Along the Day and Tich Rivers, in many places people worship Lady A La Nang De, or A La Nang Nuong, or A La Nuong De, and her younger brother Quoc Cong. Many genealogical texts translate the names in various ways, but the terms all refer to the same person: Lady A La, a talented general under the Trung Sisters.
Legend says that Mr. Nguyen Vien, a native of Chau Ai (now in Thanh Hoa region), went to Co Chau (the Quoc Oai area) to serve as a minor official for the Han. He hated the cruel invaders and secretly allied with forces to resist To Dinh, but like Thi Sach (the husband of Trung Trac), he was killed by To Dinh. When he died, he left behind his wife and two children: the elder daughter A La and the son named Quoc. The mother and children worked hard to support one another. When she grew up, A La was beautiful in appearance and character and unusually talented. When the Trung Sisters issued the call for uprising, the two A La siblings recruited soldiers in the region and brought them to join the uprising at the Hat River. A La was appointed vanguard general commanding a unit. The two siblings achieved great merit in driving out the Han and liberating the country. The Trung Sisters rewarded the two siblings with land and titles and allowed them to return to establish a hamlet and train troops in the Day River area (Quoc Oai). There, A La and her younger brother, together with the people, planted mulberries, raised silkworms, grew rice, took care of daily life, and trained soldiers. When the Han sent Ma Yuan to invade our country once again, the Trung Sisters were defeated, and A La and Quoc Cong each died heroically on the Hat River. To commemorate the merits of the two talented generals, people in the surrounding area built temples. The people of Yen Lo village worshiped Lady A La and her younger brother as their village guardian and patron deity.
The uprising of the Trung Sisters was the crystallization of an entire process of struggle, sometimes secret and sometimes open; it was a popular uprising movement that both gathered around the Hat Mon uprising initiated by the Trung Sisters and spread throughout the old Au Lac territory. The uprising succeeded because it was a movement with a broad mass character. The outbreak of the Trung Sisters' uprising was an awakening of national spirit against the schemes of annexation and assimilation by the largest empire in Asia, then in its period of prosperity.
The uprising was led by women. It is a great honor for Vietnamese women that their noble qualities correspond to the legendary story of the Fairy and Dragon lineage. And today, progressive humanity admires that upright spirit, like a phoenix flying above the towering mountain peaks.
Studying Yen Lo Communal House in Yen Nghia Commune, we see that the relic contains many values of decorative and sculptural art; the artifacts are vivid evidence helping later generations understand part of the historical aspect and the artistic level of the past.
Based on the ngoc pha in Han characters preserved at Yen Lo Communal House, a precious written artifact.
It was compiled by Dong Cac Dai Hoc Si Nguyen Binh in the first year of Hong Phuc (1572); later it was copied by the Minister of Rites under the second reign of King Vinh Huu, and then copied again under the Nguyen kings. Thus, from the 16th century, Yen Lo village already had a communal house worshipping the local guardian deity. The communal house must have been small then, and its artistic value was not on the scale it is today.
Yen Lo Communal House underwent major restoration in the year Nham Ngo. Based on the ancient artifacts remaining in the communal house, we know that it was built on a large scale in the second year of Vinh Khanh (1730); the remaining artifacts bear the style of the mid-Le revival period, including the set of dragon thrones and tablets, the set of worship objects (including large swords, gilt plaques, and seals), and royal edicts. Village elders say that our old village communal house still stood on this plot of land and had existed since very ancient times; it was made of wood with a low curved roof. However, with time, the tropical monsoon climate, irregular rain and sunshine, and many historical changes, the ancient communal house no longer survives today. In the year Nham Ngo (the 3rd year of King Minh Menh—1822, 169 years ago), the communal house was rebuilt. With admiration and the need for a common meeting place, the people donated money and property to build and restore the communal house, making it large and spacious as it is today.
The communal house was built on higher ground than the residential area, with a beautiful southwest-facing landscape overlooking a large lake and fertile fields; around the house are lush perennial fruit trees.
Yên Lộ Communal House today has its architectural layout arranged in the Đinh character shape, including the left gallery, right gallery, main hall, and rear sanctuary. In front of the communal house is an almost oval lake, 90 m on one side, 83 m on another, 63 m, and 42 m. Flanking the communal house courtyard are the left and right galleries, 11 m long and 7 m wide, 1.5 m from the communal house. The left and right galleries were used to store ceremonial offerings before they were brought to the main hall or to prepare offerings, and were also meeting places for the giáp groups. The roof trusses of the left and right galleries rest on the rear wall and end walls. Currently the left and right galleries have their doors walled up to serve as storehouses. The left gallery was formerly also a secret meeting place of the Party organization and a place where comrades Hoàng Quốc Việt, Lê Trọng Tấn, etc. operated......
Between the left and right galleries is a courtyard paved with small square bricks, 28 m long and 11 m wide, with bricks having round holes in the middle for planting ceremonial flags on holidays and festivals.
The main hall is the main architecture of the relic, structured in the Đinh character shape with 5 bays and 2 side wings, curved roof ridges and corners, with the roof proportion overhanging 2/3 of the distance from the ground to the eave edge. The communal house roof is covered with fish-scale tiles, with flat tiles inside. The floor is paved with bricks; the central floor is paved with 30 x 30 cm square bricks, while the two sides are paved with green bricks. The main hall is 11.50 m wide and 28 m long. The main hall is separated from the courtyard by three brick-and-stone steps with 38 stone slabs of different sizes, the shortest 46 cm and the longest 1.37 m; the step is 19 cm high and 30 cm wide. The main hall has 48 rows of columns.
Among them are 12 main columns 4.72 m high with a circumference of 1.36 m; military columns 3.85 m high with a circumference of 1.1 m; veranda columns 1.20 m high with a circumference of 0.80 m; the stone bases are round and 13 cm high. The main hall has roof trusses structured in the stacked-beam and giá chiêng style with 8 panels. Around the communal house, a row of square lattice bars 60 cm long was erected, making the house appear taller and airy. The truss of the central bay is structured in a combined stacked-beam and giá chiêng style. The two main columns are linked by a tie beam; on the face of the tie beam are 4 ends, the two middle ends support two columns to form a giá chiêng; on the hidden columns are 4 ends supporting the second con giường; in the middle is a square end and a pair of thượng lương; a hổ phù end links the main column to the military column, and the main column is connected to the military column by a stacked-beam panel. The inner face of the panel is finely carved with the four sacred creatures: dragon, unicorn, turtle, and phoenix; at the top is a phoenix holding a book, its beak holding a strip of silk tied to a book box with a brush attached. This is a sacred creature symbolizing the sky; the phoenix is in flight, below it is a dragon rolling in water, with a large nose, bulging forehead, fierce look, antlers like deer horns, the dragon's head has hair carved strand by strand in a flying catfish-tail shape, along its back is a row of serrations; the dragon is in a fierce dynamic pose, appearing and disappearing in clouds, its mouth drawing a stream of water; below is a carp, and in the lower corner is a turtle carrying on its back a book box and a sword on a lotus leaf, woven into the rolling waves. The turtle symbolizes enduring strength. Below the turtle is a nghê standing forward, its fur in red curls as natural expressions. The left panel is replaced by a pair of lions playing with a ball. The four panels in the central floor are carved alike, while the back of the panels is carved with the four seasons turning into dragons: pine, plum, chrysanthemum, and bamboo. The panel in the rear sanctuary is carved with Emperor Shun plowing, expressing peace and a good harvest. The veranda panel additionally has an elephant standing by a banana cluster; outside are carved two horses playing. Through the relief emerges a scene of peace and harvest, praying for abundance. The other bay panels are actually shortened beams stacked by 6 shortened beams. The first shortened beam rests on the top of the military column and lies on the armpit connecting the main column to the military column; beams 2, 3, 4, and 5 lie on top of each other supporting the roof purlins; the sixth beam is mortised through the main columns; the tail of the beam is a nghê supporting the tie beam; from the military column, a curved brace carved with a dragon is braced into the armpit beam; the head of the brace is mortised through the veranda column to become a veranda lever supporting the eave edge; the eave bar is tied by a tie bar to the armpit beam. Generally, these panels are carved in relief with cloud patterns and flame clusters shaped like question marks running opposite each other; the veranda levers are all carved in relief with dragons and plants turning into dragons, making the wooden parts softer and less crude.
