Ngo Sai Communal House

The communal house is named after the place name of Ngo Sai Village, now in Quoc Oai Town, Quoc Oai District, Hanoi. Ngo Sai was once called Sai Trang; in the Le dynasty it was renamed Ngo Sai, belonging to Hoang Xa Canton, Yen Son District, Quoc Oai Prefecture, Son Tay Region. In the Nguyen dynasty it belonged to Quoc Oai District, Son Tay Province.

The communal house worships two deities: A La Nuong De and Do Canh Thac. According to the village legend, A La Nuong De was a princess of King Hung. The princess was beloved by her father, who allowed her to travel everywhere. Arriving in Sai Trang land, charmed by its beauty, she asked her father to let her stay and live there. The princess helped the people reclaim land, grow rice, and weave cloth. After she passed away, local people built a shrine to worship her.

The second deity is Do Canh Thac, a famous general who helped Ngo Quyen defeat the Southern Han army. He then ruled one region among the Twelve Warlords. He governed the land along the Tich River, including Sai Trang. The people of Sai Trang honored him as the village's tutelary god with the respectful name Duc Vua Ong.

The reason the people of Sai Trang formerly and Ngo Sai later worshiped two tutelary gods from two different historical periods is that both were closely attached to this land, deeply grateful and affectionate toward it, and always protected the village in peace. The worship of these two deities proves that Sai Trang land was established from the earliest days of our forefathers' nation-building and nation-defending.

The communal house stands on fairly large grounds. Outermost is the entrance gate, with two large kapok trees and two brick-built pillars; next are the communal well, the communal yard, and then the Dai Bai and Hau Cung, surrounded by a brick wall.

The two pillars are about 11 m high. At the two ends of each pillar are two phoenixes in a swooping-down-to-earth posture, heads bowed, tails curved up, wings spread wide like eagle wings. In the surrounding frames are themes such as dragons rolling in water, dragon horses, phoenixes spreading wings, etc. These motifs are all in relief and quite vivid. The two pillars were made in the Nguyen dynasty and are quite exquisite, like a work of art.

In the center is the Dai Bai, built in the Le dynasty (1766), but it was demolished. In 2006, the Dai Bai was restored in concrete. A stele erected for the communal house bearing the Canh Hung 27th year (1766) is still preserved.

Past the Dai Bai is the Trung Dinh, still fairly intact, consisting of three bays and two side compartments. On the corbels are carved motifs of the four sacred creatures: dragon, ly, turtle, and phoenix, along with stylized flowers and leaves. The most striking feature of the carving art on these corbels is the rustic element: white horses galloping at dusk; elephants ambling; peacocks bobbing as if dancing or flying; a pig with pricked-up ears looking bewildered as if lost in a fairy world; apricot blossoms, bamboo, and pine.

Next after the Trung Dinh is the Hau Cung, a rather unique architectural structure; it is of the stacked-eave type with two tiers and eight roofs. The curved upcorners sweep into dragon shapes. The front of the Hau Cung has three layers of doors. Inside are four main columns linked to one another by smooth-planed and tightly fitted horizontal and vertical beams. Innermost is the voong door, decorated with motifs of dragon, phoenix, apricot, bird, and pine-deer. On both sides are fierce tigers.

The Trung Dinh and Hau Cung were rebuilt in the Nguyen dynasty. This architectural style is rarely seen in other communal houses.

Although Ngo Sai Communal House has been much damaged, it still retains many historical and traditional cultural imprints of a cultured and refined rural village, adjacent to other scenic complexes such as Tay Phuong Pagoda and Thay Pagoda.

The annual festival of Ngo Sai village communal house usually takes place from the 4th to the 9th day of the first lunar month.