Lại Đà Communal House

Lại Đà Communal House worships First-place Laureate Nguyễn Hiền. He was born on the 12th day of the 7th month of the year Ất Mùi (1235), in Vương Miện Village, Thượng Hiền District (later renamed Thượng Nguyên, Thiên Trường Prefecture, Sơn Nam Circuit), now Dương A Village, Nam Trực District, Nam Định Province. He was the youngest first-place laureate in Vietnam’s examination system. At the age of 11 he was already famous and called a “child prodigy.” He passed the Thái học sinh examination as first-place laureate in the Đinh Mùi examination during the reign of Trần Thái Tông, under the Thiên Ứng Chính Bình era (1247), when he was only 12 years old. This examination had three high graduates: Nguyễn Hiền — first-place laureate at 12, Lê Văn Hưu — second laureate at 18, and Đặng Ma La — third laureate at 14. In the year Ất Mão (1255), our country was again invaded by Champa; King Trần Thái Tông assigned First-place Laureate Nguyễn Hiền to fight the enemy and defend the country, and also conferred on Laureate Hiền the title “District Duke and Marquis”. Only a short time later, when the enemy was completely defeated, Laureate Hiền withdrew his troops to Vũ Minh Mountain, held a feast for the troops, and reported to King Trần; the whole court rejoiced, and the king then conferred on the District Duke and Marquis the position “First Illustrious Noble Official”. During his years as an official at court, he was appointed to the position of Minister of Public Works; Nguyễn Hiền had many good strategies to assist the king and the country. In military affairs, he expanded martial training grounds to train soldiers. In agriculture, he ordered the construction of dikes and embankments along the Red River to prevent floods, develop production, and bring abundant harvests.

In the year Bính Thìn (1256), First-place Laureate Nguyễn Hiền fell seriously ill and died on the 14th day of the 8th month at the age of 21. The king and the court mourned him and posthumously conferred on him the title “Great King Nguyễn, Tutelary Deity” and worshipped him as a deity; he is worshipped in 32 places, including Lại Đà Village.

Currently, at the temple to First-place Laureate Nguyễn Hiền in his homeland (Dương A Village, Nam Thắng Commune, Nam Trực District, Nam Định Province), many memorial tablets, royal conferral edicts, couplets, and large plaques are still preserved; in particular, a jade genealogy describing his career has been preserved, including a verse praising Nguyễn Hiền’s talent:

At twelve years old, he topped the examination and brought renown to two countries; For ten thousand years, for a thousand generations, he established the Three Powers. Meaning:

At twelve years old he opened the examination in two countries; For a thousand years his name is forever recorded among the Three Powers.

Lại Đà Communal House is located in the center of the relic complex, with a pagoda on the left and a shrine on the right. According to feng shui, the communal house was built on the head of a yellow tiger, facing due south. In front of the communal house are two round ponds called the two tiger’s eyes; between them is a stone called the communal house’s tiger tongue; behind the communal house is the tiger’s body, followed by the tiger’s tail. In front of the communal house is a field, and farther away is the Đuống River. The main hall has five bays; the carved wooden trusses are in the Hậu Lê style (18th century). The communal house structure has six rows of columns. The roof is covered with dragon-scale tiles, also called lá đề tiles; the straight ridge is outlined with incised lines. The body and the roof edges are pierced with elaborate lemon-flower motifs, creating an elegant appearance. The structure of the main hall consists of six sets of trusses, including two end trusses standing on the tops of columns in the chồng rường style. The main trusses basically follow the giá chiêng chồng rường con nhị type, decorated mainly with scroll clouds and stylized leaves. In traditional communal houses, tie beams are usually made double, but because this structure is quite large, only a single beam was used. The rear part of the communal house has a two-tier roof, in which the bridge house forms a row of balustrades; the upper part is fitted with two beams, with bars carved in openwork with flowers and stylized chrysanthemums symbolizing the sun.

Inside the communal house there is a two-tier ceremonial screen door made in the 19th century, finely carved with attention to every detail. The frame of the ceremonial gate, with panels of different sizes, surrounds a horizontal plaque bearing four large characters: “Temple of Great King Nguyễn”. The decorative panels depict themes such as a dancing phoenix and a phoenix holding a book, expressing the power of the sun, noble character, and respect for learning. The outer incense table is quite high with a vertical layout; on top are four throne ears in the artistic style of the 19th century. In the rear sanctuary of the communal house, on a high wooden floor, there is a throne for a memorial tablet inscribed clearly: “Spirit tablet of Great King Nguyễn”. Many precious and valuable artifacts are still kept here, such as: a wooden worship throne lacquered and gilded, a pair of qilin attendants in 17th-century style, and a statue of Nguyễn Hiền in the center. In addition, there are valuable relics and worship objects such as a set of Eight Treasures, a ceramic incense burner, and a box of royal edicts. Especially notable is a collection of 21 royal edicts bestowed by 16 kings. The earliest edict bears the Khánh Đức 4 era name of King Lê Thần Tông, dated the 19th day of

the 3rd month of the year Nhâm Thìn (1652); the latest edict is from the 9th year of Khải Định, dated 25 July 1924. Lại Đà Communal House has undergone many restorations, the largest being in 2002–2003. The complex of Lại Đà communal house, pagoda, and shrine was ranked as a national relic under Decision No. 1570/VH/QĐ/1989 dated 5 September 1989.