Dai Bi Communal House

Dai Bi Communal House currently belongs to Dai Bi Village, Uy No Commune - an area adjacent to the Co Loa region and located within the “Bat Xa Loa Thanh”.

Dai Bi Communal House was built on the land of “land of spirits and talented people” Co Loa, a place twice chosen as the capital of Vietnam. This land is still deeply marked by many legends and cultural works associated with the period of nation-building of Au Lac under Thuc An Duong Vuong. Archaeological results at Co Loa and surrounding areas have shown that even before the time of An Duong Vuong, this area had developed with the Phung Nguyen - Dong Dau - Go Mun - Dong Son cultures... the peak of the Red River civilization.

Based on the preserved documents, Dai Bi Communal House was first built in the Later Le dynasty. On the first beam of the communal house, there is still an inscription recording the Thanh Thai Binh Than (1896) date, the year the village communal house was restored. Through the years and the devastation of natural disasters and war, the communal house lost its front worship hall, and the architecture retained only the rear hall with a structure in the form of the character “đinh”. In 2021 the communal house underwent a major restoration, including the gate, the ritual house, the main communal house, and the rear hall.

Based on the genealogy of the deity and the relics remaining in the site, Dai Bi Communal House worships King Thuc Phan An Duong Vuong and Princess My Chau as the village tutelary deity, as a way of expressing gratitude to historical figures who rendered service to the people and the country.

The legend of Thuc An Duong Vuong and Princess My Chau is mentioned extensively in official and unofficial histories, in many research works by scholars at home and abroad, as well as in local folk legends.

An Duong Vuong was the successor to the cause of the Hung Kings, credited with unifying the Tay Au and Lac Viet tribes, founding the Au Lac state (1208 - 179 BC), and organizing resistance wars against Qin and Nam Viet. He had Co Loa Citadel built.

My Chau was the daughter of An Duong Vuong. Legend has it that after his defeat, the king of Nam Viet, Trieu Da, sent his son Trong Thuy to become An Duong Vuong’s son-in-law. Trong Thuy discovered the military secrets of Au Lac from My Chau, so An Duong Vuong was defeated and had to flee. Trong Thuy followed the goose-feather trail that My Chau scattered along the road to chase An Duong Vuong. At the end, An Duong Vuong beheaded My Chau and went down to the sea. In the My Chau shrine in Co Loa Commune, there is still a stone slab worshipped as a statue of My Chau after she was beheaded by An Duong Vuong. Currently, the gate of Dai Bi Communal House is built in the four-pillar style and has only one large gate opening into the communal house. Through the gate into the brick-paved communal house courtyard, opposite the gate on the right side of the communal house is the ritual house row, built with 4 compartments in the style of a closed gable end with hand-shaped brackets. In front of the main communal house is an elaborate scroll-shaped screen built like a four-pillar gate, decorated mainly with the four sacred creatures, the four seasons, tiger symbols, leaf-shaped seals...

The main communal house has 3 compartments and 2 side wings, with a closed gable end and hand-shaped brackets, and has biểu trụ pillars; the pillars are made in the traditional style decorated with the four sacred creatures, the pillar bodies bear couplets, and on both gable walls two warriors are molded in relief, one holding a saber and the other a mace. In front of the central compartment door are a pair of stone dragons facing the steps. In the central compartment of the front worship hall is an incense table and a horizontal plaque reading “Liem phuc tu dan” (gathering blessings for the people). All three compartments are fitted with folding doors paneled closed. The roof trusses are made of solid wood with spiral and cloud motifs, creating lightness and elegance for the architecture.

The rear hall is connected to the central compartment of the main communal house, consisting of 3 compartments and 1 side wing, built with closed gable walls and hand-shaped brackets, and the roof ridge is decorated with a row of nails. Running lengthwise and connected to the front worship hall, in the center there is a floor system more than 1 m higher than the house floor, decorated with flexible leaf patterns, smoothly planed, joined, and edged.

The outstanding artistic value of the site is concentrated in the architecture of the front worship hall and in the ritual objects in the site. Notably, on the beams, brackets, and purlins of the front worship hall, the decoration, though not elaborate, is refined with leaf patterns, stylized lotus, and cloud-and-wave motifs. The set of ritual weapons is beautifully made with types bearing the artistic style of the Nguyen dynasty; the wooden worship niche has just been restored; the worship throne is solidly made with a dragon-carved base. The ancient worship tablet is elaborately decorated with chrysanthemum vine, dragon flanking, and sun motifs. The statue of the Saint has just been created but has retained the sophistication and majestic posture of a virtuous king. The statue is carved in a seated posture, wearing a dragon robe, hands placed in front of the chest, with a gentle face. The beautiful eight-carried palanquin bears the artistic style of the Nguyen dynasty. Relics in the site also include a water jar for worship made of blue-glazed ceramics, on the jar’s band are four relief toad statues looking out in four balanced directions, and on the jar body are painted in blue enamel: dragons playing with clouds, roses, pine, and chrysanthemums, with an inscription reading: Tho khi duong mi (this is a sacred object containing the vital energy of heaven and earth), Ninh Chau du Thinh Long xuong tao (the jar was made by the Thinh Long workshop in Ninh Chau). The pair of worship horses (one white and one pink) is elaborately and solemnly crafted.

To remember the merits and grace of King Thuc An Duong Vuong toward the country and homeland, every year on the 6th day of the first lunar month, the people of Dai Bi participate in the festival together with the villages in “Bat Xa Loa Thanh” of the former Co Loa canton. According to the procedure of the Bat Xa festival, Dai Bi Village carries its palanquin sixth in the procession of the 8 communes to the Upper Temple. Upon arrival, Dai Bi’s palanquin is placed on the western row of the Upper Temple. Dai Bi, together with San Gia and Thu Cuu, is assigned the task of Phung Tuoc (wine) and Phung Huong (incense) in the sacrifice to the King. The festival offerings to the tutelary deity are baked rice cakes, a black pig’s head, and white glutinous rice. The Co Loa Festival is a major folk festival of Hanoi and the northern provinces of our country.

After attending the festival on the 6th day of the first lunar month with Co Loa, Dai Bi holds its own village festival on the 9th day of the first lunar month so that the villagers can make offerings to the Saint and organize games. During the festival, the people organize sacrifices at the communal house. In addition, the villagers also organize traditional folk games that attract a large number of people from all over to attend.

Dai Bi Communal House was granted a Ranking Certificate for Historical and Artistic Relics by the Hanoi City People’s Committee in Decision No. 976/QD-UBND dated February 18, 2013.