Hoang Xa Communal House

Hoang Xa Communal House was built around the late 16th century in the Nhat character layout, meaning it has only one rectangular building with three large bays and two side wings. Worship is arranged horizontally; the altar is placed on a mezzanine between the two main columns and two subsidiary columns at the rear of the central bay. The village tutelary deity worshipped here is Quy Minh, one of the three Tan Vien Saints. It symbolizes fertility, happiness, and prosperity. The communal house is named after Hoang Xa village (formerly in Lien Bat commune, now in Van Dinh town).

In the 17th century, Hoang Xa Communal House was repaired and Trung Cung and Hau Cung were added in the Cong character architectural layout.

Hoang Xa Communal House faces west-northwest. The Nghi Mon is designed in the tru biet pillar style. The tops of the pillars are lantern-shaped, with a pair of unicorns facing each other above. The Nghi Mon has four pillars; the central gate is formed by two large square pillars topped with two unicorns facing each other.

The Dai Bai (main communal house) is built on a rectangular foundation of 200 m2, comprising three large bays and two side wings of unequal size. The central bay is the ceremonial area; the front side bays were formerly floored with wood for community activities and are now built with four brick-paved platforms. The wooden frame is firmly constructed on rows of large round columns. The main columns of the two central trusses have a circumference of 1.85 m, and the subsidiary columns have a circumference of 1.25 m. The four main trusses are made in two different styles. Two are structured in the thuong ruong ha bay style, while the two main side trusses are structured in the thuong chong ruong ha ke style. Supporting the upper part of the two gable roofs is a system of stacked beams placed on a large horizontal beam. One end of the beam is mortised through the body of the main column with the two side trusses, and the other end rests on a subsidiary column at the gable bay.

The Hau Cung (rear sanctuary) consists of one bay and two side compartments, built on a square foundation, with four roof leaves and curved corner blades. Between the four main columns is a large platform, above which is a square box-shaped altar cabinet lacquered and gilded, containing the dragon throne and memorial tablet of Thanh Hoang Quy Minh. Running perpendicular and connecting the Hau Cung to the Dai Bai is the Trung Cung, consisting of three bays built lengthwise, forming three tiers of ceremonial curtain doors.

Over time, Hoang Xa Communal House still preserves highly artistic sculptures on the bodies of the bay, ke brackets, panel boards, corner panels, stacked beams, and dau du beam ends. Most numerous are dragon carvings with themes such as Doc Long, Long Van, Long O, and Long Ly. Four con kim are carved into dragon forms with slender heads, long tails hidden behind the main columns, horse-like faces with protruding foreheads, upturned noses, smiling mouths, whiskers, and manes extending backward like long spear blades covering the neck, with two legs spread firmly. Throughout the frame of the communal house, dragons are created in different poses in the openwork and multi-layer relief carving style of Le Trung Hung art. Interwoven with dragons are carvings on many themes of human and animal activities, such as fairies singing and dancing, musicians beating drums, singing at the communal house gate, rowing boats, wrestling, cockfighting, elephants plowing, horses, or scenes of riding elephants and horses, and burial of the dragon's jaw. In addition, Hoang Xa Communal House still keeps worship platforms, large altar cabinets and thrones, altars, palanquins and bat buu, royal edicts from the Quang Trung to Khai Dinh periods, along with horizontal plaques and couplets. Together they give Hoang Xa Communal House the beauty of a complete artistic whole.

Hoang Xa Communal House was ranked as a historical and cultural relic in 1962 by the Ministry of Culture (now the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism).