TAN KY HOUSE HOI AN & THINGS YOU NEED TO KNOW

The Old House of Tan Ky, located in No.101 Nguyen Thai Hoc street, Minh An ward, Hoi An city center, is home to 7 generations of the Le family. 

- Entrance fee is included in the Hoi An ancient town ticket price (120,000 VND / person / valid for 24 hours)

- Opening hours are from 8am - 5:30pm and it takes about 15 to 20 minutes to fully explore the house.

1 - Tan Ky House & the impressive architecture

Built-in the 18th century, the old house is a combination of a residential building and a business place thanks to ít prime location. On the front side of the house is Nguyen Thai Hoc street, the backside facing Bach Dang street. The house includes 3 compartments, including:

- The main house is the place for goods trading

- The solemn worship area in the central house occupies the largest area. Behind the shrine is the resting area of the house’s owner & his family.

- Spacious & airy backyard.

Despite the impacts of time and heavy floods in the past, the Old House of Tan Ky Hoi An still retains its unique architecture over the years with a delicate harmony of Chinese, Japanese and Vietnamese architecture. The tubular architecture of this ancient town is mixed with Chinese architectural style represented in the columns building. There are 2 overlapping horizontal columns  - symbolizing the relationship of heaven & human, and 5 vertical columns - representing 5 natural elements. Japanese Feng-Shui philosophy is also applied in the design of this house. The special feature of the house is having no windows but inside the Tan Ky Ancient House Hoi An is full of natural light from the skylight well in the backyard. A big old star-fruit tree in the yard makes the air much fresh. 

The architecture of Tan Ky - Source: Internet

The main worshipping area consists of three doors: the largest middle door is for the elders, the other two doors on the two sides are for descendants in the family following the principle of “male left, female right”. 

This old house was built mainly by precious woods, mixed with stones from Thanh Hoa province and bricks from the villages of Bat Trang in Hanoi and Non Nuoc in Danang. The frame of the Tan Ky Old House Hoi An is connected by wooden panels & pillars on marble slabs. The floor is built of thick bricks, creating a cool atmosphere in summer and warm in winter.

The interior of the house is completely decorated with precious wood, exquisitely carved with distinctive images for different meanings & messages, such as a bat representing happiness, a letterbox indicating success in learning, pomegranate in the meaning of having many children.

At the Tan Ky House Hoi An today, there are still many precious horizontal lacquered boards & wooden panels, such as the board of “Tích Đức Lưu Tôn” (teaching children to keep good virtue for the next generation), “Tâm Thường Thái” (keeping the mind always quiet), the special board of “Bạch Điểu” (One hundred birds) written by 100 letters, each letter is a bird soaring on each stroke.

The exhibition area in the Old House of Tan Ky stands out with countless artifacts and rare antiques from the 18th century such as the Pi Ba vase; pipes, bowls, teapots, products from Chu Dau pottery from the 15th century,... The most precious treasure left here is the Confucius bowl - a treasure associated with Confucius.

The nice place for leaving cards & exhibiting small gifts for tourists are small corners that should not be missed. 

2 - Tan Ky House Hoi An & the long-standing history

The house used to be a trading place for agricultural products in the 18th and 19th centuries, and customers included local merchants and foreign traders. Goods are stored in the ground floor area and transported to the 2nd floor by pulleys. During this period, the name "Tan Ky" was given to the house with the hope of prosperous and favorable business.

A corner of Tan Ky Old House - Source: Nguyen Viet Anh

At the end of the 18th century, thanks to a prosperous business, the owner of the house then rebuilt the house on the old ground as it is today. Up to now, this house is the residence of 7 generations in a family. Over the years, the architecture and all the patterns, textures and artifacts are still well preserved 

Today, thí old house is an ideal destination for those who want to look back on a prosperous Hoi An in the old decades. Tan Ky House Hoi An with a history of more than 200 years is the clearest evidence for the economic development and cultural interference of this land.