Can Ha Communal House

Can Ha Communal House was ranked at city level under Decision No. 4525/QD-UBND dated October 12, 2012 of the Hanoi City People's Committee

CLASSIFICATION OF THE RELIC
1. Type of relic.
Can Ha Communal House is a religious architectural work dedicated to the Three Great Kings, namely the local tutelary god, First Trung A, and Second Trung A, generals of the Trung Sisters. Based on the criteria for classifying relics in Article 28 of the Law on Cultural Heritage and Article 11 of Decree No. 98/2010/ND-CP dated September 21, 2010 detailing the implementation of a number of articles of the Law on Cultural Heritage, and considering its outstanding values, Can Ha Communal House is classified as a historical-cultural and architectural-artistic relic.
2. Construction date.
- According to the elders of Can Xa Ha village (now Can Ha), Can Ha Communal House was built during the Le dynasty. At that time, the village communal house stood on a high mound in front of the village (called Go Cho), backed by Dong Voi, with the winding Tich Giang River in front. During the reign of King Tu Duc, Can Ha Communal House was burned and destroyed by the French, and later restored on a smaller scale. The village communal house was built of laterite and consisted of 3 main architectural buildings: the Great Hall (Dai Bai), the Central Chamber (Trung Cung), and the Rear Hall (Hau Cung); in addition, there were Left and Right Corridors (Ta Huu Mac) on both sides. The Great Hall was quite imposing with a structure of 3 bays and 2 wings, four curved roofs, a system of folding doors, column bases placed on blue stone slabs; the side bays and wing bays of the communal house were carved at Can Huu such as Can Thuong peak, Thuong Khe communal house, and Dinh Ta communal house, which are ancient relics already ranked by the State. Legends about these gods have many variants. Based on documents provided by the Can Ha Communal House Festival Committee, the origin and deeds of the Three Gods above can be summarized as follows:

Through 18 generations of Hung Kings building the country, King Hung passed the throne to Thuc An Duong Vuong for several decades before Nam was dominated by the North. During the Han dynasty's rule of our country, in An Trang village, Luong Giang district, Thieu Thien prefecture, Thanh Hoa road, there was a man surnamed Dang named Quang, who was born into a well-educated family and was known for Confucian learning. He came to Kinh Xa village (later renamed Can Xa village), Ninh Son district, Quoc Oai prefecture, Son Tay road, to work as a teacher. After several years, he married Mrs. Bach Thi Trong. The couple was gentle and often did good deeds, but unfortunately, although they were old, they had no children. At that time, in Kinh Xa Ha village there was a sacred temple that was very efficacious; one day, they prepared offerings and went to the temple to pray for children. That night, while sleeping at the temple, the couple dreamed of a person wearing a red robe who called himself the local earth god. He said that Heaven had observed them and that later the couple would give birth to twin boys who were spirits reincarnated to help the country. When morning came, the couple bowed in thanks and returned home. Just as they reached the entrance of Can Xa village, an auspicious cloud flew over and descended upon Mrs. Bach Thi, making everything dark and murky, so that although it was daytime, it seemed like night.

The couple was so frightened that they ran into the shrine to pray, when suddenly a halo flashed on the wife, causing her to faint. She suddenly dreamed of two young men by the roadside following her and declaring themselves to be spirit generals ordered by Heaven to be reborn as children in a region of the mortal world. From then on, Mrs. Bach Thi became pregnant. At noon on the 20th day of the 5th month of the Nham Ngo year, she gave birth to a sac containing two very similar, handsome, and dignified boys. The couple named their sons First Trung A and Second Trung A. When the two reached the age of 7, they had mastered literature and had intelligence and martial skills surpassing others. In their 16th year, unfortunately both parents passed away. The two then chose a good plot of land, held the burial ceremony, and offered incense and worshipped according to the proper rites until the three-year mourning period ended. The two followed their father's scholarly tradition and became teachers, and students from many places came to study with them in great numbers. Can Ha Communal House is also one of the communal houses in Can Ha village that worships the tutelary god who was a general of the Trung Sisters.

CLASSIFICATION OF THE RELIC

1. Type of relic.

Can Ha Communal House is a religious architectural work dedicated to the Three Great Kings, namely the local tutelary god, First Trung A, and Second Trung A, generals of the Trung Sisters. Based on the criteria for classifying relics in Article 28 of the Law on Cultural Heritage and Article 11 of Decree No. 98/2010/ND-CP dated September 21, 2010 detailing the implementation of a number of articles of the Law on Cultural Heritage, and considering its outstanding values, Can Ha Communal House is classified as a historical-cultural and architectural-artistic relic.

2. Construction date.

- According to the elders of Can Xa Ha village (now Can Ha), Can Ha Communal House was built during the Le dynasty. At that time, the village communal house stood on a high mound in front of the village (called Go Cho), backed by Dong Voi, with the winding Tich Giang River in front. During the reign of King Tu Duc, Can Ha Communal House was burned and destroyed by the French, and later restored on a smaller scale. The village communal house was built of laterite and consisted of 3 main architectural buildings: the Great Hall (Dai Bai), the Central Chamber (Trung Cung), and the Rear Hall (Hau Cung); in addition, there were Left and Right Corridors (Ta Huu Mac) on both sides. The Great Hall was quite imposing with a structure of 3 bays and 2 wings, four curved roofs, a system of folding doors, column bases placed on blue stone slabs; the side bays and wing bays of the communal house were carved at Can Huu such as Can Thuong peak, Thuong Khe communal house, and Dinh Ta communal house, which are ancient relics already ranked by the State. Legends about these gods have many variants. Based on documents provided by the Can Ha Communal House Festival Committee, the origin and deeds of the Three Gods above can be summarized as follows:

Through 18 generations of Hung Kings building the country, King Hung passed the throne to Thuc An Duong Vuong for several decades before Nam was dominated by the North.

During the Han dynasty's rule of our country, in An Trang village, Luong Giang district, Thieu Thien prefecture, Thanh Hoa road, there was a man surnamed Dang named Quang, who was born into a well-educated family and was known for Confucian learning. He came to Kinh Xa village (later renamed Can Xa village), Ninh Son district, Quoc Oai prefecture, Son Tay road, to work as a teacher. After several years, he married Mrs. Bach Thi Trong. The couple was gentle and often did good deeds, but unfortunately, although they were old, they had no children. At that time, in Kinh Xa Ha village there was a sacred temple that was very efficacious; one day, they prepared offerings and went to the temple to pray for children. That night, while sleeping at the temple, the couple dreamed of a person wearing a red robe who called himself the local earth god. He said that Heaven had observed them and that later the couple would give birth to twin boys who were spirits reincarnated to help the country. When morning came, the couple bowed in thanks and returned home. Just as they reached the entrance of Can Xa village, an auspicious cloud flew over and descended upon Mrs. Bach Thi, making everything dark and murky, so that although it was daytime, it seemed like night. The couple was so frightened that they ran into the shrine to pray, when suddenly a halo flashed on the wife, causing her to faint. She suddenly dreamed of two young men by the roadside following her and declaring themselves to be spirit generals ordered by Heaven to be reborn as children in a region of the mortal world.

From then on, Mrs. Bach Thi became pregnant. At noon on the 20th day of the 5th month of the Nham Ngo year, she gave birth to a sac containing two very similar, handsome, and dignified boys. The couple named their sons First Trung A and Second Trung A. When the two reached the age of 7, they had mastered literature and had intelligence and martial skills surpassing others. In their 16th year, unfortunately both parents passed away. The two then chose a good plot of land, held the burial ceremony, and offered incense and worshipped according to the proper rites until the three-year mourning period ended. The two followed their father's scholarly tradition and became teachers, and students from many places came to study with them in great numbers.

HISTORICAL, CULTURAL, SCIENTIFIC, AND AESTHETIC VALUES OF THE RELIC:
Historical value:
Can Ha Communal House worships the three village tutelary gods: the local tutelary god, First Trung A, and Second Trung A, the two generals of the Trung Sisters. The Trung Sisters' uprising in the spring of 40 drove out To Dinh's troops and recovered 65 citadels; the Trung Sisters were honored as kings and left a glorious mark in the history of our nation's struggle against invaders and defense of the country. The generals of the Trung Sisters have been handed down in many forms: history, legend, and folklore. Can Ha Communal House contributes to enriching the system of communal houses worshipping generals of the Trung Sisters. The tradition of steadfast and indomitable struggle against foreign invaders to preserve the homeland and country has always been nurtured and continued later. According to statistics from the People's Committee of Can Huu Commune during the periods of resistance against the French and Americans and defense of the Fatherland's borders, Can Huu Commune had 185 martyrs fall; hundreds of wounded and sick soldiers; 4 mothers were awarded the title Vietnamese Heroic Mother by the State and many medals of various kinds.
Regarding artistic value:
Overall, the architecture of Can Ha Communal House is modest, but to this day the communal house still preserves traditional architectural elements. The Rear Hall, with a two-tier, four-roof structure and old fish-scale tiles, bears artistic characteristics of the 19th century. In addition, the relic still preserves valuable artifacts such as royal edicts and a stone pedestal dating from the 18th-19th centuries, contributing to understanding the formation, existence, and development of Can Ha Communal House.
Regarding cultural and scientific value:
Can Huu is one of the communes of Quoc Oai with many ancient relics dating from the Le to the Nguyen dynasties. Compared with Quoc Oai district, the number of ranked relics in Can Huu (8 relics) is second only to Sai Son Commune, Quoc Oai District.
Can Ha Communal House was formerly a rather imposing communal house; during the resistance war against the French in 1948, when the scorched-earth resistance policy was implemented, the communal house had to dismantle part of the Great Hall. To this day, the communal house has been restored and embellished; although its architecture is no longer as before, Can Ha Communal House remains the pride of the local people. Like many communal houses in the North of Vietnam, Can Ha Communal House is used as a place for religious activities of the community of Can Ha Village. People come to the communal house to respectfully worship the gods, praying that the gods will bless them with favorable weather for farming, prosperity, and peace.