Hue city is beautiful in a poetic and soft way, like a true poem. Those who came once in Hue, could never forget Perfume river very calm, or should admire the resplendent palates, the monumental tombs and the splendid natural heritages.

Trang Tien brigde

Hue is an old area which belonged, from 179 BC to the end of second century, to Nhật Nam district reigned by the North feudal regimes. Nearly 12 centuries later, this place was the Northern cap of Champa kingdom. At the 13th century, this romantic area, after the marriage between princess Huyen Tran (Tran family) and king Che Man, was integrated into Đại Việt under the name Thuận Hóa (compound of Quang Tri, Thua Thien Hue and a part of North Quang Nam). From the last half of the 15th century, under king Thanh Tong, the geonyme Hue appeared for the first time. During nearly 400 years, Hue was the politics and culture center of the Vietnamese feudality. King Quang Trung chose this place as the capital of Tay Son regime (from 1788 to 1802); under king Gia Long, the capital of Vietnam under the 13 reigns of kings Nguyen (from 1802 to 1945).

Hue has been still an important center of Buddhism with, in addition to the splendid Court monuments, hundreds of old pagodas built for more than 300 years. Moreover, the festivals and the musicology of this place are well developed and characterized by the inhabitants' heart. In the Court, there are Te Giao, Te Xa Tac, Lunar New Year festival ... While the folklore is formed by Hon Chen festival, Hon Ngu festival, and Sinh fight festival... Each festival is characterized by the ceremonies whose the heart is the music. In parallel with musicology, there are the modes of dance, the plays, the Hue folksongs with a pure and simple character of the locality. Moreover, Hue is still regarded as the origin of the Court musicology, the famous traditional dishes and the delicate craft industries.

Thien Mu pagoda

Centuries passed, the country's elite was filtered and converged in this area to form a culture full with characters of Vietnamese people and a splendid nature picture with mountain and river. Hue is still famous for the body of the cultural vestiges recognized by UNESCO as cultural heritages of the humanity in 1993 with more than 300 architectural monuments composed of the citadels, the palates, the kings Nguyễn's tombs, the temples, the pagodas, the villas... With such a value, the vestiges of Hue old capital are an integral part of the Vietnamese culture, and an element of the inheritances of the humanity.

Hoi An, a place closely related to the remarkable past of the cultures interference: Vietnamese - Japanese - Chinese, is a city linked to the important commercial harbor of South-East Asia during centuries. The cultural interference is the reason why Hoi An is recorded on the list of the world cultural heritages in 1999.

Hoi An ancient town

Until now, Hoi An is safeguarded almost intact with an architectural unit composed of several categories: house, club, temple, family pagoda, well, bridge, port, market... associated with the vertical and horizontal road system to form squares under the shape of a chess-board, a popular model of medieval commercial cities. With inhabitants' daily life, the customs and habits, the cultural events well safeguarded and always in presence made this place a living museum of architecture and town life.

Different from the solemnity of the old capital Hue, the animation of Cho Lon (Big Market), the ancient look of Hoi An, very pure, attracts the souls who like romantic feature of the past.

Hoi An ancient town and its cultural characteristics

The harbor Hoi An, built in XV century, is a place where the Chinese, Japanese and Portuguese tradesmen came to exchange the goods and left their traces through the pagodas. Only until the last half of the XVII century, this place is transformed into a particular city of Dai Viet (Vietnam formerly). In XIX and beginning of XX century, before great political instabilities, Hoi An was always a very animating market. During the years 80, the old city became a tourist point attracting visitors around the world.

Cau pagoda (the Bridge) at Hoi An

Formerly, Hoi An had only a single way which leads from Cau pagoda (the Bridge) to Ong pagoda (in front of the current Hoi An market) and afterwards to Ong Bon pagoda. Hoi An give view on the Cho Cui river, old name of Thu Bon river at the beginning of XX century. It is quite interesting for the visitors, coming there, to stroll in the quiet districts or on cyclo contemplating old houses whose tiles are since hundreds of years. The night is especially more brilliant and mysterious with the candles, hung under the house veranda, in the Chinese lanterns in the shape of a pumpkin in bamboo covered by multicolored fabrics.

Cau pagoda (the Bridge), known as Lai Vien Kieu, is considered as one of symbols of the old city Hoi An. Pagoda Bridge, crossing a stream of the river Thu Bon, is built by Japanese tradesmen at the beginning of XVI, XVII century, composed of 2 parts: the bridge and the pagoda. The bridge is built of assembled wood, covered by a tile roof. The pagoda follows a very particular architectural style, roof of faded tiles. The bridge and the pagoda are all in wooden painted and well sculptured. This monument is not simply a bridge or a pagoda but also a gathering place of the former villagers with the dream of a harmonized life in the community.

The laterns at nights of the old city

Other vestiges like Quang Dong club, Phuoc Kien club and old pagodas with wooden houses of hundreds of years make admire the visitors delicacy but also the depth of the craftsmen. Both splendid and grandiose, all monuments became the most alive history book which keeps the golden age of the Chinese community and the former inhabitants in Hoi An.

During the "nights of the old city", organized all the 14th of the lunar month, Hoi An become brilliant, mysterious with the light of the fuzzy and reflecting lanterns. There are round or prism lanterns in Chinese style, hung under the veranda or two door sides, the lanterns of large and small form of a caranium, or of a long pipe covered with white papers in Japanese style, suspended to alongside the posts... Moreover, other cultural activities are also organized like: hat bai choi (sing while playing cards), ho doi dap (sing by pushing cry while working), gastronomy, poetry clubs, traditional music, unicorn dance, hoa dang (lanterns in the river), and songs of children near Cau pagoda... The scene and mysterious light of old city associated with some Quang region's dishes as banh Bo, banh Vạc, Cao lau in restaurants from beginning of the century, with the singers voice resounded from the boats in the river, or under the roofs, or from the street end... All that forms a strange and particular attraction of Hoi An.

The streets full with shades of the trees and alstonias odor about October, the lanes curve in the old city, the inns all close one to other carry the beauty of time with the suspended flowers under the faded tile roof... formed a very old and poetic Hoi An. Thus, though so many changes, the alluvia of the river and historical events, Hoi An exists always, and always a voucher to remember history of Vietnam development.

This tower-temple are lies in a round valley of which the diameter is about 2 kilometres and is surrounded by hills and mountains. This valley is divided into many parts by small and big springs. Standing inside the area, tourists can see the highest mountain among the hills and mountains surrounding the valley - Mount Chua (God) with the height of 350 metres round. The whole area My Son is defended and protected by natural ramparts that contain many obstacles to get access to. The kings of Champa (the name of the former country on this land) are supposed to have combined cleverly the religious factors and advantages of the terrain of this tower-temple area.

Collected by Thanh Nguyen

The cultural atmosphere of "Gongs of Tay Nguyen" is spread out in five provinces in Tay Nguyen area: Kon Tum, Gia Lai, Dac Lac, Dac Nong and Lam Dong. The subjects of this cultural atmosphere are consisted of different ethnic groups, including E De, Ba Na, Ma, Lac, etc.

The typical set of gongs

The cultural atmosphere "Gongs of Tay Nguyen" contains these main components: "cong chieng" (drums and gongs); songs played by "cong chieng"; persons playing those; festivities where "cong chieng" are used such as "cung com moi" (offer sacrifices after a harvest) festivity or "cung ben nuoc" (sacrificing happens at "ben nuoc" - an area containing water, near the river and springs, where inhabitants usually gather to take water) festival; and venues where those festivities take place like "nha dai" (long house) for household using, "nha rong" or "nha guol" (wide house) for community using , milpa, "ben nuoc", sepulcher and forests near the mountainous villages in Tay Nguyen).

On the grandiose mountain chain Truong Son of the country, "cong chieng" fine arts are always close-knit to cultural rites of the ethnic communities residing in Tay Nguyen region. Therefore, "cong chieng" is categorised into the system of ritual musical instruments and is also considered as a language communicating with deities of local residents on this land.

The orchestra in imperial palace in Hue

"Nha nhac cung dinh Hue" was recognised as a masterpiece which is orally passed down and as an immaterial heritage of human beings by UNESCO in 2003. In UNESCO's appraisal, it was said that "among the age-old traditional genres of music, only Nha nhac could reach the national level".

"Nha nhac" has been developed from the 8th century in Vietnam. Until Nguyen Dynasty, Nha nhac cung dinh Hue" grew ripe and perfect. Together with the cultural atmosphere of Drum and Gong in Tay Nguyen, this is an immaterial heritage officially recognised by UNESCO. Nha nhac cung dinh Hue is an inheritance, from the time when orchestras and many musical instruments of imperial palace appeared in the form of carved works on pedestals of pagodas' pillars in Ly Dynasty (the centuries XI - XII) until the time when the last king of Nguyen Dynasty has abdicated in the middle of the century XX.

Collected from "The world's heritages in Vietnam"