Artistic Architectural Monument of Dai Do Communal House

The legend says that during the reign of Hung Due Vuong there was a duke and his wife assigned to oversee the royal granary for the court in Hoi Do hamlet. The couple gathered people from various places to settle, taught the people to grow rice, raise silkworms, open up land, and live peacefully in the countryside. Later, after a dream announced that a divine being would be born, the woman gave birth to a sac containing three sons with characteristics like those in the dream: reincarnated water deities. The three sons were named Nhat Lang, Nhi Lang, and Tam Lang. The three brothers had strange appearances and were intelligent and talented. When they were 15, their parents died, and the three brothers were summoned by the king to hold the position of Doc Linh Long Chau Dao Thuy Tuong Quan and reside in Hoi Do hamlet.

At that time the country was threatened by invasion; the three brothers assembled troops and reported to Son Thanh to fight the enemy and protect the country. After defeating the enemy, on the way back to court with the army, when they reached Chu Dien they suddenly vanished. King Hung grieved and bestowed on them the title Linh To Dai Vuong. The king permitted Hoi Do hamlet to be exempt from taxes and corvée and to build temples to worship their parents and the three manifest deities as Village Tutelary Gods.

Dai Do Communal House has a long history of construction. Based on the royal edict bearing the second Vinh Khanh era name (1730) and the legend compiled in the first year of Hong Phuc (1572), its construction date can be estimated to be around the Le dynasty; it has undergone many restorations and repairs and survives to this day. The current architecture of the communal house consists of the Dai Dinh and the Hau Cung, forming a layout in the shape of the character 'dinh'.

The communal house is built in the traditional corridor style; on the roof ridge, dragons are molded to decorate the theme of two dragons flanking the moon, below the moon is a tiger charm; decoration on the architecture focuses on the beam ends carved with dragon images, bracket blocks shaped like flowers and leaves, lotus flowers, etc., with raised and pierced carvings, curling cloud patterns, water waves, etc. Notable artifacts preserved in the monument include an artistic dragon-carved long throne from the 19th century, a spirit tablet decorated with dragon motifs from the 18th century, and two royal edicts bearing era names from the Later Le period... Like other villages, the traditional village festival of Dai Do is held from the 12th to the 15th day of the first lunar month. Notably, there is a water procession from the middle of the Cai River (Red River) for the Muc Duc ceremony. This is an occasion for reunion and gathering of the people of Dai Do village; no matter where they live and work, on the village festival day they return to gather, meet, interact, and above all express their sincere reverence for their ancestors.

Dai Do Communal House is a religious and belief architectural work; existing to this day, it carries a history hundreds of years deep. Dai Do Communal House worships national heroes who served under the Hung Kings and helped the people establish villages and hamlets.

Dai Do Communal House was ranked by the Hanoi City People's Committee as a historical and artistic architectural relic in 2006.