Dinh Dai Communal House

Dinh Dai Communal House It is an ancient communal house, located at 198 Dinh Dai Alley, Bach Mai Ward, Hanoi City. This place belonged to Hong Mai Ward, Ta Nghiem Canton, Tho Xuong District, Hoai Duc Prefecture (formerly Phung Thien Prefecture). In 1848, Hong Mai was renamed Bach Mai. Dinh Dai is also called Bach Mai Communal House because it is named after the village’s place name. Dinh Dai has a large and ancient architectural scale, so the villagers named it Dinh Dai. Dinh Dai worships the tutelary deity Cao Son Dai Vuong.
According to an ancient stone stele bearing the era name Vinh Thinh the 15th (1719), the communal house was first built during the Le Trung Hung period (17th century). The communal house underwent many major restorations. The first was in Canh Hung the 35th year (1774), the second in Minh Mang the 10th year (1829), and the most recent in 1998. Currently, on the first beam of the central bay of the front hall, the following inscription remains: “Erected on the 20th day of the 10th month of the Giap Ngo year (1774), inaugurated on the 11th day of Canh Hung the 35th year (1774)”.
During the resistance war against the French, Dinh Dai Communal House was a base for revolutionary activities. In 1930, Comrade Nguyen Phong Sac hung the Viet Minh flag on the banyan tree in front of the communal house, encouraging revolutionary spirit among the masses. In 1943–1944, the communal house was a place for distributing food to relieve hunger among the people and was also a granary for storing rice. At night, the communal house yard was used for training and armed martial arts instruction for local militia and self-defense teams (at this time the Viet Minh team began to form). From 1942 to 1945, the communal house was a place teaching the Quoc Ngu script as part of the mass education movement. Dinh Dai Communal House was built in a mallet-handle layout and faces east-southeast. The communal house roof is covered with bo tiles, and on the center of the main roof ridge was embossed a large inscription “Bach Mai Dinh Dai”. In particular, Dinh Dai Communal House still preserves many relics, such as: royal edicts conferring titles on deities, including 03 edicts for the Earth deity and 07 edicts for the Cao Son Superior Deity, the earliest being an edict from Minh Menh the 2nd year (1821) and the latest from Khai Dinh the 9th year (1924); two hau steles dating from the Le dynasty under the Vinh Thinh era (1705–1719) to the Nguyen dynasty; a wooden incense table (late 17th to early 18th century); two bat cong palanquins (18th century); and 03 incense bowls, including 01 stone incense bowl (17th–18th century), 1 earthenware incense bowl (18th–19th century), and 1 bronze incense bowl (19th century). Decoration in the communal house architecture is in the Le style, notable for sculptural motifs commonly found in carved panels on the architecture, steles, and bells bearing the era names Gia Long, Minh Menh, and Thieu Tri. Previously, the communal house had a custom of two ceremonies in spring and autumn (the second and eighth months) to prepare offerings, with several giap groups taking turns hosting and doing so rather grandly. In the third month, the village held its festival, with processions of the deity’s edicts, sacrifices, cheo singing, Chinese chess, and more. After more than 200 years of existence, Dinh Dai Communal House remains a historical and cultural relic with multifaceted values that should be respected and preserved. Dinh Dai Communal House was ranked as a National Historical - Architectural - Artistic Relic in 1996.