Trung Ha Communal House

Trung Ha Communal House worships five tutelary deities who rendered great services to the country and the people. These deities include: Quy Minh Dai Vuong (the mountain god of Tan Mountain), Phung Vinh Hoa and A La Nang De (two renowned female generals in the Hai Ba Trung uprising), along with Hien Giang and Linh Giang (two guardian deities added during the Le Trung Hung period).

2. History of formation The communal house has a very long history and was formerly located on an island in the Red River. Due to changes in the river's flow, the communal house architecture had to be relocated and underwent many ups and downs. The relocation began in the 5th year of Tu Duc (1852), when the communal house was repaired and made more spacious and imposing. In the Thanh Thai period, villagers continued to contribute to its restoration and repair. The relic also experienced three major upheavals in 1945 and 1947, which helped shape its current architectural condition.

3. Distinctive features of architecture, art, and artifacts

Overall layout: The communal house is located on high, dry land, facing southeast, and consists of three main components: the Nghi Mon (gate), Dai Bai (main hall), and Hau Cung (rear sanctuary).

Dai Bai Hall: It has five bays, with a pair of large dragons flanking the sun in relief on the roof ridge, vigorous and fierce in appearance. The decorative art mainly features relief carvings of tiger faces, clouds, leaf dragons, and cloud dragons with rounded, robust forms, strongly bearing the sculptural art style of the Nguyen dynasty.

Hau Cung (Rear Sanctuary): It consists of three vertical bays connected to the Dai Bai Hall, forming a Dinh-shaped plan. The trusses here are carved very elaborately and meticulously with images of dragons flanking tiger faces, dragons hidden in clouds, dragon-horses, and lime flowers.

Valuable artifacts: The communal house still preserves a system of exquisitely carved wooden artifacts such as incense tables, palanquins, bat buu, dragon thrones, and spirit tablets. Particularly and most precious are eight royal edicts spanning from the Le dynasty to the Nguyen dynasty, an extremely important source of historical records.

Ranking: Thanks to these values, Trung Ha Communal House was ranked as a National-level Architectural and Artistic Relic by the Ministry of Culture and Information in 1991.

4. Distinctive traditional festival

Time and rituals: The Trung Ha village festival takes place from the 5th to the 7th day of the fourth lunar month every year, highlighted by solemn ceremonies to worship the deities in remembrance of the merits of the village tutelary gods.

Festival activities: The village festival atmosphere is bustling with many traditional folk games. The most distinctive is the game of snatching the cotton tree, an age-old cultural activity typical of the beliefs of ancient wet-rice farming communities.

Trung Ha Communal House was ranked as an architectural and artistic relic by the Ministry of Culture and Information (now the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism) in Decision No. 1728VH/QD dated October 2, 1991.