Tay Ho communal house

Tay Ho communal house is in group 5 of Quang An ward, it was very famous back in Ly, Tran, Le, Nguyen dynasties; Today it is a fascinating place with beautiful landscapes, poetic and rich history associated with romantic West Lake. If West Lake is sacred land of Thang Long, then Tay Ho communal house is the most sacred area of West Lake, the land of nature and people mix with each other, where there is space architecture with relics, famous cultural and historical sites include: Tay Ho Palace to worship Lieu Hanh Princess, one of the immortal four of Vietnamese folk beliefs, Tay Ho Pagoda (Pho Linh Pagoda) dating back to the Ly Dynasty and Kim Nguu Temple with the legend of the golden ox... Tay Ho is also where Nguyen Thi Lo meets Nguyen Trai, and the poetic meeting between Phung Khac Khoan (1538 - 1624) with Lord Lieu Hanh.
Based on the materials written in the Han store in the communal house: edict, epitaph, lacquered, parallel sentences... Tay Ho communal house worshiping five deities: Trieu Dinh Cuong Nghi dai vuong, Bao Trung, Minh Khiet Phuong Nuong, Uy Linh Lang and Lieu Hanh princess. The bio of the god can be summarized as follows:
During the Ly Dynasty in Khoai Chau district, there was a family of a man named Nguyen Chuong, his wife was Bui Thi Xuyen. He was a doctor while his wife worked as a farmer. Two people living in harmony doing good, every day they prayed to heaven for a child. Then, in the hot summer season, Mrs. Xuyen went to the river for a shower. During the bath, she saw three snake eggs on the river bank: a green one and the other two were yellow that she thought of bringing home. Mr. Chuong saw this strange thing so put it near the bed, three days after the eggs broke, water from three eggs seeped into the wife. After three months she was pregnant, after a month she had a bloom that gave birth to two sons and a daughter on June 28 in the Year of the Tiger. The three children have unusual faces with beautiful appearance. After 3 months from her birth, she unfortunately fell ill and died on September 10, Mr. Chuong saw three children were too small so found two women, Pham Thi Thanh and Tran Thi Tich Chau Xuyen district Tu Liem to care for the children.
When the three children were 12 years old, they went to their hometown to work. At the age of 18, the three of them learned very smartly and thoroughly, and now he names his children: first name is Bao, second name is My, third daughter is Phuong. In that year, Mr. Chuong fell ill and died on November 21. At that time, three brothers came to Tu Liem district to find two women who took care of them but did not succeed because they died. Then all three of them were raised by a rich man named Le Cong Tri. Two brothers Bao and My continued to study while Ms. Phuong learned to weave. One day, Ms Phuong went back to the Kingdom of Water. The remaining two brothers were talented, good at both martial arts and study.
During King Le Dai Hanh’s reign, the invaders of the Tang Dynasty dragged on to invade our country. The Le king sent troops going to the waterway but when reaches to her temples they couldn't go forward. Later on after asking for her permission they could once again go normally. After the king defeated the enemy, he commanded the subjects to build a temple to worship her. Nine years later, Chiem Thanh invaders invaded our country. The king was anxious to urgently command throughout the nation to search for talented people. The two brothers then heard of the request so they came to the court to talk with the Emperor, then go to help to fight the enemy. The king saw the two looked handsome, good at martial arts then very happy to let them be general and said: "This country meets foreign invaders, I ordered you to replace me to fight the enemy.”
The two following king’s orders started to train three thousand troops. The first one took 30 people as close people, the second took 80 people to be close soldiers. The two divided into two groups of the army one is infantry and the other group is navy. Later on, our troops won the battle. It was midnight that suddenly the heavens opened and the sky began to rain, lightning flashed in the sky, and suddenly a cloud of gold from heaven came to them, like a golden silk band and took them to heaven. After that, the people gathered there to see the extrusion of the tombs called Dong Lang vua. The king was deeply saddled with the great meritorious deeds to the country, the King meant to send the people to prepare the temple, giving money to the people to do worshiping activities in spring and autumn. He later conferred the older brother to be Bao Trung, the younger brother to be Minh Khiet.
Thus, the three Bao Trung, Minh Khiet and Phuong Nuong were all humanized to help King Ly Nam De fight foreign aggression.
The book “Tay Ho chi muc co tich lac thi that mien” (seven bombax ceiba trees of the Lac family) says: "Seven bombax ceiba trees in the western shores of the lake, now outside the dykes of Nhat Chieu village. The wife of Dieu De is Mrs. Lac after giving birth to Uy Linh Lang saw a bundle of seven eggs that were left wondering. Later the seven eggs hatched into the seven dragons flying into the sky. She then ordered servants to plant seven bombax ceiba trees to mark this and confer as “Uy Linh” and established a temple. This temple is now Tay Ho communal house ...”
The inscription in the communal house said: Vuong (Uy Linh Lang) is the main family of Hong Bang, the second son of Bach Viet. Lac Long Quan was married to Au Co who was the daughter of De Lai, who had a hundred eggs hatched to 100 sons, who were all smart, healthy and talented. Then 50 children followed their mother to the mountain to plant, expand the territory, and mountainous areas. 50 children went to the sea to eradicate sea monsters, fishing, and took care of the rivers and seas. When things happened, they informed each other to help. Dai Vuong is originally a dragon, called Uy Linh Lang. Six other brothers are Bach Giap, Hoang Giap, Thanh Giap, Chu Giap, Tu Giap follow their father down the sea...
Thus, Uy Linh Lang is the son of Lac Long Quan, the son of Lac Long Quan, who follows his father into the sea and exploits rivers and sea to lead all people to build a prosperous life. From the beginning of the Hung Vuong period, the gods have turned into seven dragons flying into the sky; We have planted seven bombax ceiba trees to mark this event. Tay Ho communal house formerly was his temple, until the 18th reign of King Hung, the god reincarnated as Lac Hau Le Quoc Tin and Mrs. Thuc Nuong, Ho Khau people were Cong Le and Ca Le. They were conferred by the 18th Hung King as the left and right commander to help the king fight the enemy. Then they went back to Water Kingdom, the king remembered the two generals’ merits, setting the temple as the Ve Quoc Temple and Duc Thanh in Buoi. In the time of Ly Nam De, the deity became Bao Trung, Minh Khiet and Phuong Nuong in order to help the king against foreign invaders, to cultivate mulberry and silkworm weaving in Chau Xuyen included the villages of Noi Chau, Ngoai Chau, Van Chau, Xuyen Chau in Tu Lien ward has a temple to worship.
The Ly Dynasty turned into Hoang Lang Prince, son of King Ly Thai Tong (1028 - 1054) to help the king fight the Chiem Thanh enemy. In 1077, The Prince helped King Ly Thanh Tong defeat Tong soldiers at Pha Lai and Cau River, helping the country return to being a peaceful, flourishing country.
Thus, Tay Ho village and many other villages around the West Lake worshiped the water god and the water god is Uy Linh Lang.
Tay Ho communal house was built between Tay Ho villages and turned to the west, the wall surrounded with an area of 1363.3m2. The communal house is built on high ground, including the following items: Nghi gate, guest house, alley, main temple, square, and harem.
Nghi gate: consists of two square pillars, in the body are boxes to write sentences, the lanterns do not decorate anything, on the cylinder there are four phoenix put their tails. From two main columns running straight to the right side to connect a small door to build the arch style.
Main temple: consists of 5 large rooms, wooden frame consists of 4 sets of trusses, it is higher about 50 cm compared to the surface and there are 3 steps going up. The communal house is made in the style of the wall, the front of the roof runs directly between the dragons to the sun. The dragon is made of a simple, twisted tail, the body attached to green, white pieces. The front of the building closed, with 3 doors in the middle and two small doors on both sides. The two sides reconstructed the wall connecting two small ports to the back of the garden.
In front of the harem and main temple is a two-story house built with 8 roofs. In the middle of the roof is the statue of a gourd of wine, two roofs with two soft clouds. The 8 corners of the roof cover beautifully stylized dragons, the dragon head high in the middle of the roof. The pillars are made of bricks, the feet are square, and the upper part is up to the roof to support the diaphragm.
The harem consists of 3 rooms. The foundation is quite high compared to the main temple. The floor is made of brick. The frame is made simple by triangular hinges and in front of it is the system of wooden doors. In the middle of the highest place is the throne of the three great kings. The throne is high, with sophisticated carvings, sharp clarity, the throne is carved. The dragon's head looks fierce and stretches forward.
Tay Ho communal house also preserves a number of relatively varied relics of the genre of material with historical, cultural and artistic value. These precious materials contribute not only to enriching the cultural identity of Vietnam. Including: a spiritual book written in Han characters calendar of the gods, 25 ordained, including: 16 edicts of the Le dynasty, 6 of the Tay Son period, 3 edicts of the Nguyen Dynasty, the earliest 3 from the first year of Canh Hung reign (1740). Four tablets of stone, including three double-sided tablets from the Le dynasty, three wooden palms painted with gold medallions, 11 sets of dragon throne.
Apart from the significance of historical value, science and art, the communal house is also a place for cultural and spiritual activities of the villagers, where the people express their gratitude to the people with meritorious services to the people, with the country, at the same time educate people the love of the country, the spirit of “drinking water remembers the source”, the spirit of mutual affection in modern life.
The communal house has been classified by the Hanoi People's Committee as a historical architectural art in Decision No. 639 / QĐ-UBND dated 13/02/2007.