0% found this document useful (0 votes)
30 views7 pages

Communal House, A Symbol of Vietnamese Religion and Culture

The communal house is a significant architectural and cultural symbol in Vietnam, serving as a worship place for local deities, an administrative center, and a hub for cultural activities and festivals. It reflects the rich spiritual life of the Vietnamese people, showcasing a blend of natural veneration, ancestor worship, and influences from Buddhism and Confucianism. Efforts are being made by young people to preserve and promote the heritage of communal houses, which remain central to village identity and pride.

Uploaded by

thugiang.ph
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
0% found this document useful (0 votes)
30 views7 pages

Communal House, A Symbol of Vietnamese Religion and Culture

The communal house is a significant architectural and cultural symbol in Vietnam, serving as a worship place for local deities, an administrative center, and a hub for cultural activities and festivals. It reflects the rich spiritual life of the Vietnamese people, showcasing a blend of natural veneration, ancestor worship, and influences from Buddhism and Confucianism. Efforts are being made by young people to preserve and promote the heritage of communal houses, which remain central to village identity and pride.

Uploaded by

thugiang.ph
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
You are on page 1/ 7

Communal house: a symbol of Vietnamese religion

and culture
Jenna Duong

Communal house is a typical architecture of Vietnam showcasing the rich spiritual


life of the local people.

Everywhere in Vietnam, from the city to the countryside, especially in villages, a


communal house is a familiar image as an indispensable part of the people’s life.

A communal house is the center of cultural activities of the whole village. The Phu
Luu village's communal house. Photo: Thuy Duong.
Communal house is considered as a symbol of culture, spirit and religion of
Vietnamese. Through thousands of years in the history until today, each communal
house usually has three main features.
Firstly, it is the worshiping place of the Tutelary God of a village, the guardian of the
village. The Tutelary God can be a natural god such as God of the mountain, God of

1
the river, God of the sea or someone or something specific depending on the belief of
each place, like God of tree or God of stone and so on.
The deity can also be national heroes who contributed an important part to the
building and independence of the country or local ones who helped found and develop
the village.

The Deity at Chem communal house. Photo: Tran Duc Anh.


The diversified deities worshiped in the communal houses shows a rich spiritual life
of the local people, which combines the power of mother nature veneration (typical of
wet rice culture) and the ancestor beliefs of respecting the contribution of national
heroes under some influence of Buddhism and Confucianism.
Secondly, it is the administrative “head office” of a village, where important affairs
like issuing regular, paying tax, handling court cases, calling for conscription, and so
on took place. Last but not least, a communal house is the center of cultural activities
of the whole village, playing a vital role in their spiritual life.
The most important cultural activity organized here is festivals. Annually, thousands
of festivals take place at the communal houses of thousands of villages in Vietnam,
usually on the birthday, death anniversary of the worshiped deity or the foundation
day and historical events of the place.

2
This stone mascot is responsible for guarding at Phu Luu village's communal house.
Photo: Thuy Duong.
Each feature various rituals, art, music, sports and games, contributing the key role to
the nation’s diversified culture and identity. Another unique trait of a communal house
is its architecture since each communal house is a work of traditional Vietnamese
sculpture art with exquisite carving details of people, daily activities, spiritual animals
with super power, flowers, among others.
Furthermore, there are hundreds of worship statues and ornaments. All show the rich
spiritual and religious life of the local people. A communal house also features the
architecture typical of a public building which is open to everyone regardless of the
rich and the poor.
Through centuries, communal houses are not only a unique symbol of the village’s
power, religion and culture but also a witness of the history and development of the
place.

3
Dragon head is a typical decorative image at every communal house in the northern
part of Vietnam. Photo: Thuy Duong.
However, its important religious and cultural role still remains. A communal house is
still a familiar image of a village as well as the pride of many people. If they have to
leave their hometown to study and work far away, they always try to come back to
attend the festivals organized there.
Recently, a group called “Vietnamese Communal House” has been set up by young
people who are interested in heritage. Exhibitions, pictures, books and seminars about
communal houses have been introduced, attracting more and more members.
They also volunteer to support villages to preserve deteriorated communal houses. All
aim to protect and promote the role and value of the communal house as one of
Vietnamese heritages.
The people who wish to learn more about communal houses could take a stroll around
communal house in Hanoi as listed below.

4
Nam Huong Communal House

The Nam Huong Communal House. Photo: Bich Hoi.


Nam Huong Communal House is located in Hang Trong ward, Hoan Kiem district,
Hanoi. It features two entrances, one is facing faces Le Thai To street by Hoan
Kiem lake, the other is facingopens onto Hang Trong street. For a long time, Nam
Huong communal house has been a tourist attraction for many visitors locally and
internationally.
Being built at the end of the Le dynasty (1009–1225), the communal house is
bearing strong imprints of Hanoi history, culture and its people, worshipping three
Gods of Long Do, Cao Son, Linh Lang; A Duy princess (of Ly dynasty) and prince
Duong Tu (of Nguyen Dynasty).

5
Kim Ngan Communal House

The Kim Ngan Communal House. Photo: Thuy Duong.


Kim Ngan Communal House was built by Luu Xuan Tin, the minister of personnel
under the reign of King Le Thanh Tong in the 15th century, who settled his villagers
from Chau Khe village, Hai Duong province in the capital to cast silver artifacts for
the court.
During Gia Long reign in the 19th century, the people of Chau Khe expanded their
communal house.
With an area of nearly 600 square meters, Kim Ngan Communal House is fairly
large compared to other communal houses in the compacted and densely populated
Hanoi’s Old Quarter.

6
Dong Lac Communal House

The coutyard inside Dong Lac Communal House. Photo: Hanoia.


Recognized as a national heritage by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism in
2004, Dong Lac Communal House at 38 Hang Dao Street was built in the 17th
century under the Le Dynasty and is a place worshipping Cao Son, Linh Lang and
Bach Ma gods and selling silk products.
Since 2017, Hanoi's Old Quarter management board issued a plaque to recognize
Dong Lac Communal House as a tourist destination. The commune house is now
expected to be a favorite destination for tourists while exploring Hanoi’s cultural
and historical values.

https://hanoitimes.vn/communal-house-a-symbol-of-vietnamese-religion-and-culture-316556.html

You might also like