TRUNG TU COMMUAL HOUSE

Trung Tu Communal House is also called Dong Tac Communal House (meaning the place name of Trung Tu village in the past) and located at Lane 198 Xa Dan, Phuong Lien Ward, Dong Da District, Hanoi City. This is originally Dong Tac ward, Tho Xuong, Phung Thien under Le period. In the 19th century, Trung Tu belonged to Ta Nghiem (later changed to Kim Lien), Tho Xuong, Hoai Duc district, Hanoi province.

The communal house worships Cao Son Dai Vuong - the God who keeps the South of Thang Long capital, who is worshiped in many places of Vietnamese people. Cao Son is worshiped at Kim Lien communal house (temple), Dong Da district. According to legend, Cao Son was one of 50 children who followed Mother Au Co to the mountains, then became the general of Son Tinh worshipped in Tan Vien mountain temple (Ba Vi) because of the merit of helping King Hung to defeat Thuc invader. Over time with the shift of traditional consciousness, Cao Son was revered to become one of “four temples of Thang Long” - the god who kept the South and protected the ancient Thang Long capital.

In addition to worshiping Cao Son Dai Vuong, Trung Tu communal house also worships Princess Hue Minh and Phuc than Dai Vuong Nguyen Hy Quang (1634-1692), Trung Tu had contributed greatly to the villagers in reclaiming the land that was appropriated by mandarins land for many generations ago. Experiencing many times, until 1674, Dong Tac - Trung Tu people could restore to their old land. After that, he contributed his salary and together with the villagers repaired the village and built their homeland. After his death, Trung Tu villagers worshiped him as Lucky God in the communal house together with Cao Son Dai Vuong and Princess Hue Minh.

Legend has it that Trung Tu Communal House originated from a small temple worshipping Cao Son Dai Vuong and Princess Hue Minh. By the 17th century, it was developed into a communal house. Based on the steles which are still kept in communal house. It was a stele: "Đông Tác Phường Trung Tự Thôn Địa Giới Kiệt" (meaning the boundary landmark of Trung Tu Hamlet, Dong Tac Ward) compiled by Deputy Headmaster of Royal College in the 18th Chinh Hoa year (1697) Nguyen Tru in 1733 (June 2 of the Year of the Ox, the second Long Duc Year) on the occasion of 60th anniversary after Trung Tu Villagers sued to reclaim the land occupied by the military camp.

And the second stele: “Di Ái Bi” was written by Giải nguyên Nguyen Thanh The (Giải nguyên means first laureate at an interprovincial exam) (the eldest grandson of Giải Nguyên Nguyen Hy Quang) in the year of the Rooster (1741), the second Canh Hung year, the reign of King Le Hien Tong witnessed the birth of Trung Tu Communal House.

However, the imprint of the communal house of the Le Dynasty is no longer existed; the current architecture of the Trung Tu communal house deeply bears the architectural style of the Nguyen Dynasty and later renovations in the twentieth century.

The works of the communal house at present include: Nghi Môn, the Main Hall, the Harem which are arranged in the campus with surrounding walls to separate from the residential area.

The architecture is opened with Nghi Môn which was newly built recently. Nghi Môn consists of 2 high pillars with the top decorated with the pattern of stylized cape-jasmine and the body carved with parallel sentence in Chinese language. On the left, there is a stone plate with the words "Trung Tu Commual House”, on the right, there is a plaque commemorating revolutionary events at the relic.

Yard of the communal house is treated with Bat Trang bricks. In front of the yard, there is a small architectural item on which there are words of “Ngưỡng chỉ”, and inside worships two statues of Civil Mandarin and Military Mandarin. On the left of the yard, there is a wall installed with steles recording contributions and merits, on the right, there is a 4-roof stele house with steles inside. Close to the stele house, there is a very large tree which is said to be around 400 years old and with luxuriant leaves to shade down the steles. In the tree hole was used to be a place to hide secret documents of the Party.

The Main Hall consists of 5 compartments, built in the style of gables, traditional tiled roof, in the middle of the gables, there are decoration patterns of dragons looking at the sun. In front of three compartments, there are woodworking-antique doors. Frames are structured with 6 sets of wooden beams on 4 rows of columns, the floor of middle compartment is made in form of a boat bed which is higher on two sides. In front of the middle compartment, there hangs a wood board of “Thượng đẳng phúc thần” (highest ranking tutelary god) with 1 wooden incense-table below, the two sides display worshipping cranes, Eight weapons (for ornaments), Parasol, Halo, Wooden signals which are quite beautiful. A set of Traditional Palanquin is placed on the left compartment and a set of Eight-man Palanquin is placed on the right compartment.

The Harem consists of 3 longitudinal houses at the back to form the “丁”-shaped structure. The house is constructed with walls, structure consists of 4 sets of wooden beams in the form similar to the Main Hall. Close to behind walls, the highest and deepest place is the place to place Thrones – Ancestral Tablets of 3 gods of Cao Son Dai Vuong, Princess Hue Minh and Tutelary God Nguyen Hy Quang.

Trung Tu Communal House still preserves many rare and precious objects with the historical - cultural and artistic values that represent the treasure of national cultural heritage. Notably, 02 stone steles are still in the communal house. In which one stele has the dating from the 3rd Long Duc year (1733) that records the boundary of Trung Tu village in the past, this is probably the only stele still found in the inner city showing the boundaries of the old villages. In addition, the stele prepared in the 2nd Canh Hung year (1741) is an extremely valuable document to help researchers learn about the history of Trung Tu village, land use regime as well as changes in location names and administrative boundaries of Trung Tu village in the historical process. In addition to the two above steles, the communal house also preserves many other rare and precious objects such as wooden cranes, palanquin, horizontal lacquered boards, parallel, door painting in fresco, incense-table, and throne – ancestral tablet which are skillfully and exquisitely made with the art style of 19th – 20th centuries.

Trung Tu Communal House is also the place that witnessed many important local events. In particular, during the resistance war against the French invasion, the communal house was the place to hide and protect the officials. It is the Chann Tree in front of the communal house where kept and transferred communication documents of the Party during the difficult years of the revolution. In order to memorize the above event, on February 4, 2013, Hanoi People's Committee issued Decision No. 756 / QD-UBND on attaching the commemoration board for the revolutionary event at Trung Tu communal house.

The relic is located in the south of the old Thang Long citadel, in the area with many ​​historical - cultural relics such as Xa Tac altar, Observatory (now belonging to Kham Thien), Kim Lien temple - one of four temples of Thang Long capital.

Trung Tu Communal House is the place to honor and commemorate the gods who had the merit of protecting and assisting the people's life in peace and prosperity. The communal house is the place that records many ups and downs of history, keeps the soul of the countryside, is the cultural space of the Vietnamese village community, organizes spiritual and cultural activities, and shows the traditional talents etc. With such values, in 1992, Trung Tu Communal house was classified as a national relic.