Yen Thanh communal house in Yen Thanh village - Truong Yen commune (Hoa Lu, Ninh Binh) is located in the center of Hoa Lu ancient capital, about 500m from the temple of King Dinh - King Le. This is an ancient temple that is hundreds of years old. This place worships 2 kings Dinh - Le as the citadel. Experiencing many ups and downs, the communal house still retains its ancient architecture.
The communal house consists of the front and the harem, both built in the style of a 5-room house. The forecourt is the place where the meetings of the people in the village are held. The harem is a solemn place to worship the two kings Dinh - Le. According to history, in the past, the communal house was often chosen by the king as a place to set up the court and discuss political affairs. The harem is the place where the king resides, and the front hall is where the two sides of the mandarin and martial arts attend.
The communal house chose King Dinh - King Le as the citadel because these are the two kings who founded the country and built the land of Hoa Lu into the center of the ancient Dai Co Viet country. From the outside to the harem, the right side worships King Dinh Tien Hoang, so outside, two large Chinese characters are written "Thai Binh" - this is the era name of our country under King Dinh.
On the left side of the harem, there are two Chinese characters "Thien Phuc" - this is the name of our country under King Le Dai Hanh. In addition, the columns on either side also contain parallel sentences praising the merits of these two prehistoric kings.
Inside the harem, the altar of two kings Dinh - Le is always very attentive and respectful by the people in the village. On holidays, Yen Thanh village communal house is considered as a sacred place to commemorate the two kings who founded the country. The communal house is unique that it is rare for any communal house to choose both kings as tutelary gods.
Right in the middle of the roof of Tien Duong, there are still rows of ancient Chinese characters showing the date, as well as the historical and cultural value of this most unique communal house in Hoa Lu ancient capital.
With the ancient communal house architecture, Yen Thanh village communal house has 5 compartments, 5 rows of horizontal columns and 6 rows of vertical columns, the two outermost rows of columns are made of meticulously hand-carved stone. Over the hundreds of years, the weather and war destroyed it but the temple still stands and retains its value.
The columns, beams, rafters, and locks of the communal house are all made of ironwood and engraved with patterns. On the roof of the communal house covered with yin and yang tiles, each tile is molded with the word "Tho" printed on it.
The nave of the front hall is placed a ceremony palanquin, which is used on important occasions. On holidays, people in the village gather in the communal house, and join hands in village affairs, worshiping the two kings and emperors, praying to the two kings for favorable rain and good crops.
On many stone columns in the communal house, there are still many traces of ancient Chinese characters, which are couplets of great cultural value.
The communal house is located in the middle of the village, about 500m from the temple of King Dinh - King Le, so there are often many tourists to visit. Visitors come here the most on the occasion of the annual Truong Yen festival. On weekdays, people in the village also often come to the communal house to sit and play, where this is a meeting place, a special cultural exchange of the people in the village.
Right in front of the communal house yard, there is a well that is always full of water water all year round. This well used to be a village well used by the whole village to collect water for daily life. Now many households have their own drilled wells, so only a few households have recently come to collect well water for use because the water in this well is very clear, cool and fresh.
The communal house of Yen Thanh village, viewed from the west, the moss covered the communal house looks very ancient. The people of Yen Thanh village for generations past and present are very proud of this unique communal house.