Thuong Ngo Xa Communal House
Introduction
1. Type and Ranking: It is a Historical and Architectural-Artistic monument. It was ranked by the Minister of Culture and Information as National-level Relic under Decision No. 65 QD/BT dated January 16, 1995.
2. Worshipped Figure and Historical Value
Worshipped Figure: The communal house worships Duong Canh Pho Dong Dai Vuong - Minh Hien Dai Vuong (real name Phan Hoang Quang), a Lac general during the reign of Hung Due Vuong (the 18th Hung King). In addition, the village's shrine worships the Mother (National Mother, King Lady) and Thuy Tinh Hoang Phi Lan Nu Princess.
Divine legend: Lord Phan Hoang Quang was the founder who opened the land and established today's Ngo Xa Village. When the Thuc army invaded Van Lang, he was assigned by Tan Vien Son Thanh to command the naval force toward Chau Hoan, won a great battle and beheaded 2,000 enemy soldiers, helping protect the territory.
Historical events: During the resistance war against the French, the communal house area was occupied by the enemy, who dug trenches and tunnels, affecting the landscape and causing the loss of some artifacts.
3. Architectural and Artistic Characteristics
Thuong Communal House (Sac Communal House): It is the place where royal edicts and tablets are kept and where the deity "resides". The communal house was built during the Nguyen dynasty, with a Cong-character ground plan (including the Front Hall, Great Worship Hall, Central Chamber, and Rear Palace). A unique feature is the harmonious East-West architectural combination: the exterior has a traditional appearance with curved eaves and ri-tile roofing; the interior uses brick-and-lime crab-shell vaulted architecture (Gothic style) instead of the wooden truss system.
Trung Communal House: It is the place for organizing festivals and community cultural activities. The former Trung Communal House was massive and made of ironwood but was destroyed in the war; it was later rebuilt on the old foundation with new materials (concrete) to suit the area along the Day River. Trung Communal House has a Vuong-character ground plan, notable for its Rear Palace system that retains ancient architecture from the Khai Dinh era, combining vaulted arches with decorations of flowers, leaves, and grape clusters.
4. System of Relics and Antiquities
Ancient Documents: 01 Han-character genealogical record compiled by Nguyen Binh in the first year of Hong Phuc (1557), 01 book of sacrificial texts, and 07 royal edicts from the Tay Son period to the Nguyen period (Quang Trung, Canh Thinh, Thieu Tri, Thanh Thai, Duy Tan, Khai Dinh).
Worship objects: The dragon-head throne and the tablets worshiping the Village Guardian Deity in the two communal houses are in the artistic style of the Nguyen era.
Other artifacts: 02 wooden elephants, 03 palanquins, a set of eight precious weapons, 03 wooden plaques, 01 curtained doorway, 02 Cham-style guardians (all belonging to Nguyen-era art), along with 03 Tho Ha ceramic incense burners with brown glaze and 04 pairs of Han-character couplets praising the deity's merits.
5. Worship rituals
Time: The Ngo Xa Village Festival is held for 3 days during the leisurely spring farming season (the 12th day of the first lunar month is the deity's birthday).
Rituals: Before the main festival, there is a cleaning ceremony and a palanquin procession to welcome the deity's edict from Thuong Communal House (Sac Communal House) to Trung Communal House for a joint offering ceremony according to court rituals.
Festival part: The palanquin procession takes place vibrantly with lion dancing, dragon dancing, sinh tien dancing, and stick dancing. Folk sports activities include swimming, catching ducks on the Day River, and blindfolded goat catching; in the evening there are cheo singing and communal-house singing.
6. Protection work and zoning of the relic site
According to the map and zoning record made in 1999, both communal houses have strictly protected areas:
Protection Area I of Thuong Communal House: Includes land plot No. 62A with an area of 2,094 m2. (To the east it borders plots 63 and 62B, to the west plot 42, to the south plot 61, and to the north the Day River dike).
Protection Area I of Trung Communal House: Includes land plot No. 268A with an area of 1,615 m2. (To the east it borders the village road/nursery, to the west and south plot 268B, and to the north the Day River dike).
All construction and extraction activities are strictly prohibited in the zoned protection areas. Special cases must be permitted by the Minister of Culture and Information.
