About 25 km southwest of the centre of Da Nang, the Truc Bau Village Communal House is located in Truoc Dong Village, Hoa Nhon Commune, Hoa Vang District.

The Truc Bau Village Communal House

In the past, the village communal house served the resistance wars against foreign invaders. Currently, it is a traditional cultural and religious institution where meetings, festivals and worship ceremonies are held annually.

The Truc Bau Village Communal House was recognised as a municipal-level historical and cultural relic by the Da Nang People's Committee in 2007.

Truc Bau Village, also known as Truoc Bau, is the current Truoc Dong Village. According to local history, a number of villages such as Phuoc Thuan and Thach Nham had been established in Hoa Nhon Commune and were somewhat densely populated. However the southwest land where they stopped was still wild and densely forested. Legend has it that it was a land with lots of bamboo and swampy areas, so the name Truc Bau appeared, reflecting the geographical and ecological characteristics of the beginning.

At first, the village communal house was just a house with simple architecture, mainly using locally available materials such as thatch, bamboo, and wood. The location of the communal house right in the middle of the village has not changed since then.

Around the middle of the 19^th century, the 3-compartment and 2-wing communal house was built of wood. The image of this large and beautiful communal house is still preserved in the memories of many old villagers.

But unfortunately, due to the period of rain, sun, and constant wars, the villagers did not afford to repair and protect it, so around the middle of the 20^th century, the communal house was seriously degraded.

In 1963, the new village communal house was built from the old communal house frame and still exists today.

In the early days of the national resistance war in 1946, fierce fighting against the foreign invaders took place in Da Nang and many other localities in the country as well.

In early 1947, units of Regiment No.96 were directed to withdraw to the southwestern perimeter of the city, and the regiment's forward command post was located in Truc Bau Village. At this time, the soldiers of the regiment were wholeheartedly helped by Truc Bau villagers. The Truc Bau village communal house became a gathering point for necessities donated by villagers to serve the soldiers.

The communal house was also a resting place for units of the Regiment No.96 during combat operations against the enemy from northwest of Da Nang to western Quang Nam in 1947, 1948 and 1949.

Starting from 1948, fighting always took place fiercely against the enemy, especially in the belt areas of Hoa Vang District. Some villages of Hoa Nhon Commune, including Truc Bau, became temporary war zones. But with their ingenuity, the people of Truc Bau still provided food for revolutionary bases in the western side of Da Nang, but the important location still was in the house.

Not only that, the communal house was a place often chosen to conduct meetings to discuss plans to fight the enemy by comrades in Chau Quang Ngan Party cell.

Thus, it can be said that the Truc Bau Village Communal House is a very important revolutionary base, contributing to the overall victory in the resistance war against the French.

During the 1955-1965 period, the communal house was a place to hide propaganda materials, food, and weapons to fight for general elections in the early years, and at the same time to launch a revolutionary movement in the home commune in the years later.

After 1965, American soldiers they set up a station right behind the village communal house, on top of the hill to observe and control the movement of local people. However, Truc Bau villagers built a system of secret tunnels to hide revolutionary cadres.

Perhaps that is the reason why the Truc Bau village communal house features historical value that not any communal house has.

Reporting by DOAN GIA HUY - Translating by M.DUNG