Huu Trung Temple

Huu Trung Communal House was built at the center of the village, next to the Red River dike.

Huu Trung Communal House worships three female generals of the Trung Sisters: A Tu, A Huyen, and A Cat,.

During their lifetimes, all three women were skilled in both civil and military matters, recruited more than 500 insurgents to join and support the Trung Sisters' army against the Han invaders. After the Trung Sisters died, the three female generals continued to fight and bravely sacrificed themselves on the Hat River on the 11th day of the third lunar month.

To remember their merits, later dynasties bestowed titles and worshipped the three women as top-ranking tutelary deities.

The history of the communal house is closely tied to the severe changes of the Red River. Due to rising floods and erosion, sedimentation, and shifting currents, the people of Huu Trung had to move many times with great hardship.

The current communal house is the result of the fourth relocation. The communal house is located on high, open land called Khau Ca (land shaped like a fish's mouth), at the center of the village and next to the Van Coc dike.

Overall layout: The communal house faces east, with its back to the Red River, and includes the following structures: ceremonial gate, main worship hall, central hall, and rear hall.

Traditional architecture:

Ceremonial gate: Built in pillar style, with four phoenixes facing each other on top, lanterns in relief with motifs of the four sacred animals and four seasons, and couplets in Chinese characters.

Main worship hall: Consists of 5 spacious, airy bays, with a structure oriented toward durability.

Central hall and rear hall: The front of the central hall has a large relief image of a tiger charm holding the character for longevity, and the roof ridge is decorated with two dragons flanking the moon. The rear hall connects with the central hall to form a Dinh-shaped plan, and together with the main worship hall creates the linked form of front one, rear Dinh.

Valuable relics: In the rear hall is a large, solemn altar housing the dragon thrones and tablets of the three female generals. The communal house also preserves many precious artifacts, such as a Nguyen-era wooden incense table carved in relief with dragons, dragon horses, and tiger charms, bronze ritual objects, along with 1 book of deity genealogy, 1 ritual text, and 04 royal decrees from the Nguyen dynasty.

4. Traditional festival

Time: The festival is held on the 11th day of the third lunar month every year (exactly on the death anniversary of the three female generals).

Unique ritual: The most special point is the rituals are entirely performed by women with very solemn rites. Offerings include compressed sticky rice and young chicken. During the festival, the people also organize a palanquin procession to Van Coc Communal House and back.

Festive part: It attracts a large number of people with many lively traditional folk games such as: chess, swing riding, tug of war, blindfolded goat catching....

Huu Trung Temple was recognized as a city-level relic in Decision No. 38 QĐ/UB dated 13/01/2000 of the Hanoi City People's Committee on ranking city-level relics.