Hoi An

(Travellers | Cities | Routes | Trade Goods | Themes)

by Caroline Stone

Hoi An (Fai Fo, Faiso, Haiso, Cotham), a port town on the Thu Bon River in the Central Provinces of Vietnam is believed to have played an important role in the maritime trade of Southeast Asia as early as the 2nd century. B.C., when connections with China and India were established. From the mid 16th century until the river began to silt up in the late 18th, Fai Fo was a major entrepôt for merchants from Europe to Japan.

From the 1st century A.D., the port lay within the kingdom of Champa. The Cham migrated to the area and spoke a Malay-Polynesian language, but were culturally heavily Indianized. Their economy was based on maritime trading, in particular slaves, precious woods – particularly sandalwood – and other locally obtainable luxuries. Marco Polo described Champa with admiration when he visited the country in 1285 A.D.

Two hundred years later, however, the culture had degenerated – human sacrifice had become a normal rite - and in the late 15th century Champa was invaded by the Viet. Many of the Cham fled to what is now Cambodia where, in the 18th century, a large part of the community converted to Sunni Islam as a result of contact with traders from Malaysia and further west.

Under the Viet, Fai Fo prospered and by the mid-16th century, local traders had been joined by Japanese, Chinese and European vessels. They would arrive in time for the annual spring fair, which lasted four months. Textiles, fine porcelain, perfumes and medicinal drugs, spices, tea, ivory, and weaponry would be exchanged, as well as some raw materials. Fai Fo became a show case for the manufactured goods of the Eurasian world.

The Japanese and Chinese dominated the organization of this great trade fair and maintained a permanent presence in the city. In 1639, however, the Shogun of Japan reacted to western influence by forbidding foreign travel. The Japanese withdrew, although the bridge which they had built to link their quarter to that of the Chinese has survived as a landmark until the present. Twenty- five years earlier, the Christian missionaries had settled at Fai Fo, providing the first formal European presence.

From the mid-17th century, the Chinese became dominant in commercial affairs and Fai Fo became increasingly Sinized. The trade fairs continued into the late 18th century, when the silting up of the river and the increasing size of vessels, led merchants to look for better harbours.

Not long after, China was forced to open up to trade with the west and Fai Fo fell into decline. French attempts to revive the city and to link it to the railway system failed in their objectives and Fai Fo, known since 1954 as Hoi An, is only now recovering a measure of prosperity and international contact through tourism.

In 1999, a 15th century Vietnamese merchant vessel was recovered at Cu Lao Ch’am near Hoi An. It has proved to contain one of the most important hoards of South East Asian ceramics and has served to shed light on the trade of the area. In April 2000, the merchant quarters of Hoi An were declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site.