Long Thai Communal House

(Baonghean) - The historical relic of Long Thai communal house (Do Luong) has gone down in history as an epic about the tradition of patriotism and resistance against foreign invaders, becoming the pride of my hometown people. And the Long Thai communal house festival is held annually to become a great festival of my hometown...

Long Thai Temple on festival day

For the people of my hometown, the 13th day of the first lunar month every year has become a village festival. Men and women, old and young, flock to the communal house from all directions. The sound of drums and gongs resounds loudly, urging people to walk. The elders in their traditional long dresses solemnly worship. Those who work far from home also rush back, respectfully bowing before the familiar communal house roof. This is where I spent my childhood, often hiding from my mother, going to the communal house to play hopscotch, etc. Through many historical changes, moss covers the beams, beams, and columns, the dark brown tiles seem to contain many historical memories.

For me, the story of Long Thai communal house is like a story that never gets old, even though I have heard it many times. Each time I hear it, I am more moved, proud and passionate about the place where I was born. The communal house of my village is associated with King Le Trang Tong, a wise king. The story goes that in the early 16th century (around 1512), Mac Dang Dung abused his power, then overthrew the Le dynasty to fight for the throne. Mrs. Bui Thi Ngoc Thuy - wife of King Le Chieu Tong was pregnant and had to flee to Vinh Long village, Bach Ha commune (now Thai Son commune, Do Luong district) to take refuge. Before coming here, she sat in peace on a rock about 500m west of the village communal house today. She then gave birth to a son named Le Ninh. Legend has it that when she gave birth, a five-colored halo appeared, the local people saw it and divided the work to bring the mother and son back to the village to help raise them. They lived incognito here for a long time. Le Ninh grew up in the care of the local people. When he grew up, Le Ninh was welcomed by Le Cuu Than Hung Quoc Cong to Ai Lao (Laos) with the plot to recruit soldiers to revive the Le dynasty, from then on Le Ninh took the name Trang Tong. Wherever Le Trang Tong's army went, it was supported by the people, its prestige grew stronger and stronger, winning every battle. When the Mac dynasty weakened, the mandarins loyal to the Le dynasty sought to overthrow the Mac dynasty, restore the Le dynasty, including Nguyen Kim (a former servant of the Le dynasty) who sent people to contact Le Trang Tong. The Mac dynasty collapsed, Nguyen Kim brought Le Trang Tong back to the court, established the throne and took the reign name Nguyen Hoa. Le Trang Tong reigned for 16 years (1533 - 1548), until January 19, Mau Than year, he died. In memory of him, the villagers built a temple in the south of Vinh Long village.

The country was peaceful, the king was loyal and wise, the people were busy farming and making a living, society was increasingly developing, and the land of Vinh Long village was becoming more prosperous. The village built a communal house as a place for festivals and cultural activities, called Long Thai communal house. The old communal house had 3 lim wood compartments, located in a cool location, in front of a fish pond, connecting to the village field. Later, due to economic and social development, Vinh Long communal house was restored in the 2nd year of Thieu Tri (1842).

Long Thai communal house today consists of 5 compartments, made entirely of jackfruit wood, with 24 pillars, 23 meters long and 11 meters wide. The communal house is designed in the style of a palace-dục-ương-bầu-trong-trầm with 20 very sophisticatedly carved levers. The frame of the communal house is a massive, unique sculpture with rich and diverse traditional themes. The mascots on the roof ridge, the ridge, the valve, the bucket system, and the pliers are very sharp, creating soft and graceful curves for the communal house. The elaborate patterns, the way of expressing large and small lines, thick and thin lines according to the intention of the talented craftsman have brought vitality and attraction to the communal house. Through the carvings, the ancients wanted to send and convey to future generations a message about the value of life and human values.

Before the August Revolution, Long Thai communal house was a place to discuss and propagate revolutionary policies. Also here, during the uprising days, local dignitaries submitted their seals to the revolutionary government, ending the feudal regime. After the revolution, the communal house became a meeting place for the revolutionary government, a place to spread the national language, and a place for political organizations to operate. On January 13, 2006, Long Thai communal house was recognized as a Historical - Cultural Relic by the People's Committee of Nghe An province.

Long Thai Communal House is the place where many festivals with local cultural values ​​take place. Every year, in mid-January, there is the Spring Offering Ceremony, in June, there is the Luc Ngoat Ky Phuc Offering Ceremony. During the offering ceremony, the offerings are solemnly and splendidly arranged, the rituals are meticulous and methodical, and the ceremony is performed in the prescribed order. The offerings include: dragon pavilion, memorial tablet, eight-pole palanquin, five-element flag, long knife, horse knife, hammer, horse, crane, etc. Before the festival, the village dignitaries, the elders, and the young men dress neatly and neatly before coming to the communal house to do the preparation work. Each time the village offers sacrifices, they contribute money to buy a young, fat buffalo to slaughter for the offering ceremony, after the offering, they divide the offerings among the villagers and respectfully present them to those who have contributed. In addition to the above ceremony, Long Thai communal house is also the place where other festivals take place such as: longevity celebration, boat sending ceremony, exam preparation ceremony, wrestling festival... Nowadays, the annual Spring worship ceremony is held sacredly and solemnly, both the old and new ceremonies. Along with the worship ceremony are folk games such as cockfighting, swinging... which are full of village love.

Nguyen Le