Monument worshiping national hero Ngo Vuong Quyen in Hai Phong. Current situation and solutions for tourism development

spirit for local people, serving visiting, worshiping beliefs, introducing cultural history, creating research conditions for subjects and international tourists to visit and research the relic. With the attention of the Ministry of Culture and Information (now the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism), on July 3, 2006, Hai Phong City People's Committee issued Decision No. 1449/QD - UBND on approving the investment project, restoration and embellishment of the temple of King Ngo Quyen - Tu Luong Xam headquarters, Nam Hai ward - Hai An district - Hai Phong city. The Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism (investor) - the construction unit, Hai An District People's Committee issued the groundbreaking order on December 22, 2006. After more than a year of urgent construction, the project was completed and handed over to Nam Hai ward for management and use on January 25, 2008. To continue promoting the Vietnamese tradition of " When drinking water, remember its source ", on April 14, 2008, the People's Committee of Hai An district submitted a request to the City People's Committee to build the Monument of King Ngo Quyen at the headquarters of Tu Luong Xam, Nam Hai ward. The City issued Document No. 2070/UBND - VX dated April 18, 2008 on agreeing to build the Monument of King Ngo Quyen at the Tu Luong Xam relic site. Pursuant to Decision No. 1011/QD - UBND dated June 19, 2008 of the People's Committee of Hai Phong city on the establishment of the Art Council for the Monument of King Ngo Quyen at the Tu Luong Xam relic site - Nam Hai ward, Hai An district.

The construction unit has gathered good technical staff, skilled, enthusiastic and responsible workers. Although some construction works require high technical and aesthetic skills, the construction unit still meets the design requirements. Under the conditions of completely manual construction, with assembled structures of large size and weight, the construction unit has ensured the safety of people and equipment. During the construction process, when the weather is unfavorable, the construction unit has arranged workers to compensate for Tet holidays, work at night, and ensure the progress according to the investor's requirements. In a short time, the construction unit has completed a large amount of work including construction items, construction of monuments, statue pedestals, park yards, road leveling and widening, grass carpeting, square yard construction, and arrangement.

electrical system, water supply and drainage system. During the construction process, the investor and the construction unit always received encouragement, motivation, close and active direction from the City Party Committee - People's Council - People's Committee of Hai Phong City, the City's branches, the Department of Culture - Sports and Tourism, the District Party Committee and People's Committee of Hai An District, local people, visitors and especially on October 18, 2010, the Prime Minister of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam; Nguyen Tan Dung came to pay tribute to the merits of the national hero, planted a commemorative banyan tree and offered incense at the statue of King Ngo Quyen. King Ngo Quyen Temple - Tu Luong Xam Headquarters with its majestic architecture, landscape, rich artistic decoration and is a place to worship the national hero, the construction of the King Ngo Quyen Statue at his headquarters has affirmed the position of the relic, a priceless heritage of the nation. King Ngo Quyen Temple is a convenient address for many domestic and international tourists to visit and research. The completed project will be put into use, preserving a national cultural heritage forever for future generations, making the relic truly have certain contributions in researching the historical, cultural, architectural and artistic values of the architectural system of relics in the Northern Delta region.

Every year, from the 16th to the 18th of January, Tu Luong Xam Festival is solemnly and respectfully held to commemorate the great contributions of the national hero who drove out foreign invaders, kept the country safe, and brought a peaceful, prosperous, and happy life to the people, that is Ngo Quyen, the first king of our country, Vietnam. The festival is a manifestation of the cultural beauty of the people here in preserving and conserving the precious cultural identity of the nation. It has a great effect in meeting the spiritual and religious needs of a part of the people here and visitors from all over. Moreover, it also has an effect in educating the next generations to appreciate the achievements of the previous generations who did not hesitate to sacrifice their blood and bones so that today's generations can have a peaceful, prosperous, and happy life, thereby forming a

instill in them love for their homeland and country, a sense of responsibility to build and protect the Vietnamese fatherland.

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3.2. Hang Kenh Communal House Relic

3.2.1. The process of monument formation

On the left porch of the communal house, there is still a stone stele recording the merits of those who paid for the renovation of the communal house. The stele is engraved with "Started construction in Tu Duc Tan Hoi year 1851". However, according to the stories of local elders, Hang Kenh communal house has existed since the 11th year of Le Vinh Thinh (1718). In the early 18th century, the village started building the communal house on the bank of Lau Gie in Bac village, Hang Kenh commune (1718). By the year Canh Ty, under King Minh Mang, the communal house was severely damaged. The elderly and dignitaries in the village and commune met many times to decide to rebuild the communal house. The new construction site was Trung village - the central location compared to the old communal house (ie the current location). This shows that the year recorded on the stele is the year of rebuilding the communal house - 1851. Mr. Nguyen Danh Duong (1791-1861), who passed the bachelor's exam in Tan Ty year (1821), was elected by the villagers of Hang Kenh to manage the reconstruction of the communal house. He stood up and called on the villagers to contribute money, rice, and buy ironwood to rebuild the communal house. He hired 2 groups of workers, each group of 15 people, led by Mr. Nguyen Duc Nghiep and Mr. Nguyen Duc Nghiem to prepare for the reconstruction of the communal house. The old workers followed the original model of the old communal house. In particular, the remaining carvings and decorations of the old communal house were brought back to be installed in the main communal house. At first, the communal house was still the common property of the two communes of Hang Kenh and Du Hang Kenh. In the year of Tu Duc 19 (1866), Du Hang Kenh built another communal house completely imitating the Hang Kenh communal house, the only difference being that Du Hang communal house did not have the floorboard system like the Hang Kenh communal house. Compared to other relics in the inner city, this area is ideal for use, exploitation and promotion of the values of the relic. It can be said that Hang Kenh Communal House is a large-scale communal house with almost intact structure and architectural components. Hang Kenh Communal House is the second oldest communal house in Hai Phong city, only after Kien Bai Communal House, Kien Bai Commune, Thuyen District.

Nguyen (Kien Bai communal house) was built in 1685, Hang Kenh communal house was built in 1718).

3.2.2. Architectural value

Overall layout: From Nguyen Cong Chu street, entering the relic of the communal house, there is a large gate built in the style of "one door", the gate roof has a structure of overlapping matches, two floors and eight roofs. The roofs are covered with fish-tail tiles, creating curved ridges connecting the four corners. The ridges are decorated with the combination of "dragons and phoenixes". In the ancient style, people embossed Chinese characters to name the relic "Nhan Tho Dinh". With the meaning: "Nhan" is humanity, is love between people, "Tho" is long-lasting sustainability, "nhan tho" is love, humanity between people will last forever with time. In front of the front and back gate pillars, there are embossed parallel sentences in Chinese characters, praising the sacred communal house and the career of the national hero - Ngo Quyen. Through the gate, we will immediately see a large crescent lake, the lake water is clear and cool. The communal house is located straight along the sacred path of the lake shore, opposite the lake is Nghi Mon (communal gate) including: Main gate, left gate, right gate. The "main gate" is built in the style of "copper pillars", decorated with Chinese parallel sentences. The top of the pillars is decorated in the style of lanterns, the four sides of the lantern are decorated with reliefs of the Four Sacred Animals (dragon, unicorn, turtle, phoenix). The top of the pillars have two unicorns sitting in the betel-chewing posture, looking like they are guiding people to the sacred land. To the right and left of the main gate, a short distance away are small gates: left gate, right gate, 2-storey roof style, curved roof, with round roof decoration in the shape of clusters. Through the main gate, you enter the communal house yard. The communal house floor is paved with traditional Bat Trang bricks. The yard is almost square, with sides equal to the length of the main worshiping hall. Surrounding the yard is a system of low walls, flower-style walls. The walls are built with bricks from the Later Le and Nguyen dynasties. On the left and right of the communal house, symmetrically located across the communal house yard, are the Ta Vu and Huu Vu houses (also known as Giai Vu houses). Located next to the main communal house is the Van Tu house. It can be said that the architectural works built in the relic area are placed and arranged in very reasonable, continuous positions, closely connected and harmonious with each other. The main works combine together to form the shape of "tiger nest in jaw".

"Moon" - the symbol of aspiration, happiness, and peace of rice-growing people.

Hang Kenh Communal House has a spatial layout in the shape of the letter "Cong" (J), including the main hall, the tube and the back palace. The quintessence and architectural values are mainly concentrated in the main hall, which is the most important structure in the entire communal house architecture.

a. Roof system

Looking from the outside and from above, we can immediately see the roof system of the main hall divided into 4 roofs. The two gable roofs are narrow, the two front and back roofs are very large. Overall, the roof of the communal house looks like it is rafters reaching down to the ground. The roof is covered with dragon scale tiles (large-sized fish-tail tiles). The corners of the roof are curved as if lifting the communal house into the air. The roof and the eaves are decorated with lemon flowers - a bold architectural feature of the Later Le Dynasty. The top of the eaves is decorated with "two dragons facing the moon", expressing the dream of "favorable weather", a prosperous and happy life of the rice farmers since ancient times, expressing the peace of the countryside. The two ends of the eaves are decorated with "returning dragons" - dragons turning their heads back, holding the eaves. At the intersection between the eaves and the eaves, there are two perpendicular unicorns. One is standing on the eaves looking down at the communal house yard, the other is in a position of preparing to run down the middle of the roof, looking very lively. The ridge line and ridge not only help to keep the tiled roof secure, preventing the tiles from being pushed or shaken during storms, but also serve as a decoration for the communal house roof to be more lively. The four corners of the main hall are decorated with a combination of mascots in the form of round statues with the theme of "Dragon and Phoenix", which is quite sophisticated and beautiful. The mascots are also decorated with ancient ceramic pieces, so the mascots look very shimmering and magical.

b. Frame structure

The main hall is 32m long, the inside of the house is 13.2m. From the entrance to the back palace, it is 25.2m deep. The height from the upper beam to the foundation of the communal house is 6.5m. The entire communal house has 65 round columns, of which the main hall has 40 columns. These are whole ironwood columns and are placed on green stone pedestals. The main column has a circumference of 2m; height of 5.1m; the secondary column is 3.37m high; the circumference of 1.5m.

The main communal house is a rectangular building consisting of 5 compartments and 2 wings. The construction of odd number of compartments comes from the long-standing concept of the Vietnamese people. The middle compartment of Hang Kenh communal house is the boat compartment (the compartment without a communal floor), the central compartment of the main communal house, paved with Bat Trang tiles. The remaining area of the communal house is a system of floorboards. The floor is 80m higher than the communal house foundation, the amount of wood used to make the floorboards is 20m3.

The Hang Kenh communal house with its long history has preserved the “boat-bottom floorboard” system. In terms of functionality, this architectural style has created two separate areas. The boat-bottom area is used for worship. The floorboard area is used for meetings and work of village officials. The two areas do not affect each other even though they are both within the inner area of the communal house. The main hall of the Hang Kenh communal house is structured in a variant of the “gong price – beam stack – horizontal beam”. Between the first beam is a square bracket on a vertical beam supporting the upper beam. The first beam rests on the second beam through a square bracket with a tapered bottom, and the two ends of the beam support the first pair of horizontal beams. The second beam is supported by a pair of hidden pillars. The hidden pillar stands on the first beam through a square bracket with a tapered bottom. From the hidden pillar body, a pair of horizontal beams extends out to support the third pair of horizontal beams. The horizontal beam rests on the first beam through a square bracket with a tapered bottom. Supporting the first beam at the boat's hull are the carved dragon heads in the Later Le style. Because the armpits at the boat's hull are connected in the style of "beams stacked on beams", the beams rest on each other through square brackets with tapered bottoms, one end of the beam is mortised into the main column, the other end supports the longitudinal sandals with planed bamboo bark. The porch rafters are a continuous wooden body, mortised through both the main column and the secondary column. One end of the rafters extends out to support the porch roof. Above the rafters are the planks supporting the roof beam. The body of the rafters is also carved and decorated with the planks, with the theme of clouds and sparks. The upper beams support the main columns, the middle beams connect the secondary columns. Supporting the upper beams at each main column is a system of handrails carved with the image of a dragon holding a pearl similar to the head of the beam. From the middle beam body is a system of bolts that hold the roof to the secondary beam. These bolts act as braces to prevent the roof from being pushed and create stability for the structure.

c. Covering components

The two gables of the main hall are covered with silk panels. The front and back of the main hall are rows of square-barred doors running from one row of columns to the other. The lower part of the row of bars that borders the communal house floor is the paneled part, the outside is carved with dragons, clouds, flowers and leaves, with sophisticated carvings. Supporting the roof corners are "L" shaped pillars, also known as "corner panels". Built with Bat Trang bricks. These pillars have the function of supporting the roof corners and honoring the architecture of the communal house. In front of the main hall, in the middle room (the boat-shaped room) is a system of panels, with a main door and 2 side doors on both sides. Inside, bordering the main door are 2 rows of square-barred railings. This railing is about 1.2 m higher than the communal house floor. On the pillars of the railing, there are carved dragon images. The section below the railing is also carved with dragons or divided into small panels with stylized lotus flowers or unicorns with their bodies curved and their heads turned back, along with motifs depicting seaweed and flowers typical of the coastal region. The two wings of the main hall have altars for the Left Ban (worshiping the Mother Goddess) and the Right Ban (worshiping the Nam Tao and Bac Dau). In front of the two altars are a system of halberds, precious worship objects, and the tablets of the worshiped deities.

d. Tube building

The connecting space between the main hall and the back palace, on both sides of the tube-shaped building, is made of silk-patterned partitions, the floor is paved with bricks like in the boat-shaped room of the main hall. Only the entrance to the back palace adjacent to the partition wall has wooden floors. The truss structure of the tube-shaped building is similar to the truss structure of the main hall. The tube-shaped building still has a large inscription "Nhan Tho Dinh" as if confirming the official name of the communal house. There is also a wooden altar, inside which is placed a memorial tablet for Ngo Quyen. On normal days, the villagers worship Ngo Quyen in front of the altar in the tube-shaped building as a form of "Venture Ceremony".

e. The sanctuary: The trusses of the sanctuary are structured in the style of “overlapping beams”, the rafters are structured in the style of “overlapping beams and hidden pillars” and are not decorated. The sanctuary is surrounded by wooden planks. In the middle of the sanctuary is a wooden platform, on the platform is an altar, the statue of Ngo Quyen is placed in the altar. In addition, in front of the altar are many objects.

Precious: bronze halberd, crane statue, phoenix statue... The back palace is the most sacred area of the communal house and is considered the "sacred source" of the communal house.

3.2.3 Sculpture and decorative arts

The decoration and sculpture at Hang Kenh communal house have reached a level of sophistication and refinement, reflecting the style and art of the time. Through the remaining carvings in the communal house, apart from some carvings bearing the art style of the Nguyen Dynasty (the arched door), the majority of the carvings represent the art of the Later Le Dynasty. The main theme in the decorations and architecture here is mainly the Dragon theme. The Dragon here also bears two basic styles: the Later Le art style (1st century

XVIII) and Nguyen art style (19th century). In addition to the dragon theme, the themes of unicorns, phoenixes, lotus flowers, clouds, and water waves are very rich and vivid.

3.2.4 Festivals

According to the stories of local people and through some previous research documents, we can learn about part of the traditional festival here. Every year, Hang Kenh village has three big festivals: the royal edict procession (December 23), the memorial service (Ngo Quyen's death anniversary - February 16 of the lunar calendar) and the blessing ceremony (choose 1 of 5 days from February 10 to 15 of the lunar calendar). Before the resistance war against the French (1945), Hang Kenh was in Dong Khe commune, including 5 villages: Dong Khe, Hang Kenh, Phung Phap, Du Hang and Nam Phap. All 5 villages worship Ngo Quyen and have a common royal edict. Every year, each village carries the royal edict to its communal house and every 5 years, it completes a round. At Hang Kenh communal house, the royal edict procession is held on December 23 of the lunar calendar. Every year, the blessing ceremony takes place in the spring.

– the season of growth and development of all things. With a wish for “people’s health, things’ prosperity”, and a bountiful harvest. Different from the Ky Phuc festival, the Ta festival commemorates a national hero who has contributed to the people and the country and is the main festival of Hang Kenh communal house. January 16 is the Ta festival or the day of the deification of the tutelary god – Duc Ngo Vuong Quyen.

a. Festival preparation:

Preparation for the festival is a very important step. Right from the beginning of the year, officials and dignitaries in the village held meetings and appointed people to lead the ceremony and perform the rituals.

Monument worshiping national hero Ngo Vuong Quyen in Hai Phong. Current situation and solutions for tourism development - 5

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