Regarding Trung Can...

Late afternoon, the hazy sunlight of late winter lingered. But this stretch of riverside remained anything but languid and quiet. The bustling Dragon Market was filled with buying and selling, and the roads were being upgraded and widened. Loudspeakers blared announcements about the commune's end-of-year harvest targets, echoing throughout the villages. Leading us to visit Trung Can communal house, Ms. Le Thi Hoa – an official from the Nam Dan District Cultural and Information Center – affirmed: “Nam Trung is a locality that, if its existing historical sites, linked to its tradition of studiousness and revolution, are well-developed, will become an attractive destination within the tourism system of Nam Dan district…” Immediately after Ms. Hoa's mobile phone call, Mr. Nguyen Van Tuat, 68 years old, the caretaker of the communal house, residing in Hamlet 8 where Trung Can communal house was built over 220 years ago (1782), quickly appeared. Respectfully opening the communal house door, Mr. Tuat enthusiastically said: “The people of Nam Trung are very excited because a foreign project team recently came to survey the area for investment in the restoration of the communal house.”

A panoramic view of Trung Can communal house in Nam Trung commune (Nam Dan district).

Speaking of architectural value, Trung Can communal house, with its "refined architectural artistry," is considered one of the largest and most beautiful ancient communal houses in the country, with its grounds and triple-arched gate still intact. The communal house also has a sanctuary where the village's guardian deities and renowned scholars who founded the communal house are worshipped; even today, on the first and fifteenth days of the lunar month, the area is still filled with incense and spiritual offerings from the villagers. Mr. Tuat's family has been closely associated with the communal house since his youth. For those who grew up there and remember the 1945 liberation of Vietnam, Trung Can communal house remains a gathering place steeped in traditional Vietnamese village life. The temple was also where Mr. Tuat received his first education, and later joined the Young Pioneers and the Youth League... Mr. Tuat recalled: “In 1954, after the Dien Bien Phu victory, the temple was chosen as a place to confine a group of French prisoners of war. During that flood, when the rising water swept away all the ritual objects in the temple, a group of French soldiers were mobilized to help the people escape the flood. They were very strong; one prisoner even carried a calf up to the shelf for the people... During the war against the Americans, several central and provincial agencies also evacuated and stayed here for a while. But the happiest time was in the early 1960s, when Trung Can Temple served as a liaison station for the troops advancing south; the temple was filled with the sounds of soldiers and civilians singing every night.”

I was captivated by the trusses, the four-pillar structure, and the exquisitely carved wooden horizontal plaques, imbued with the majesty of dragons and phoenixes, the elegance of clouds and wind, and the peacefulness of the rural landscape of the alluvial plains... Ms. Hoa shared an interesting detail: the village communal house was built by the talented carpenters of the old Trung Can village. No wonder the people of 9 out of 14 hamlets in Nam Trung commune, located on the land of the old Trung Can village, are still renowned for their masonry and carpentry skills, forming many carpentry groups that go to work far away, even in neighboring Laos. Over 200 years, spanning several generations, the communal house is now somewhat dilapidated but still stands majestically in the village. In front of the communal house are large, ancient mahogany trees, as old as the former caretaker Nguyen Van Tuat, their gnarled branches adding a touch of antiquity to the village communal house's setting.

Was there once a banyan tree and a riverside landing in front of Trung Can communal house? The books don't record it, and even the oldest people in Trung Can today have never heard of it. But about a hundred years ago, before the "changes of time," the communal house had a graceful branch of river flowing through it. This river was gradually filled with alluvial deposits, forming a riverbank; and surely the picturesque gathering of water is still evidenced by the moss-covered tomb located in the Gia Rao field in front of the communal house of the first patron deity worshipped at the communal house and also the founder of Trung Can's tradition: a Doctor of Philosophy, a renowned general with many glorious martial arts achievements during the Le Trung Hung era – Mr. Tong Tat Thang (the death of Tong Tat Thang and the subsequent departure of his family and all his descendants from Trung Can is a matter of doubt recorded in the genealogies of the Tong clans in Nghe An and Ha Tinh, but it can still be affirmed that Trung Can is his homeland, the birthplace of Tong Tat Thang, with many relics related to him still preserved).

Located next to Trung Can communal house is the memorial area for the late Minister of Public Security Tran Quoc Hoan – an outstanding son of Nam Trung commune. The memorial area, built in a grand style with a classic architectural design and containing many historical documents since 2012, has now become a meaningful tourist attraction and a place for revolutionary tradition education. Mr. Ho Van Lien, 71 years old, an ordinary but meticulous bricklayer who participated in building the tomb of Mrs. Hoang Thi Loan on Dong Tranh mountain since 1983, recalls the day when members of the Project Management Board for the construction of the Tran Quoc Hoan Memorial Area came to meet him in Hamlet 7, Nam Trung commune. They immediately "promoted" him to head of the construction team, and after the memorial was completed, he was also assigned to be the caretaker and maintain the incense offerings there. This is a reward stemming from his admiration and respect for these revolutionary predecessors, which he has held since childhood. Mr. Lien said: "The memorial site of Mr. Tran Quoc Hoan is currently attracting a lot of attention from visitors to Trung Can communal house, and is considered a must-see destination because of its architectural beauty, rich historical documents, and cultural significance."

Returning to Rồng Market, and heading up towards the old Dương Liễu area, now part of Nam Trung, the saying "Trung Cần officials, Dương Liễu people" refers to the tradition of studiousness in Trung Cần village and the patriotic spirit of Dương Liễu villagers, who later rose up to fight alongside the Party. This is the birthplace of Comrade Nguyễn Tiềm, the first Secretary of the Nghệ An Provincial Party Committee (who died at the age of 21 while serving as a member of the Standing Committee of the Central Vietnam Regional Party Committee in charge of propaganda work). The memorial house dedicated to Comrade Nguyễn Tiềm is the original house in the garden of his birthplace.

Mr. Nguyen Van Ty (Nam Trung - Nam Dan) introduces the room where Comrade Nguyen Tiem often held secret meetings.

Ms. Le Thi Hoa said that the house, the surrounding wall, the flower-covered courtyard, and the garden with perennial plants have been restored almost to their original state. I stepped through the tiled gate, following the path lined with neatly trimmed tea bushes, imagining the revolutionary days of the first Provincial Party Secretary, how many times he had visited this house, meeting with his comrades in the small room of this five-bay wooden house. Right here, Mr. Nguyen Chinh – President of the Nam Trung Friendship Association, father of Comrade Nguyen Tiem, decided to sell 50 acres of rice fields for 40,000 Indochinese silver coins so that Comrade Nguyen Tiem could give the money to the organization to buy printing presses for documents and leaflets... Mr. Nguyen Van Ty – a descendant of the Nguyen Duong Lieu family, now entrusted with looking after the memorial house, said that there are about 20 households of descendants in the village who have gone out to study and follow the revolutionary example of their fathers and brothers, and have all achieved success in their businesses and careers, with many becoming high-ranking cadres and military officers...

In the fading afternoon light of the old courtyard, I listened to Comrade Nguyen Tiem's ​​relatives recount his youth and stories related to his life and activities. If it weren't for his younger brother, Mr. Nguyen Nhat Pho (also known as Ly Thien Tuan), a close friend of the late Minister Tran Quoc Hoan, who searched through top-secret archives, future generations might not have such a complete understanding and pride in Comrade Nguyen Tiem. But let's leave it at that for now. I'll dedicate a day to visiting Nam Trung, exploring the Trung Can communal house, and leisurely sipping green tea and tasting the fruits in the garden of Comrade Nguyen Tiem's ​​memorial house to continue hearing many more interesting stories related to his glorious revolutionary struggle...