Kim Bong Carpentry Village

Everyone who has stopped at Kim Bồng remembers one sound for a long time. It is the knock of the đục, the chisel, on wood, carried along the bank of the Thu Bồn River. It is never loud. It is steady and sure, like the breathing of a craft village that has lived through centuries.

Kim Bồng lies in Hoi An, on the far side of the river from the Old Town. The city of Hoi An counts its carpentry village among the intangible heritage of the local area. That is no decorative title. It is a way of saying that the hands of the Kim Bồng carpenters helped raise the soul of Hoi An and keep it.

The old houses of the Old Town have strong timber frames, straight rows of columns and finely carved window openings. A great many of the people who made them came from Kim Bồng. And it was not only houses. The boats that went up and down the Thu Bồn, carrying goods and people along the Hoi An coast, were also built by the people of Kim Bồng.

This is a village tied to the water. Timber comes in by boat. What is made goes out by boat. The knock of the đục, the sound of the bào, the plane, and the smell of fresh wood have all mingled in the riverside air for generations.

Standing in Kim Bồng, one sees the old town across the river. Look the other way, toward the inside of the village, and there are the workshops and the people at their trade. The two banks seem to be parted by a stretch of water. In truth they are joined by every piece of timber, every mộng nối, the joint between two pieces of wood, and every coat of sơn mài, the lacquer, laid down by many generations of carpenters.

The carpentry village of Kim Bồng is a memory that is still breathing. The chisel still sounds, the hands still work, and the old town on the far bank still stands because of people like these.