08/05/2022
Most of the existing ancient wells in Hoi An city are concentrated in the area along the north bank of the De Vong river, villages 5, 6, Cam Thanh commune, block 4, Thanh Ha ward and especially the old town. The position on the topographical level is the south of the sand dunes, along the north bank of ancient streams, usually located about 50 - 150m from the river, especially many wells are only 6 - 10m from the river. If in the periphery, wells are located in people's gardens and round-shaped wells are common, in the old town, the type of wells that appear most are square wells and square wells above and below square, they are located in the premises of famous monuments. such as the assembly halls, clan churches, communal houses and shrines of the Hoa Minh Huong and the Hoa Ngu Bang. Wells located to the east or to the left of the vertical axis of a religious building or a house account for a very high percentage.
In more than 80 ancient wells collected, they can be divided into 3 basic designs including round, square and upper and lower square shapes. There are also some other styles that are not as common as the top square bottom round style, the top round bottom hexagonal style and the upper octagon bottom rounded style.
1. Round well type: accounted for a very large proportion, about 62.92%. Wells are built mainly with bricks (86.3%), some wells are built with curvilinear curved stones or a combination of curvilinear curvilinear stones and bricks.
Regarding brick materials, there are two basic designs: rectangular box-shaped bricks and towel-shaped curved bricks. Rectangular tiles come in many different sizes, but the common thickness is 4.5cm. The towel-shaped curved brick also has many different sizes, the common thickness is 4cm. Well bricks are arranged in horizontal, vertical, or a combination of horizontal and vertical. If the curvilinear-shaped brick is built vertically, the concave part is directed to the center of the well, the rectangular-shaped brick is mainly built horizontally and vertically with the form of one or two horizontal rows alternating with one horizontal row. There is only one well built with rectangular bricks with vertical form. Some wells have the upper part built of curved bricks in the shape of a towel, the lower part built of rectangular bricks with horizontal or vertical forms alternating with horizontal and vertical and vice versa. There are also wells, the upper part of the brick is horizontal, the lower part is built with a horizontal row alternating with a vertical row and vice versa. Or the whole is built with horizontal, vertical, or one or two horizontal rows interspersed with vertical ones.
In terms of stone materials, there are granite or sandstone curved in the shape of a towel, with a width of 20-30cm. Stone wells with the form of many curved stones placed on top of each other vertically.
The bottom of the brick wall of the circular well has a rather thick square wooden or stone frame. The bottom of some wells is paved with 3 wooden planks running in the direction of Southwest - Northeast or North - South, the boards are left intact or perforated with circular holes. Wells have a depth of 220 - 561cm, common at depths of 300 - 450. Wells in the Old Quarter have a greater depth, about 450 - 550cm. The diameter of the well is from 62-140cm, mainly from 90-120cm. Mouth wall thickness ranges from 8 - 32cm, most from 15 - 25cm. Mouth height from 45-96cm, maximum from 55-75cm.
2. Square type: There are 14 square-shaped wells, accounting for 17.27%. Widely distributed in the ancient town of Hoi An. This type of well is also built mainly with bricks (92.8%), some of them are built with bricks - stone bars.
Brick material has only one basic type, rectangular brick. This type of tile also has many different sizes, but is common in thicknesses of 3.5cm and 4cm. Well bricks are arranged horizontally or vertically. Some wells have the upper part built in a horizontal style, the lower part built in a vertical style and vice versa. There are also wells built in the style of a horizontal row interspersed with a vertical line. There are wells completely built in horizontal or vertical style, in which horizontal type dominates.
Most well walls have a relatively flat surface. The walls of some wells are divided into 2 floors. Most square wells have a square wooden frame under the brick wall. In this type of well, there is only one well with wooden planks across the bottom. The side of the well is mainly in the north-south direction. Wells have a depth of 244-615cm, common at depths of 420 - 570cm. Wells in the Old Quarter have a greater depth than wells in the periphery, concentrated at a depth of 550 - 570cm. The side of the heart is from 60-120cm wide, mainly at 72-91cm in size. Thickness of the rim of the mouth is from 15 - 31cm. The mouth wall is 43-80cm high.
3. Round top and bottom square: There are 13 wells with square top and bottom, accounting for 16.05%. Distributed mainly in the ancient town of Hoi An. Just like the round and square wells, the upper and lower square wells built with bricks account for the absolute percentage (92.3%). Only one well built of bar stone combined with brick. The circular part is smaller than the square part, most of which is about 1/3 - 1/5 of the depth of the well. At the right angle at the position adjacent to the circular part is built stone. The face of the square part is very flat and even. Underneath the brick wall is a thick square wooden frame. The edges of the square part are mainly in the North - South direction, some in the Southwest - Northeast direction. Wells have depths ranging from 237 - 564cm, common at depths of 400 - 535cm. The well is in the old quarter deeper, from 400 - 564cm. The diameter of the well is from 73 - 142cm. Thickness of the rim of the mouth is from 6.5 - 30cm, mostly in the thickness of 15 - 23cm. The height of the mouth is from 52 to 96cm.
There are two types of well brick materials, including rectangular box bricks and towel-shaped curved bricks. Rectangular tiles come in many different sizes, but the common thicknesses are 4cm and 4.5cm. The towel-shaped curved brick has a thickness of 3.5 - 3.7cm. Most wells have bricks built in a horizontal fashion. The well has a circular part built with curved bricks in the shape of a towel, and a square part built with horizontal bricks is also very popular. In addition, some wells have a circular section built with bricks in the style of two horizontal rows interspersed with a vertical line or the top of the circular section is built with horizontal bricks, the bottom is built with curved bricks in the shape of a scarf, and the square part is built with bricks. horizontal style.
The building stone in the square part of the well is gray-green sandstone bar stone, 40cm wide, tightly stacked.
4. Other designs: There are 3 wells including the upper and lower hexagonal shapes, the upper and lower round squares and the upper and lower round hexagons.
The upper and lower square wells are built of bricks and sandstone. The square part is made of sandstone, consisting of 8 stone bars with dimensions of 97 x 30/40 x 10cm, which are inserted into the grooves of 4 stone pillars at four corners to form the mouth of the well. The four stone bars located on the top of the well mouth have ledges connected to the mortises on the stone pillars to fix the mouth wall. The bottom circle is built of bricks in the style of a horizontal row alternating with a correct horizontal row.
The top and bottom hexagonal wells are also built of brick and stone. The upper circular part is built of bricks in the form of a horizontal row interspersed with a vertical row. The hexagonal part is built of stone, the stones are 40cm wide and 12cm thick. In the middle of some stones there is a round hole with a diameter of about 15cm. Well shaped upper octagonal bottom round. The octagonal part is built horizontally, the circular part is built with bricks in the form of two horizontal rows interspersed with a vertical row.
Well is a type of historical relic, it was built under certain conditions, is one of the methods of exploiting and using fresh water sources of ancient Hoi An residents. The ancient wells in Hoi An today have a heterogeneous construction date, possibly formed at different times of many centuries. Up to now, we have not been able to collect any written documents mentioning the construction of the well to be able to determine its specific date. Some researchers believe that the square and upper and lower square wells in Hoi An are Cham wells, that is, built before the 15th century. When the Vietnamese came to reside, they inherited it to serve their needs. However, the survey results have suggested that these are just wells built by the Vietnamese in the motif of Cham wells. Over the course of use, due to deterioration, some square-shaped wells were restored and restored by residents in the direction of rounding the newly built part to increase the bearing capacity of the well wall and this is the cause of the collapse. the birth of the top and bottom square wells.
Although the designs are different, the ancient wells in Hoi An have a remarkable common point that they all have a square wooden frame at the bottom of the brick wall. This square wooden frame plays an important role in ensuring the longevity of the well, keeping the well wall stable for a long time. During use, when people take water for daily life, the sand in the well is scooped up along with the water, so over a long time the bottom of the well will be hollow, causing the well wall to gradually sink. . If there is no wooden frame below, the well wall will sink unevenly, creating the risk of brick collapse.
Well construction technique is also an issue that needs further research attention. Currently, there are two hypotheses that need to be tested. First: The ancients dug a pond with the required area, then started to build a well from the bottom up. Second: The ancients used the current method of dropping ball wells. Wells in the Old Quarter are very deep, close to architectural works and more importantly, the stratigraphic structure is mainly sandy soil, so it is easy to fail, so building a well as the first method can be applied. can it be used? If using the second method, how to prevent the brick wall from falling during the descending process?
No matter what method the ancients used, they were really highly skilled artisans with rich experience. It is easy to see that the wells that we have collected have very clear and sweet water despite being located close to the river, the water level in the well is quite high and the water never dries up in the driest days. In addition to the feng shui factor, this is also influenced by the well construction technique. The bricks stacked on top of each other without adhesive mortar create gaps for water to flow from the ground into the well, keeping the water level in the well always maintained at a very high level.
Currently, there are many issues related to ancient wells in Hoi An that need further study. I think, in possible conditions, we should dig a few wells that are no longer in use to solve some more suspicious mysteries. * Some typical ancient wells in Hoi An
TT Well name Present address
01 Well Xom Dinh Lang Beach – Tan Hiep
02 Forbidden Village Well Cam village - Tan Hiep
03 Hai Tang Temple Well Lang Beach – Tan Hiep
04 Mr. Le Be's well Thanh Nhi - Cam Thanh.
05 The well of Mrs. Luong Thi Nhon's house Thanh D**g - Cam Thanh
06 Mrs. Le Thi Tu's well Thanh D**g - Cam Thanh
07 The well of Mrs. Nguyen Thi Trien's house Thanh D**g - Cam Thanh
08 Mr. Tran Han's well Thanh D**g - Cam Thanh
09 Thigh Well Thanh D**g - Cam Thanh
ten Mrs. Ngot's Well Hammock - Cam Thanh
11 Mr. Nguyen Ngoc Thien's well An Phong - Tan An
twelfth Mrs. Tran Thi Chung's well Son Pho I - Cam Chau
13 Mr. Son's well Son Pho I - Cam Chau
14 Well Xom Pagoda Thanh Tay - Cam Chau
15 Mrs. Mon's well Thanh Tay - Cam Chau
16 Thanh Tay forest well Thanh Tay - Cam Chau
17 Mr. Nguyen Manh's well Son Pho II - Cam Chau.
18 The well is near Mr. Phan Nhan's house Son Pho II - Cam Chau
19 The well of Mrs. Vo Thi Ngan's house Son Pho II - Cam Chau
20 Lang Ong Well Xuyen Trung - Cam Nam
21 Temple Well Xuyen Trung - Cam Nam
22 Mrs. Phan Thi Yen's well Phuoc Trach – Cua Dai
23 The well in front of Mr. Mai Chut's house Phuoc Tan – Cua Dai
24 Mr. Dang Hung's well Phuoc Tan – Cua Dai
25 The well next to Mrs. Le Thi Kha's house Tan My - Cam An
26 Mr. Huynh Gioi's well Tan Thinh – Cam An
27 Mr. Le Binh's well Tan Thinh – Cam An
28 Mr. Nguyen Kieng's well Tan Thanh - Cam An
29 Wells An Bang – Cam An
30 Mr. Pham Van Ngu's well An Bang - Cam An
thirty first Mr. Nguyen Van Cu's well An Tan - Cam An
32 Tra Que stone well Tra Que Village - Cam Ha
33 Mr. Vo Vinh's well An Bang – Thanh Ha
34 The well of Mrs. Nguyen Thi Tuat's house An Bang – Thanh Ha
35 The well of Mrs. Nguyen Thi Ro's house An Bang – Thanh Ha
36 Mr. Hiep's well An Bang – Thanh Ha
37 Well of Nam Dieu ancestral temple Nam Dieu – Thanh Ha
38 Mr. Nguyen Than's well Thanh Chiem – Thanh Ha
39 Mr. Vo Sinh's well Hau Xa – Thanh Ha
40 The well of Mrs. Bui Thi Hat's house Hau Xa – Thanh Ha
41 Thu Lock's garden well Trung Chau – Cam Kim
42 The well of the Ngo family church Trung Chau – Cam Kim
43 Well of Four Tribes Phuoc Thang – Cam Kim
44 Mr. Pham Luong's well Phuoc Thang – Cam Kim
45 Mr. Eight Bich's well Phuoc Thang - Cam Kim
forty six Well of Da village (behind Mr. Nguyen Ginger's house) Cam Pho (House No. 120 Thai Phien)
47 Well next to Xuan Lam communal house No. 42/2 Tran Hung Dao - Cam Pho
48 House well 139/25 Tran Hung Dao No. 139/25 Tran Hung Dao - Cam Pho
49 Well of Da village (behind Mr. Nguyen Ginger's house) Cam Pho (House number 102 Thai Phien street)
50 Mr. Danh's well Son Phong
51 Well in Minh Huong Tuy Tien Duong An Dinh – Minh An
Well at Quan Cong Mieu An Dinh – Minh An
52 The well behind Tin Nghia Tu An Dinh – Minh An
53 The well is in front of Van Chi Minh Huong An Thai – Minh An
54 Well of Am Soul Temple 1 An Dinh – Minh An
55 Well 2 An Dinh – Minh An
56 The well of the Tran family church An Dinh – Minh An
57 Ong Voi family well 1 An Thang – Minh An
58 Ong Voi family well 2 An Thang – Minh An
59 The well of the Truong family church 1 An Thang – Minh An
60 Roof well - Hoi An Market Tran Phu - Minh An Street
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Most of the existing ancient wells in Hoi An city are concentrated in the area along the north bank of the De Vong river, villages 5, 6, Cam Thanh commune, block 4, Thanh Ha ward and especially the old town. The position on the topographical level is the south of the sand dunes, along the north bank...
