Fujian Assembly Hall

A model of a sailing boat sits still in the main hall, two meters long and less than one meter wide. It has no waves to ride and no wind to fill its sails. Only incense smoke drifts around its hull.

People pass down the story that this is the boat of Thiên Hậu, the sea goddess the Chinese merchants prayed to. She is said to have used it to rescue people in danger. The truth is plainer, and it tugs at the heart more. The model shows the real shape of the sailing boats that Chinese merchants once used to cross the sea. Small against the ocean, they drifted for months, and in a storm they had nothing to protect them. The people aboard could only pray.

The boat rests at 46 Trần Phú Street, in the old quarter of Hoi An, now part of Hoi An ward in the city of Da Nang. In 1999, UNESCO listed the ancient town as a World Heritage site. The Fujian Assembly Hall is one of the shared houses of the Chinese Vietnamese community inside it.

Under the Nguyễn lords, Hoi An let Chinese merchants settle. The Nguyễn lords were a noble family who ruled southern Vietnam from the 16th to the 18th century. The Fujian people were among the first to come, and among the most numerous. In 1697, while the trading port flourished, more and more Fujian merchants arrived, so they bought an old pagoda and built their hall there. The pagoda was called Kim Sơn Tự. Legend says that long ago this place was thick with trees, with a river in front. A statue of the Buddha floated down with the current. People found gold inside it and used the gold to buy timber and build a pagoda. That is a story passed along by word of mouth, but the name Kim Sơn Tự is still on the main gate today.

In 1757, the Fujian community carried out a major restoration and renamed the building the Fujian Assembly Hall. It served to honor the gods and the people who had served the community. It also let people from the same homeland meet and help one another in trade and business.

Her story explains why sea traders placed their faith in a woman. Chinese tradition holds that her family name was Lâm, and that she was born in Bồ Điền, in Fujian province, more than a thousand years ago. When she was small, the sea once turned wild, and the boat of her four older brothers was lost among the waves. Suddenly a little girl appeared and guided the boat to a place sheltered from the wind. Her parents looked at their daughter and understood that she had saved her brothers. Later, seafarers called her Thiên Hậu. They took her picture and a red lantern aboard their boats, and over many reigns she received royal decrees of honor.

In the main hall, her statue sits in the middle, in a red cloak embroidered with gold thread. Diagonally behind the altar of the Buddha, two spirits stand watch on either side. One is Thiên Lý Nhãn, who sees a thousand miles. The other is Thuận Phong Nhĩ, who hears cries for help carried on the wind. Around the boat there is one who sees from afar, one who hears from afar, and a mother seated between them. The boat is no longer alone.

Reaching the boat takes a long walk. The hall is about 120 meters deep, running from Trần Phú Street through to Phan Chu Trinh Street, with three courtyards and many flights of steps to cross. In the outer courtyard is a pond shaped like a plum blossom. Five carp raise their heads together and spout water toward the sky, and behind them is the shape of a sun. Before the main gate stand a pair of lions facing each other, and the roof of the gate is tiled in green glaze. The outer gate, the pond and the main gate were rebuilt in the largest restoration, from 1970 to 1974. A house where people still worship always has someone sweeping and mending. Descendants far away, even abroad, still send word home and help with the repairs.

Behind the main hall is another pond with ornamental fish, and above it coils a huge dragon. Its scales are set with shards of porcelain bowls and glass, glittering as if it had just waded through water. Then comes the rear hall. There stand six spirits whom the Fujian people regard as their own protectors. Tradition says they were six generals loyal to the Ming dynasty. Beside them are three goddesses who watch over pregnancy and 12 midwife goddesses. Families hoping for a child come to pray to them. All are wooden statues, lacquered red and gilded.

This hall is not a museum. Every year, on the 16th day of the second lunar month, people from many places come back for the festival of the six spirits. The evening before, the hall is hung with lanterns and flowers. The next morning, bell and drum sound three rounds, and the lead celebrant reads out a prayer text, usually in Min, the language of the old homeland. In the third month comes the festival of the goddess, on the 23rd day. On the afternoon of the 22nd, people wipe her statue with a clean cloth and change her robe.

The incense still burns. The boat still lies in the main hall, within sight of Thiên Lý Nhãn and within hearing of Thuận Phong Nhĩ. It reached harbor long ago, yet it is watched over as if it were still out at sea.