Yen My Communal House

As one of the most important cultural and spiritual architectural works for the ancient countryside, the communal house was built in the 19th century (1837). It is located on a high, dry, and airy mound in the central position with beautiful feng shui. The large, beautiful, and imposing communal house is a typical example of 19th-century artistic architecture and is dedicated to the village tutelary god Cao Son Dai Vuong. According to the elders and villagers, the legend of borrowing the communal house has been passed down: long ago, in a year when Yen My Village had a good harvest, the villagers wanted to hold a grand festival and invite the people of the four villages in the canton to attend. However, the village was poor and had no large communal house to hold the ceremony with due solemnity. At that time, the village had Mr. Canh Trọc, a highly skilled sorcerer with many spells, who told the people, 'I will go and borrow a communal house; after the procession and rituals are finished, I will return it to its owners.' The villagers asked where he would borrow it from. He said, 'Trung Quan Village on the other side of the river has a large, beautiful communal house, and it will be convenient to borrow.' The villagers asked, 'What will the cost be?' He replied that it would not cost much; he only asked them to choose a large plot of land, build the foundation for the communal house, and plant trees as a fence and climbing plants around it. Everyone agreed. Near the day of the village festival, he told the villagers that no one was to open the door and go outside while he used magic to shrink the communal house and bring the borrowed house back. On the way, the boat sank; when he stepped onto a raft, the raft sank and could not move, so he tilted his conical hat and placed the communal house in it, relying on the wind to carry it across the river. The next day, the villagers came to look and indeed saw a majestic, imposing communal house placed neatly on the ground they had prepared.... from the legend, the communal house has existed to this day and has been restored many times, yet it still retains its ancient architectural style.

Every year at the village communal house, local authorities and the people organize ceremonies: the Four Seasons Blessing Ceremony and the traditional festival held on the 21st and 22nd days of the first lunar month every year.