Linh Quy Communal House

Linh Quy Communal House is in Linh Quy village, Kim Son commune, Gia Lam district, now Thuan An commune, Hanoi city. It was formerly also called Trang Vui Communal House. It was built to worship the village tutelary god Nguyen Bieu, a loyal minister of the Tran dynasty who is much mentioned in historical records. He took part in the uprising against the Ming army in the late 14th and early 15th centuries led by Tran Quy Khoang. He was sent to negotiate with the enemy, resolutely defended the country's honor, and was forced to death by the enemy. His example of loyalty and righteousness terrified the enemy. He was praised by the king and granted a divine title.

          The legend of the village tutelary god worshipped at Linh Quy Communal House was compiled by Nguyen Bich, a Grand Scholar of the Dong Cac, Hanlin Academy, in a divine genealogy: From ancient times, when the country of Nam was formed, virtuous kings remembered the merits of the many deities and granted glorious titles; whenever they ascended the throne, they had the deeds of the deities compiled, consulted historical records, verified them clearly, and issued divine genealogies to villages for respectful worship. It is reverently thought that the deities' merits and sacred virtues spread everywhere and will never fade for thousands upon thousands of years. The deity observed that in ancient times Linh Quang village, Gia Lam district, Thuan An prefecture, Kinh Bac region, formerly Vu Ninh district, had residents newly settled on abandoned fields and no shrine or temple to worship the deity. It is also said that at that time in Huu Nhat village, Quynh Trach district, Dong Thanh prefecture, Nghe An region, there was a notable man surnamed Nguyen who married Tran Thi Nguyen. His family were physicians and did good deeds to help people. The couple was already old but still had no child. One day, while traveling, they received a dream message from the deity. After that, she became pregnant. On the 12th day of the 3rd month, she gave birth to a boy. At the age of three, the boy was handsome, with an extraordinary physique and arms longer than his knees; his parents then named him Bieu. At 16 he was exceptionally intelligent. At 18 his father unfortunately died. After three years of mourning, war broke out in their homeland, so he and his mother had to sell their house and property to go and live elsewhere. They came to Linh Quy village, Gia Lam district, Kinh Bac region. This place had picturesque scenery and simple, honest customs. He and his mother asked to settle there. The villagers, old and young, all agreed. He and his mother immediately built a thatched house to live in. A few years later, his mother unfortunately passed away. He buried her at Dong Vai area of the village. After the burial, he observed mourning for three years; he was then 24. He passed the doctoral examination and became an official up to Grand Scholar of the Dong Cac, Hanlin Academy. In the time of Emperor Gian Dinh, the Ming army invaded. The king could not resist the enemy. He received the king's order to negotiate peace with the enemy, resolutely defended the country's honor, and was forced to death by the enemy... When he died, suddenly the sky and earth turned dark, strong winds and heavy rain arose, river water rose high, and his body floated on the water, drifting upstream until it reached Dong Quyt area, where it stopped and moved no further. Seeing this, the village people all rushed out to see what had happened. When they arrived, they saw termites had built up a large earthen mound. The people of the commune considered this very sacred, so they prepared vegetarian offerings and made a ceremony asking to establish a temple to worship him at Linh Mo area, Dong Quyt, for eternal worship and incense. When Le Thai To rose up to drive out the Ming army and restore the realm, the king raised troops at Lam Son. When the royal army reached the village's Linh Mieu, the royal carriage suddenly stopped and could not move. At midnight, the king saw in the shrine a mass of fire like a lantern flying out in front of the shrine. The king was surprised and summoned the villagers and elders to ask: Which deity does this village worship that is so sacred? The villagers replied: This village worships a Great King of the Tran dynasty surnamed Nguyen, whose taboo name was Bieu. The king immediately lowered the carriage and prayed. The next morning, the royal carriage moved as if flying and entered the enemy camp as if into an unoccupied place. He was praised by the king and granted a divine title, allowing Linh Quy commune, Gia Lam district, Thuan An prefecture, to burn incense and worship him forever.

After his death, the deity also manifested to save the country and assist the king, so from the Le to the Nguyen dynasties he was granted beautiful honorific titles, and the communal house was repaired so that the people of Trang Vui could worship him forever.

Based on written sources about Linh Quy Communal House, it can be affirmed that it was built well before 1787. Linh Quy Communal House still preserves traditional architecture, especially carved panels in the upper hall and rear sanctuary, particularly the meticulously carved corbels showing the skill of craftsmen of the time. Through historical ups and downs, Linh Quy Communal House has survived with time and retained many precious relics of various materials, contributing importantly to research on village history and folk cultural forms.

Linh Quy Communal House was ranked as an architectural and artistic relic by a decision of the Ministry of Culture and Information, now the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, in 1996.