An Trai Communal House

AN TRAI COMMUNAL HOUSE

This communal house belongs to An Trai village, Son Dong commune, Hanoi city. Previously, this location belonged to Van Canh commune, Tu Liem district, Quoc Oai prefecture, Son Tay territory.

The communal house was built on a large plot at the edge of the village, facing south-southeast. Its entrance stands out with a gate comprising two large ornamental pillars decorated with stylized four-phoenix and floral motifs and with couplets praising the homeland; it connects to smaller ornamental pillars through a low wall decorated with attendant elephants and war horses.

The Dai Bai main hall is a five-bay building with closed gable-end walls, built on a three-tiered foundation 0.7 m high, with highlights including Makara leaf dragons and twin dragons flanking the moon on the roof ridge. Inside, the structural frames are made in the “gia chien” style combined with “chong ruong” on four rows of columns. Based on Chinese characters on the wooden components, the communal house is determined to have been founded in 1677 (Le dynasty) and restored in 1732, leaving carvings of dragons, phoenixes, dragon-horses, and tiger tallies in the central bay. The central space hangs a horizontal plaque reading “Ho quoc ty dan” (Protect the country, aid the people); below it is an 18th-century altar with a set of Eight Treasures and bien thuoc boards on both sides.

The Hau Cung rear sanctuary is a later building with closed gable-end walls, comprising one large bay and two small bays with structural frames in the “gia chien ke suot” style. The central bay hangs two horizontal plaques reading “Thanh cung van tue” (Long live the Holy Palace) and “Thuong dang linh tu” (Supreme Sacred Shrine). The most solemn area is a mezzanine enclosed on three sides, inside which are a throne and the tablet of the village tutelary god; on both sides are thrones of the Left Palace Consort and the Right Empress, and outside is a worship platform in the “chan quy da ca” style, bearing the artistic style of the Le dynasty.

According to the genealogical record, An Trai communal house worships Phan Tay Nhac, a general under the 18th Hung King, who once established a temporary palace here to rest and teach the people farming, silk weaving, and learning. After he passed away, the people of the three villages An Trai, Hoe Thi, and Thi Cam built temples and shrines to worship him. To remember the merits of the tutelary god, every year on his birthday (the 12th day of the 2nd lunar month) and his death anniversary (the 1st day of the 12th lunar month), the people of An Trai solemnly organize a festival with traditional folk games.

An Trai communal house was ranked as an architectural and artistic relic by the Ministry of Culture and Information in 1990.