The communal house with oldest stele in Hà Nội
03/07/2010
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14:48:00
VGP - Thanh Hà Communal House is located at No. 10 Ngõ Gạch, Đồng Xuân Ward in Hoàn Kiếm District of Hà Nội. It houses the stele titled Thanh Hà Ngọc Phả Bi Kí erected in 1430, considered to be the oldest extant stele in Hà Nội.
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Guardians
at Thanh Hà Communal House, No. 10 Ngõ Gạch, Đồng Xuân Ward, Hoàn Kiếm District,
Hà Nội |
The communal house was built to honor
the tutelary god named Trần Lựu, a general in the Trần Dynasty (13th
century) who was granted the title “Great Lord”. According to the ancient stele, his legend is as
follows:
The Great Lord’s family
name was Trần and his given name was Lựu. He lived during the Trần Dynasty when
Yuan-Mongol invaders occupied Việt Nam. The country was in chaos and
the people lived in miserable poverty. The King told all military and civilian
mandarins that, if they defeated the invaders, he would grant them power and
titles. They all refused to fight except for Trần Lựu, so the King conferred upon
him the title of “Ứng Chỉ Hầu”, or marquis. Trần Lựu led three thousand able-bodied
soldiers to Vũ Ninh town where, thanks to his military wisdom and the strong army,
the invaders were vanquished.
After his victory, Trần Lựu came back to Thanh Hà Village in
Đồng Xuân District and held a great feast for his troops at the Thăng Long Citadel.
He invited the most important people from surrounding villages to join the
party and everyone was very happy. Trần Lựu recognized that the conditions of
Thanh Hà Village were so favorable. He predicted that it would produce many
talented people in the future. During his statement, dark storm clouds
gathered, wind raged, and lightening flashed in the sky then, suddenly, the
Great Lord disappeared into the heavens. The villagers were so awestruck, they
decided to build a communal house and worship him as their tutelary god.
Thanh Hà Communal House faces the east. The three-entrance
gate is built near the street with three doors of different widths. Passing
through a small yard one comes upon a tiền bái (front hall) built in the
closed-tip style and consisting of three rooms, the central room being lower
than the other two.
The phương đình (square pavilion) is connected to the
tiền bái by the back-house. It has four big pillars and two sets of
rafters supporting four roofs made of beams carved with flowers, leaves, and phoenixes.
Inside the back-house, there is an altar with finely carved and painted arched
doors.
Thanh
Hà Communal House festival is held on the 4th day of the fourth
lunar month and 15th day of the ninth lunar month, the dates of the
birth and death of their tutelary god.