Quang Hien Communal House, Hien Giang Village, Thuong Tin Commune, Hanoi City

Quang Hien Communal House is a religious architectural work dedicated to the village tutelary deity. Based on survey and research results on the relic, classification of relics according to the criteria for relic ranking in Article 11 of Decree No. 98/2010/ND-CP dated September 21, 2010 detailing the implementation of a number of articles of the Law on Cultural Heritage, and considering its outstanding values, Quang Hien Communal House is classified as: Historical and cultural relic.

Date of initial construction: According to accounts by elderly villagers, the communal house was built during the Le dynasty. However, there is currently no exact documentation on the initial time when the communal house appeared. Nevertheless, based on some artifacts dating to the Le Trung Hung period, such as royal edicts, the earliest remaining at the temple currently dates to Canh Hung 44, i.e. 1783, the end of the 18th century. Thus, at least it can be firmly asserted that this communal house existed here in the 18th century. Date of extant architecture: The current relic is the product of restoration and reconstruction at the end of the 20th century and the beginning of the 21st century.

As mentioned above, Quang Hien Communal House may have been built a very long time ago and undergone many restorations and repairs. Through surveys of Han-Nom documents and the architecture, it can be seen that Quang Hien Communal House underwent several major restorations and repairs during the Nguyen dynasty.

In the late years of the 20th century and the early 21st century, because the communal house had severely deteriorated, local authorities and people reconstructed the main components of the communal house: in 1985 the Rear Hall was reconstructed; in 2000 the Main Hall was reconstructed.

Quang Hien Communal House is located at the end of the village, facing east-southeast. The entire precinct of the communal house has been enclosed by a wall. According to accounts by elderly villagers and local people, the relic formerly had all the components of an ancient communal house, such as: Nghi Mon gateway, Dai Bai main hall, Phuong Dinh square pavilion, Hau Cung rear hall, well, pond, and garden, all facing north-northeast toward Hung Hien Village. However, over time, all components of the old communal house severely deteriorated; by 1985, because the relic had deteriorated too much, local people had to dismantle all components and reconstruct the Rear Hall facing southeast, different from the old orientation of the communal house. The entire old foundation of the old communal house still remains underground. The old communal house originally looked out onto a high mound in front, toward the To Lich River, surrounded by vast rice fields.

The current Nghi Mon of Quang Hien Communal House consists of two large pillars and two small pillars. The two large pillars form a main central walkway. From the large pillars to the small pillars are low walls. The large pillars are quite elaborately crafted, with the pillar tops featuring a pair of phoenixes facing each other. This is a common symbol at the gateways of communal houses dedicated to tutelary deities. The phoenix is a sacred creature representing the upper realm. The phoenix usually has a parrot's beak, bird's body, snake's neck, peacock's tail, and hard bird's claws standing on a lotus pond.

With the meaning that its head bears justice, its eyes are the sun and moon, its back carries the sky, its feathers are plants, its wings are wind, its tail is stars, and its feet are earth, the phoenix symbolizes the entire universe. When the phoenix holds a bodhi leaf or a flower branch in its beak and stands on a lotus pedestal, it represents a bird of the Buddha's land, that is, it has the ability to preach the Dharma and performs duties like bird goddesses: dancing and singing to welcome the Buddhist Dharma. In Vietnamese belief, the appearance of a phoenix signals that the country is at peace. The phoenix is the most beautiful of the 360 bird species. Its body embodies the beauty, softness, elegance, and grace of all birds. Below the pillar top is a lantern box, left blank without decoration.

The Main Hall is a new structure reconstructed by local authorities and people in 2000, imitating part of the Main Hall of the old communal house with 5 bays. Externally, the Main Hall of Quang Hien Communal House has a single-story, two-sloping-roof form covered with ri tiles. In the middle of the ridge is a relief of two dragons facing the moon. This is a common image in many northern village communal house relics. At the two ends of the ridge are two ridge ornaments, and the ends of the ridge are built in two stepped tiers. From the two gable walls forward are two pillars, giving the exterior structure of the Main Hall the form of a throne with pillar arms. These pillars have a simple structure, imitating the old pillar style, but without elaborate decorative details.

Inside, corresponding to the 5 bays are 6 roof truss sets on 2 rows of columns; the floor is paved with bat-shaped bricks and is about 50 cm higher than the yard. The roof truss sets here have different structures.

The central bay's roof truss is structured in the style of upper gong frame, stacked beams, and lower panel. The first beam is mortised into the main column, and on top of the first beam are two hidden posts supported by square brackets with tapered bottoms. From the bodies of the two hidden posts, the beams are mortised and stacked through the support brackets. The upper ends of the hidden posts are a large beam that gives the truss set the form of a gong frame with stacked beams; this beam is placed closely and supports the upper ridge through a boat-shaped bracket. The beam adjacent to the first beam is cut open to provide ventilation for the upper truss. The wooden components here are all decorated with lotus-petal patterns on the support brackets and some cloud-and-leaf motifs on the bodies of the beams. Below the first beam are two beam ends carved with dragons quite skillfully. This is where the skillful hands of Quang Hien carpenters are shown, as this place has had a woodcarving profession for generations. It is also a tribute to the patron saint of the craft, Lu Ban, who is worshipped at the relic itself. The lower truss is made of panels with delicate carvings of the four seasons. The truss sets of the two side bays are made in the style of upper panels and lower seated purlins. What is notable here is that the upper panels of this truss set are designed quite specially with the image of two dragons supporting a ho phu holding the character for longevity. The lower half of the panel is carved in relief with a pair of dragons facing each other, together supporting the upper half carved with a tiger face holding the character for longevity; the space between the two dragon heads is pierced to provide ventilation for the truss set. Below the upper truss is a first beam with a buffalo-calf muzzle. The lower beam is mortised into the body of the secondary column and, together with the purlin, gives the entire truss set the structure of panels and seated purlins. In essence, this truss set imitates the original style of the Main Hall truss sets of the old communal house that was ruined; currently only a few truss sets remain and have been moved into the Rear Hall frame.

The Rear Hall of Quang Hien Communal House was reconstructed in 1985 after the old communal house deteriorated and had to be dismantled. This component was reconstructed with 3 bays of a transverse house, later connected to the 5-bay Main Hall reconstructed in 2000, giving the entire communal house a Dinh-shaped layout.

The outer roof system of the Rear Hall is covered with ri tiles, and at the two ends of the ridge are two ridge ornaments.

Inside, corresponding to the 3 bays are 4 roof truss sets on 2 rows of columns. All columns and truss frames here are reused from the old communal house frame. The central bay's truss set is made in two styles: one side is upper panels and lower seated purlins, corresponding to the side-bay truss at the Main Hall; the other side is upper stacked beams and gong frame with lower seated purlins, similar to the central-bay truss of the Main Hall. In the upper panels and lower seated purlins truss, the upper panel is carved on only one side, while the other side is left plain. In fact, this is a gable-adjacent truss set of the old communal house, but because it is made of tu thiet wood, which is still good, it was reused in the frame of the central bay of the Rear Hall. The carved details in the truss frame here are quite refined. The truss sets of the two gable bays are simply made in the rafter style.

Overall, the architectural structure of Quang Hien Communal House both ensures the solidity of the work and displays part of the skillful hands of local carpenters.

The Rear Hall is a solemn place and concentrates the most worship objects. The central bay of the Rear Hall is the altar of the village tutelary deity Dr. Do Nhuan, with a dragon throne, memorial tablet, hat, sacred robe, worship crane, water vessel, agarwood tree, set of six ritual objects, horizontal plaque, parallel sentences, etc. All are arranged solemnly.

The right-side bay is the altar of Lord Lu Ban with a statue, worship throne, memorial tablet, earthenware incense bowl, horizontal plaque, water stand, etc. In terms of quantity and types: The relics of Quang Hien Communal House are rich and diverse in types and materials, including wooden objects, bronze objects, ceramic and porcelain objects, paper objects, etc. Among the relics here are a stone incense tree, royal edicts, water vessels, and wooden cranes dating to the late Le and early Nguyen periods; most of the rest date from the Nguyen dynasty to recent times.