Van Quan Communal House

Van Quan village is an ancient Vietnamese village in Do Dong Commune (now Van Trinh residential group, Thanh Oai Commune) with a relic complex built long ago; it is a place for the cultural, religious, and spiritual activities of all Van Quan villagers. The relic complex is named after the village: Van Quan Communal House - Temple. The temple is also called Thuong Temple, and the communal house was formerly called Gioi Temple.
According to the Van Quan Communal House - Temple deity register translated by the Institute of Sino-Nom Studies and the Sino-Nom documents kept at the relic, Van Quan Communal House - Temple worships the village tutelary deity Quy Minh Dai Vuong, the third deity of Tan Vien Son Thanh. In addition, Van Quan Communal House also worships another class of deities belonging to Taoism. The Taoist worship system is quite rich, with the Three Pure Ones, the Nine Luminaries, statues of the Four Guardians, the Jade Emperor, the Earth God, and attendant statues. Van Quan Communal House also has a wooden statue dating from the early 17th century, carved in a seated posture, placed in a wooden shrine on a brick altar, below which is a Dan Sa pit with a mouth diameter of 64 cm. The main items of the communal house include the Great Worship Hall, the Central Chamber, and the Rear Hall, arranged in a cong-shaped layout; in front are the communal house yard, the village well, the communal house gate, and the market bridge.
The communal house gate is a structure built in the early 20th century, with a two-tiered overlapping-eave architecture; the lower tier has a vaulted ceiling built with lime mortar and three main passages. On both sides of the communal house gate are two simply built rows of houses with two sloping tiled roofs serving as the Van Quan bridge (market).
From the gate, passing a large water well with a mouth diameter of 20 m and a small brick yard, one reaches the Great Worship Hall of the communal house. The Great Worship Hall of Van Quan Communal House is built in the style of brick walls, closed gables, and hand-like brackets, with two sloping roofs covered with old ri tiles, consisting of 5 bays and 2 small side bays. The architectural decoration of the Great Worship Hall is elaborate and meticulous with traditional floral patterns. In particular, the four corner brackets are carved on both sides very intricately; the inner side is carved with the four sacred creatures (dragon, unicorn, turtle, phoenix), carrying the meaning of praying for abundant water, symbolizing the movement of the universe, wisdom, sages, and happiness. The outer side of the brackets is carved with the four seasons (pine, apricot, chrysanthemum, bamboo), symbolizing the four seasons and also expressing eternity.

The Central Chamber of Van Quan Communal House is built as a square one-bay house formed by four main columns. Passing through the Central Chamber leads to the Rear Hall of the communal house. Externally, the Rear Hall is built in the overlapping-eave style; inside the Rear Hall there is a system of statues and other worship objects very rich in types and dating from the early 17th century.
To date, the system of worship statues in the Rear Hall of Van Quan Communal House is arranged in 5 altars; the central altar holds the Three Pure Ones and attendant statues. The left altar holds the Jade Emperor together with the Southern Dipper and Northern Dipper. The right altar is built similarly to the left and holds a large shrine containing a strange statue, with two attendant statues outside. On both sides of the Rear Hall, two brick platforms are also built; on the left are placed two statues in the Nine Luminaries set, and on the right are placed the Earth God statue and the Four Guardians set.
With the three supreme deities: Yuan Shi Tian Zun, Ling Bao Dao Jun, and Tai Shang Lao Jun.
Inside the chamber, a high brick platform is built, on which a large shrine is placed. Three sides of the shrine are covered with thin wooden boards, and the front is a wooden frame door fitted with white glass. The front valance of the shrine is carved with two dragons flanking the moon, and both sides are carved with sacred animals in the four sacred creatures set. Inside the shrine are a dragon throne and a memorial tablet worshiping the village tutelary deity. The dragon throne is carved with dragons, and the memorial tablet is made in human form and elaborately carved, brightly lacquered red and gilded.
The traditional festival of Van Quan village is held on the 8th day of the first lunar month every year. This is a purely village festival of wet-rice agricultural residents; the festival is not related to the birth or deification dates of the village tutelary deity but is closely tied to the sacred space (communal house - temple) where the festival takes place. The traditional village festival has sacred meaning and is a necessary spiritual and cultural activity. It is also a form of community bonding, entertainment and recreation after hard and arduous days of work, transmitting forms of cultural activity and encouraging aesthetic creativity.

In terms of architecture, the communal house - temple has the structural layout of ancient relics and is located on beautiful terrain in Van Quan village. The art of decorative carving on the wooden architecture of Van Quan Communal House - Temple is clearly expressed through the carvings on the entire building frame dating from the early 20th century, yet it carries distinctive features of Nguyen dynasty fine arts. Decorative themes are rich, such as dragons, phoenixes, unicorns, lions, etc.; floral patterns of clouds, leaves, pine, apricot, chrysanthemum, bamboo, etc.; and other folk motifs.
Since its construction, the communal house has been repaired many times; the largest restoration was during the reign of King Bao Dai, and to date, through successive repairs, the ancient architecture has still been preserved intact.
Van Quan Communal House - Temple has multifaceted historical, cultural, and artistic values and has actively contributed to the new rural construction cause. With that meaning, the government and local people have adopted a plan to use the communal house as the main cultural and political activity center for all residents. Village festival days are organized according to the traditional customs of the homeland. The form of festival organization is always renewed to meet scientific and public requirements... through which patriotic and homeland-loving traditions are propagated and educated for each citizen, encouraging them to work harder in production and build a warm and happy life.
Former feudal dynasties bestowed upon the tutelary deity of Van Quan village 14 royal edicts (treasures granted by the king); the earliest edict dates to 1650 and the latest to 1924.
Recognizing clearly the value of the relic through research, Van Quan village Communal House - Temple was ranked as a national-level historical relic under Decision No. 52/2001/QĐ dated December 28, 2001.