HA THAI COMMUNAL HOUSE

Ha Thai Communal House is an architectural and religious relic.

Ha Thai Village Communal House (also called Ba Lay Communal House) worships two village tutelary deities: Le dynasty military mandarin Bui Si Luong and Mrs. Dinh Thi Trach (also called Ba Lay), who voluntarily offered herself to a tiger to free the villagers from the annual human tribute.

The village's genealogy records that in ancient times, this land was still wild, with dense trees and a sparse population. At that time, in the forest there was a fierce tiger called a wolf tiger (a tiger that had become a spirit), which often came to the village to catch people and livestock to eat. The villagers could not subdue the tiger, so they had to accept offering it one person every year on the 10th day of the 11th lunar month to be left in peace. At that time, Mrs. Lay was old and had no husband or children. Pitying the fate of the villagers, she performed a ritual to heaven and earth and voluntarily asked to take the tiger's place, with the wish that the calamity would end from then on. On exactly the 10th day of the 11th lunar month, the tiger came, seized her, and carried her away. But from then on, the villagers no longer saw the tiger come to cause trouble. To remember her merit, the people of Ha Thai built a shrine to worship her (now Ha Thai Communal House), honored her as the village tutelary deity, and took the 10th day of the 11th lunar month every year as the traditional village festival. The Le dynasty military mandarin Bui Si Luong was born on the 10th day of the 3rd lunar month, 1544 (Giap Thin). He was very intelligent and accomplished in both literature and martial arts. He rose to the position of Grand Preceptor and Palace Front Commander. When the Mac usurped the Le throne, he commanded 100,000 elite troops to destroy the Mac and support the Le, bringing peace to the country. When passing through Ha Thai Village, seeing that this place had the terrain of dragons and tigers, with a dense population, he had a family estate built and taught the people to settle down. He died on the 10th day of the 5th lunar month, 1597 (Dinh Dau), and was honored by the people of Ha Thai as the village tutelary deity. Ha Thai Village Communal House was ranked as a National relic under Decision No. 824/QĐ-BVHTTDL dated March 9, 2017.