Old Glowing Lantern of Ancient Hoi An
The history of the Lantern
In the past, Vietnamese people often put oil lamps
in decorative spherical and hexagonal lantern shades, which were hung in the
eaves and both sides of the door in the Chinese style. During the sixteenth and
seventeenth centuries, Faifo (the name of Hoi An's ancient town at that time)
was bustling with foreign merchants from the Netherlands, India, and Japan
around the clock. Japanese merchants often hung tube and canari-shaped lanterns
along the poles in front of their houses, which lit up the whole commercial
quarters at night with a glowing, mysterious light. Locals began hanging
lanterns out as well, with hopes for bringing good luck and coziness to the
town.
The decision to bring out the lanterns again in the
autumn of 1998, however, was an unexpected success. Authorities of Hoi An's
ancient town chose the fourteenth night of each lunar month for a night of
lantern festivities. On that night, most lights in houses and shops in the
ancient town are turned off for the night and replaced with lanterns to light
up their narrow streets and alleyways.
This year included a Vietnam-Japan cultural festival
in Hoi An's ancient town, where Japanese visitors showed off their famous art
of paper lanterns. Local residents also had a chance to show their own
multi-colored lanterns of many sizes made by experienced artisans, including
large, unique lanterns made of rare woods with sophisticated designs and
embellished with valuable works of art on each side. Those large, old-fashioned
lanterns are now family treasures used only on the night of lanterns. Although
lanterns are often lit up with ordinary light bulbs today, their soft light
gives a hint of what romantic nights were like long ago.
Establishing a trademark for Hoi An’s Lanterns
For many years, traditional colored lanterns have
enchanted visitors to Hoi An, particularly foreign visitors. Every year, tens
of thousands of Hoi An lanterns are exported or bought by foreign visitors as
souvenirs and gifts. As a cultural and tourist product, the lanterns have
helped raise incomes of Hoi An's residents.
Hoping to cash in on the lanterns, several other
areas have recently started to turn out so-called Hoi An lanterns. The low
quality of these imitations, however, has harmed the reputation of traditional
Hoi An lanterns, which has led long-time lantern makers to encourage local
authorities to develop a specific trademark for Hoi An lanterns to preserve the
beauty of the town's long-lasting lanterns.
Nguyen Su, chairman of the Hoi An Town People's
Council and deputy party secretary, says the People's Council has presented a
resolution on developing the Hoi An lantern trademark, while the Quang Nam
Province People's Committee was asked to register collective protection of a
Hoi An lantern trademark.
In the immediate future, the Hoi An Town People's
Committee named the Planning and Investment Department as project coordinator
and developer. All lantern makers in the area can register for collective Hoi
An lantern trademark protection, provided their products meet the required
quality standards. Products meeting these standards can carry the words Hoi An
and the emblem of the Cau Pagoda. Only then will lanterns be sold to the
customers or be exported to other countries, which will establish a better
reputation for Hoi An lanterns abroad.
Hoi An ancient town now has many shops selling a
variety of lanterns, which are often red, yellow, or green depending on the
surrounding fabric. Prices range from several ten to hundreds of thousands of
Vietnamese dong depending on the size, colors, and quality of the surrounding
fabric. Tang Ngoc Thu, owner of the Ngoc Thu Lantern Workshop, says, "Our
products are sold at a wide range of prices to fit the budget of all customers.
Our goal is to increase the popularity of Hoi An lanterns among domestic and
foreign visitors."
Presently, Ngoc Thu is one of several enterprises
producing lanterns with metal frames for both indoor and outdoor decoration,
which have been exported to France, Germany, the US, and Australia. The
products have also been showcased in fairs and exhibitions in Da Nang, Hue, and
other domestic locations. Last year, a Hollywood studio placed an order with
Ngoc Thu for 300 big lanterns to use in scenes in its films. The lanterns have
also been written about in foreign journals.
Hoi An lanterns carry distinctive cultural values of
the town that can help present one of Vietnam's cultural heritage sites, Hoi An
ancient town, to the outside world, while high-quality will ensure a better
standard of living for residents.