Trung Can Communal House

Trung Can Communal House was started to be built in the spring of 1781 and inaugurated in the summer of 1782, now located in hamlet 8, Nam Trung commune, Nam Dan. The structure of the communal house consists of 2 buildings: the worshiping hall and the rear palace built on a garden with an area of ​​1,750 m2, entirely made of ironwood.

Trung Can Communal House is considered one of the communal houses with rich artistic and sculptural values, from decorative themes to interiors, roof ridges, and eaves. Regarding the interior, on the gong stand, the horizontal beams are shaped into a tiger face with eyes, nose, mouth, and hands.

The phoenix is ​​carved in a posture of spreading its soft wings and flying forward. The image of a mother dragon and a baby dragon entwined together. On the 24 rafters, there are 24 reliefs, of which 14 are depicted by artisans as Chinese legends such as King Shun planting rice, King Nghieu passing the throne, Chieu hien dai si, Vinh quy bai to... or scenes of entertainment activities such as playing chess, drinking wine, archery, building houses, boating on the river... There are 10 carvings of the four sacred animals, the four seasons, and the three friends. Regarding house decoration, the ridges of the four communal house roofs are covered with yin-yang tiles, with the two ends of the ridge representing two dragons. The four eaves and four ends of the communal house roof are arranged with four stylized dragon heads.

Trung Can Communal House is the place to worship the village's tutelary god, during the time of Doctor Tong Tat Thang. This is also a place for cultural activities of the people. In the past, the communal house was a place for meetings, work, tax collection of the village officials and to welcome the high-ranking dignitaries to inspect the villages of Nam Kim commune.

60m south of the communal house gate is the tomb of General Tong Tat Thang - he was an intelligent and brave man, passed the doctoral exam at the age of 18, became a Minister of Justice, made many achievements in fighting invaders, and protected the country's borders during the post-Le period.

Trung Can Communal House and Tong Tat Thang's tomb were recognized as National Historical and Cultural Relics by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism in 1996. Visiting Trung Can Communal House, visitors will admire one of the few remaining typical architectural works of art in Nam Dan district.

At the same time, it is also an opportunity for tourists to come to a land of learning and a tradition of the highest level of mandarin examinations in the district. According to historical documents, among the 25 people who passed the Han imperial examinations of the whole district during the feudal period, Nam Trung had 8 people, and among the 122 people who passed the Han imperial examinations, Nam Trung had 21 people.

Thanh Hien