VietNamNet Bridge - Many dilapidated cultural sites in Vietnam are in urgent need of restoration but construction companies would rather rebuild everything from scratch than preserve the original structure.

After days of sitting around idly, a bunch of labourers on Pham Van Dong street get a break when they are hired to tear down a village communal house (known as a dinh in Vietnamese) in Xuan Hoa village near Hanoi’s West Lake.

They recognise the building as a communal house but they have no idea that this particular dinh was built in the mid-17th century or that it is dedicated to Than Nong, a Chinese king and an ancestor of the Vietnamese, who according to legend showed people the art of growing crops.

The dinh is in a state of disrepair, but it features special architectural traits and designs on the internal wood relief. The thick wooden beams feature intricate carvings of stylised flowers, leaves and dragons flying through the clouds. Last year, the dinh was recognised as a national historical site as it was where Vietnamese revolutionaries hid weapons and soldiers during the war against the French colonialists.

So why is such a historical place being razed to the ground? “It’s dilapidated so we decided to destroy it and reconstruct it,” says the village chief, pointing to the men on the roof, where they kicking tiles to the ground with their feet. Nearby, two large diggers and dumping trucks wait for the signal. “There will be nothing left, not even the foundation.”

Village’s Focal point

Historically the dinh has been a community centre for villages in Vietnam. It is a traditional and sacred house, which provides a collective venue for all aspects of village life, including social gatherings, festival celebrations, civil disputes and spiritual pursuits, essentially serving as a place where the spiritual and the secular events of life converge.

Yen Phu village’s dinh by the West Lake, was recognised as a national historical site in 1986. It was also built in the 17th century and dedicated to Uy Linh Lang, Vuong Doi and Vuong Ba, the three princes of King Tran Thanh Tong (1258-1278) who made a great contribution to the nation’s triumphs over Chinese Mongol Yuan invaders. However, when this communal house was repaired in 2004-2006 it was totally reconstructed.

The colourful, hand carved animals on the roof were remade rather carelessly and differ from the original versions, which can be seen on the pillars at the gate. “Everything was newly-made, from pillars to rafters and patterns, except for the house’s dimensions,” says a representative from the village’s historical and cultural site protection board, who preferred to remain anonymous.

“The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism said what can be re-used should not be changed. But the contractor said that the old items would not match the new ones,” she says by way of explanation. In her opinion ‘reconstruction’ means everything is required to be new.

Professor Tran Lam Bien, a historical and cultural researcher from the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism’s Department of Cultural Heritage, says that restoration means staying faithful to the original architectural traits. If 70 per cent of the site is restored in conformity with the original version, it will be a success.

“Improper repairs are destroying historical and cultural sites in Vietnam,” says Bien. “That means that traditional Vietnamese architecture is being damaged.” According to Bien, nearly all the restored sites in Vietnam do not abide by original traditional architectural versions and improper restoration and repairs will likely make future generations misunderstand the architectural value of the sites.

Just business

Another problem is numerous companies that are engaged in this work have no understanding of cultural and historical architecture. Even the people in charge of maintaining the buildings have a poor understanding of the building’s architectural significance. The dinh in the Xuan Hoa village is being reconstructed by a newly-established private company that is normally engaged in trading building materials, labour provision and construction. It has no experience of repairing historical or cultural sites.

“We have to do everything we can to survive,” admits a company representative when asked to comment. There seems to be little by way of overall vision. Companies will subcontract labourers by the day and crafts people for individual tasks. “They hire us temporarily,” says Vu Duy Thinh, a carpenter from the former province of Ha Tay. “When we finish our section then other employees will take over.”

For most of the year, Thinh and his workmates are actually farmers, but during harvest time they earn their keep as carpenters. “We look at the original version and then copy it,” says Thinh while resting his feet on the ancient board that he is copying. Nobody on site knows why the dragon is considered to be sacred in Vietnamese culture or how valuable it is to the dinh they are re-constructing.

The companies just want to make a profit while the labourers need to earn a living. “They figure the more parts of the site that are replaced, the more profit they can earn without appreciating the site’s soul and/or quintessential significance,” Bien says. In the Yen Phu dinh, the dragon and the sword were originally carved together in clouds, with the dragon bringing water to the sky and the sword piercing a cloud to provide water for the people below.

However, when the communal house was repaired, or renovated, only the dragon made the cut. In the past, Vietnamese people would use wood to build temples and pagodas without tiling floors as in Vietnamese architecture the roof is yang and the floor is yin.

If the floor is tiled, it would mean affect the balance of yin and yang and thus the harmony of the universe, which is believed to be created by the combination of yin and yang. Now tiles are used in renovated communal houses. The whole structure would have been made of wood in the past, but structures are now made from cement, bricks, ceramic tiles and reinforced concrete.

“We could try to build My Son or more Hoi An’s ancient streets with modern materials but this would be nonsense as the first standard of restoring sites is to ensure the original,” says Nguyen Duc Tuan, the director of the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism’s representative office in Danang. Only the original site can retain the soul of Vietnamese culture.

(Source: Timeout)