Bac Ninh: "Awakening" the village communal house heritage

The communal houses of Bac Ninh - Kinh Bac have long existed as witnesses to preserve the cultural, historical and religious resources of the community. Through ups and downs, the ancient and majestic communal houses have become cultural symbols, spiritual supports and places that crystallize the village identity. However, the heritage of communal houses in Bac Ninh has not been effectively promoted in tourism activities, and has not become an attractive destination for visitors from all over the world...

Typical values of communal houses in Kinh Bac region

As a museum of Vietnamese village community culture, the communal house is not only a place to worship the village guardian spirit, but also conveys beliefs and aspirations for a peaceful and prosperous life.

The famous beauty of the gate of Diem communal house (Kinh Bac ward)

In the countryside of Bac Ninh - Kinh Bac, the village communal house system has long been famous for its unique cultural, artistic, religious, architectural and decorative sculpture values. According to preliminary statistics, Bac Ninh currently has nearly 800 communal houses distributed throughout the villages and communes in the province. Each communal house is a place to worship the village guardian spirit, a place to practice religious activities, community festivals and preserve unique artistic imprints. Bac Ninh has communal houses famous throughout the country such as: Lo Hanh communal house (Hiep Hoa commune) known as "The First Kinh Bac"; Dinh Bang communal house (Tu Son ward) is a special national relic; Diem communal house is glorious with its famous votive door (Kinh Bac ward); or Dong Ky communal house (Dong Nguyen ward), Tho Ha communal house (Van Ha ward), Huong Cau communal house (Xuan Cam commune) ... are all communal houses with unique architectural and artistic styles.

One of the outstanding values of Bac Ninh communal houses is expressed in the art of sculpture and decoration with the concentration and high promotion of embossing techniques, channel carving, openwork carving, perforated carving... Images of people, fairies, dragons, clouds, plants, animals with various forms and vivid expressions, are carved delicately, densely stacked like public paintings expressing the desire for freedom, equality, and freedom... The visual language of Bac Ninh communal houses is rich and unmatched, praised by the art world. The themes of the carvings are diverse, expressing the colorful life of people in the countryside as well as the aspiration to reach the beauty of truth, goodness, and beauty. Some typical works include: The famous votive door at Diem communal house; the image of a girl riding a dragon, a person playing a stone instrument at Lo Hanh communal house...

Along with typical cultural, historical, spiritual and religious values, many communal houses in Bac Ninh were also revolutionary bases, meeting places, hiding places for cadres, and printing documents during the years of struggle in the pre-uprising period. Today, relics such as Dinh Bang Communal House, Dong Ky Communal House, Lieu Khe Communal House, Lac Yen Communal House, Phuc Thang Communal House... are still mentioned as "red addresses" educating the revolutionary patriotism tradition for the younger generation.

Bringing the village temple into the tour

As a priceless cultural heritage of the nation, Bac Ninh communal houses crystallize and preserve unique values, reflecting the soul and aspirations of the Vietnamese people from ancient times to the present day. However, in reality, the communal house system has not yet been exploited to include in cultural tourism tours and routes. Mr. Nghiem Xuan Quang, 67 years old, currently the head of the Lo Hanh communal house (Hiep Hoa commune) expressed: "Although known as "The First Kinh Bac", Lo Hanh communal house is hidden deep, the roads are narrow, and few tourists know about it. I hope that the authorities at all levels will pay attention to investing in infrastructure and expanding the space so that the relic not only lives among the people but also welcomes tourists from all over the world."

Foreign tourists visit Tho Ha communal house (Van Ha ward)

After visiting some ancient villages in Bac Ninh, Mr. Nguyen Ke Duong, a tourist from Hanoi, also suggested turning the communal house into an attractive tourist destination: "The heritage of communal houses in Bac Ninh - Kinh Bac has great potential to become a highlight in cultural experience tours. Each communal house can develop into an attractive destination thanks to its association with the space of craft villages and indigenous culture. Tourists can both visit the architecture and experience handicrafts, enjoy cuisine, and shop for local products..." - Mr. Duong suggested.

In fact, this direction is quite suitable because each communal house in Bac Ninh is associated with the legends and stories of the gods, closely related to the village and craft stories. For example, Diem communal house is associated with the homeland of Quan Ho ancestors; Dinh Bang communal house with stories about the establishment and the process of protecting the heritage of local people through resistance wars; Tho Ha communal house is associated with the ancient village space on the Cau River with the craft of making pottery and rice paper; Lo Hanh communal house with the art of Ca Tru singing... Putting communal houses on tourist tours not only diversifies destinations, but also spreads the cultural values and people of Bac Ninh - Kinh Bac. This is also a way to arouse the pride and attachment of the community to the heritage.

However, exploiting the value of communal house heritage in tourism development activities is still a challenging problem, requiring creative approaches with the cooperation of the community, government and businesses. Mr. Nguyen Xuan Con, Head of Tourism Management Department, Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism affirmed: In order for communal house heritage to become an attractive destination for tourists, first of all, the infrastructure and service system must be improved synchronously. Especially the participation of local authorities and communities in renovating, preserving landscape space, environmental sanitation, organizing tourism training for local people. In addition, coordinating and connecting with travel businesses to build products, design tours, routes with destinations being communal houses with typical values; Organize surveys, promote, advertise, and introduce communal house heritage on online tourism platforms, promotional fairs, etc. In the long term, there needs to be appropriate mechanisms and policies to encourage the community to join hands in protecting and promoting communal house heritage to become a branded cultural tourism product.

According to Bac Ninh Newspaper and Radio and Television

Source: https://bvhttdl.gov.vn/bac-ninh-danh-thuc-di-san-dinh-lang-20250728150954379.htm