old houses, but also
for the religious buildings such as communal houses, temples or pagodas. Please take your time
to visit other attractions in the Old Quarter to better understand the souls of our old Hanoi. Thank
you and goodbye!