Dinh Thu in Huu Vinh Village

The village Dinh not only contains architectural and artistic values but also cultural values. It also preserves ancient customs, conventions, and traditional festivals. The village Dinh is the center of political and cultural activity of the village community; Dinh Thu is a memorial work to those who had merit in founding and defending the country, whom local people worship as moral and spiritual values.

Commemoration days, the deity's birthday and death anniversary are tied to traditional festivals. In festivals associated with cultural symbols covered by time and belief, the festival of Dinh Thu is attended by the whole Phu Luu Thuong canton to worship, meaning that the village tutelary deity of Huu Vinh Village is a general who assists the entire canton. These are beautiful symbols of solidarity against internal conflicts and of friendly relations and alliances between villages, expressing unity in daily life and production.

Through the traditional customs and festivals of the villagers, one can understand the wishes, aspirations, and identity of the local people. On the basis of traditional festival rituals, new socialist festivals are formed and built to suit human needs and the goal of building a new life and new people.

Thus, the Dinh is a place of cultural activity for the people, a place to commemorate those who had merit in fighting the enemy, defending the country, and building the country through cultural symbols that we encounter during festival days; these are indispensable needs in the cultural and spiritual life of the village community, and we need to preserve and maintain these beautiful forms.

The Dinh has early Nguyen dynasty artistic architecture, where court art and folk art are harmoniously combined. Dinh Thu also preserves many precious artifacts, inheriting the artistic style of the Le dynasty and typical characteristics of the Nguyen dynasty.

Based on the genealogy book still kept at the Dinh, copied by Dong Cac Dai hoc sy Nguyen Binh in the year Hong Phuc 1572, the deity was promoted and conferred as Duong Canh Thanh Hoang and worshipped at the Dinh; certainly at that time the Dinh was not as large and beautiful as today. Dinh Thu was extensively restored in the fifth Nam Ty year (1852) under King Nguyen Duc Tong, Tu Duc era; it is a memorial architectural work with a Nhat-character ground plan, a Dai Bai hall, and a central bay with a shrine to the Saint. The Dinh faces southwest and lies beside the Day River, where water flows in all four seasons and boats pass conveniently. The saying 'Nhat can thi, nhi can giang' means 'first near the market, second near the river,' creating an ideal landscape for the village's public work: 'banyan tree, water wharf, Dinh courtyard.' From the outside the work is truly splendid, faintly reflected on the river surface and among the green village bamboo groves, creating the familiar landscape of a Vietnamese village and commune. An architectural and sculptural work of artistic value with historical traces, it expresses the skills created by the hands and minds of working people, and through art it also reflects realistic features of contemporary society.

Visitors coming by boat from the river wharf enter the site directly. At first there was probably a Nghi Mon, but over time and years the Day River eroded a strip of land right next to the Dinh courtyard, so the Nghi Mon wall collapsed, leaving only a two-tier, eight-roof gate and a pillar on the right as one looks out from the Dinh. Across the narrow dirt yard in front of the Dinh, 20 m long and 8 m wide, we see two towering pillars 6.5 m high, square 40 x 40 cm, with square capitals tapering at the base. On top of the capitals sit two Nghe figures in attendance; the Nghe have protruding eyes, large lion noses, wide open mouths looking down, animal ears, hair and beard curled into small clusters, upturned tails, and four legs placed slightly forward. This symbolizes the power of nature; the Nghe is a sacred creature of the sky. Below the Nghe is a lantern bearing the four sacred creatures 'Long, Ly, Quy, Phuong'; below the lantern is the pillar shaft with molding lines, and the shaft is decorated with couplets. The pillar base is gourd-shaped. The wall built between the pillar and the Dai Bai hall is 2 m. Stepping up to the Dai Bai through three steps made of 25 stone slabs, at the two ends of the steps are two stone Nghe facing outward.

Dai Bai is an ancient structure with five bays and two side bays. The Dinh roof is covered with fish-scale tiles, lined inside with flat tiles; the Dai Bai is 18.64 m long, 7.58 m wide, and 6 m high. There are 24 columns corresponding to six roof trusses: 12 main columns 4 m high and 2 m in circumference, and 12 secondary columns 2.25 m high and 1.28 m in circumference. There are six sets of trusses structured in the combined chong giuong and gia chieng style. At the top are blocks supporting the ridge, a tubular gia chieng frame, stacked beams supporting the roof purlins, and short beams carved with curling leaf motifs. The carvings are soft and refined; the blocks support the beams; the two main columns are linked by a crossbeam (qua giang) that supports the entire truss system, with both sides planed to a bamboo-shoot edge and the upper and lower faces planed flat. The qua giang has a rectangular frame and is carved with many stylized leaf layers. Notably, in the trusses of Dinh Thu, the lower part of the qua giang has no dragon-shaped dau du, only plain nghe; the column tops have thick, rough square capitals tapering at the base. The qua giang, ke, and xa are joined to the column tops with well-fitted mortises. The purlins of the whole truss system rest directly on architectural components such as the beam tails at the ridge truss, the dong boards of the side beams, and the dong boards at the front and side ke.

The front-to-back spans connect from the main columns down to the secondary columns with ke pieces, carved in relief with leaf scrolls. The face of the ke bears a square 'longevity' character, and the end of the ke supports the sloping roof. The trusses are connected by xa beams carved with stylized horse-rein motifs. Notably, Dinh Thu has two gable trusses (truss 1 and truss 6) with stacked beams on the side beams. The main and secondary columns are connected by con pieces made of stacked short beams; the con is actually formed by six short beams stacked on one another. The first short beam rests on the top of the secondary column and lies on the side beam, connecting the main column to the secondary column; beams 2, 3, 4, and 5 are stacked to support the roof tiers; the sixth beam mortises through the main columns. The beam tails are precisely the Nghe supports of the cau dau. The carved panels on the short beams are the four sacred creatures in transformed arrangement.

Dinh Thu in Huu Vinh Village no longer has a Hau Cung hall; instead, there is a saint's altar platform in the central bay of the Dai Dinh. The altar is 2.4 m wide, 3.8 m deep, and 1.8 m high, divided into two parts: the altar platform and the Hau Cung. The altar platform is paved with lim wood grain and surrounded by railings and standing balusters. The Hau Cung is closed with wooden boards; its facade has a cuon door, a seven-panel folding-door wall painted vermilion and gilded, and the folding doors are framed in panels. The upper part is carved with the four sacred creatures 'Long, Ly, Quy, Phuong'; the lower part is carved with the four noble plants 'Sen, Cuc, Truc, Mai.' Above the door wall hangs a curtain door. The ceiling of the altar platform is made of joined boards, called the celestial court; in the middle of the celestial court is a painting with a circle at the center (a symbol of the universe). Around the circle are swirling cloud areas, and in the four corners are painted and carved stylized leaf scrolls with decorative borders around them. The painting depicts sacred creatures; the carved lines are soft, and the animals look lively and elaborate, demonstrating the eternity of yin and yang.

The aesthetic value of the relic is an intrinsic value, encompassing aspects such as technical and fine-art value, value in formative art, and thinking in the arrangement of artifacts...

After restoration and repair, Dinh Thu has to some extent attained such similarities. The trusses in traditional style, traditional materials, arrangement of artifacts, and spatial landscape... are contained in this relic, creating a purely Vietnamese relic.

The artistic sculpture in the Dinh is concentrated in artistic panels bearing the styles of two art periods: early Nguyen and late Nguyen.

The Early Nguyen art section includes artifacts: a ceramic incense bowl 28 cm high with a mouth diameter of 37 cm, decorated in relief with phoenixes and dragons facing the moon, long ma figures on the two ears, and a base with kneeling feet. A gilt-lacquered dragon throne, a palanquin and hammock, a set of Eight Treasures (3 maces, 4 staffs, 2 great swords, 1 phu diep, two canopies, an incense table, etc.)

The Late Nguyen art section displayed in the Dai bai of Thu Communal House includes carved panels on great inscriptions and horizontal boards, couplets, a pair including wooden su and offering stands, a bronze incense burner, etc.

- The Thu Communal House relic is located in Huu Vinh hamlet, Hoa Xa commune, Hanoi city. The communal house faces southwest and is structured in the Nhat style within a campus of about 1,502.5 m² in Huu Vinh hamlet, Hoa Xa commune, including the following items: outer gate, inner gate, main communal house, guest house, kitchen, toilet, water tank, and am hoa so.

The gate is large. The main gate is formed by two large pillars built in four tiers. The lowest tier is made in the that co bong style. The pillar bodies have three-sided ridges forming large grooves, and the grooves on the pillars are decorated in relief; on top of each pillar is a tu phuong ornament. Connected to the large pillars is an auxiliary arched gate with two tiers and eight roofs, along with two smaller pillars also built in four tiers; the lowest tier is made in the that co bong style, the pillar bodies are plastered with grooves, and inside the grooves are relief decorations. Above is a lân figure built of brick and plastered with cement, now cracked and covered with moss. The iron doors are gilt-lacquered and decorated with patterns and animal figures, which are still in good condition.

The gate is large. The main gate is formed by two large pillars built in four tiers. The lowest tier is made in the that co bong style. The pillar bodies have three-sided ridges forming large grooves, and the grooves on the pillars are decorated in relief; on top of each pillar is a lân figure. Connected to the large pillars is a short enclosing wall joining an auxiliary arched gate with two tiers and eight roofs. The gate is made of brick plastered with cement.

The main communal house has a Nhat-style architectural form, including 5 bays and 2 wings, with closed gable walls.

- The communal house floor is paved with red bricks 400x400 in cong bond.

- The veranda floor is paved with red bricks 400x400 in cong bond.

- The ancient stone steps are cracked, broken, and degraded.

- The enclosing wall is built of brick plastered with lime and cement.

- The door system is made of wood; the door thresholds are built of brick plastered with cement.

- The frame is made of lim wood, with stone bases supporting the columns.

- The roof trusses are made of wood.

- The interior worship objects are still in good condition.

- The altar platform is built of solid brick plastered with cement and faced with ceramic tiles.

- The roof is covered with mui hai tiles.

- The ridge, eaves, and tay ngai ornaments.

Welcome, dear visitors!

Thu Communal House in Huu Vinh hamlet, Hoa Xa commune, is a place that preserves the cultural, historical, and traditional belief values of Hoa Xa homeland. Coming to Thu Communal House to immerse oneself in the heritage space is also an occasion for each person to look back to their roots, express reverence for the ancestors, and feel the beauty of national culture, offering incense, worshipping, and praying for wealth, fortune, and peace for the family./.