Lai Yen Communal House

According to the stele inscription kept at Lai Yen Communal House, it worships Chi Minh Dai Vuong, a celestial deity associated with the history of the construction of the ancient Kinh Thien Dai shrine, which is said to date back to the worship of Hung Vuong when the nation was founded. The communal house stands on a large plot of land in the middle of the village and is of large scale. The main architectural layout of the monument includes: the main communal house (including Dai Bai and Rear Shrine) with a ding/J-shaped structure and the Huu Mac building.

 Dai Bai (main worship hall):is a horizontal building (dimensions 21.77 x 13.26 x 7.26 m) with 7 bays and 2 lean-tos; bay spacing: central bay 3.95 m, two side bays 3.1 m, two next bays 3.0 m, two further bays 1.8 m, two left bays 1.1 m; it is surrounded by blue stone curbing with two steps at the central bay, and on both sides are pairs of flanking dragons in stylized cloud motifs. Dai Bai has a four-sided curved roof with muzzle-shaped tiles; at both ends, kìm ornaments are shaped as makara water monsters with mouths biting the roof ridge and tails curving into cloud forms. The roof ridge and ridge bands form rows of lemon flowers; at the corners, xô ornaments shaped as kneeling nghê looking downward are decorated. The four roof corners of Lai Yen Communal House are made quite softly with dragon-head forms by the nề ngõa technique. The seven bays and two lean-tos are structured by 8 trusses: the two trusses of the central bay are structured in the type 'upper stacked beams, middle front stacked beams with curved braces, rear stacked beams, lower front tie beams and braces, rear stacked beams'; the remaining four trusses uniformly follow the type 'upper stacked beams, lower continuous tie beams'; the two trusses of the lean-to bays follow the type 'upper stacked beams, lower corner tie beams'. Each truss consists of six rows of column feet (main columns, secondary columns, veranda columns, and rear columns) placed on square stone plinths with circular column bases. The columns are tapered at the top and flared at the bottom; distances between columns: two main columns 4.2 m; main column-secondary column-veranda column-rear column 1.8 m. The columns have different sizes: main column diameter 42 cm; secondary column diameter 38 cm; veranda and rear columns diameter 35 cm. Total number of columns at the communal house: 48 original lim wood columns from the Later Le period, including 16 main columns and 32 secondary, veranda, and rear columns.

Rear Shrine:is a longitudinal building (dimensions: 4.3 x 4.51 x 4.7 m) with 1 bay connected directly to Dai Bai. The Rear Shrine is built with gable-end walls closed at the ends. The roof is covered with muzzle-shaped tiles; the roof ridge and ridge bands are of the dinh type. The two gable walls have rectangular windows with square ceramic floral ornaments. The Rear Shrine has a wooden frame structured by 2 identical trusses of the type 'upper stacked beams, lower stacked beams'. Each truss consists of four rows of feet (two main columns, two secondary columns), with walls on both sides. Distance between the two main columns: 1.75 m; main column-secondary column: 1.1 m. The two front main columns adjacent to Dai Bai have a diameter of 35 cm, the two rear main columns 27 cm, and the secondary columns 23 cm. The front truss connecting to Dai Bai has only two main columns and no secondary columns. The columns are tapered at the top and flared at the bottom. The front main columns are connected at the base by a cement column.

From the tops of the two main columns is a crossbeam mortised into the tops of the two main columns; above is a beam connected through a square block with a tapered bottom. This beam supports the upper ridge beam through a boat-shaped bearing block. On the tops of the crossbeam, the beam is cut with seats to support purlins. Connecting from the secondary column to the main column is a side tie beam, one end mortised into the secondary column and one end mortised into the main column; above the beam is a short beam supported by a thick bearing block. The beams are carved in relief with cloud motifs in the artistic style of the Nguyen period.

Huu Mac:is a horizontal building with 9 bays (dimensions: 20.42 x 6.52 x 4.3 m; bay spacing: 2.2 m), built with gable-end walls, tay ngai connected to trụ biểu (on the right pillar only the body remains and the top is missing; the left pillar no longer exists), and the gable ends are decorated with a tiger-face motif. The wall encloses three sides, with the front left open. The building has a roof covered with ri tiles, the ridge capped with bo tiles, and the lower eaves covered with Tay tiles. The nine bays are structured by 10 uniform trusses of the type 'upper stacked beams, middle seated tie beams, lower braces'. Each truss consists of four rows of column feet (a total of 40 columns including 20 main columns and 20 secondary columns). The distance between the two main columns is 2 m, and between the main column and secondary column 1.3 m. The columns have a dong dong shape (main column diameter: 22 cm, secondary column 18 cm) placed on square stone plinths. Roof-truss structure: from the tops of the two main columns is a crossbeam mortised into the tops of the two main columns; above the crossbeam are beams stacked on one another through square blocks with tapered bottoms. The final beam supports the upper ridge beam through a square block with a tapered bottom. The roof trusses of the two trusses adjacent to the gable walls have beams carved in relief with plant motifs. Between the boat-shaped block and the beam, a bearing block is carved in relief with lotus-petal and bodhi-leaf motifs; the bearing block is stylized with relief carving of a flower with many equal petals. Side truss: mortised through four rows of feet from the main column to the secondary column is a horizontal beam planed smooth and fitted tightly; on the horizontal beam, the side-truss part is a seated tie beam, one end mortised into the main column to support the crossbeam and one end mortised into the side beam; above the tie beam are wooden planks cut with seats to support purlins. From the secondary column is a short brace mortised into the secondary column, one end extending to support the roof edge; the rear brace below rests on the rear wall. The brace supporting the roof edge is decorated with plant motifs. The trusses are linked by a system of tie beams running along all bays.

The artifacts have a chronological framework mainly in the 20th century; some typical artifacts: the Y Mon screen – Later Le art – 18th century; the incense altar and wooden platform (currently placed at Lai Yen shrine) in the artistic style of the Nguyen period – 19th century. The Y Mon screen is currently hung in the central bay of Dai Bai, with relief, openwork, and raised carving techniques and dragon motifs, with themes 'Two dragons flanking the moon' and 'Dragon-horse'; it is a precious artifact of research value for the technique and aesthetics of the Later Le period.

With the above typical values, Lai Yen Communal House, Lai Yen commune, Hoai Duc district, Hanoi city, was ranked as a National Architectural and Artistic Monument by the Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism under Decision No. 1991/QD-BVHTTDL dated 29/6/2021./.