Cống Hạ Communal House, Đặng Village, Hồng Sơn Commune, Hà Nội City

Cống Hạ Communal House, in Đặng Village, Hồng Sơn Commune, Hà Nội City

The communal house was ranked as a city-level historical-cultural relic under Decision No. 6162/QĐ-UBND dated 28/11/2024 of the Hà Nội City People's Committee.

According to the divine genealogy copied on an auspicious day in May of the 13th year of Bảo Đại (1938), currently kept at Cống Hạ Temple, Cống Hạ Communal House and Temple worship a famous general of the Trần dynasty who had merit in fighting the Yuan-Mongol invaders in the 13th century, named Trần Thông, honorably conferred the title Đôn Ngưng.

Based on materials and official sources about the life and career of the tutelary deity Trần Thông, it is shown that he was a figure who had merit with the village and community, who came to the rescue and helped the people of Cống Hạ Village live in peace. Remembering his gratitude, the people honored him as the tutelary deity protecting the community of villagers there. Through the reigns of various kings, royal edicts were granted recognizing the merits of these figures toward the local people. For many generations, local people have continued to worship him with reverence. This shows the power of the belief in worshipping Gods and tutelary deities—those who had merit with the village and community in our country in general and in Cống Hạ in particular.
Cống Hạ Communal House faces southwest and is located at the head of the village in a densely populated area. According to the elders, Cống Hạ Communal House previously had a fairly large scale; in front of it were the communal pond and a large communal well, with only a path on the right side. Later, the inter-village road in front of the communal house was built and divided the communal pond area and the communal house grounds. Currently, within the communal house grounds, there is still the headquarters of the former Hồng Sơn Commune People's Committee on the left side of the Đại đình. Therefore, since the inter-village road was opened, the communal house can be entered by two routes: the front entrance shared with the gate of the former Hồng Sơn Commune People's Committee and the left gate from the Đình Hamlet road. In addition to the items belonging to the relic, the relic grounds currently still contain the former commune People's Committee headquarters and functional buildings serving the activities of the commune and village, such as the kitchen, well, etc.
In front of the communal house is a fairly large communal pond area, and the Nghi môn is located on the right side of the communal house. The communal house courtyard is paved with Bát Tràng bricks for ritual activities during festivals. Along both sides of the courtyard are the Tả - Hữu vu houses, and in the center is the Đại đình with a Đinh-shaped (T-shaped) plan, including the Đại bái and Hậu cung. Behind the Đại đình is the Nhà Hậu for worshipping the rear deities, and to the right of the Nhà Hậu is the area of auxiliary structures.

Architectural description

* Nghi môn (ceremonial gate)
Previously, in front of the communal house was a large lake with no road, so the Nghi môn of Cống Hạ Communal House was located on the right, on the village road axis in Đình Hamlet. The Nghi môn has a four-pillar architectural style and large dimensions. The main gate is formed by two large pillar columns built in 4 tiers. The lowest tier is made in the waisted-neck style. The column bodies have molded edges on 3 sides forming large grooves, and within the column grooves are raised pairs of parallel sentences in Hán characters. On both sides are side gates; above, they are divided into two roof layers, the lower roof layer forms a trough, and the upper roof part is made in a curved roof style sweeping toward the 4 corners. On the ridge are kìm-head motifs, with a sun-face image in the middle. At the outermost corners are two pillar columns smaller than the two central columns, also built in 4 tiers; the lowest tier is made in the waisted-neck style, the column bodies have molded edges forming grooves, within the grooves are raised pairs of parallel sentences in Hán characters, and above are lantern and gardenia-shaped ornaments.
* Tả - Hữu vu (Left and Right Houses)
Tả - Hữu vu, locally often called Tào xá, are built symmetrically across the courtyard in front of the Đại bái. Previously, these two structures were places for meetings of officials responsible for maintaining security in the village; today they are used by the people as meeting places for common affairs of the village.
The architecture of each house consists of 5 bays, with a bít đốc gable wall style, two roofs covered with di tiles, two ends of the ridge decorated with two đấu nắm cơm ornaments, and the ends of the eave ridge built in stepped form. The frame is simply made of lim timber, planed and edged. The trusses are uniformly and simply made in the vì kèo style with transoms hidden behind columns to maximize usable area. Previously, around Tả - Hữu vu there were stone columns and no surrounding walls; when the commune People's Committee used them, walls were built to create working rooms.
* Đại đình (Main Hall)
The Đại đình is the main structure of Cống Hạ Communal House, comprising two buildings: the Đại bái and the Hậu cung, with a Đinh-shaped (T-shaped) plan. The Đại bái is the main building and still retains most of the original elements of Cống Hạ Communal House. The Đại bái consists of 3 bays and 2 side wings; it is a place for ceremonies, public activities, and administrative affairs, so it has a fairly large and solemn space, connected to the Hậu cung but on the other hand can open to the large and sacred space outside.
The floor of the Đại bái is about 30 cm higher than the courtyard and is reached by 3 steps paved with Bát Tràng red bricks leading into the interior space of the main structure. The frame is made with 4 rows of columns, and the column bases rest on blue stone footings. Longitudinal links use longitudinal beams along the main columns and along the military columns. The roof trusses are made in three styles: chồng rường in the central bay, with three rường stacked through đấu kê blocks, of which the two upper rường are continuous rường and below are two short rường; the vì giá chiêng - chồng rường style in the two side bays; and the vì kèo cọc báng style on the two sides of the lừng trusses. The câu đầu supports the upper components and is linked to the main column through đầu kê blocks. The four corner trusses of the central bay are made in the cốn chồng rường style, with rường members fitting closely together and fixed by pegs to create decorative surfaces; the four corner trusses of the side bays are made in the kẻ suốt style, with the kẻ body connecting continuously from the main column through the military column and supporting the eave roof. The gable corner trusses also have a unified chồng rường structure, with four rường members mortised into the hidden pillar bodies and stacked through đấu kê blocks. The eave links in the central bay and two gable sides use the bẩy chéo style, while the side bays use the kẻ suốt style. On the components of the wooden frame of Cống Hạ Communal House, old artisans carved many decorative motifs, concentrated mainly in the Đại bái, bearing the artistic style of the late 19th century.

b. Hậu cung (Rear Sanctuary)
The Hậu cung is a longitudinal building behind, forming a Đinh-shaped (T-shaped) architectural layout. It is the place where the village tutelary deity is worshipped and where ritual objects are kept, so it must be in a discreet central position, creating a mysterious and solemn atmosphere. The Hậu cung consists of 3 bays, of which 1 front bay connects to the Đại bái, and the two rear bays are separated by a wooden panel door system to make the place of worship of the tutelary deity more solemn. The central door is usually kept closed and is only opened on important festival occasions, while the two side doors are opened daily.

The roof system is made in the bít đốc gable wall style, with 2 roofs covered with di tiles. The two gable sides are enclosed at the row of military columns, and the rear is enclosed by a brick wall plastered with mortar.
* Nhà Hậu (Rear House)
The Nhà Hậu is located behind the Hậu cung, separated by a courtyard paved with red bricks. The architecture of the Nhà Hậu consists of 5 bays, of which the three right bays are used for worship and the two left bays are used as a storeroom. The floor is about 30 cm higher than the courtyard and paved with Bát Tràng bricks. The frame consists of 4 rows of columns, with the front row of main columns hidden. The components are simple and oriented toward durable technique. The roof trusses are made in the vì kèo style; the components are of lim timber with rectangular cross-sections, planed and edged. The roof system consists of 1 tier with 2 roofs, covered with di tiles. The front is left open, with brick walls built only on the two gable sides and the rear.

Revolutionary and resistance events related to the relic
In the history of the revolutionary resistance in Hồng Sơn Commune, a number of important events tied to Cống Hạ Communal House have been recognized. These include the event of 21/8/1945, when the people gathered, and flags and banners were splendidly and solemnly decorated at Cống Hạ Communal House to carry out the uprising to seize power.
* Main festival
Every year, the people of Cống Hạ Village organize a traditional festival to commemorate the merits of the village tutelary deity on the 2nd day of the second lunar month. The Khánh tiết committee is selected from people with complete families and no misfortunes; the chief officiant and the master of ceremonies must not be in mourning for their four parents. Offerings to the Saint are mainly trays of sticky rice, pig heads, chicken, incense and lamps, and oản fruit.
Previously, the village held a grand festival every three years, and in other years it still held a worship festival. The cleaning of ritual objects and arranging of clean water were carried out on the 30th day of the first lunar month. On the afternoon of the 1st day of the second lunar month, the yết ceremony was held, with members from the two villages of Hạ and Trung. The Khánh tiết committee first performed the cáo yết ceremony, and only then could the villagers enter to worship the Saint. During the festival in the second lunar month in the years when it is organized

Based on documentary sources and decorative carvings on the architecture of Cống Hạ Communal House, it can be seen that the communal house was built in the late 19th century. Through periods of war and natural disasters, it is fortunate that the communal house still preserves absolute date lines from the year Ất Hợi (1815), together with some communal houses built in this period such as Lưu Khê Communal House (Ứng Hòa - Hà Nội), Hạ Communal House (Chương Mỹ - Hà Nội), etc., becoming one of the typical relics in terms of architectural scale and distinctive decorative carving in the Nguyễn era, the late 19th century. In addition, the communal house also preserves valuable artifacts such as royal edicts, etc., bearing artistic styles from the Lê Trung Hưng period to the Nguyễn period, evidence of a golden age of this communal house in particular and of the people in general.
Existing to this day, the communal house has become the cultural activity center of the local people. Every year, the religious and belief relics in the former Cống Hạ Village are places where festivals are organized with many rituals, ceremonies, and folk games. This has contributed to passing on the cultural values of the ancestors to later generations and at the same time strengthened the connection among the people in the village and the allied villages around the area.