Phu My Communal House

Phu My Communal House was built at the beginning of the Nguyen dynasty, when King Gia Long had part of the population of Vinh Tuy (Hanoi) moved here to establish this new village and build the village communal house.

Phu My Communal House worships the village tutelary deity Mr. A Thai Lat, a Champa general. The legend is as follows: During the reign of Ly Thai Tong (1028–1054), in the Ky Mao year (1039), Ton Phuc's group rebelled in Cao Bang, plotting to carve out a separate territory. The king personally led troops to suppress the rebellion and won. Internal affairs were temporarily peaceful, but in the south, Champa forces frequently invaded. Knowing that this was unjust, some Champa officials and soldiers repeatedly advised their king not to wage war against Dai Viet, including Mr. A Thai Lat, but the Champa king did not listen. He and some soldiers asked to submit to Dai Viet, stayed in Vietnam, and married a Vietnamese woman, Ms. Nguyet Nga. He and his wife made many contributions in helping the Ly king. Therefore, after his death, the Ly dynasty allowed temples to be established in several places, including Phu My village.

In the early Nguyen dynasty, from 1802 to 1810, after settling the new residential area, three men surnamed Duong, Tran, and Nguyen took the lead in initiating the construction of Phu My village communal house. It was completed in the 13th year of Gia Long (1814).

The communal house's architectural structure is quite symmetrical and complete, comprising the Great Hall, the Central Sanctuary (Phuong Dinh), the Rear Sanctuary, and two rows of left and right auxiliary buildings built behind the Great Hall, forming a closed '口' shape from the Great Hall to the Rear Sanctuary. The space between the Great Hall and the Rear Sanctuary is the Phuong Dinh pavilion. The Great Hall is 18m long and 8.5m wide, divided into three bays and two side bays. The central bay truss is structured in the style of 'upper gong and stacked beams; lower brackets and eave struts'; the end bay truss is structured with rafters, plank ceilings, and eave struts. The system of columns, beams, rafters, struts, etc., was made of ironwood by the ancients. The main columns are quite large, with an average circumference of 1.4m. The carving art is mainly concentrated in the Great Hall. The corner trusses are panels carved with the four sacred creatures, with the dragon as the central sacred animal. The roof trusses adjacent to the end bays are carved with symmetrical, meticulous tiger emblems. The eave struts feature themes of bamboo transforming into a dragon and plum transforming into a dragon in winding poses. Most of the carved panels are high-relief carved - the most elaborate and exquisite carving technique. Passing through the Great Hall leads to the Phuong Dinh. The Phuong Dinh pavilion is splendid with two tiers and eight roofs. The curved roof corners rise evenly and soaringly, giving the roof a graceful and elegant appearance.

The communal house was ranked as an architectural and artistic relic by the Ministry of Culture and Information in 1987.
Source: Hanoi Famous Sites and Relics, Volume 01