Hoi Phu Communal House

Hoi Phu Communal House is located at the entrance of the village, to the north of the hamlet. The communal house was built around the middle of the 19th century. In the past, it was named Cu Trinh and was the largest communal house in Coi Canton. Its grounds are spacious and beautiful in both landscape and overall architecture. The communal house was once burned by French troops during a sweep on April 16, 1949; after several restorations, it was rebuilt in 2005 on the old foundation.

From the outside in is the communal pond, with steps built for villagers to go down and fetch water. Beside the pond there is still a screen wall blocking the side of the steps, and further in there is a place for burning votive offerings… To the right of the communal house is the Lotus Pond, to the left is the Lao Pond, then checkerboard fields… Further away are the Cho Bridge, Tien Lao Temple, Van Chi, and the pagoda behind. The ceremonial gate is built in a four-pillar style, with two large pillars and two small pillars opening three gates along the sacred axis. In front of the old communal house there still remains the Vuong Communal House built in 1905, formerly the front hall (also called the square pavilion), with a two-tier structure, eight roofs, and eight corner spurs decorated with leaf patterns turning into dragons. The decoration on the roof ridge of the square pavilion is a shining sun; at the two ends of the ridge are two kìm creatures. Inside the square pavilion, the trusses are all carved in relief and openwork with traditional themes of the four sacred creatures (dragon, qilin, turtle, phoenix). The beam ends are shaped like dragon heads in flat form, with horizontal roof spurs. The corbels are all carved in relief with flipped-leaf motifs. This is a beautiful remaining square pavilion bearing the artistic style of the late 18th century, mixed with architectural features of the 19th century.

The new main communal house has been rebuilt imposingly and spaciously on the foundation of the old one. The main hall consists of three bays and two wide side bays, with curved roof spurs. The roof ridge is decorated with lemon-flower patterns, the two ends are decorated with kìm heads, unicorns run along the ridge band, the roof spurs are decorated with kneeling unicorns and cloud clusters, the paneled door system is sturdy, and around it there is no wall but wooden panels, giving the communal house a warm feel. The architecture has six rows of columns, creating a spacious interior. In the central bay, the central truss is stacked with trusses featuring the four sacred creatures and four seasons. On the beams are decorations of flipped-leaf patterns, clouds, and hanging seal motifs; the beam ends are carved in the artistic style of the Nguyen dynasty. The central bay has a gilded and lacquered curtain, with soft and beautiful floral clusters carved in relief. The large hanging curtain set is decorated with many different themes, creating a colorful picture. The rear sanctuary connects with the main hall to form a floor plan in the shape of the character “đinh” with three vertical bays; the front facade above the rear sanctuary is decorated with a tiger symbol, hangs a great inscription, and below opens paneled doors only on important festival days, with small side doors for entry. Inside the forbidden sanctuary, a shrine to the Saint is created with two splendid gilded and lacquered thrones.

The left bay of the communal house is arranged to worship Trieu Viet Vuong, splendidly decorated with two layers of thieu chau curtains, two great inscriptions, and two pairs of parallel sentences praising the god's merits. Against the innermost wall are decorated wooden inlay panels with themes of the four sacred creatures and four seasons; in the center is a throne with the tablet of Trieu Viet Vuong, solemnly and respectfully displayed together with ritual objects.

The communal house still preserves extremely valuable antiquities such as four divine ordinations from the reign years Tu Duc 10th (1857), Tu Duc 33rd (1880), Thieu Tri 2nd (1842), and Dong Khanh 2nd (1887); a genealogy of Dao Ky - Phuong Dung and Trieu Viet Vuong; three sets of thrones; two palanquins; and many other ritual objects, all bearing the artistic style of the late 18th and early 19th centuries.