Architectural art of Cao Duong communal house

Cao Duong communal house still retains the architectural soul of Northern communal houses in the old days

The communal house was classified as a national historical and cultural relic in 2001.

According to the book Gia Loc Van Hien (Long-standing Culture of Gia Loc) published in 2007, Cao Duong communal house was built around the Later Le dynasty (18th century) and greatly restored in the 6th Duy Tan year (1912).

Nguyen Van Bong, Party Cell Secretary cum head of Cao Duong hamlet, said in the past, old villagers often attended Buddha worshipping rituals at a pagoda in Dai Son commune, Tu Ky district. The pagoda worshipped Zen Master Minh Khong, who was very miraculous, so the elderly asked permission to take burned incense sticks to Cao Duong village for worshipping from afar as the village's tutelary god.

Nguyen Minh Khong, a native of Gia Vien, Ninh Binh, was a talented Zen Master with many contributions to politics, ideology, and culture in the Ly dynasty. He was conferred the Quoc Su (National Master) title on, the highest position in the Ly dynasty's monkish mandarin system. According to the Dai Viet Su Ky Toan Thu (Complete Annals of Dai Viet), Zen Master Minh Khong once cured King Ly Than Tong.

The current architecture of Cao Duong communal house has Dīng (丁) shape with a five-compartment dai bai (front ceremonial chamber) and a three-compartment hau cung (back chamber). In front of the communal house are two pen towers, a partition, and a semicircular lotus lake.

In the trend of more and more communal houses being repaired, deforming the architecture of ancient communal houses, Cao Duong communal house still retains the architectural soul of Northern communal houses in the old days.

The truss of the dai bai compartments was built in traditional chong ruong (overlapped roof bearings) style in combination with lotus-shaped and leaf-shaped bearings.

The chamber space was opened in a thuong tu ha ngu (four over, five under) form.

The structure is supported by eight main pillars and 16 auxiliary ones 50 cm and 33 cm in diameter, respectively, and made of ironwood. They were shaped like a balance beam at the top and a flag pole at the foot.

Square purlins and girders were beautifully grooved like sheaths of bamboo shoots. Four corners of the roof are so curved that they look like they are about to fly up together.

Most notable is the fine art sculpture inside the communal house. Patterns carved on objects made of ironwood remain intact with ancient rare vivid sculpture.

Skillful craftsmen made the four corners of the roof bend towards four directions, creating charming corners, making the structure lighter like flying in space.

Regarding the exterior sculpture of the relic, there remain a lot of terracotta objects dating from the Later Le dynasty on the roof such as dragon horse-shaped corners.

The architecture and fine arts of Cao Duong communal house contain many cultural, historical, and artistic values with pure Vietnamese elements, marking the peak of Vietnamese architecture and sculpture (17th – 19th centuries).

Bong added that there used to be many valuable artifacts from the 19th century at the communal house. However, through years of war, they were gradually lost. At present, there remain only some valuable woodwork like cau doi (a pair of wood panels), dai tu (big words), an incomplete eight-pole palanquin, etc.

During the 1945 August Revolution, Cao Duong communal house was the gathering place of the masses flocking to Gia Loc district to fight for power.

In 1946, the site was the venue of a large rally to vote the unified National Assembly of Vietnam and the gathering place of guerrillas.

In 1958, the 4th Gia Loc district Party Congress was also held there. Later, the communal house was the evacuation place of some agencies in the province.

The traditional festival of Cao Duong communal house used to take place for days in the past but only two days now.

In the evening before the main festive day (the 12th day of the 11th lunar month), a musical exchange is organized there.

Aside from traditional rituals, the festive part includes folk games which are, however, not as bustling as before.

Over time, the communal house was deteriorated. The entire roof was disproportioned, damaged, and leaky whenever it rained.

Between 2008 and 2010, the roof was rebuilt from State funds and contributions of locals and expatriates.

At present, Cao Duong communal house is the venue of not only religious activities but also important cultural and political events of the village.

THE ANH