Village temple at the foot of the waves

Duy Phien village, Bac Phuoc hamlet, Trieu Phuoc commune, Trieu Phong district used to be an isolated countryside because it was surrounded by rivers on all sides. For hundreds of years, every time the rainy and stormy season came, the people of Bac Phuoc village, including the people of Duy Phien village, were always worried about the rising flood waters, the rapid flow, the dykes, the destruction of fields and villages. In that fierce storm, Duy Phien village communal house was the place to shelter and protect the villagers. The village communal house was also the place to hide revolutionary cadres, a "witness" of history and a place for political , cultural, religious activities, meetings to discuss major issues of the village...

Duy Phien communal house has become the pride of generations of children in the village - Photo: NB

Bac Phuoc is a land located in the North of Trieu Phuoc commune, surrounded by two branches of Hieu and Thach Han rivers, with a total area of about 4 km2. Before merging into Bac Phuoc village, this island had 3 villages: Duy Phien, Ha La, Duong Xuan with about 330 households, more than 1,500 people. Through many changes, the small villages are still isolated in the middle of salt water with many worries.

Dozens, hundreds of years ago, Bac Phuoc island was associated with salt marshes, the people here had to bear the harshness of natural disasters. Especially during the rainy and stormy season, the flood water from upstream poured in, combined with the waves and high tides, causing the island to be submerged in water. Faced with the terrible destruction of storms and floods, Bac Phuoc people learned from experience, built dikes, and built houses high to avoid flooding.

Duy Phien village is located close to the riverbank, downstream towards the estuary, so since ancient times, every household in the dry season often carried soil to build the foundation of the house, and the barn for raising buffalo and cows to avoid floods. And Duy Phien village communal house is the place where people joined hands to build soil and gravel, becoming the highest place in the village, a sacred symbol of the village.

The elders recounted that Duy Phien village has a history of over 500 years. Like many other villages, Duy Phien village has accumulated the typical features of Vietnamese culture, and at the same time, it also carries the characteristics of an island with many small fields that our ancestors had developed hundreds of years ago. Currently, the village has 7 clans with 153 households and more than 630 people.

Speaking of Duy Phien village communal house, the old books do not record specifically and even the elders in the village do not remember clearly the initial time of construction of the communal house. It is only known that in the past, the ancestors of Duy Phien village established many temples to worship such as: Thanh Hoang Temple, Ba Ho Temple, temples to worship gods, and those who were granted titles by the royal court. However, due to destruction by war and natural disasters, most of the old temples and shrines are no longer intact over the years.

According to the remaining sources, the predecessor location of Duy Phien communal house today was built by the ancestors with the help of villagers to build a high ground foundation to worship their ancestors. Every year, on the full moon day of the sixth lunar month, the villagers hold a worship ceremony there. In 1939, the communal house was built of wood with four roofs and tiled roofs. During the resistance war against the French, the communal house was severely damaged.

In 1959, the village people rebuilt the communal house with brick walls, two tiled roofs, three outbuildings and a relatively large communal house, with four ancient banyan trees in the yard. In 1972, the communal house was heavily damaged by American bombs.

In 1998, the communal house was rebuilt and inaugurated on August 2, 1998. After 21 years, the communal house had deteriorated, so the villagers had the intention of building a new, more spacious communal house. In 2019, the communal house was started to be built with a total cost of over 3.2 billion VND. In April 2021, Duy Phien village held an inauguration ceremony for the communal house.

According to the design, the worship area has three rooms, of which the middle room worships the pioneers, the left room worships the pioneers, and the right room worships the seven clans of the village. Every year, the village executive board regularly organizes ceremonies, and the death anniversaries of the pioneers are worshiped in the communal house, including the Spring and Autumn ceremonies. On each occasion of the ceremony, the village executive board always performs gratitude rituals, expressing gratitude for the merits of the ancestors, and at the same time praying for peace and prosperity for the villagers.

On the occasion of the festival, each household sends at least one person aged 18 or older to attend and share the joy, thereby also contributing to strengthening the neighborhood relationship, especially when Tet comes and spring returns.

Village temple at the foot of the waves

Many children of Duy Phien village from all over the country came to attend the inauguration ceremony of the village communal house in 2021 - Photo: NB

For decades, the communal house has always been a shelter for villagers when big storms and floods occur, such as the historic floods of 1983, 1985, and 1989. In the communal house grounds, there are many ancient trees with lush foliage and high ground, so people bring livestock and poultry here to avoid the floods. The elderly, the weak, children, and households that are deeply flooded are often brought to the communal house to take shelter from storms and floods. Many households also cook and sleep at the communal house during the flood days.

The communal house not only sheltered villagers from natural disasters but also sheltered revolutionary cadres and was the site of many meetings and major political and social activities in the village. In October 1975, before migrating to the new economic zone of Lao Bao (Huong Hoa district), a meeting was held at the communal house to discuss the policy of migration. The communal house was also the place to honor and award scholarships to children in the village and organize activities to encourage learning and talent, launch many emulation movements, and build the homeland.

The village communal house is like a historical “witness”, witnessing, following, and protecting the villagers of Duy Phien in the wars against the Ming army in the post-Tran period in the 14th century, the Lam Son uprising in the 15th century, Nguyen Hue’s attack on Bac Ha in the late 18th century, defeating the Siamese army in the early 19th century. Responding to and participating in the Can Vuong movement in 1885, and the uprisings against French colonialism and American imperialism later.

During the struggle for national liberation, the revolutionary movement in Duy Phien village was established very early, in the early 1930s and 1940s. During this period, the village had the first Red Peasant Association of the commune; the first place the commune chose as a base to build resistance forces against the French in 1947 and 1948; it was also the first place in the commune to have a secret tunnel during the resistance war against the US and the first place to establish a village front government in June 1964.

The only village in the commune that had a Young Pioneer Unit against the US in 1965-1968; it was the first area where the liberation army returned during the 1972 campaign. In particular, in 1955-1960, Duy Phien village was the revolutionary base of the Provincial Party Committee's leadership. Throughout the anti-US resistance war, it was a revolutionary base, a place to hide and nurture many district committee cadres, party committee cadres and secret guerilla cadres.

The war ended, leaving behind much pain and loss, but also great pride when the people of Duy Phien village were awarded the Second Class Liberation Medal by the Provisional Revolutionary Government of the Republic of South Vietnam in 1973. The whole village had 6 heroic Vietnamese mothers, one hero of the people's armed forces, 62 martyrs, 30 wounded, sick and imprisoned soldiers, and over 100 people were awarded medals of various kinds by the State.

Hundreds of years have passed, many generations of Duy Phien village children were born, grew up, left, and returned, all carrying within them the pride of a revolutionary and studious village. Contributing to the homeland and country in peacetime are 4 PhDs, hundreds of children with college, university, and post-graduate degrees, many shining examples of businessmen, many typical citizens and party members in studying, working, producing, and doing business.

Duy Phien communal house is not only a sacred place of worship but also a space for cultural and spiritual activities, a bond between the community and the cultural and religious institution of the villagers. Every spring, no matter where they are, the villagers turn to their homeland, taking care of village and national affairs, celebrating spring festivals, and paying tribute to their ancestors...

Nhon Four

Source