carved at the joint of the column are clusters of chrysanthemum leaves spreading out to both sides. The middle section of the belly of the armpits is embossed with each armpit an image of the "Eight Treasures": book, pen, flute, gong, trumpet... with a silk strip stylized with a soft chrysanthemum leaf strip.
* Decorate the lines
The rafters on the Xuan Duc communal house architecture are divided into two types. The first type includes the two middle rafters and the second type includes the rafters of the remaining rafters.
- Decorate the two middle men
These two were replaced under the Nguyen Dynasty. The carving technique with the dragon theme. The dragon is carved in openwork, the channel covers the entire body of the dragon. The image of the dragon has demon eyes, wolf mouth, deer horns, animal ears, camel forehead, carp scales, eagle feet with sharp claws. The dragon is in a winding posture in the background of many curved swords combined with the tail-curved swords creating a dragon shape that is not stiff but graceful in the swirling sky. The calf's head is decorated in the form of a dragon's head with its mouth and nose turned up. The dragon's eyes are prominent, its two legs are spread out and kicked backwards. The hair swords, the carrying swords, the neck swords, and the flying swords from the eyes curve softly back and end near the column. The head of the porch is carved in the form of a dragon's head, also in the position of raising its snout towards the roof. The belly of the dragon is embossed with flowers and chrysanthemum leaves winding to both sides (Photo No. 16).
- Decoration on other guys
The system of other compartments is embossed at the two ends adjacent to the military column and porch column. The embossed images are chrysanthemum leaves, cloud borders and large spiral clusters. The calf's head is carved with curved lines, the head of the line is also carved with spiral lines, curved lines.
Table 2.3: Themes used to decorate Xuan Duc communal house
STT
Decorative theme | Decorative position | |
1 | “Five blessings in front of the tree”, lotus, anise, chrysanthemum leaves, chrysanthemum branches, apricot branches, cloud clusters, leaf border | First sentence, square connection at roof truss, beam, and rafters |
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spiral | armpit, line | |
2 | Dragon Head | Surplus |
3 | Four sacred animals, "Plum turns into dragon", "Bamboo turns into dragon", "Pine turns into dragon", "Chrysanthemum turns into dragon", stylized longevity character | Core |
4 | Dragon, , animal, living scene: drinking, dancing, horse riding, fairy riding dragon | Chicken wings, armpits |
5 | “Two dragons facing the sun (moon)”, “Two dragons advancing with her”, “Eight treasures” | Wind board, armpit |
d. Related relic system
In addition to its architectural values, Xuan Duc communal house still preserves many relics and antiques associated with historical periods, with quite typical historical, cultural and scientific values, such as: 2 books of legends; 1 bronze cauldron, dated from the 19th century; 1 pair of parallel sentences; 2 thrones carved with dragons, four sacred animals, and vines, dated from the 18th century and 34 royal decrees, dating from the 17th, 18th, 19th and 20th centuries. Among these, the most important is the decree dated from the 8th year of Canh Tri (1671) (Photo No. 17). This is one of the bases for determining the date of the construction of Xuan Duc communal house.
e. Chronology
From the legends about the history of the communal house's construction, through the survey and comparison of the architectural plan and decorative sculptures. In particular, the comparison of the remaining "chicken wings", "wind leaf boards" in the two side rooms of the middle room with the embossed and channeled form, showing the theme of dragons, fairies riding dragons, two dragons facing the moon has similarities, inheriting the style of chicken wings in Tay Dang communal house, Thanh Lung communal house (dating from the 16th century) and as a bridge with the chicken wings of some architectures dating from the end of the 17th century, typically in Cong Dinh communal house. Including the comparison of the similarities in decoration of the "chicken wings" of Phu Luu communal house (Tu Son, Bac Ninh). Regarding artifacts, Xuan Duc communal house still preserves many colors.
The documents have an early date, including the decree dated from the 8th year of Canh Tri (1671). It shows that the construction date of Xuan Duc communal house in the early 17th century according to historical documents is appropriate.
2.2.2.2. Cong Dinh Street
a. History of formation and development
Cong Dinh Communal House used to belong to Cong Dinh Commune, Ha Duong Canh, Dong Ngan District. Now it belongs to Dinh Xuyen Commune, Gia Lam District (Hanoi).
According to the elders of Cong Dinh village, Cong Dinh communal house was built around the middle of the 17th century. Legend has it that after defeating the Bau invaders, General Ta Phu brought wood from the Bau invaders' guest house to build the communal house. Initially, the communal house was built in the shape of the letter "Nhat" with 3 rooms. In the 18th century, the communal house was renovated. The stele currently remaining at the communal house, dated from the 3rd year of Le Canh Hung (1742), recorded that General Dao Cong Luan from Phu Ninh village donated 200 quan of ancient money, 60 precious trees, 30 sao of good rice fields to renovate and expand the communal house into 3 rooms, 2 wings and the harem. In fact, many carvings have been replaced. This is consistent with the content of the stele mentioned above. However, currently, the harem no longer has any material traces dating back to the 18th century. It is possible that in the late 19th century, early 20th century, the communal house had a square pavilion added in front and the harem was renovated.
Because of his contributions to the country and being the one who brought wood to build the communal house, when he died, Ta Phu was worshiped by the villagers as the village's tutelary god.
b. Architecture
* Architectural plan
Cong Dinh Communal House was built on a large plot of land, with the front and two sides being village roads, and the back adjacent to a residential area. Through the “Four-pillar lantern” gate is a yard of about 3,000 square meters paved with Bat Trang tiles. In fact, this large yard was renovated during the Nguyen Dynasty to serve the cultural activities of the community, especially the village festival. According to the memories of the village elders:
In front of the communal house is a large pond that was filled in and later expanded into a path and a village market. Basically, the current communal house has a "T" shaped structure (Photo No. 25), right in front is Phuong Dinh (Drawing No. 6), (Photo No. 24). Like many other communal houses, the architectural works were built and repaired in many different periods. The main communal house is the central architectural work that retains the original elements, reflecting the historical and cultural values of the relic. Therefore, we only focus on researching the main communal house.
5
1
4
Note:
1. Temple gate
2. Courtyard
3. Great Court
4. Harem
5. Stone tablet
3
2
Floor plan of Cong Dinh communal house relic site
* Architectural foundation
The main hall has a 3-room, 2-wing architecture with 6 rows of pillars, built 0.6 m higher than the yard. Previously, the communal house had a wooden floor in the side room, but now the ground has been raised and replaced with brick flooring. The wooden pillars are placed on square and round stone bases. To support the force on the pillars, the base of the bases is treated with soil and broken bricks. The surrounding walls mainly have a shielding effect, not a load-bearing effect because the entire roof is placed on a wooden frame with a truss system and is braced together by a system of beams.
Table 2.4: Vertical dimensions of the main hall of Cong Dinh communal house (Drawing No. 7)
Spatial units
Measurements | |
Nave | 3.80m |
The right side room next to the middle room
3.35m | |
The left side next to the middle side | 3.35m |
Right side | 4.50m |
Left side | 4.50m |
Right porch | 0.85m |
Left porch | 0.85m |
Table 2.5: Cross-sectional dimensions of Cong Dinh communal house (Drawing No. 8)
Spacing between columns
Measurements | |
Main column – main column | 3.65m |
Main column – front column | 2.20m |
Main column – rear column | 2.32m |
Front column – front porch column | 1.30m |
Rear column – rear porch column | 1.23m |
* Architectural frame structure
Dinh Cong Dinh, the roof trusses have been replaced, now in the style of "Hiding trusses" smooth planked and sharply closed, all are sawn boards, with a system of hiding pillars (one large, two small) with connecting arms. The roof trusses are shaped like an isosceles triangle, the bottom of the triangle is a sawn board placed on the first rafter, the sawn boards on the two sides of the triangle support the roof beam system above (Photo No. 27). The rafters are all made of overlapping beams with sparse overlapping beams through square joints with tapered bottoms, one end is mortised into the main column supporting the lower roof beams (Photos No. 28, No. 29). The rafters are connected to the top of the military column with the porch column, above there are thick planks supporting the remaining beams. The beam spacing is in the style of "Thuong tam ha tu" (upper 3, lower 4). The height of the roof from the upper beam to the ground is 6.28m, the height from the roof's roof to the ground is 2.05m. The ratio between the height of the roof and the height of the gable is 3.06 times. Thus, the roof is long and the height of the gable is low.
- Architectural horizontal linkage
Similar to Xuan Duc communal house, the connection between the main column and the main column is the head beam, between the main column and the side column is the armpit beam, between the side column and the porch column is the rafter, below the foot of the column there is a floor board. This connection is mortised together. Because the roof is built on the big head beam, the first beam is built on the top of the main column through a square bracket with a tapered bottom, below is the surplus end. The front roof beam is made of overlapping rafters, one end is mortised into the main column, the other end is supported by a square bracket with a tapered bottom. The beam behind the middle room, the last rafter has one end mortised through a young column, the young column is placed on a square bracket placed on the armpit beam without a military column, forming a rectangular space. Supporting the belly of the upper beam is a "chicken wing" in the form of a dragon's body, the head is facing the middle of the room (Drawing No. 9).
- Vertical architectural linkage
Connecting the trusses is a system of upper and lower beams. The beams are firmly mortised into the main and secondary columns to form a solid brace. The angle of the lean-to section is used to create the angle of the roof, one end is mortised into the main column, the outer end is placed on the corner column and connected to the roof beam to ensure the load-bearing capacity of the lean-to section. The middle section does not have a threshold beam due to many repairs and creates a "Upper and lower plate" door adjacent to the ground. The remaining sections have a threshold beam 0.30m higher than the ground. (Drawing No. 10).
- Mortise and tenon technique
Connecting the architectural components together, Cong Dinh communal house uses mortise and tenon joints in the system to connect large components such as "chicken wings" and surplus ends. Mortise and tenon joints in the beams and mortise and tenon joints in small components. Specifically: The first type is mortise and tenon: The unused first sentence is mortised into the main column but is placed on the top of the main column through a square joint with a tapered bottom. At the surplus end, a mortise and tenon is used in the slot of the main column and the porch mortise and tenon joints are used in the top of the slot of the military column and porch column. The second type is mortise and tenon joints: this type of mortise and tenon is used to connect the horizontal beams.
roof, longitudinal rafters together, rafters to main columns and sub-columns. The third type is mortise and tenon: used in roofs to connect thick wooden boards to eaves.
* Characteristics assessment: from the measurements of the space, this is a communal house of moderate size compared to communal houses of the same period such as Tran Tao communal house.
c. Architectural decorative sculpture
Under the Nguyen Dynasty (early 20th century), the communal house was extensively restored. Therefore, this restoration phase completely lost the carvings on the roof trusses, the panels, and the wind panels connecting the column heads (according to the girder system). The traditional decorative art of the communal house only remained on the "residual heads", "chicken wings" and especially on the arched door in the middle room.
* Excess head decoration
Currently, the 6 remaining ends from the time of construction are still intact. The remaining ends are carved with the same openwork and channel. The investment is shown as a dragon's head, on a round wooden body. The round wooden body is not carved completely but left a little bit of about 12 cm adjacent to the main pillar. The bottom is embossed in the shape of a Bodhi leaf with a few chiseled strokes. The dragon is carved in the form of: nose, mouth turned up, wide mouth with saw teeth and 4 fangs, mouth open holding a pearl. The two chin whiskers are twisted half the length, then run straight to the adjacent Bodhi leaf. The blades extend to the back. With the method of combining openwork and channel carving, a vivid decorative theme has been created (Photos No. 31, No. 42, No. 43).
* Decorate “chicken wings”
On the architecture, there are still 8 "chicken wings" shown on the main columns in front and behind. This part is installed under the lower beam, supported by a wooden bar underneath to disperse the force, helping the "chicken wings" not to be crooked. The form of the creation is carved, embossed, and 2-sided bulging on a flat wooden body showing the whole body of the dragon. The head turns to the middle room (0.9m), the tail is in the side room (1.1m), the body is shown to pass through the main column. Both the head and tail of the dragon are densely covered with blades, the dragon's head blade is shown flying backwards and up towards the head; the tail blade is densely covered with only the dragon's tail exposed.
The fish tail is very thick. The dragon's face is flat with a wide mouth with saw teeth. Every two heads facing each other, there is another room with two tails facing each other (Photos No. 33, No. 34).
* Door decoration
The main door is divided into three parts. The top part is a wooden board with the length of the middle room, 27 cm wide, placed under the upper beam and on a round wooden beam with the remaining end. The technique of carving a pair of phoenixes facing the sun. The sun is in the middle with a cluster of clouds below and each side of the sun has 3 blades running horizontally to both sides. The phoenix's beak is long, close to the blades and the whole body is in a position of spreading its wings to fly, running almost the entire length of the wooden bar on each side, about 13 cm from the main column. The phoenix's body is short, the long tail occupies 2/5 of the entire phoenix's body. The crest under the phoenix's neck is carved with soft curves.
The middle part below the round wooden bar and above the planed wooden bar with the lines are carved with the theme of "Two dragons facing the tiger". The tiger talisman is made in the form of a dragon's head with a lion's nose on the front, a wide mouth holding a pearl, a low camel's forehead, and fish scales. The top of the fontanel is depicted with a small, round, embossed sun, and a knife above the sun. The two horns of the tiger talisman fly straight up, parallel to the outside are two straight blades running straight up and adjacent to the round wooden beam. Each side of the tiger talisman has 4 straight blades facing the sides. The two dragons on both sides are carved facing the tiger talisman, also with a straight face but with a tilt. The dragon's face is also like the tiger talisman's face, but the blades fly and turn inwards towards the top. The narrow blades then fly to the sides. The inner blade system flies and touches the tiger talisman, the ends of the blades overlap the ends of the blades. The outer blades fly close to the main pillar. Between the large blades are short blades, below the last blade is a fully blossomed chrysanthemum. The dragon does not show its body, but only emphasizes its face and shows off its various blades. In general, the tiger and dragon faces are carved freely and strongly.
The bottom part is placed under and covered in a wooden bar under the "Two dragons facing the tiger" panel. Under the ribbon is a double carving system above and below, above is