Dinh Xuyen Hamlet was formed from two villages, Nam Duong and Dinh Xuyen, of the former Hoa Nam Commune.
Dinh Xuyen Village preserves a rich complex of historical and cultural relics, including Dinh Xuyen Communal House and Quan, Hung Phuc Pagoda, and the Nguyen The family church; these works not only have outstanding artistic architectural value but are also places of worship for tutelary gods and notable figures who made great contributions to the nation's cause of building and defending the country.
The Dinh Xuyen Hamlet relics—Communal House, Quan, and Pagoda—are all national-level artistic architectural relics ranked under Decision No. 1057 dated June 14, 1991, of the Ministry of Culture.
Dinh Xuyen Hamlet Communal House worships three tutelary gods: Nguyen Quang, Pham Thong, and Pham Nhu.
1. Lord Nguyen Quang, born on August 12 of the Binh Than year (305 BC), was intelligent and virtuous, accomplished in both civil and martial arts. At that time, Van Lang was at war on many sides; Nguyen Quang and Tan Vien Son Thanh always stood beside Hung Due Vuong, fighting steadfastly to protect the country. Nguyen Quang was bestowed by Hung Due Vuong the title 'Royal Son-in-Law Grand General'. For the people of Dinh Xuyen, he was the one who guided farming and refined customs.
2. Lords Pham Thong and Pham Nhu were twin brothers born on November 12 of the Binh Than year. Their mother's homeland was Dinh Xuyen Trang, now Dinh Xuyen Village, Dinh Xuyen Hamlet, Hoa Xa Commune. They early harbored patriotism and hatred for the invading Han; they gathered village boys to train troops and then joined the Trung Sisters' uprising. In heroic fighting, the two died on the battlefield, setting an example of loyal patriotism.
Dinh Xuyen Village Communal House has a long construction history. In the Quy Hoi year (1863), the communal house was moved from the alluvial land area into the present residential area. The current communal house has Nguyen-era artistic architecture, many woodcarving artworks with folk characteristics, and three tutelary god statues of high sculptural artistry.
The two Quan shrines (Thuong and Ha) were built of lime and brick with crab-shell vaults and tiled roofs. Traces mark the military training grounds of the two generals Pham Thong and Pham Nhu.
1. History of the worshipped figures
Dinh Xuyen Communal House worships three tutelary gods named Nguyen Quang, Pham Thong, and Pham Nhu. The villagers call Lord Nguyen Quang Duc Thanh Ca (First Holy Lord), Pham Thong Duc Thanh De Nhi (Second Holy Lord), and Pham Nhu Duc Thanh De Tam (Third Holy Lord). The three Holy Lords, revered by the people of Dinh Xuyen as tutelary gods, were people with meritorious service and glorious deeds for the country. Their histories are summarized as follows:
The genealogy records that Hoan To Dai Vuong Nguyen Quang was born on August 12 of the Binh Thin year (305 BC). His father was of the Nguyen family and his mother of the Dinh family, from Lang Xuong Dong, Gia Hung District, Hung Hoa Prefecture, Son Tay Circuit. At age 16, both parents died; he buried them, observed three years of mourning, and then went to live with Tan Vien Son Thanh. Nguyen Quang was taught civil and martial arts and strategy by Son Thanh.
Later, when enemies invaded Van Lang, Quang Cong and Tan Vien helped Hung Due Vuong fight them. Quang Cong led 100,000 troops into Chau Ai. Arriving at Dinh Xuyen, he chose this place as a military base, then sent proclamations everywhere and recruited an additional 7,622 people; together with the people of Dinh Xuyen, he deployed land and water forces and fought a great battle. Countless enemy soldiers died, and the rest had to flee back to their country.
For his glorious feat, Due Vuong held a feast for the troops and bestowed on My Quang the title 'Royal Son-in-Law Grand General', assigned him to guard Son Nam Circuit, and gave him full authority to oversee and use the local troops of Ung Thien Prefecture.
Nguyen Quang returned to the people and cared for their livelihood and strength; he visited, encouraged, and guided farming. Socially, he used benevolence and righteousness to bind the people together, and harmony and kinship to cultivate customs. He was loved and respected by the people. At that time, the people of Dinh Xuyen Commune asked to be his 'divine followers', which Hung Due Vuong approved.
When Nguyen Quang died, the people of Dinh Xuyen deeply mourned him; to express their reverence, they built a temple and set up an altar tablet 'Hoang Te Thong Cam Dai Vuong', honoring Nguyen Quang as tutelary god. In the time of Le Thanh Tong, first year of the Hong Duc era (1470), he was bestowed an honorific title 'Hoang Te Thong Cam Duc Thanh Linh Ung Dai Vuong, Upper-Grade Deity'. Through many eras, emperors of various dynasties bestowed royal edicts; to date, as many as 11 edicts conferring honorific titles are still preserved at Dinh Xuyen Village Communal House.
Dinh Xuyen Communal House worships Hoang Te Dai Vuong - Nguyen Quang, a real historical figure in the time of the 18th Hung King, who helped the king keep the borders of Van Lang peaceful and resisted attacks from many sides such as An, Ai Lao, Ho Ton, including the foreign Au Viet clan.
b. The Second and Third Holy Lords: Pham Thong and Pham Nhu They were twin brothers, sons of Mr. Pham Phuong and Mrs. Tran Thi Lan. Their paternal homeland was Nhu Xa, Hong Chau District, Thanh Niem, Hat Hung Circuit. Their maternal homeland was Dinh Xuyen Commune, Hoai An District, Ung Thien Prefecture. Pham Thong and Pham Nhu were born on November 12 of the Binh Than year.
In the early years of the Common Era, our country was under Han rule; the governor To Dinh administered Giao Chau very brutally toward our people. Then two female generals of the Hung lineage, named Trung, raised the banner of uprising against Han invasion.
When the two were three years old, their family met misfortune; the brothers Thong and Nhu were taken by their maternal uncle, General Tran Kien, to their mother's homeland to be raised. Eager for knowledge and ambitious, the brothers studied well and became proficient in civil and martial arts. When Thong and Nhu grew up, our country was oppressed by the Eastern Han invaders. The governor of Giao Chi, To Dinh, was a brutal and greedy man; the Vietnamese people everywhere hated and resented him, and in many places popular movements struggled against the enemy to save the country. Thong and Nhu gathered and recruited more than a thousand young men from Dinh Xuyen and surrounding villages to their homeland for training. They divided the recruits into two groups and established forts to resist the enemy. The genealogy at Dinh Xuyen Communal House records that among these talented men, Pham Thong was honored as Luong Cong Thong and Pham Nhu as Nhu Nhi Thanh, who together with the soldiers trained day and night to nourish the will to destroy the enemy. The two ordered the soldiers to build two forts.
Thuong and Ha. Surveys show that the old traces remaining are two Quan shrines: Quan Thuong and Quan Ha. These two shrines were built on flat land. The one at the beginning of the village was the training place for the troops of Mr. Pham Nhu's unit, called Quan Thuong; the shrine at the end of the village was the training place for the unit commanded by Mr. Pham Nhu, called Quan Ha.
Just then, the brothers received the Trung Sisters' uprising proclamation. They immediately led the righteous army to the mouth of the Hat River for the oath ceremony. The Trung Sisters were overjoyed and assigned them the task of attacking directly at Luy Lau, To Dinh's headquarters. After the victory, Trung Trac ascended the throne and bestowed titles on her two generals: 'Thong Thanh Minh Dai Vuong' and 'Nhu Thanh An Dinh Muu Khuong Quoc Dai Vuong'.
After the victory, the two returned to their forts and, together with the villagers, worked hard at farming to guard against the enemy's arrival.
Having suffered heavy defeat, the Eastern Han troops again harbored intentions of invading our country. They sent General Ma Yuan to advance to Cua Chau to suppress the righteous army in this region. The two fought shoulder to shoulder with Trung Vuong against the enemy. The jade genealogy clearly records that in an unequal decisive battle, Pham Thong died heroically in battle. Seeing his brother set a heroic example for the country and himself wounded more than ten times, Pham Nhu drew his sword and took his own life before the battle, together with the Trung Sisters setting an example of destroying the enemy and saving the country.
For their merit in helping Trung Vuong fight the enemy and save the country, the Le Hong Duc court (1470) bestowed honorific edicts on the two. Through the Le, Mac, Tay Son, and Nguyen dynasties, edicts were all granted confirming that the brothers Pham Thong and Pham Nhu had merit in resisting the enemy and setting an example of loyalty and heroism.
Remembering their merit toward the people and the country, the people of Dinh Xuyen kept the place where the two trained troops, built a temple, and established them as tutelary gods.
On the small land of Dinh Xuyen, the terrain is extremely beautiful in natural terms yet extremely important militarily. From the Hung King era it rose to hold an important strategic position. At the same time, it has witnessed many major historical events of the country. Dinh Xuyen lies right beside the Day River; the Cong River flows from the Hat Giang estuary, winding across the plain and bending in the Te Tieu area before opening out at Dinh Xuyen, so the water flows swiftly all year round. This place witnessed the two important events above. Through this survey data and scientific dossier, it will supplement and make a small contribution to research on the history of the nation's early period of building and defending the country.
Promoting the tradition of patriotism, defending national independence, and working diligently to build the homeland and country, the people of Dinh Xuyen are descendants of the Hung Kings. The Trung Sisters and Generals Nguyen Quang, Pham Thong, and Pham Nhu always remember the merit of the past in preserving and promoting that precious tradition. Remembering the source when drinking water is the tradition and moral principle of the Vietnamese people; the glorious spirit of the three heroes lives forever with the people of Dinh Xuyen and the whole country. Prime Minister Pham Van Dong reminded us: 'Remember those who made great contributions to building and defending the country. Within the scope of a village collective including many clans and families, as well as within the scope of the whole country, our Vietnamese nation... From there, maintain and promote the fine traditional virtues of patriotism, solidarity, and indomitable will...' Excerpt from the speech by Prime Minister Pham Van Dong on the Hung Kings' death anniversary, the 10th day of the third lunar month, 1969.
Dinh Xuyen Communal House has artistic architecture in the 'nhi' character layout (=) It includes two main structures, the Great Hall and the Rear Shrine; in addition, there are auxiliary structures: the Left and Right Vu in the inner space between the Great Hall and the Rear Hall, and outside there are two rows of Giai Vu houses.
The communal house lies close to the Day dike in the east, surrounded by residential areas; to the north it borders Tu Duc hamlet, and to the south Ngu Phuc hamlet. Before the 1960s, there was also an imposing three-entrance gate structure with lantern pillars and artistic decoration of dragons, horses, and flower trellises... made of lime mortar in very beautiful relief. Today the structure no longer exists; a protective wall has been built in front of the communal house, with a small entrance. The communal house faces west, situated on Can land and facing Khon. (According to the symbolic bio-cosmological worldview - Bagua: Kien, Kham, Can, Chan, Ton, Ly, Khon, Doai).
a. The Great Hall:
It has a construction area of 187m², divided into 5 bays with 4 trusses and 4 main columns of precious wood; the two eave columns are made of stone, skillfully worked into squares with carved ridges and patterns and inscribed with the names of village communal organizations and individuals who donated. The wooden columns have stone bases shaped like cylinder interiors and squares. Previously the entrances had folding panel doors at the front and rear; because of damage, the people sealed the doors of the two bays adjacent to the gable ends, leaving the doors at 39 the three main bays.
Description of the artistic architecture of Dinh Xuyen Communal House, with Nguyen-era artistic architecture, especially valued in the following works:
+ Structure of the trusses
In the two trusses of the central bay, the structure follows the stacked-beam and advancing-pillar style, with clear square blocks tapering at the bottom, bracket panels and eave braces. In the two side-bay trusses, stacked beams support the upper ridge beam, bracket panels, and a system of tie beams descending to the eave braces. Structurally, in the central truss's stacked beams, the tie beams and braces are supported by columns, the upper ridge beam, and beams and purlins. The column system is mortised at the top of the main columns for the through beams. The upper ridge beam and tie beams have mortised holes for joining horizontal beams linking the trusses. This differs from Le-era communal houses, where the column tops are bound with evenly placed square blocks tapering at the bottom.
Each truss is a work of wood-carving art; the two central trusses concentrate many typical Nguyen-era works. On the stacked beams of each tier there are decorative patterns of stylized branches and leaves turning into clouds, with two types of motifs: symmetrical scrolling clouds forming flowers, and cloud-leaf forms as soft bands. The carving art, though not very meticulous, is quite elaborate. In the truss adjacent to the eave, a few traces of symmetrical leaf-and-flower relief carving in a pleasing Le style were found, making the truss strong yet very soft.
On the tier of tie beams, the bracket section also has smooth carved lines, curved softly to match the eave braces. The ends of the braces are decorated with soft carved leaves.
Built in the shape of the character Nhất (-) Construction area 56m2. It is surrounded by brick walls; the eave section is vaulted in a crab-shell shape and made with decorated stacked beams and bracket panels. The decorative art on the five bracket panels at the eave shows five diverse artistic works of the period, specifically:
- First bracket panel: a cloud-dragon work showing a dragon flying in the clouds, with a fan-like spreading tail; vaguely there is a very charming unicorn-nghe head.
- Second bracket panel: in a bullet-shaped frame, depicting the story of the fisherman and the fish transforming into a dragon above a lotus pond; a beautiful lotus is blooming with two tiny tailorbirds playing on the lotus receptacle, beside which is a creature with a mouse head, bird body, bat wings, and a tail forming twisted clouds like a dragon.
- Third panel: there is a water-curling dragon, a fish transforming into a dragon, and a unicorn with a dragon-like head and a horse body with saddle and bridle. Especially below is an ancient tree, at whose base two playful spotted deer sit and play with each other.
- Fourth and fifth bracket panels: there are animals such as dragons, fish, phoenixes spreading their wings in flight, unicorns...
- Sixth bracket panel: decorated with a dragon carving scene of the Four Holy Creatures: dragon, ly, turtle, and phoenix. The turtle expresses longevity; in this work it reveals its true form and stretches out its neck to look at its friends in a scene of blue sky and green water.
In summary: the bracket panels of the Rear Shrine's eave truss are typical Nguyen-era wood-carving art with strong folk character. The artisans, with ordinary life, brought the art of the communal house—a solemn place worshipping the community's most sacred deity—close to the people.
c. Some artistic works on the artifacts
Three statues of the tutelary god: His Holiness the First Saint, the Second Saint, and the Third Saint are quite typical Nguyen-era sculpture works. The statues are seated on thrones with dragon-head armrests. In the art of the statues, the faces imitate Buddha statues, with large ears and bright eyes; the bodies wear dragon robes carved with dragons, and the heads wear soft-wing caps. The statues sit with square knees, one hand resting on the knee holding a ceremonial tablet. Details such as dragons with fan-shaped twisted tails, clouds, leaves, square patterns, and foreheads... make the statues splendid and attractive, close to us, yet very solemn and profound in theology.
In addition, there are some works such as the song loan palanquin, the Eight Treasures and Vajra, horizontal plaques, altar tables... all carved with artistic panels featuring dragons, phoenixes, unicorns, gourds, vine flowers, chrysanthemum leaves, and lines forming the Wan character as seen in Buddhist temples... these are early and later Nguyen-era artworks inheriting from one another.
Dinh Xuyen is an ancient land with residents who have gathered here for thousands of years; through the industrious labor and courage of the people, they established the village, protected their homeland, produced, and built village cultural works, among which the communal house was a 'cultural house' of the Vietnamese village in the past.
Dinh Xuyen Communal House has existed for a long time. According to the village elders, the ancient communal house was on the bank in front of the village, adjacent to the Day River.
Originally it was made of wood with a thatched roof. Over many generations, the communal house was rebuilt many times. The image of that communal house remains in folk memory and in a pair of couplets of the communal house:
For ten thousand ages, the foundation stands before Ngo Mountain..
Meaning: - A house of a thousand years before the Dinh stream (Day River).
- For all ages, its head stands before Ngo Mountain.
Through historical and architectural evidence, we know that Vietnamese village communal houses developed strongly in the Later Le Restoration period; before that, communal houses were small in scale and not necessarily within the cultural category of the village, being then only places for disseminating royal decrees. The ancient communal house of Dinh Xuyen village existed and fulfilled its function. Later, the new communal house was built on the foundation of the present communal house. The large, solemn communal house dates from the Nguyen era; based on the description of its artistic architecture, the Rear Shrine with crab-shell vault architecture shows the influence of Western Gothic architecture. Only after the French colonialists invaded our country did the Gothic element come early to cultural works. On the upper beam of the communal house is inscribed 'Quý hợi mạnh thu tạo' (made in the first month of autumn of the Quy Hoi year), supplementing the identification of the Quy Hoi year; based on the horizontal plaque inscribed 'Vạn cổ phúc thán' carved in the Tu Duc, Tan Mui year (1871), and on the Can Chi calculation of Quy Hoi, we can determine quite accurately that Dinh Xuyen Communal House was built in the Nguyen era in the Quy Hoi year (1863), the 16th year of Tu Duc.
4. Quan Thuong and Quan Ha Relics
Quan Thuong and Quan Ha are the places where Lords Pham Thong and Pham Nhu trained their troops. To commemorate the two generals and record their traces, the people of Dinh Xuyen built a temple and constructed the two shrines as memorials. This is a fairly solid architectural work in the style of a fortification. The shrines were built with lime and brick. Quan Thuong has an area of 24m2; Quan Ha has two components: the Rear Shrine of 40m2 and the Main Worship Hall of 35m2.
The surrounding wall is 80cm thick, like a rampart. It symbolizes a military stronghold. The fortification has three entrances, and inside there is an altar to the two generals. The shrine ceiling is vaulted and covered with tiles. From the outside it looks like a wooden architectural work; upon entering, one can see the depth of the idea our people wished to pass down so that future generations would know the legend of the two deities worshipped by the nation.
The current architectural work is material evidence, a heritage of the museum introducing to the people that this place, nearly 2,000 years ago, witnessed the military training of our ancestors as they sharpened their swords to resist the Han invaders. If we lose this cultural heritage, it would be difficult to tell future generations about the heroic tradition that our forebears built with sweat and blood to preserve independence. That tradition has passed through many generations and is handed down to our generation, so that we may guard and protect the socialist Fatherland of Vietnam.
The relics of artistic value and the worship objects still preserved at this relic site were listed through the inventory as follows:
- A Ngoc pha book recording the legends of the three Tutelary Deities Nguyen Quang, Pham Thong, and Pham Nhu, compiled by Nguyen Binh, Han Lam Dong Cac Dai Hoc Si, in the first year of Hong Phuc (1572).
- 3 statues: Nguyen Quang, Pham Thong, and Pham Nhu, revered by the people of Dinh Xuyen as Tutelary Deities and carved in the Nguyen dynasty.
- 1 stone turtle.
- 1 horizontal lacquered board.
- 10 incense vases.
- 2 wooden offering trays.
- 3 porcelain vases.
- 4 wooden altar lampstands.
- 4 wooden altar stands.
- 2 wine jars.
- 4 bronze worship cranes.
- 1 song loan palanquin.
- 10 sets of Bat Buu (Eight Treasures).
- 3 wooden chests for storing royal edicts.
- 22 royal edicts from the Le Trung Hung dynasty to the Nguyen dynasty.
* Dinh Xuyen Communal House is an artistic architectural work of the Nguyen dynasty that has been preserved fairly intact. At present, its architectural components are still retained: the Main Worship Hall, the Rear Hall, the left and right auxiliary halls, and a row of side buildings.
The Rear Hall houses 3 artistic statues, the Tutelary Deities of the village, and there are people who regularly care for them; keeping incense and lamps to worship the Saint is a fine moral principle of the local people, as well as of the Vietnamese people in general.
* Quan Thuong - Quan Ha still retain their original construction area. The two shrines are recorded in history as training grounds of the insurgent army.
Dinh Xuyen Communal House is a fairly typical artistic architectural work of the Nguyen dynasty in Hoa Xa commune that is still preserved today. The communal house worships three Tutelary Deities: Nguyen Quang, a general of the Hung Vuong era who helped the people keep the borders of Van Lang safe, and Pham Thong and Pham Nhu, skilled generals who joined the uprising of the Trung Sisters to drive out the invading Nam Han army. Protecting and preserving cultural works and passing on the glorious history of local notables is a necessary task.
On the other hand, Dinh Xuyen still bears the mark of the military training ground of Pham Thong and Pham Nhu, where the people respectfully built shrines as memorial places. The work is a place that preserves the tradition of the feats of those who rendered service to the country and the people. It is a typical artistic architectural work of the Nguyen dynasty, preserving a treasure of exquisite woodcarving imbued with folk cultural identity./.
