Tam Tao communal house in northern province of Bac Ninh. (Photo: bacninh.gov.vn)
Bac Ninh (VNA) – Tam Tao in Phu Lam commune, Tien Du district, Bac Ninh province, is an ancient village with typical cultural and religious identities of the Kinh Bac area (an old name for a large area in northern Vietnam, covering the provinces of Bac Ninh and Bac Giang).
The village is near Ngu Huyen Khe river and has eight hamlets. It hauses three religious architectural works imbued with Vietnamese culture, namely the Tam Tao communal house, the Phu Quoc temple, and the Phuc Lam pagoda. The large village communal house is one of the typical cultural and historical relics of the Kinh Bac area.
Tam Tao communal house was built in the Le Dynasty. In 1815, it was restored and renovated on a large scale.
The communal house worships the village's tutelary god and two warriors Dao Dat and Dao Minh who were merited fighters during the reign of Thuc An Duong Vuong. Besides, it also worships Tran Quy and Phuong Dung, the couple who helped King Ly Cong Uan when he was in trouble.
The communal house was built on a turtle-shaped foundation, with a spacious and airy courtyard at the end of the village. In front of it is a pavilion which was a place for local mandarins to watch water puppet shows and discuss important village affairs.
The communal house bears bold Le Dynasty architecture, including Tien Te (courthouse), Dai Dinh (ceremonial hall), the harem house, and the pavilion. In particular, the Dai Dinh consists of seven compartments and eight roofs, the heads of which are covered with very sophisticated shapes of four sacred mythical creatures - the dragon, the unicorn, the tortoise, and the phoenix.
Inside the house, there are a variety of detailed, carved images of pine trees, daisies, ivory bamboo, and yellow apricot trees that are symbols of the four seasons. There are also vivid and stylised clouds and flowers carrying folk beliefs.
The Courthouse consists of five compartments, two wings, and four curved roofs. The structure and carvings are similar to the Dai Dinh building.
It is said that about 200 years ago, villagers went to Thang Long citadel to buy wood to build a communal house. They left the wood to travel by itself on the Duong river but when the wood drifted to Xuan Duc village (now Yen Thuong commune, Gia Lam district), it got stuck.
It turned dark, so Tam Tao villagers asked for a stay in Xuan Duc village. When they woke up the next morning, they found that the wooden raft had been moved to the other bank of the river. It turned out that during the night, Xuan Duc villagers jointly helped to move the wood.
When Tam Tao villagers finished the construction of the communal house, they sent a delegate to Xuan Duc village to thank them and proposed the two villages be twinned.
Since then, whenever the two villages have businesses, they invite each other to join.
At present, in the communal house, there are still 26 ordinations of the Le dynasty and eight of the Nguyen dynasty, and many valuable documents and artifacts. In 1988, Tam Tao village communal house was ranked as a national historical and cultural relic.
Every year, on the 10th day of the 2nd lunar month, authorities and villagers of Tam Tao hold a festival to commemorate the merits of the village's tutelary gods, pray for favourable weather, and peace for the country. Thousands of visitors come to the communal house every year to learn about local traditions and culture./.
