THAI KIEU COMMUNAL HOUSE

Thai Kieu Communal House is located at No. 218, Trung Phung ward, Dong Da district, Hanoi city.

The Communal House is the place for worshiping Trinh Kiem (titled “Minh Khang Thai Vuong”), who originated from a poor family in Thanh Hoa, followed Nguyen Kim and King Le Trang Tong from the early days, and later became one meritorious mandarin of the Le Trung Hung Dynasty. Under the title “Assisting the Le Dynasty to exterminate the Mac Dynasty”, Trinh Kiem was the leader and deserved the highest credit for restoring the Le Trung Hung Dynasty from 1545 until his death (1570). Although his highest title when he was alive was Thai Quoc Cong (a title of the feudal court, given to those who made great credits), he was bestowed posthumously by the later generations with the title “Ancestor Minh Khang Thai Vuong” and considered to be the first Lord of the Trinh Dynasty – the family who held the real power of governing Dai Viet for more than 200 years from the middle of 16th Century to the end of 17th Century.

According to archived documentations and recollections of the local people, Thai Kieu Communal House was formally called “Dinh Phu” (Sub-provincial Communal House). However, through variations, the communal house were narrowed very much in comparison to when it was originally built. In the Nguyen Dynasty, the house were repaired many times. The current architectural scale resulted from the restoration in 2011 with contribution of Trinh family members in Hanoi.

The Thai Kieu Communal House consists of the brick gate in arch form, with two symbolic pillars on the sides; the pillars tops are embarked with a pair of flanking Nghe (a lion-like supernatural creature), and the bodies are embarked with parallel sentences in Chinese characters.

The house has 1 compartment built of brick, with closed wall at the sides and roof covered with traditional tiles. One high altar is built close to the back wall. On the altar, there are 3 worshiping throne; the middle one holds a Throne – Ancestral tablet; each of the two remaining ones have a statue of sitting position inside. On the sides of the altar, there are parallel sentences, worshiping crane statue, set of eight weapons for ornament. Above the altar, there is a horizontal lacquered board with 4 characters “Thanh Than van vo” (meaning Saints and Gods in scholar and military), below it is a door painting in fresco inscribed with figure of dragon flanking to the sun, fully blooming daisy, phoenix; the floor of the house is covered with enameled tiles.

The house now preserves 3 stone steles originated from Nguyen Dynasty and some worshiping objects in artistic style of Nguyen Dynasty time.

Through various historical events, the communal house still exists as the evidence showing the trace of a “Sub-provincial Communal House” of the Trinh family. At the moment, the Thai Kieu communal house is the place for cultural and religious activities of the resident community, and the address for researching and studying about the Trinh family in the Thang Long – Hanoi land area.