Khuc Thuy Communal House

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Khuc Thuy Communal House is located at the confluence of the Nhue River and the Hoa Binh River, which flows from the direction of Road 22, and is also the sluice area of the Bay Gio fields.

The communal house is also called Khuc Thuy Shrine; in the past, Sai Market was near the communal house, so folk verse says: 'Sai Market, the mandarin road, Khuc Thuy tutelary god'. Around the communal house there are many mounds, signs of a land of four sacred creatures, and this very communal house was built on a 'dragon’s throat' mound, with the two eyes being the two rivers in front.

It is unknown when the communal house was built, but there are traces of a major restoration in the 5th year of Khai Dinh (1920). With the 'inner Cong, outer Quoc' architectural style, the communal house includes a Ma Gate, enclosing walls connecting the Left and Right Vu rows, behind is the ancestor house, inside are the Phuong Dinh, Dai Bai and Hau Cung. In the communal house there are many Nguyen-era corbels, carved with themes of the four sacred creatures, flowers and leaves, graceful spirals, and rather beautiful dragon-fish rolling in water. Each compartment of the communal house has a splendidly carved, lacquered, and gilded decorative screen.

Khuc Thuy Communal House worships the village tutelary god Tran Thong, a talented general of the Tran dynasty; legend says he was the only son of the famous general Tran Khat Chan (1370–1399), who was killed by Ho Quy Ly. Tran Thong had the merit of fighting the Ming invaders in the 15th century, helping Emperor Gian Dinh restore the country; later he became a monk and helped the people in the area prevent epidemics. When he died, people in many places worshipped him, such as My Tien Communal House (My Duc District) and Bac Lam Communal House (Ha Dong District).

In addition to abundant artifacts of various types such as incense burners, horizontal plaques, parallel sentences, etc., the communal house also preserves many royal edicts, including edicts from the Le dynasty conferring on Tran Thong the title of Superior Grade Tutelary God. Khuc Thuy Communal House was ranked as an architectural and artistic relic by the Ministry of Culture and Information in 1991.