Phuoc Khanh Communal House - a place to preserve village culture

Phuoc Khanh Communal House (Phuoc Khanh village, Hoa Tri commune, Phu Hoa district) is one of the oldest communal houses in Tuy Hoa plain. Not only associated with the history of the Vietnamese people's exploration and establishment of villages in new lands, Phuoc Khanh Communal House is also a place for cultural activities and spiritual beliefs of local people, a place to preserve the village culture for generations.

Students of Phuoc Khanh village school, Hoa Tri 2 Primary School play and learn about the historical and cultural values ​​of Phuoc Khanh communal house. Photo: THUY HANG

Architectural space with strong village character

Phuoc Khanh communal house was built with traditional architectural space, based on feng shui: the front of the communal house faces south, with a field spread out in front as a minh duong. The communal house was built on a high and airy land, with a spacious campus of ^1,517.6m2 . The communal house is located in the campus, surrounded by a low wall, including the communal house gate, communal house yard, an phong an, the main communal house, the east house, and the west house. In front of the communal house there is a parallel sentence:

Blessed and glorious land

Khanh Hung's post-mortem examination of the divine eye.

The East wishes to give birth to a holy king.

Western Japan, the universe is divine .

Phuoc Khanh Communal House was built in the first year of Minh Mang (1820) with the original architecture of bamboo and large wooden pillars, the middle room worshiped the gods, the two sides worshiped the ancestors and the descendants. In 1947, the French army landed in the north of Tuy Hoa city and burned down the communal house, the royal decree had to be moved and hidden in the pagoda. In 1966, the communal house was re-established on the old foundation with a three-room tiled house. The middle room worshiped the Thanh Hoang god and the two sides worshiped the left and right branches. The west room worshiped the ancestors and descendants of the village, the east room contained the temple's spirit. After 1975, there was a time when the communal house did not burn incense and so it deteriorated. Recently, the communal house was renovated, whitewashed and repainted, and worshiped on the 15th and 1st of every month by the communal house management board.

At the gate of the communal house, there is a hundred-year-old Dong tree. In the minds of local residents, the tree at the communal house is very sacred. Over time, the Dong tree still stands tall, full of life, providing shade, and is a resting place for people passing by on hot afternoons.

A place to unite the community

The rare ancient royal decrees are always carefully preserved by Mr. Nguyen Van Thuc - the caretaker of Phuoc Khanh communal house. Photo: THUY HANG

Phuoc Khanh Communal House is the common house of the local community. This is the cultural and religious institution of the village. Phuoc Khanh Communal House used to have three main functions: administrative function, religious function and cultural function. The Communal House is the place to discuss village affairs, from big to small matters such as lawsuits, fines, agricultural production, irrigation... The Communal House is the place to worship the village's tutelary god (village god), the village's guardian deities and the place to worship ancestors and descendants; it is the place to organize festivals, folk games on the occasion of Lunar New Year, or important holidays according to village customs.

Today, Phuoc Khanh communal house with its cultural and religious functions is still preserved. The communal house management board chose January 16 as the spring festival day to gather people to review the good traditions of the village. In traditional long dresses and turbans, they solemnly perform worship rituals. The ceremony aims to express the villagers' gratitude to their ancestors who founded the village and pray for favorable weather, bountiful crops... The communal house management board aims to preserve the good traditional values ​​of the village such as the spirit of solidarity, mutual love and care in the community; guiding people to return to their ancestors' roots to be proud and do good things for society. During the communal house festival, villagers gather at the communal house to worship and show gratitude to their ancestors, meet with neighbors, and exchange production experiences.

Preserving rare ancient royal decrees

Phuoc Khanh Communal House is located in the middle of a green field, and anyone who comes here will feel the peacefulness of the countryside. Currently, Phuoc Khanh Communal House still has an ancient look, preserving copies of the royal decrees of Thanh Hoang, Bach Ma and Thien YA Na from the Nguyen Dynasty. All three decrees were granted on November 29, the 5th year of Tu Duc (1852) for Tay Hau village, which at that time included Phuoc Khanh and Quy Hau. After 1852, it was divided into two villages, Phuoc Khanh and Quy Hau today. The royal decree for Thanh Hoang of the village has the following content: "The decree for Tay Hau Thanh Hoang Chi Than, who was originally awarded the title of Bao An Chinh Truc Huu Thien Chi Than, protecting the country and the people, has been effective for many years. Now, I, following the great order, thinking of the god's virtue, give him the additional title of Bao An Chinh Truc Huu Thien Don Ngung Chi Than. I still allow Tay Hau commune, Tuy Hoa district to worship him as before. God, please protect and help our people."

The decree conferred the title of God Bach Ma with the beautiful titles of Duong Uy Ngu Vu Bao Chuong Kien Thuan Hoa Nhu Thuong Dang Than for his merit in protecting the country and helping the people with great responsiveness, specifically: "The decree conferred on God Bach Ma, previously conferred the title of Duong Uy Ngu Vu Bao Chuong Kien Thuan Hoa Nhu Thuong Dang Than, the god has protected the country and protected the people very effectively. Now, I obey the order to remember the god's merits and give him the title of Duong Uy Ngu Vu Bao Chuong Kien Thuan Hoa Nhu Ham Quang Thuong Dang Than. Assign him to Tay Hau commune, Tuy Hoa district to worship as before so that the god can continue to manifest his divine power to help the people" .

The content of the decree to confer the title of god Thien YA Na with the beautiful titles of Hoang Hue Pho Te Linh Cam Dieu Thong Mac Tuong Thuong Dang Than: "The decree to confer the title of god Thien YA Na Dien Ngoc Phi, previously conferred the title of Hoang Hue Pho Te Linh Cam Dieu Thong Mac Tuong Thuong Dang Than, the god has protected the country, protected the people very effectively. Now, I obey the order to remember the god's merits, so I confer the title of Hoang Hue Pho Te Linh Cam Dieu Thong Mac Tuong Trang Huy Thuong Dang Than. Assign it to Tay Hau commune, Tuy Hoa district to worship as before so that the god can continue to manifest his spirit to help the people" .

Phuoc Khanh Communal House is a religious work that unites the community, closely linked to the history of the village's founding by the ancestors in Hoa Tri commune; it is a place to preserve valuable royal decrees of the Nguyen Dynasty. Therefore, Phuoc Khanh Communal House needs to be preserved and promote its historical, cultural, architectural and artistic values ​​to serve the local people as well as tourists .

DR. DAO NHAT KIM