Dinh Bang communal house - A unique architectural building

Dinh Bang village communal house (Source: Internet).

Dinh Bang is a hub of cultural relics, especially relics related to the Ly dynasty, forming a unique relic area with national historical values such as communal house, temple, pagoda, mausoleum, which represent identities of Vietnamese village culture.

Deserving the most famous ancient of the surviving communal houses in the Kinh Bac region, Dinh Bang communal house was constructed in 1700 and completed in 1736 with the merit of a mandarin in the village namely Nguyen Thac Luong and his spouse Nguyen Thi Nguyen by donating taliwood for the building. The communal house may stand the test of time (nowadays, the ancient house of Mr. Nguyen Thac Luong which was made for sample before building Dinh Bang communal house is still preserved).

Dinh Bang is the convergence of religious culture. It was originally dedicated to the cult of three nature Gods namely Cao Sơn Đại Vương (God of Mountain), Thuỷ Bá Đại Vương (God of Water) and Bạch Lệ Đại Vương (God of Agriculture), who are worshiped by the agricultural inhabitants for good weather and bountiful harvest. In every 12^th lunar month, local inhabitants hold a festival to pray for a bountiful harvest. Furthermore, six Lục Tổ (six persons who rebuilt the village in the 15^th century) are also worshiped at the communal house. Later, when the Ly Bat De temple was ruined by French invaders in 1948, the villagers of Dinh Bang moved the worshipping tablets of 8 Kings of the Ly dynasty to this communal house.

Dinh Bang communal house reflects the unique national architecture, which was inspired from the ethnic stilt house style. From the beginning of nation founding, the image of the stilt house was engraved on the Dong Son bronze drums - a creation of our ancestors in the filed of residential architecture. It is impossible to compare the massive communal house built after several centuries with the stilt houses on Dong Son bronze drums, however, it can be found that both models have the common style, which inherited and developed from the traditional architecture formed from the beginning of the nation founding.

Dinh Bang is a large-scale architectural building. Long ago, it had a three-entrance gate where the middle entrance was built with two tall lantern-style brick pillars, the two side wings have arched rolling doors with false roofs, behind is a large courtyard with two two ranges of left and right buildings for literature and martial arts mandarins on both sides. Like all other communal houses, the most important part of Dinh Bang communal house in terms of architecture and art is Bái Đường (Hall of Ceremonies).

The Hall of Ceremonies, which is rectangular with 20 metres long and 14 metres large, comprises of seven smaller compartments and two wings located on a two-stair high base of blue stones. Here, the massiveness of the communal house is fully presented in the wide roof which is two third of the overall height, and 6 rows supported by 60 ironwood columns with diameters ranging from of 0.55-0.65 meters placed on square blue stones.

Stepping into the communal house, visitors will be overwhelmed by all the quintessence of 18^th century carving art. The first attraction is Cửa Võng, which is a decorative gold-painted door frame in the middle of the outer space. Cửa Võng covers a large area, extending from Thượng lương (upper rafter) to Hạ xà (lower rafter) and opening across a space. Cửa Võng is intricately carved and embossed on all 7 layers, 9 boxes with the four scared animals, the four season trees.... Above the Cửa Võng is the wooden ceiling carved with the image of a phoenix spreading its wings to the surrounding clouds.

Decorative patterns on other architectural elements are very diverse with sophisticated, elaborate and harmonious carvings. The structure of the communal house frame is quite solid, attached to each other by various types of tenon in the style of "Thượng tam, hạ tứ” (Three above, four below). All carving works in the communal house are unique and famous. The more visitors look at the carvings, the more fascinated they become. The carving of "Bát mã quần phi" (8 galloping horses) shows the liveliness, the liberality and the peace of this land through the scene and posture of each horse. The carving of Lưỡng nghê phục trầu (the two lords are in adoration) shows two male and female lords in their own appearances. There are also exquisite dragon carvings such as Long Vân đại hội (dragon rolls in the clouds), Ngũ long tranh châu (Five dragons compete for the pearl), Lục long ngự thiên (Six dragons on the sky),... Each carving depicts many meanings.

For more than 200 years since its construction, Dinh Bang communal house has become familiar and the pride of the Northern people and of the country as the following sayings:

"Ranks first is Dong Khang communal house

The second is Dinh Bang, the glory is Diem"

Dong Khang communal house today no longer exists, only Dinh Bang communal house remains intact relatively. Dinh Bang communal house shows visitors the beauty of architectural scale, carving and decorative arts, especially the intact architecture of communal house built in the first half of the 18^th century, while the others no longer keep their original appearance. Dinh Bang communal house, therefore, was recognized as a national historical relic in 1961.

In addition to architectural value, Dinh Bang communal house has also witnessed important historical events of the homeland. After the success of the August Revolution, President Ho Chi Minh visited Dinh Bang 4 times. In particular, he spoke to the local people twice at the 300-year-old ancient communal house of the village (on February 5, 1946 and on October 30, 1946). Uncle Ho's teachings have become a driving force for Dinh Bang’s villagers to enthusiastically participate in the revolution, emulate production and study. Moreover, Dinh Bang teenager guerrilla was clever and brave together with Dinh Bang people and revolutionary cadres to fight against the French colonialists.

Through many ups and downs of history, the people of Dinh Bang have preserved and continuously renovated the communal house, meeting the spiritual and cultural needs of the community, and at the same time serving the needs for visiting and studying the architectural and sculptural heritage of Bac Ninh - Kinh Bac homeland. Dinh Bang communal house deserves a must-see destination for lots of tourists when travelling to the beautiful ancient land of Kinh Bac./.