Cu Son Trung Communal House

Cu Son Trung Communal House worships General Pham Tu, the man with the greatest merit alongside Ly Bi in driving out the northern invaders and establishing the independent state of Van Xuan in 541–545. Historical records wrote of him:

A loyal and heroic life, renowned from early on

Across ten thousand miles of frontier, bearing blessings

The old place is here—the soul of rivers and mountains

How would the Hu horse dare to neigh on the green fields

(Thoat Hien)

These immortal verses praise General Pham Tu not only for his high talent and bright virtue; he also stands out as a heroic figure embodying the spirit of the nation. Legend says that in 541, he and other heroes drove the Liang rulers from the territory. In 543, when Champa troops invaded, a single campaign was enough for him to crush the Champa enemy; for this great merit the king bestowed on him the title Phuc Man and gave him Princess Ly Nuong Phuong Dung in marriage, later appointing him Uy tham nghi, head of the court officials, and he took the royal surname Ly, becoming Ly Phuc Man. In 545, Liang again brought 80,000 troops to invade our country. In the battle, though severely wounded, he maintained the integrity of a battlefield general, riding alone back to the rear base; blood from his wounds ran along the horse's tracks across a stretch of 74 villages in the North.

According to legend, Cu Son Trung Communal House was built in the late 17th century, repaired in the Tay Son period (18th century), and finally rebuilt with stone columns in the Nguyen period. Today it preserves many traces of those building and repair phases, such as dragon and phoenix carvings in Le style, spirit tablets and palanquins purchased in Tay Son times, and stone columns carved with the four sacred creatures from Nguyen times. The overall grounds show the scale of a large communal house, including the gate, yard, Dai Bai Hall, Trung Communal House, Thuong Communal House, and two rows of left and right side halls; outside are Lao Lake and Cha Lake.

The communal house gate is of rectangular box-pillar form with traditional decorative lines; on top are four phoenixes in relief, below are panels with the four sacred creatures in relief, and pairs of parallel couplets on both sides of the pillars. Each side has a subsidiary gate with a stacked roof wide enough for one person leading a bicycle through. Connecting the gates is a wide wall system enclosing the communal house grounds. Passing through the gate, one enters a large space paved with bright red bricks—the communal yard. Besides use for ceremonies, the yard has also been the common living space where the people of Cu village have held festivals and meetings since ancient times.

Dai Bai Hall was damaged during the anti-French war, so Trung Communal House is the architectural center of the relic. This building is laid out horizontally in the shape of the character nhat, with three main bays and two side bays; the trusses are in the chong ruong and gia chieng styles, with truss and beam joints all using fish-mouth mortises. The roof structure is supported by rows of column bases, including square and round columns, all made of distinctive blue stone. The large columns have a circumference of 1.22 m and a height of 4.5 m; the smaller columns are slightly lower. The surfaces of the square columns are carved with floral and four sacred creature motifs; the carved stone panels are extremely refined, as if inlaid in wood. On the four carved truss panels in the central bay are dragons, phoenixes, long ma, turtles, and folk motifs such as carp transforming into a dragon and cloud dragons; finally there is a splendid carved panel showing a phoenix spreading its wings against a vast background of clouds and water, while a turtle draped with a lotus leaf swims in the water, creating a vivid scene. In Trung Communal House the panel-door system for all five bays remains intact, with a total of 22 door panels numbered from left to right; the threshold is quite high, so people must lift their feet to step over it.

The communal house roof is covered with fish-scale tiles shaped like shoe tips; the curved eaves resemble the side of a boat, and the curved corner tips imitate the boat's stern. Above are terracotta-inlaid unicorn statues breathing fire. On the roof ridge is a dragon statue in the Two Dragons Adoring the Moon pose, very lively and majestic. The dragon image is rather simple, with sparse pointed chin whiskers and a short fan-shaped mane. The dragon's body curves and extends gracefully and softly.

Dai Bai Hall stands on a foundation clearly higher than the communal yard, with a three-step staircase leading up; overall it has five bays with tall communal-house columns, and the sturdy supporting frame creates a spacious, airy interior. Here is kept a dragon boat used during the festival season, when people row on Cha Lake and sing quan ho and singing to offer betel, a beautiful spiritual cultural feature still passed down by the people of Cu village. Because of the upheavals that occurred, only in 2004 did people near and far, inside and outside the village, join together in contributing labor and money to rebuild Dai Bai Hall in its former appearance.

Trung Communal House lies inside, separated from Dai Bai Hall by a narrow yard paved with red bricks; here many ancient ritual objects of historical value are displayed. With a structure of three main bays and two side bays, the central bay of Trung Communal House holds the altar, above which hangs a horizontal plaque with the words: Trung si danh liet (rough translation: What a person needs most is to be loyal and preserve his own name and honor).

On the columns are pairs of ancient Sino-Vietnamese parallel couplets; on the left and right, each side has a majestic set of ceremonial weapons, and farther back is a pair of wooden cranes standing on turtles' backs, facing each other. The two bays next to the central bay display two sets of lacquered and gilded palanquins along with ritual objects such as a big drum, military drum, bronze gong, festival flag, and more. The supporting frame has a stacked-beam structure made of solid lim wood, with many lively relief carvings of dragons in impressive lines.
Innermost is Thuong Communal House, with a structure similar to Trung Communal House, with panel doors and blue stone columns, but it has only three bays, with five-bay tiled-roof buildings on either side that store a pair of wooden horses. In the center is an altar platform with an incense burner, cups, and a flower vase; above is a cloth curtain, and innermost is the throne where the village tutelary god is enthroned. Today Cu Son Trung Communal House still preserves its sacred spirit and 12 royal edicts from various dynasties.

In 2024, Cu Son Trung Communal House was repaired and restored while retaining its old traditional architectural features.

With the pride of a countryside that witnessed a glorious period of a national hero, the people of Cu Son Trung village established the communal house to worship him as the Village Tutelary God. Every year, on the 10th day of the third lunar month, the villagers hold a festival and ceremonies to remember his merits and to pray for favorable rain and wind and a year of smooth business and good harvests.