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The shape of the door-eye

On the front doors of spiritual constructions, or any ancient houses in Hoi An, there are two wooden circles in the shape of a circle, a hexagon, or an octagon which are carved quite elaborately and sometimes painted illuminated. Hoi An people call this the “door-eye”.

In Hoi An, there are more than 20 different door-eye styles according to the concepts of Buddhism, Confucianism, and Taoism. The door-eye is divided into two parts: the “Center Part” and the “Rim Part”.

The center of the “door” is often decorated with the yin-yang circle. The rim is shaped like chrysanthemums, sometimes decorated by the images of bats or an 8-trigram, which is very diverse and rich, carrying many spiritual meanings and wishes of the owners.

The meaning of the door-eye

There are many explanations for the presence of these “door-eye”. But for the most part, Hoi An people believe that the “door-eye” hanging in front of the house is because it is considered the “god’s eye” guarding the house. The “door-eye” is both a decoration and a spiritual element, like the gods who bring luck to the homeowner and drive away evil.

Currently, the origin of the “door-eye” has not yet come to a definite and clear conclusion. But in terms of cultural and spiritual factors, it is similar to the “boat-eye” on boats of fishermen in the sea and islands. According to the people in Hoi An today – those who live in houses that own “door eyes”- think that “door-eye” are the souls of the houses, which are created to protect the owner from bad things, showing the concept of animism of the Vietnamese people.

Conclusion

It can be said that the door-eye is a unique spiritual symbol of the Vietnamese people in general and the people of Hoi An in particular. The animist belief – everything in the universe has its soul- has been vividly and skillfully shown through the eyes of the door, thereby expressing the owner’s respect for the space they are living in.

In addition, it also shows the way that the Vietnamese view the universe, they believe that besides the physical world that humans live in, there is another world, the world of deceased souls, which can be able to interact with the real world.