Yen Binh Communal House, Gia Lam Commune

Yen Binh Communal House is located in Yen Binh Hamlet, Duong Xa Commune; the communal house also has a name associated with the village's place name, An Binh Communal House. Local people also often call it Bang Communal House. Yen Binh Communal House was ranked as a Historical - Architectural and Artistic Relic by the Hanoi City People's Committee on May 28, 2003.

Currently, there is no written source recording the date of construction of the relic. The earliest dated artifact still preserved at the communal house is a royal edict conferring a title on the deity dated the 5th year of Quang Trung (1792), and an altar table in the artistic style of the 18th century. From the above documentary basis, it can be firmly determined that Yen Binh Communal House was founded at the latest during the Le Trung Hung period (17th-18th centuries).

Yen Binh Communal House is located on a high, spacious, airy plot of land within the village's residential area. Visiting here, even once, visitors will long remember an ancient communal house hidden behind the canopy of an old kapok tree and reflected beside clear blue water. The architectural structures are built on a main axis running from outside to inside, including the gate, the main hall, the tube-shaped connecting house, and the rear sanctuary. This is a unified complex, connected to one another, with a brick-built architecture combined with wooden roofs in the style of crossed corner beams. The separate components were ingeniously linked by ancient craftsmen using various types of mortise and tenon joints to create a complete and unified whole. Inside, the building frame follows traditional architectural structural methods and above it are the familiar decorative motifs of a religious architecture.

The communal house's gate is of the two-tier, eight-roof type; the lower tier is in the form of a 'five-gate' with arched doors of different sizes, and the upper tier is built in the style of a 'watchtower' as a three-entrance gate with three doors. In places on the upper tier and in the door panels, glazed ceramic bricks are arranged to provide light and decoration.

Passing through the gate is a fairly large brick yard leading into the main hall. The main hall is a five-bay building built in the style of a gable wall with blocked ends and hand-shaped brackets, roofed with local tiles. At the two gable ends, dragon-shaped finials are molded facing each other. In front of the central bay of the main hall are folding doors; all six door panels are decorated with the four seasons motif. The main hall's frame is made of wood with six load-bearing trusses supporting the roof. The trusses all use the 'gia chieng chong ruong' type with four rows of columns, and the ridge truss has a 'gia chieng chong ruong con nhi' structure. This structure consists of three horizontal beams of different lengths, stacked on one another through small square, tapered blocks. The system of braces in the trusses is mortised through the main and corner columns. Placed on the sturdy braces is a purlin system arranged in the 'upper four, lower four' style—a common purlin arrangement in Nguyen-era architecture.

Connected to the main hall is the tube-shaped house, divided into three longitudinal bays with a wooden frame. Supporting the roof are four trusses made in two different forms. The front truss is made in the 'vin con me' form with two rows of columns; the ridge truss has a large bas-relief of a tiger's face, and the two side trusses have bas-reliefs of phoenixes spreading their wings and plant motifs, turtles, and three-wave water patterns. The rear truss is made in the 'chong ruong' style, and the spaces between the trusses are filled with boards decorated with plant motifs. Each block is carved in relief with plant motifs that look like blooming flowers.

The rear sanctuary is a four-roofed building constructed on a nearly square plan. It is roofed with local tiles, and the roof ridge is decorated with molded dragon-head finials facing the roof ridge. The building frame is wooden with two trusses made in the 'chong ruong con nhi' style. The other truss has a rafter structure with two long braces crossing each other along the roof slope, mortised together at the top of the truss, supporting the ridge purlin running down to the tops of the main and corner columns; a standing post on the crossbeam reaches up to support the ends of the two mortised braces, creating a simple and sturdy truss.

Parallel to the tube-shaped house are two rows of side buildings, each with three bays, built of brick and with four trusses supporting the roof in the rafter style. Beside the communal house, across a wide pond, is the shrine to Holy Lady Phu Nhan, wife of Ly Lang Cong—the tutelary deity of Yen Binh Village—forming a harmonious whole of the relic complex. It is said that local people still call it the Mother Goddess shrine. She was the wife of Ly Khue (Ly Lang Cong), one of the Twelve Warlords who occupied the Sieu Loai - Thuan Thanh - Ha Bac region. This is a small relic within the architectural complex of Yen Binh communal house, shrine, and pagoda. There is no document mentioning the background of the Holy Lady; it is only known that she was from Yen Binh Hamlet and was famous for her beauty and virtue. The people of Yen Binh built a shrine to her, but it is also a shrine to the Mother Goddess—spirits of agricultural people praying for favorable rain and wind.

The decoration on the structure of Yen Binh Communal House is concentrated mainly on the truss bodies, blocks, side trusses, ridge trusses, and objects such as the altar table, the eight-pointed palanquin, and the dragon throne. These are carved panels made using relief and high-relief techniques with great care, with traditional decorative themes such as the four sacred creatures, the four seasons, dragons, phoenixes, long ma, and tiger faces—all mythical creatures of the cosmos representing the upper realm, the saints carrying on their backs the operation and transformation of the cosmos and creation. This is also the meaning of the decorative panels, the aspiration of people always praying for warmth, abundance, and good fortune.

Over a long period of existence, Yen Binh Communal House has preserved many precious artifacts of artistic and historical value. Among the many artifacts remaining at the relic, first must be mentioned the set of royal edicts issued by feudal dynasties conferring titles on the tutelary deity. The specific reign titles of these seven deity edicts are as follows:

- The 28th day of the 7th month, 5th year of Quang Trung (1792)

- The 27th day of the 5th month, 4th year of Canh Thinh (1794)

- The 17th day of the 5th month, 1st year of Bao Hung (1801)

- The 16th day of the 5th month, 6th year of Tu Duc (1854)

- The 7th month, 2nd year of Dong Khanh (1887)

- The 11th day of the 8th month, 3rd year of Duy Tan (1909)

- The 25th day of the 7th month, 9th year of Khai Dinh (1924)

Next is a dragon throne placed in the tube-shaped house, with dragon-shaped armrests carved in relief with dragons, phoenixes, and tiger faces. A wooden three-peak altar stand is carved with openwork and deep carving, with many beautiful motifs such as star flowers, lime flowers, tiger faces, and dragons facing the moon. An eight-pointed palanquin is crafted elaborately and meticulously with talented decorative lines, creating vivid and natural images of dragons, phoenixes, tiger faces, and Buddha's hand fruit. There are two altar tables, one placed inside the tube-shaped house and one outside the main hall.

In particular, Yen Binh Communal House still preserves four wooden horizontal plaques inscribed with Han characters, splendidly lacquered in red and gilded, with the following contents:

“Thai Son Ho Thi” – (dated 1923)

“Thanh Cung Van Tue”

“Phuc Cu Dan” – (dated 1916)

“Cung Linh Tu”

In addition, there are precious ritual objects such as three antique vases, a pair of worship cranes, worship horses, three bronze censers, a sword stand… all made in the Nguyen period.

Yen Binh Communal House is the place of worship of the village tutelary deity, Lord Ly Khue, courtesy name Ly Giang—one of the Twelve Warlords during the chaos of the Twelve Warlords, who occupied Sieu Loai (now Duong Xa - Gia Lam). The book “Dai Viet Su Ky Toan Thu” by Ngo Sy Lien writes about him as follows: “He reigned for only 6 years; Ngo Quyen died in 944, passing the throne to his eldest son, Duong Ngap—his brother-in-law being Duong Tam Kha. Duong Tam Kha took the opportunity to usurp his nephew's throne and proclaimed himself Binh Vuong. Duong Ngap had to flee to the Nam Sach region and seek refuge with his father's loyal servant, Pham Linh Cong, in Tra Huong. In the situation of seeing Duong Tam Kha usurp the Ngo dynasty's throne and the court in disorder, many former officials of the Ngo dynasty and local lords successively rose up to occupy territory, causing the chaos of the Twelve Warlords. Ly Khue at that time proclaimed himself Ly Lang Cong and also rose up to occupy the Sieu Loai region—Thuan Thanh prefecture, Bac Ninh. He was originally a local lord accomplished in both letters and martial arts, virtuous and respected and trusted by the people. Because he detested the oppressive and chaotic scene between ruler and subject, and was originally loyal to the Ngo dynasty, in order to protest Duong Tam Kha's usurpation, Ly Lang Cong summoned troops and rose up to occupy the land of Sieu Loai; he became one of the Twelve Warlords at that time. Afterward Ly Lang Cong was subdued by Dinh Tien Hoang. The 'Twelve Warlords' turmoil ended when Dinh Bo Linh ascended the throne”. He was conferred the title of Ngo Thong Thuong Dang phuc than. The people of Yen Binh Village honored Ly Lang Cong as the village tutelary deity after his death and worship him at the village communal house. From then until now, the people here have enjoyed his sacred protection.

The annual festival of Yen Binh Communal House is held for three days, from the 9th to the 11th day of the second lunar month. The ceremony is held to pray for happiness and fertility, and to pray for the sacred protection of the tutelary deity; there is always a procession offering to the deity. The deity is carried in procession down to the tomb. After the ceremonial part, the festival part takes place lively with many folk games such as swing rides, wrestling, cockfighting, duck catching, boat racing on the pond, quan ho singing...