Huong Duong Communal House

Huong Duong Communal House stands at the village entrance, facing southwest; in front of it is a semicircular pond, and beside it is a stele house. The communal house has a 'cong' (工) character-shaped layout comprising: the Dai Bai hall, the Ong Muong passage, and the Hau Cung rear shrine.

The Dai Bai hall is divided into 5 bays and 2 side wings, surrounded by brick walls, with four curved sword-tip roofs. The house frame architecture consists of four rows of columns of six trusses built in the 'upper stacked beams; lower corbels, eave brackets' style. The curved tie-beam panels are carved with traditional motifs of the four sacred animals and four noble plants. The split columns are fitted to the first beam to jointly support the roof. Architectural elements in Le dynasty style are created on the side trusses; on the body of the front rafters there are carved and pierced dragon images covered with fire-flame motifs. On the column bodies, inscriptions record the names of donors such as: Doan Vinh Minh, Doan Minh Khan... On the roof ridge side there are two clay-fired kìm ornaments in gray ash color, Le dynasty art. On the first beam of the communal house is inscribed: 'Chính Hoà nhị thập niên tiền triều sáng tạo, Bảo Đại thập nhất niên đồng thôn tiền tu tạo', thus the communal house was founded in the 20th year of Chinh Hoa (1699) and repaired in the 11th year of Bao Dai (1936). From the above bases together with the current architecture of the communal house, we can estimate the date of the communal house as from the Le dynasty.

The Hau Cung hall, also called the Upper Communal House, lies parallel to the Dai Bai hall through the Ong Muong passage. The Hau Cung hall is divided into 3 bays. Its frame architecture has three rows of round wooden columns. The trusses are made in the 'stacked beams and gong-shaped brackets' style. On the ends of the beams are carvings of floral patterns.

According to Han-character documents and the genealogy of deities kept in the communal house, Huong Duong Communal House worships the village tutelary deities: Uy Linh Tay Vuc Phu Vinh Quoc Minh Mau Dai Vuong and Kieu Cung De Mau Cong Chua Thuy Tinh Than Tien Quoc Vuong. Legend has it that they secretly assisted King Ly Than Tong in defeating foreign invaders beyond the border. The communal house still keeps 29 edicts issued by feudal dynasties conferring titles on the deities. The earliest edict dates to the 5th year of Duong Hoa (1639), under King Le Than Tong.

Huong Duong Communal House also preserves a bronze bell, 'Huong Duong Linh Dien', cast in the Year of the Dragon (1892) under King Thanh Thai. The inscription records the names of those who contributed to casting the bell.

The stone stele inscribed 'Doan Giap Hau Vi Bi Ky' has a top carved with a motif of two dragons facing the moon, along with dragon-cloud and lotus-bamboo motifs. The body of the stele is engraved with 25 lines of Han characters and was made in the Year of the Ox, the 10th year of Khai Dinh (1925).
Source: Hanoi Famous Sites and Relics, Volume 01