Time has stood still in a 200-year-old house in the ancient Dong Ngacvillage, which lies about 10 km from the heart of Hanoi, thoughurbanisation has left powerful impacts on the place.

The house,currently owned by Do Quoc Hien, is a place of worship for Do The Giai, amilitary mandarin under the reign of King Le and Trinh Lord(1428-1788), who was regarded as a guardian god of Dong Ngac village.

Standingthe test of more than 200 years, the wooden structure still retainsmuch of characteristics of Vietnam’s traditional architecture,reflected in the composition of ceremonial and back compartments and theroofing covered by yin-yang glazed tiles.

Inside the house sit apair of two-metre cranes standing on tortoise shells, a statue of giantguard, a stone stele inscribed with the biography of mandarin Do TheGiai and worshipping rules, and a number of horizontal lacquered boardsengraved with Chinese characters.

A promoter of the culturalvalues of Vietnamese traditional houses, Hien asked his children not tomortgage or sell the house, which he inherited from his ancestors,despite the difficulties they would meet in life.

“We are determined to preserve traditional values,” Hien emphasized.

Several years ago, houses aged more than 100 years old in Dong Ngac village like Hien’s numbered more than 100.

However,20 th century life and urbanisation caused the loss of a half of thehouses and left the remainder at high risk of disappearing.

This story voices the need to preserve these houses which are crucial to Vietnam ’s history and its traditional values./.