Phuong Cach Communal House

Phuong Cach Communal House belongs to Phuong Cach 1 Village, Quoc Oai Commune, Hanoi City. The communal house is about 20 km west of central Hanoi; follow the Thang Long Avenue axis, turn right, and travel about 1 km along the dike road to reach Phuong Cach Communal House relic. The communal house is in the west of the village, near the main traffic axes in the village.

 The communal house is an ancient architectural work, where Thanh Hoang Ly Phuc Man is worshipped – a general credited with helping King Ly Nam De defeat the Liang invaders and establish the Van Xuan state in the 6th century.

Legend has it that when he was young, Ly Phuc Man was exceptionally talented, riding elephants and shooting long-range arrows very well. Admiring his talent, King Ly Nam De appointed him Great General and assigned him to guard an area from Do Dong to Duong Lam (the area from Thanh Oai to Ba Vi today). In spring 543, the Liang invaders massively invaded and plundered the Cuu Duc region (today Nghe An). By the king's order, he and his officers and soldiers went to Cuu Duc and defeated the enemy with just a few arrows; the invaders fled in panic back to their country. The king praised him as a hero of the Son Tay region, appointed him general, gave him the name Phuc Man, with the surname Ly, married him to a princess, and promoted him to Thieu uy Tham nghi. Not abandoning their ambition to invade our country, in early 545 the Liang invaders again sent troops to invade our country for the second time. On a stormy night, he commanded the battle and bravely sacrificed himself at the front. Grateful for his merits, the people of Phuong Cach honored him as the village guardian deity, and through feudal dynasties he received many royal edicts.

Phuong Cach Communal House is an ancient work dating from long ago. From the outside in is the communal house pond, with stone embankments on all four sides in a square shape. Compared with other communal house ponds, this pond is quite large. Standing on the west side looking toward the communal house, one sees the system of pillars, surrounding walls, screen, etc., shimmering and reflected on the water surface.

Passing through the system of pillars, surrounding walls, and gateway is the communal house yard. The yard is large, paved with bat tiles, with two rows of left and right side halls on both sides. Prominent in the middle of the yard are two stone pillars (thach tru) 4.4 m high, with the width at the base up to 0.70 m. These stone pillars were erected in the fourth year of Canh Hung (1745). The stone was taken from Lan Son Mountain, nearly 2000 m from the relic, and was very elaborately crafted to create monolithic stone; in addition, the stone was squared and chiseled with mortise-and-tenon joints at the top and base in the manner of wooden mortise joints, then carved in relief with elaborate couplets, and on one side an inscription about the creation of these stone pillars was engraved. According to the elders here, all of this work was done by the people of Phuong Cach themselves. At the two ends of the yard are the two rows of Ta mac and Huu mac, enclosing the communal house grounds.

Through the communal house yard is the Dai Bai hall, 22 m long and 7.6 m wide, divided into 5 bays. In front of the Dai Bai door are two blue stone pedestals carved with crocodile heads and “Van hoa long” with refined lines. The Dai Bai hall has a structure of four rows of wooden columns with overlapping beam trusses. On the beam ends, crossbeams, and braces, many decorative motifs are carved, such as dragons, phoenixes, and flowers and leaves. The Dai Bai hall is separated from the rear sanctuary by a small ceremonial yard. In the middle of this yard are also four blue stone columns 2.29 m high.

The rear sanctuary of Phuong Cach Communal House is a large and ancient architectural and sculptural work, the earliest of its kind in this area, built in the year “Binh Tuat, second year of Vinh Thinh” (1706). This is a large rear sanctuary divided into 5 bays, structured by four rows of wooden columns with a roof truss of the “gia chieng, ke bay” type, an architectural feature characteristic of the 17th-18th centuries of which not many remain today. On the upper beam of the rear sanctuary is an inscription recording the construction of the communal house in the second year of Vinh Thinh (1760). Although the rear sanctuary has been repaired many times, it still retains its original appearance from its construction in the early 18th century.

 Currently, the rear sanctuary of Phuong Cach Communal House still preserves a large volume of relics, especially 9 royal edicts from the Le to Nguyen dynasties. The central bay inside has a red-lacquered altar shrine; inside the shrine are arranged a dragon throne and spirit tablets worshipping General Ly Phuc Man and his two consorts. Outside are ritual objects, rows of swords, long weapons, and the eight treasures, ceramic and porcelain objects, two wooden horses, three eight-carried palanquins, along with many horizontal plaques, couplets, etc.

The Phuong Cach village festival is held on the 10th day of the second lunar month every year; the grand festival is held once every five years. The festival is an occasion for villagers to celebrate the harvest, offer sacrifices to the village guardian deity in remembrance of his merits, and pray for health, blessings, and favorable business and trade.