Giao Tu Communal House

Giao Tu Communal House belongs to Giao Tu village, Kim Son commune, Gia Lam district, now Giao Tu village, Thuan An commune, Hanoi city, and is the place of worship of the village tutelary god Ly Chieu Hoang, whose courtesy name was “Phat Kim Thuong Hoang Thai Hau” - The last king of the Ly dynasty.

According to the Giao Tu Communal House genealogy still extant, compiled by Dong Cac Grand Scholar Nguyen Binh in the first year of the Hong Phuc era (1572), and according to the country's official history books recording the legend of the village tutelary god, such as Dai Viet Su Ky, which states: “In winter, in the tenth month, an edict was issued to establish Princess Chieu Thanh as Crown Princess to succeed to the throne. Chieu Thanh ascended the throne, changed the era name to Thien Chuong Huu Dao, first year, with the title Chieu Hoang… Chieu Hoang's taboo name was Phat Kim, later changed to Thien Hinh, the second daughter of King Ly Hue Ton, her mother was Tran Thi. Because Hue Ton had no sons, he established her as crown princess to succeed to the throne; she reigned for two years and then ceded the throne to the Tran family.”

Based on the later stele still kept at the communal house with the era name Vinh Tri first year (1676), whose content praises the merits of those who donated money for the restoration of the communal house, it shows that the communal house must have been built in the early 17th century; due to a major flood in 1725 (At Ty), the communal house was restored, and the surviving architecture dates from the late 18th and early 19th centuries.

Giao Tu Communal House is currently located on a large, high plot of land beside the road into the village, close to the dyke on the south bank of the Duong River. The communal house was built facing southwest, a direction that Vietnamese people often consider in relation to the yin-yang principle. Through the orientation of the communal house, it is hoped that the village tutelary god will be settled and grant blessings to the people.

From the outside in, the relic includes the ceremonial gate, with side halls on both sides, the main hall, the incense-burning house, and the forbidden sanctuary. At the end is the shrine to the Hau Than.

At present, Giao Tu Communal House still preserves many artifacts of high artistic value made from various materials: an eight-pole palanquin and a roofed cabinet for the tablet of the village tutelary god, a four-sided pillar stele featuring very exquisite stone carving art, and a system of typical royal edicts such as Canh Hung first year, Canh Hung forty-fourth year, especially the Quang Trung fourth-year edict, the Canh Thinh fourth-year edict …

Giao Tu Communal House was ranked as a Historical and Architectural Artistic Relic by the Ministry of Culture, Information and Sports in 1992.