The Chu family’s ancestor altar house

The Chu family’s ancestor altar house is located at 51/497, Au Co, Nhat Tan Ward, Tay Ho District, Hanoi.
To get to the monument, visitors can go on many different routes, but the most advantage is from the center of Ho Lake by Trang Thi - Dien Bien Phu, Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum turn to Thanh Nien Road, up Yen Phu, along the road Nghi Tam, Au Co about 3 km to the People's Committee of Nhat Tan. The vestibule is located about 1km south-west of Au Co Street.
The Chu family ancestor altar house is a religious architecture, worshiping the Chu family in Nhat Tan. According to the elders in the lineage, the same architectural and relational system is preserved as the genealogy of the family. Established in the Nguyen Dynasty, in the 1960s, following the invitation of President Ho Chi Minh on the anti-hunger and anti-ignorant movements, the Chu family ancestor altar house was used as a classroom for Nhat Tan people and worked as a working office of Nhat Tan Co-operative.
The Chu family does not have many people who are enrolled in the test and hold major positions in the court, but is a large, long-established, well-ordered and well-known family in the Nhat Chieu area as well as today's Nhat Tan. In the resistance war against France and the United States, listening to the call of the fatherland, many children of the Chu had set out in the battle, according to the family statistics, in two resistance Chu families had 24 martyrs, 02 heroic Vietnamese mothers.
The precinct of the Chu family ancestor altar house is not large, surrounded by walls but very neat. Main site of the monument includes the road, gate, kitchen and yard.
From the entrance is a small courtyard, surrounded by Sapodilla trees. In the garden there is a wall of flowers hanging around the ancestor altar house. From the courtyard going up is the ancestor altar house porch. The roof is tiled and left with a little nostalgic nose tile. The porch is paved with Bat Trang tile, up to 1m20 wide. On the patriarch is the dragon and leaves, under them are a row of logs.
The three middle compartments are rectangular. The ancestor altar house is divided into 5 rooms unevenly, 3 one in the middle is larger while the 2 in the side is narrow. Upper trusses also record the year of repair and the sentences are quoted from the Kinh Dich to indicate the peace of the house. Support frame has 12 wooden columns, columns having a diameter of 25cm, placed on the foot of green stone 40cm square. In the ancestor altar house: from the outside in the middle of the 40 cm high as a place of worship, the pedestal with the size of 55cm x 2m x 40cm. At the top of the three compartments, there are three large ones painted with golden lacquer, bordered around the leaves. The hammock door is in the middle with two parallel sentences. The hammock has the dragon flying to the sun, 2 sides are 2 phoenixes, the bottom fringed with a peach flower, ran down 2 sides are 2 flower bouquets. Under the hammock door is an altar with the size of 1.8m x 1.6m x 0.6m. The middle of the incense cone with the tiger face holding the letter “Tho”. On the sides of the ledge are like waves, leaves hanging down. Incense sticks are dual needles. At the top of the tiger, it touches the leading edge, leaves and lemon blossoms. The upper part of the dome is covered with three compartments, peach blossoms, leafy branches and two lotus leaflets running across the corpses. The top is two ears with two dragon leaves embossed, touching the ball. The art carries the first half of the 19th century. Butterfly touches, liberal. Apparitions are placed with the worship of ceramic altarpiece 20cm x 25cm in the center, the two sides are white porcelain pot, a lamp, incense burner, altar and the woods are painted. .
On the highest and deepest place of the ancestor altar house, there is an altar tablet of the first person of the Chu family. It has leaf style, around the edge of the tablet, running along the bottom of the tablet are phoenixes. The middle of the altar is a chrysanthemum metamorphosis instead of the sun, the corners are dragons and around is peach. Run along the bottom of the altar with a scroll. Next is peaches, lotus flowers, etc. The inner layer of the altar is the leaves. The middle of the fringe under the tigers around the flowers, lotus leaf embossed. Sculpture dating back to the first half of the 19th century. In front of the door is the pair of parallel sentences, in two sides on both sides of the altar are worshiped, the examination is made of two layers with touches of dragon flowers, flowers ... Next to the examination is three posters:
Hau toc bi ky (Thanh Thai 13 - 1901) records that the Chu built from the house, the daughter in the family has been devoting money and rice field.
Khai Dinh 10 tablet (1925), said Chu Van Giap held an anniversary.
Khai Dinh tablet (unknown year) about the sending of the death ceremony of Mrs. Nguyen Thi Suu, daughter in law of Chu family.
Thanh Thai 3 tablet (1901) records the daughter as Chu Thi Chat merit...
The contents of these tablets together define the years of restoration, and embellish the ancestor altar house of the family.
The first two gables are placed on two large tablets, with parallel sentences. The tablet is 1m x 50cm.
The new Chu family ancestor altar house was recently rebuilt but very spacious. There are enough throne, tabletop, hammock door, parallel sentences, incense, gorgeous gold lacquer painting. It is noteworthy that the depiction of “Nga Chu khong duong”.
The ancestor altar house also kept the tablet talking about the restoration of their ancestor altar house.
Besides cultural history, architecture and art, the Chu family is also a center of cultural activities, serving the needs of the faith of the people and especially for their children's generations; showing values of morality, culture and beliefs of ancestors and families; see the tradition of a family to learn, imitate.
The Chu ancestor altar house was ranked by the city as a historical monument - souvenir celebrity in Decision No. 553 / QĐ-UBND dated 01/02/2016.