Xuan Bach Communal House

Xuan Bach Village, Noi Bai Commune, Hanoi City

Xuan Bach Communal House was built on a large plot of land, located southwest of the village residential area. In front of the communal house is a field, and the surrounding area is densely populated.

Xuan Bach Communal House worships the tutelary deity Hoai Dao Vuong, Deputy Marshal Nguyen Non, who during the Ly–Tran dynasties rendered meritorious service to the country, repelled foreign invaders, and protected national sovereignty. The local people and the people of Phu Dong Commune, his homeland, built a temple to worship him as the Village Tutelary God; successive dynasties issued edicts granting him honorific titles and permitted Xuan Bach Commune, Huong Dinh Canton, to worship him.

Xuan Bach Communal House is an architectural work designed to meet the village's common religious and cultural activity needs. Based on the content of the stone stele placed at the rear, dated the fifth year of Thanh Thai (1893), which records a major repair at the communal house and lists the families that contributed, it can be affirmed that the communal house was founded before 1893. The architecture of the communal house has some carved panels bearing the hallmarks of the late Le, early Nguyen, and late Nguyen periods.

The architecture of Xuan Bach Communal House follows the Nhi character layout, including the Main Hall and the Rear Sanctuary. The Main Hall is a three-bay, two-wing building; all roof corners have curved eaves, giving the ancient communal house a light and graceful feel. In the center of the roof ridge is a relief of the Two dragons flanking the sun motif, which looks very elegant. The Rear Sanctuary is built in the closed-gable style, with roofs covered in traditional Vietnamese tiles.

The decoration on the architecture of Xuan Bach Communal House is concentrated mainly in the Main Hall, with decorative compositions and motifs: chrysanthemum, old chrysanthemum transforming into a dragon, and many cluster-cloud and piled-cloud patterns. The corner brackets are decorated with relief carving techniques featuring the dragon with raised crest motif and cloud patterns. The dragon's head is carved in high relief, its body curves, and its tail twists with small scales.

The precious relics and artifacts still kept at the communal house include: 6 edicts, including 1 edict from the 6th year of Thieu Tri (1846); 5 other edicts from the years Tu Duc 3, Khai Dinh 9, and Bao Dai 17. One throne and spirit tablet beautifully decorated in the artistic style of the Nguyen Dynasty. One set of ceremonial palanquins strongly bearing 19th-century artistic style. One wooden plaque recording the deity's legend of the village tutelary god in Han characters, copied in the 3rd year of Khai Dinh (1918), lacquered in red and gilded, written in local ink. One wooden ceremonial stand carved in relief with dragons flanking and cloud patterns, strongly bearing 19th-century artistic style. One oration recorded on a wooden plaque, lacquered in red and gilded. 14 stone steles, the earliest erected in the 5th year of Thanh Thai (1893).

Xuan Bach Communal House was ranked as an architectural and artistic historical relic under Decision No. 1645-QD/UBND dated March 25, 2003, of the Hanoi City People's Committee.

The Xuan Bach Communal House festival is held annually from the 10th to the 13th day of the 10th lunar month.