Old House of Tan Ky

"It was a nice stop off on a rainy day in Hoi An. We were greeted by a lady who sat us down, fed us tea and told us the history of the house. I think she mentioned that the 7th generation of the family are still living upstairs! The interior is beautiful so it was nice to have a little wonder round. There isn't a lot to see and it is a very small house but it's a part of Hoi An's history!"

Old House of Tan Ky

          Old House of Tan Ky - was constructed almost two centuries ago as the home of a Vietnamese merchant. The owner of the house has preserved its interior design and old furniture, as well as many relics of the prospering trade and cultural exchanges among the Vietnamese, Chinese and Japanese during the late 17 century.
The house was built from traditional materials by skilled local artisans and was influenced by Chinese and Japanese styles. Its charming and elegant designs give it a cozy aspect. The architecture of the house has been kept almost intact, with only small repairs when necessary. The house had a large wooden door, but no window.

There have been either five or seven generations of Tans living here, depending on whom you speak with. There are four rooms in the Old House of Tan Ky; all of them are small in size, but packed with various beautiful antiques mainly made of wood. These four rooms are for four different purposes: one for welcoming the Chinese merchants, one is the living room, the third is the courtyard and the last one is the bedroom. You can enter all rooms except the bedroom. The Old House of Tan Ky has a unique combination of three types of architecture. The beams of the roof are curve and they display Chinese information in an elaborate way; the peak roof bears Japanese characteristics and the Vietnamese crosshatch stands as a support to the roof of the old house. The walls of the house are also decorated with a unique mosaic.

Old House of Tan Ky

The house has a combination of Vietnamese, Japanese as well as Chinese elements, from a time when the three communities lived together in Hoi An during the 16th and 17th centuries, the house strongly represents features of Oriental philosophy, such as the the triple-beam structure (stands for heaven, earth and humans), the five round blocks (represent metal, wood, water, fire and earth – the five basic natural elements in Eastern philosophy) and several decorative carvings on the edge of the roof and furniture. Amongst several pieces in the house, the most famous one is two vertical panels next to the Tan Ky House's central courtyard, which are inscribed with parallel sentences. What surprising about this piece is that each stroke of writing is an illustration of a bird. One hundred birds in total represent perfection.

If you’re near the Japanese Bridge, walk down Bach Dang Street into Nguyen Thai Hoc Street. It’s suggested to visit the place at the beginning or end of the day, not in the middle. Having a cup of coffee at one of the coffee shops near the house is also told to be interesting while exploring this attraction.

 

Old House of Tan Ky