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Hoi An - History |
Archaeologists
discovered ceramics dating back 2,200 years ago in and around Hoi An, indicating
fishermen and farmers originally dwelt here. From about the year 200 to the
mid-900s, Hoi An was part of the mighty Champa Kingdom. Ancient Persian and Arab
texts praised Hoi An as an excellent place for ships to secure fresh provisions.
After Vietnamese military offensives ousted the Champas, Hoi An continued as an
important river port.
Hoi
An first came to prominence as an international port in the late sixteenth
century and reached its apex in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. At
that time Hoi An had trade links with China, Japan, Siam, the Malay Peninsula,
Luzon, and even European countries such as England, France, Holland, and
Portugal.
In
1560-1638, Japanese traders establish a presence in the town. In 1593, Japanese
merchants build a covered bridge to link their settlement with that of the
Chinese community. The bridge, rebuilt in 1719, still stands today.
The
town grew prosperous exporting silk, sugar, gold, cinnamon, sandalwood, pepper,
areca nut, ceramics, timber, tortoise shell, rhino horn, and, of all things, sea
swallows’ nests. As Hoi An's
reputation grew, it became an opulent town.
In
1615, Portuguese Jesuits built the first Christian mission in Vietnam at Hoi An,
along with a mission in Danang and Hanoi.
One
of the most famous visitors to Hoi An during the 17th century was French
missionary Alexandre de Rhodes, who created the relatively easy-to-read,
Latin-style script which Vietnamese language still uses.
The
town’s importance declined in the nineteenth century.
Hoi An was soon forgotten by the outside world. Though the town was still
charming, it was left to fend for itself as a sleepy backwater. In 1916, when
the Danang-Hoi An railway line was wiped out by a storm, it wasn't considered
worth the money to reconstruct.
Fortunately,
the town escaped serious damage during the US-Vietnam War. When foreign scholars
discovered its gorgeous architecture during the 1980s, they convinced UNESCO and
the then-communist Polish government to restore Hoi An's ancient sites and
monuments.
When
Vietnam began allowing large scale tourism in the early 1990s, Hoi An emerged as
one of the nation's best kept secrets. Many of the town's 60,000 population were
delighted by the new attention.
In April 2000, the 18th and 19th merchant quarters of the city were declared a world heritage site by UNESCO.
