Tien Hoi Communal House

According to the stories told by the elderly villagers, the present communal house was rebuilt in the early 19th century, while the former communal house had been erected during the Le dynasty outside the village; later it collapsed, and the villagers moved it to its current location. Tien Hoi Communal House has undergone many restorations and repairs. According to the inscription on the first beam of the main hall, the communal house was extensively restored in the 11th year of Minh Menh (1830) and the 11th year of Bao Dai (1936). In front of the old communal house there were two very beautiful white horse statues; these two statues were demolished in 1961 and have been restored. In 2013, the communal house continued to undergo large-scale restoration with full items such as the ceremonial gate, main communal house, and tao mac... Tien Hoi Communal House worships the village tutelary deity La Ngan Cao Minh Sy, also known as Chang Cao, a general of King Thuc An Duong Vuong. He had the merit of fighting the Trieu Da army and was appointed Tiet Che chu quan, governing Vu Ninh garrison. After he died, King An Duong Vuong bestowed on him the title of Thuong dang than and permitted Tien Hoi village to worship him. Tien Hoi Communal House is located at the end of the village, next to the inter-communal road and adjacent to the pagoda. To the right is a large pond, in front is a large yard leading to a screen. The main communal house has a ground plan with the front in the shape of the character “one”, and the rear in the shape of the character “đinh”.

The Tien Te front worship hall was built with 3 bays and 2 wings, with curved knife-shaped roof corners, and has 4 brick pillars supporting the 4 roof corner tips; the ridge and fascia are decorated with lemon flowers, the two ends of the ridge are topped with kim heads, unicorns run along the fascia, and the roof corner tips are decorated with dragons, unicorns, and cloud clusters. The stone-paved steps have 5 levels leading up to the Tien Te, with two cloud dragons flanking the steps on both sides. The three central bays are fitted with folding plank doors of the thuong song ha ban type; the two side bays have high door sills and are closed with boards. On the dau du beam ends are decorated with dragon heads with meticulously carved blades featuring motifs such as flipped leaves and clouds and leaves transforming into dragons, bearing the artistic style of the Later Le period (1842-1789). The corner panels of the bays are carved with stylized dragon leaves. The veranda has curved braces carved with dragons and stylized flipped-leaf shapes. The ceiling of the central bay is a well ceiling with carved panels attached to the wooden ceiling, decorated with square and octagonal patterns, a yin-yang symbol in the center, surrounded by seal-script patterns of leaves, chrysanthemums, vines, and the eight treasures, beautifully lacquered and gilded. The Trung Te middle worship hall was built with 3 bays and 2 wings, with a closed gable wall, pillar-like supports at the armrests of the throne, and a roof covered with local tiles. Decoration is mainly flipped-leaf motifs with raised borders and lines. The rear sanctuary consists of 3 bays and 2 wings running lengthwise and connected to the central bay of the Trung Te; it has a closed gable wall, a roof covered with local tiles, and a ridge built in the dinh style. The decoration on the architecture is simple, mainly line borders, smooth planing, and tight joining.

The communal house still preserves valuable relics. Notable are a stone stele dated the 6th year of Khai Dinh (1921) recording the legend of the village tutelary deity; two wooden phong statues in the artistic style of the 18th-19th centuries; two wooden worship thrones lacquered and gilded, with dragon-carved armrests holding pearls, dragons depicted with protruding eyes and blades, below are dragon leaves and question-mark patterns; the thrones bear the artistic style of the 19th century. In the central bay hangs a lacquered and gilded curtain door, below which the altar is arranged with worship objects.

Tien Hoi village festival is held on the 10th day of the third lunar month. The ritual part includes a ceremony to worship the deity over 3 days: on the 9th, the ceremony of entering the house and opening the festival; on the 10th, the main ceremony; on the 11th, the closing ceremony. The festival part has folk games such as bridge crossing, pot smashing, wrestling, cockfighting, swinging, royal court opera singing... Every year, the village conducts the deity worship ceremony for 3 days from the 9th to the 11th day of the third lunar month. The 9th is the ceremony of entering the house and opening the festival, the 10th is the main ceremony, and the 11th is the closing festival ceremony.