Quang Thai communal house
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Quang Thai communal house has been |
Like many other Vietnamese villages, Dong Chau village was once a small village located along the Lam River. People here did all kinds of jobs, from farming to crafts, and trading on land and boats. There was a communal house here to worship the tutelary gods who had contributed to the country and the people through many dynasties. The communal house was built more than 200 years ago but still preserved 11 royal decrees from the post-Le period to the Nguyen Dynasty. Of these 11 royal decrees, 8 were of Cao Son Cao Cac god, still intact with beautiful golden dragon patterned silk. Dong Chau communal house was started in 1772 and completed in 1789 with the contributions of money and labor from the villagers. In the memory of the people, the communal house was a liaison station serving logistics to pick up and drop off many army units that temporarily stopped to continue fighting in the South. Also under this communal house roof, countless children of Quang Thai village held a ceremony to join the army and die for the Fatherland. Anyone who grew up during the war against America will know Quang Thai ferry - where the Americans dropped thousands of tons of bombs, burning down half the village, but the communal house remained intact as if protected by the saints. For over 2 centuries, Quang Thai communal house had been thatched for more than 100 years, and was only re-roofed with tiles in 1951. Due to the war, the communal house was moved to many places, but the royal decrees remained intact, especially to this day, it still retains an ancient incense burner from 1789.
Mr. Tran Xuan Dinh - the caretaker of the communal house said: "In 1981, the village communal house was used as a market house, degraded and shabby, the villagers were very sad. In all the meetings, there were many opinions to restore this ancient communal house. Because in addition to the spiritual cultural heritage value that needs to be preserved, the communal house is also a place that marks the development time of the village. Thinking is doing, the campaign committee was established with the purpose of calling for the generosity of the people, of the children working far away. With little money, much heart, in the end, Quang Thai village communal house was rebuilt on the old relic but more spacious, more beautiful with the contributions of the children who grew up in this land rich in the tradition of solidarity".
It is known that from the time of initiation to the completion of the new communal house - exactly two years, people living far away contributed money, people at home left their seasonal farm work to join in, mothers and grandmothers took turns boiling water, making betel leaves, uncles and brothers, the strong ones did heavy work, the weak ones did light work... the whole village was excited like a big festival. With efforts and unity, in the Spring of 2007, Quang Thai communal house was completed.
Article and photos: Thuy Hien
