Ngoc Than Communal House

Ngoc Than Communal House stands on the village's main road, facing northwest, surrounded by laterite walls. The current communal house has a 'nhi'-shaped structure, consisting of the Tien Te (Dai Bai) building and the Dai Dinh hall parallel to each other. In front there is a well and the communal yard; on both sides are stone steles and ancient trees.

When it was first built, the communal house had only a Dai Dinh hall; it is not known when it was built, but on the first beam there is an inscription reading 'Vinh Thinh thap nhi nien' (1716). This is the date of this Dai Dinh hall. However, some surviving steles show that in the 3rd year of Duong Hoa (1637), a villager was elected as hau than and worshipped at the communal house; in the 4th year of Duong Hoa (1638), there was already a regulation for singing at the communal house gate here. Therefore, this communal house existed at least before 1637. Although the Dai Dinh hall shows traces of several later repairs, it has basically retained its appearance from the 1716 construction. The communal house has 5 bays and 2 side compartments, 23 m long and 8 m wide. It is enclosed on four sides by panels and boards. The brackets and beam ends are all carved with dragon heads with pairs of lance-shaped dragon whiskers in the style of the late 17th and early 18th centuries. The communal house has no rear sanctuary built recessed at the back as is commonly seen in other Nguyen-era communal houses. The rear sanctuary is boarded up in the central bay for worship. In front of the rear sanctuary are two sets of curved lattice doors; the inner set was made at the same time as the communal house was built (Le era), and the outer set was added during the Nguyen era.

The Tien Te building was erected in the year At Ty, the 17th year of the Thanh Thai era (1905); it is 22.3 m long and 8 m wide, with both gable ends built solid with brick and the front and rear sides left open. This building was added to meet the needs of annual worship and festivals.

Ngoc Than Communal House worships Ly Bi and Pham Tu, whose deeds are recorded in detail in the surviving than tich (deity legend) at the communal house.

Ly Bi was a national hero who led a successful uprising against Liang dynasty rule. Ly Bi ascended the throne (544), adopted the era name Thien Duc, and named the country Van Xuan.

Pham Tu was a famous general of Ly Bi; he once recruited the people of Ngo Than village to fight and earned many merits, being promoted to the rank of Grand Preceptor (Thai su). During the annual traditional festival (from the 6th to the 8th day of the second lunar month), villagers reenact the deity's legend in recruiting troops, preparing food, rewarding troops, fighting, and the ceremony reporting victory. The festival also includes many games such as wrestling, tug of war, cheo singing, nha to singing, etc.

During the resistance war against the French, the communal house was a place for secret meetings and exchanges among high-ranking revolutionary cadres and the place where the attack to capture Quoc Oai district capital was launched.

This is a relatively large-scale relic that retains many historical, artistic, and traditional village cultural traces.

Ngoc Than Communal House was ranked as a historical and architectural-artistic relic by the Ministry of Culture and Information (now the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism) in Decision No. 147 VH/QD dated December 24, 1982.