The village communal house is a place that attracts locals and tourists to return to the traditional cultural roots of the nation. The preservation and conservation of village communal house relics becomes more urgent as the urbanisation process has been taking place rapidly.

A contest to make 'banh chung' (square glutinous rice cakes) at the Hai Chau village communal house. Photo: HAO LUONG

The soul of the countryside in the city

The Thac Gian village communal house in Chinh Gian Ward, Thanh Khe District is under renovation and embellishment in preparation for the upcoming festival season.

Mr. Nguyen Ngoc Manh, the village communal house keeper, said that the Thac Gian communal house festival is held annually on the 15^th and 16^th days of the second lunar month. Accordingly, a number of worshiping rituals is organized on the 15^th day of the second lunar month, including rituals in commemoration of ancestors, and praying for peace, happiness, prosperity and good weather throughout the year. Meanwhile, the festival officially takes place on the 16^th day with many folk activities.

“Since the Thac Gian village communal house was recognised as a national-level architectural and artistic relic in 2007, the village communal house festival has been organised according to ancient traditions. This is an occasion for people from near and far to burn incense to pay tribute to their ancestors and village founders, and review the cultural traditions of the nation,” said Mr. Manh.

Located right in the city centre, the Hai Chau village communal house in Hai Chau Ward 1, Hai Chau District is not only a place for people to burn incense and attend the festival, but also a popular destination for many tourists at both home and abroad. Since the village communal house was restored, many ancient festival cultural customs have been preserved and conserved.

Every year, on the 8th and 9th days of the third lunar month, Mr. Nguyen Duy Minh, the officer in charge of culture and information of the People's Committee of Hai Chau Ward 1, together with the Elderly Association of the ward, takes on the responsibility of introducing to the festival’s organisers the elderly who are healthy and have prestige in the residential area to participate in the main worship ceremony.

According to Mr. Nguyen Duy Minh, the Hai Chau village communal house festival is carried out according to folklore, in which the most notable are a ceremony to release doves to pray for national peace and prosperity, and a ceremony to release flower-shaped lanterns on the lotus pond of the communal house.

"Since the Hai Chau village communal house and the church of the Hai Chau clans were recognised as national-level relics, the festival has been restored according to traditional rituals. The rituals remain the same as before, but the festival's cultural and sports activities are rotated every year to be new, attracting more people to participate. Such activities as contests making 'banh chung' (square glutinous rice cakes) and 'banh tet' (cylindrical glutinous rice cake), and making fruit offerings to ancestors, help the younger generation remember the merits of the ancestors who reclaimed the land and established the village", said Mr. Minh.

Joining hands to preserve "village traditions"

With the important significance of communal houses in preserving the cultural identity of the land and people of Da Nang, in recent times, the city has restored and embellished many village communal houses. Some of them have been completely restored, highlighting the value and creating a harmonious landscape, typically the Xuan Thieu communal house and Ham Trung temple.

Aside from the restoration and embellishment of relics, cultural and festival activities are also of interest and enthusiastically responded by local people.

Village festivals are being held on a larger scale with new features but still ensure traditional cultural values, meeting the aspirations of the people. Included are the Tuy Loan and Bo Ban village communal house festivals, or Cau Ngu (Fish Worshipping) Festival.

However, some valuable relics and works have not been inventoried and ranked in a timely manner. The survey, measurement, adjustment of protection zones and the marking of relics are still slow and have not kept up with reality, affecting the management and protection work.

In order to protect, inherit and selectively promote the value of national cultural heritage, the municipal People's Committee recently issued a project "Preserving and promoting the value of national cultural heritage in Da Nang in the period 2021-2025".

The project identifies the preservation and promotion of the value of national cultural heritage in the city is a long-term strategic task and the responsibility of the whole society, authorities at all levels, local people, unions and social organisations. The State plays a crucial role in guiding, supporting and creating conditions for the preservation and promotion of cultural heritage in the city.

Da Nang is a city with a long cultural history, demonstrated by the existence of many communal house relics with historical and cultural values ​​closely associated with the local cultural identity. The communal houses are places to worship the royal gods, ancestors, descendants, and ethnic groups, and are imbued with the customs and beliefs of each village.

“Every year, the communal houses hold festivals to express the morality of “when drinking water, remembering its source” for the ancestors who had the merit of reclaiming and establishing the village. Thanks to the good restoration and conservation work, recently, many restored works such as Nam O, Hai Chau and Bo Ban communal houses have been highly appreciated by the community and local people”, emphasised Director of the Da Nang Museum Huynh Dinh Quoc Thien.

For the time being, Da Nang is now home to 47 ranked communal house relics, of which 5 are ranked as national-level relics, and 42 as municipal-level ones. The Da Nang Museum has so far compiled a list of 71 valuable architectural works that have not been ranked, such as Hoa Khe Dong, Phu Ha, Phuoc Ly, Lien Chieu and Tan Thai village communal houses.

Reporting by HAO LUONG - Translating by M.DUNG