HOANG CAUCOMMUNAL HOUSE

Hoang Cau Communal House is located at No. 40, Nguyen Phuc Lai Street, O Cho Dua Ward, Dong Da District, Hanoi City. Hoang Cau Communal House was named following the name of Hoang Cau hamlet, originally a hamlet of Thinh Hao ward in Le Dynasty. In the Nguyen dynasty, this ward became a big village of Tong Ha, Vinh Thuan, Hoai Duc District, Hanoi Province.

The communal house worships Bo Cai Dai Vuong Phung Hung. He was born in Cam Lam village, Duong Lam commune, Son Tay town, Hanoi today.

Phung Hung, whose name is Cong Phan, was born in the family with the tradition of being Quan Lang mandarin, the most powerful person in Duong Lam, a man of great prestige to the people in the region. About the second half of the eighth century, Cao Chinh Binh was sent to govern An Nam. That guy tried so hard to make people's lives extremely miserable. Around the time of Dai Lich (766-779), Phung Hung and his two brothers named Phung Hai and Phung Dinh launched a major uprising against the colonial government of Duong Dynasty. The uprising lasted for more than 20 years, in 791, Phung Hung's insurgents moved to besiege the Tong Binh citadel (Hanoi).

The enemy’s general, Cao Chinh Binh, took the army out of the city to welcome the war, but was greatly defeated, so he was so scared and died of illness. Phung Hung went to the Capital, organized the rule throughout the country, and built a lasting independence. But soon, he fell ill and died, the people mourned to worship Phung Hung as Bo Cai Dai Vuong and honored him as the parent of the people and built a temple to worship him in his homeland (now belonging to Duong Lam commune, Son Tay town, Hanoi). Many villages in the Northern Delta have worshiped him as the village's tutelary god, including Hoang Cau village, O Cho Dua ward, Dong Da district, Hanoi city.

In addition to worshiping Bo Cai Dai Vuong Phung Hung, Hoang Cau Communal House also worships four other persons of Phung An, Princess Bao Hoa Nuong (the daughter of Phung Hung), Cao Son Dai Vuong, Bach Ma Dai Vuong (Two gods of Four sacred temples of Thang Long), who protect the South and the East of Thang Long Capital).

Through researching the objects kept in the communal house such as: Stone stele of Chinh Hoa date (1680), Royal Decree of Canh Hung date 28 (1767) with the legendary stories about the god, Throne-ancestral tablet etc. Hoang Cau Communal House was built quietly early, around Le Mat dynasty, and then restored and repaired many times in the Nguyen dynasty (nineteenth century). Some items have been embellished in recent years.

Hoang Cau Communal House is located in a large and airy campus in the center of the village. The communal house faces the South – the direction of the Saint in the concept of traditional architectural layout. The current architectural works of Hoang Cau communal house are arranged in a harmonious manner in a religious axis with a semicircular lake in front with the meaning of collecting water and happiness in accordance with traditional concepts. Next is Nghi Mon with four pillars and inside is the quite large brick yard. Here arranges Square and then the Front Hall and the Harem in the back.

Nghi Mon of Hoang Cau communal house is a quite large item, including 4 pillars. The top of the two main pillars was decorated with four phoenixes with the tails gathered together to create a stylized cape-jasmine, the below are lamp cells decorated with the patterns of the four supernatural creatures, the four seasons, and the pillar body was carved with parallel sentence in Chinese language. The two pillars on the two sides are tilted outwards to control the souls of the pilgrims before entering the communal house. Connecting the main pillar and the side pillar are two auxiliary gates which were made in form of overlapped matchboxes with two storeys and 8 tiled roofs which were decorated quietly meticulously: the roof top was shaped like the sun, 8 roof corners were 8 softly curved heads pointing toward the sky. Below are mezzanine walls decorated with patterns of tiger, dragon, cloud etc. with the meaning of "Dragon, Tiger Gathering". These are fine and elaborate masonry pieces.

The Square has a square shape, built in the form of overlapped matchboxes with two storeys and 8 roofs, 8 curved corners towards the sky. In the middle of roof corners, there is a pair of dragons looking at the moon and roofed with traditional tiles and the foot is decorated with balusters. Inside has 4 sets of wooden beams positioned on 4 rows of firm and strong columns. Surrounding was built with wood-imitation bricks which is quite unique.

The Front Hall consists of 3 compartments, built in form of overlapped matchboxes with two storeys and traditional tiled roof. The top of the roof was decorated with two dragons looking at the sun. The frame was made of concrete to ensure the strength and durability.

The Harem is structured like a square house similar to the Square but there is only one roof. Four edges were decorated with the patterns of stylized dragon heads and the roof top was decorated with straight and curved lines, tiles outside and concrete inside.

Over time, Hoang Cau communal house has changed a lot compared to the first construction time. The decoration in the communal house is currently concentrated in the walls of the Square and the Front Hall and in front of Nghi Môn gate with the topics of the four supernatural creatures, the four seasons, clouds to create the serenity for the relic.

The thing that makes the communal house become valuable is the system of objects which are diversified and rich in types and materials. There are 22 royal decrees to the Tutelary gods with the dating from the Revival Le dynasty to Nguyen Dynasty including 3 royal decrees of Later Le Dynasty, 5 royal decrees ò Tay Son Dynasty, 14 royal decrees of Nguyen Dynasty, 3 stone steles (including 1 stele built in Chinh Hoa Year (1680), 1 stele built in the 31st Tu Duc year (1880) and 1 stele built in the 5th Thanh Thai year (1889)), 1 copper bell with the date of Tu Duc together with Throne, Palanquin, Incense-Table, Eight Weapons, Worshipping Table, and Worshipping weapons created from the nineteenth-twentieth century.

Especially, the relic still keeps two quite beautiful ancient statues of the same form similar to the couple of Clay Statue of Giant Guard at Bach Ma Temple, Hang Buom Ward, Hoan Kiem District. The statues has long body, enlarged chest, high cheekbones, expanded jaw, square and sinewy face that exposed as the boundless power to serve the God. The statue reaches the perfection of the portrait, close to the art of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. Some traditional art researchers consider these statues to be beautiful and rare ones in Hanoi.

By the time, the relic bears the historical - cultural values ​​of the nation. It is a place to honor and commemorate the village's Tutelary God as well as the working place of the village council. For generations, the communal house has always been a familiar image for every villager in Hoang Cau village. The communal house attaches, protects, supports the soul and directs people to the values ​​of Truth – Goodness – Beauty.

Hoang Cau Communal House was ranked as a national historical relic in 2016 by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism.