Hội An
Hội An is a former city of Quảng Nam Province in Central Vietnam. Hội An's Ancient Town has been registered as a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1999 and is recognized as a well-preserved former site of a once-thriving Southeast Asian trading port dating from the 15th–19th century.
Prior to Vietnam's 2025 administrative reforms, Hội An was a Class-3 provincial city of the former Quảng Nam Province, which was merged into the city of Da Nang, a direct-controlled municipality of Vietnam.
Along with the Cù Lao Chàm archipelago, it is part of the Cù Lao Chàm-Hội An Biosphere Reserve, designated in 2009. In 2023, Hội An was registered in the UNESCO Creative Cities Network list.
The town's buildings and street plan reflect a blend of indigenous Vietnamese and foreign influences. Prominent in Hội An's old town is the "Japanese Bridge" dating to the 16th–17th century.
Etymology
translates as "peaceful meeting place" from Sino-Vietnamese.The name "Hội An" appears early in historical records, though its precise origin is unclear. According to Dương Văn An's 1553 work , Điền Bàn County listed 66 villages, including Hoài Phố, Cẩm Phố, and Lai Nghi, but no mention of Hội An. A map by Lê dynasty official Đỗ Bá, Thiên Nam Tứ Chí Lộ Đồ Sách, records Hội An Citadel and Hội An Bridge. Inscriptions at the Phước Kiến Cave in the Marble Mountains mention Hội An three times. During Nguyễn Phúc Lan's rule, the Minh Hương village was established near Hội An village. Records from the Minh Mạng era indicate that Hội An comprised six villages: Hội An, Minh Hương, Cổ Trai, Đông An, Diêm Hộ, and Hoài Phố. French scholar Albert Sallet noted that Hội An village was the most significant among five villages.
Westerners historically referred to Hội An as "Faifo." The origin of this name is debated. The 1651 Dictionarium Annamiticum Lusitanum et Latinum by missionary Alexandre de Rhodes defines Hoài Phố as a Japanese settlement in Cochinchina, also called Faifo. Some suggest Faifo derives from "Hội An Phố", a name found in Vietnamese and Chinese historical records. Another theory posits that the Thu Bồn River, once called Hoài Phố River, evolved into Phai Phố and then Faifo through phonetic shifts. Western missionaries and scholars used variations like Faifo, Faifoo, Fayfoo, Faiso, and Facfo in their records. Alexandre de Rhodes' 1651 map of Annam, including Đàng Trong and Đàng Ngoài, clearly marks "Haifo." French colonial maps later consistently used "Faifo" for Hội An. This word is derived from Vietnamese Hội An phố, which was shortened to "Hoi-pho", and then to "Faifo". It has also been known by various other Vietnamese names, including Hải Phố, Hoài Phố, Hội Phố, and Hoa Phố. During the Champa period, it was named Lam Ap Pho.
History
Though the name "Hội An" emerged around the late 16th century, the area's history is far older, having been home to the Sa Huỳnh culture and Champa culture. The Sa Huỳnh culture, first identified by French archaeologists in Quảng Ngãi Province, was confirmed as a distinct culture by Madeleine Colani in 1937. Over 50 Sa Huỳnh sites have been found in Hội An, mostly along ancient Thu Bồn River sand dunes. Artifacts, including Han dynasty coins and Western Han-style iron tools, indicate trade as early as the 1st century BCE. Notably, only late Sa Huỳnh culture is evident in Hội An, suggesting its prominence in this period.Cham period (2nd century-15th century)
Between the 7th and 10th centuries, the Chams controlled the strategic spice trade and with this came increasing wealth.The early history of Hội An is that of the Chams. These Austronesian-speaking Malayo-Polynesian people created the Kingdom of Champa which occupied much of what is now central and lower Vietnam, from Huế to beyond Nha Trang. Various linguistic connections between Cham and the related Jarai language and the Austronesian languages of Indonesia, Malaysia, and Hainan have been documented. In the early years, Mỹ Sơn was the spiritual capital, Trà Kiệu was the political capital and Hội An was the commercial capital of the Chams, they later moved further down towards Nha Trang. The river system was used for the transport of goods between the highlands, as well as the inland countries of Laos and Thailand and its lowlands.
After repeated conflicts, Champa was gradually pushed south by Đại Việt, with its final capital at Bầu Giá overtaken in 1471 by the Later Lê dynasty. Hội An then came under Đại Việt control, laying the foundation for its later commercial prosperity.
Vietnamese period
In 1306, the Vietnamese and the Chams signed a land treaty, in which Cham king Jaya Simhavarman III gave Đại Việt the two provinces of Ô and Lý in exchange for a long-term peace and marriage with emperor Trần Nhân Tông's daughter Huyền Trân. In 1471, Emperor Lê Thánh Tông of Đại Việt annexed Champa and Hội An became a Vietnamese territory, and also became the capital of Quảng Nam Province.In 1535, Portuguese explorer and sea captain António de Faria, coming from Đà Nẵng, tried to establish a major trading centre at the port village of Faifo. Since 1570, Southern Vietnam had been under the control of the powerful Nguyễn clan, established by governor Nguyễn Hoàng. The Nguyễn lords were far more interested in commercial activity than the Trịnh lords who ruled the north. Nguyễn Hoàng and his son Nguyễn Phúc Nguyên built fortifications, focused on developing the Đàng Trong economy, and expanded foreign trade, transforming Hội An into Southeast Asia's busiest international trading port at the time. As a result, Hội An flourished as a trading port and became the most important trade port on the South China Sea. Captain William Adams, the English sailor and confidant of Tokugawa Ieyasu, is known to have made one trading mission to Hội An in 1617 on a Red Seal Ship. The early Portuguese Jesuits also had one of their two residences at Hội An.
In the 17th century, the Nguyễn lords continued their conflict with the Trịnh lords while expanding south, encroaching on Champa territories. Because of the need of bronze and gunpowders to produce matchlock guns for war, The Nguyễn issued laws to protect foreign trade to seek for resource to build the weapons, fostering expatriate settlements. In 1567, the Ming dynasty lifted its isolationist policies, enabling trade with Southeast Asia but restricting certain exports to Japan due to history of Japanese pirate's activities. This prompted the and Tokugawa shogunate to seek Chinese goods through Southeast Asian ports. From 1604 to 1635, at least 356 Japanese merchant ships ventured to Southeast Asia, with 75 docking at Hội An within 30 years, compared to 37 at Tonkin under Trịnh control. Japanese merchants traded hardware and daily goods for sugar, silk, and agarwood. By 1617, a Japanese quarter formed in Hội An, flourishing in the early 17th century. A painting by Chaya Shinroku, Map of Cochinchina Trade Routes, depicts two- and three-story wooden structures in the Japanese quarter. In 1651, Dutch captain Delft Haven noted about 60 closely built Japanese-style stone houses along the river, designed for fire prevention. However, the Tokugawa shogunate's renewed isolationism and persecution of Christians led to a decline in the Japanese presence, with Chinese merchants gradually taking over.
The city also rose to prominence as a powerful and exclusive trade conduit between Europe, China, India, and Japan, especially for the ceramic industry. Shipwreck discoveries have shown that Vietnamese and other Asian ceramics were transported from Hội An to as far as the Sinai in Egypt.
Unlike the Japanese, Chinese merchants were familiar with Hội An due to earlier trade with Champa. After Champa's fall, Chinese traders continued commerce with Vietnamese locals, driven by demand for salt, gold, and cinnamon from Southeast Asia. Following the Late Ming peasant rebellions and the Ming-Qing transition, many Chinese immigrated to central Vietnam, establishing Minh Hương communities. Chinese merchants increasingly settled in Hội An, replacing the Japanese. The port became a hub for foreign goods, with the riverside Đại Đường district spanning several kilometers, bustling with shops. Most Chinese merchants, primarily from Fujian, wore Ming-style clothing and often married Vietnamese women. Some became Vietnamese citizens, while others, known as "guest residents", retained Chinese nationality. In 1695, Thomas Bowyer of the English East India Company attempted to establish a settlement in Hội An. Though unsuccessful, he recorded:
Decline and modern era
Historical maps from the 17th and 18th centuries show Hội An on the northern bank, connected to the sea via the Đại Chiêm Estuary and linked to Đà Nẵng's Đại Estuary by another river. The ancient Cổ Cò-Đế Võng River served as a navigable waterway between Hội An and the Hàn River estuary, with archaeological evidence of sunken ships and anchors found in its riverbed.During the 18th-century Tây Sơn rebellion, the Trịnh seized Quảng Nam in 1775, plunging Hội An into conflict. The Trịnh army destroyed much of the commercial district, sparing only religious structures. Many Nguyễn elites and wealthy Chinese merchants fled south to Saigon-Chợ Lớn, leaving Hội An in ruins. In 1778, Englishman Charles Chapman lamented:About five years later, Hội An's new port slowly revived, though trade never regained its former prominence. Vietnamese and Chinese residents rebuilt from the rubble, erecting new houses and erasing traces of the Japanese quarter.
In the 19th century, the Đại Estuary narrowed, and the Cổ Cò River suffered from silting, preventing large ships from docking. The Nguyễn dynasty's isolationist policies, restricting Western trade, further diminished Hội An's role as an international port. However, the town continued as a local commercial center, with new roads and widened streets on the southern bank. In the fifth year of Minh Mạng's reign, the emperor noted Hội An's diminished prosperity but acknowledged it remained more vibrant than other Vietnamese towns. In 1888, when Đà Nẵng became a French concession, many Chinese merchants relocated there, reducing Hội An's commercial activity. Nonetheless, most surviving residences and community halls took their current architectural form during this period.
In the early 20th century, despite losing its port function, Hội An remained Quảng Nam's urban and administrative center. When the was established in 1976, Đà Nẵng became the provincial capital, and Hội An faded into obscurity. Fortunately, this spared the town from Vietnam's rapid 20th-century urbanization.
Between 1907 and 1915, Tramway de l’Îlot de l’Observatoire operated from Đà Nẵng. As Đà Nẵng became the new centre of trade, and with maintenance difficulties, the tramway ended its operations.
In May 1945, a group of 11 civilians of the resistance movement, including the composer La Hoi, were executed by the Japanese imperial army. In August, Hoi An became one of the earliest towns to seize power.
Local historians also say that Hội An lost its status as a desirable trade port due to the silting up of the river mouth. The result was that Hội An remained almost untouched by the changes to Vietnam over the next 200 years.
The efforts to revive the city were only done in the 1990s by a Polish architect and conservator from Lublin and influential cultural educator, Kazimierz Kwiatkowski, who finally brought back Hội An to the world. There is a statue of the Polish architect in the city, and remains a symbol of the relationship between Poland and Vietnam, which share many historical similarities despite their distance.
Today, the town is a tourist attraction because of its history, traditional architecture, and crafts such as textiles and ceramics. Many bars, hotels, and resorts have been constructed both in Hội An and the surrounding area. The port mouth and boats are still used for both fishing and tourism.