Cốc Hạ Communal House

Cốc Hạ Communal House (also known as Cốc Hạ Communal House – Shrine) is located in Cốc Hạ village (now Trung Hạ village), Quảng Bị commune, Hanoi city. The communal house is one of three relics in the historical relic complex of communal houses and shrines of the three Kim Cốc villages (Cốc Thượng, Cốc Trung, Cốc Hạ). With outstanding historical, cultural, and architectural-artistic values, Cốc Hạ Communal House was recognized and ranked as a National-level historical-cultural relic by the Ministry of Culture and Information (now the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism) under Decision No. 1371/VH-QĐ dated August 3, 1991.

Cốc Hạ Communal House is dedicated to the two village tutelary gods, Trình Xuân (the elder son) and Trình Diên (the younger son). They were talented generals, sons of Princess Chiêu Dung Lý Thị Ngọc. According to the deity records and historical documents, in the early Common Era (40 AD), in response to the Trưng Sisters' uprising against the Eastern Han invaders, Lý Thị Ngọc and her children, six people in total, returned to the Kim Cốc area to recruit troops, train the insurgent army, and achieve many glorious victories. After their sacrifice, local people deeply remembered their merits and built a communal house to worship them for life with the reverence “Born as generals, died as gods.”

The communal house has a long history dating back to the Early Lê dynasty (10th century). Cốc Hạ Communal House is located on a spacious, airy plot and includes traditional architectural items in the Đinh-character layout, a large communal courtyard, and a semicircular pond. Through the ups and downs of time, the structure has always been preserved by the authorities and local people. Recently, the relic received state investment in a restoration and embellishment project funded by the City and District budgets; it was completed, inaugurated, and handed over for use in early 2026, ensuring the integrity of its traditional architectural and artistic values.

Not only is it a spiritual activity center for the community, but in the history of the national liberation struggle, Cốc Hạ Communal House was also a revolutionary “red address,” once a place where cadres were sheltered and Popular Education classes were organized.

Cốc Hạ Communal House is an important cultural space associated with the traditional festival of the three Kim Cốc villages, held periodically every three years on the 14th, 15th, and 16th days of the second lunar month. The festival takes place solemnly with traditional rituals such as offerings, inter-village palanquin processions, incense offerings, along with many cultural activities, folk games, and quan họ singing, expressing community solidarity and the moral principle of “When drinking water, remember its source.”