Minh Hương Gia Thạnh Communal House

Minh Hương Gia Thạnh Communal House (official name: 明鄉嘉盛會館, Minh Hương Gia Thạnh Hội Quán) was built by Chinese immigrants who settled and constructed it on the land of Đề Ngạn in the early 18th century (now Chợ Lớn). The communal house is currently located at 380 Trần Hưng Đạo Street, Chợ Lớn Ward, Ho Chi Minh City.

In 1698, some descendants of the Chinese who had long resided in Phiên Trấn requested to establish Minh Hương village, which coincided with Nguyễn Hữu Cảnh's arrival in the South to establish Gia Định prefecture.

However, according to the village's charter, it was not until 1789 that "Minh Hương xã" (Minh Hương village) was officially established, and soon after, a communal house funded by many Chinese was erected to serve as a place of worship and as an office for village officials. In 1808, Emperor Gia Long bestowed the name "Gia Thạnh đường". In 1867, the French authorities restructured the administration, and the communal house ceased to be the village office, thus becoming the assembly hall of the Minh Hương Gia Thạnh Association.

Referring to this historical site, scholar Vương Hồng Sển wrote:

A pagoda... closely linked to history is Minh Hương Gia Thạnh Pagoda, established in the Year of the Rooster (1789) by the loyalists of the late Ming and their Minh Hương descendants, built in Chợ Lớn (then Saigon), to nurture the spirit of love for the motherland and homeland. To this day, incense smoke has never ceased, and it is renowned as the best maintained and cared-for pagoda in the region.

Since its construction, Minh Hương Gia Thạnh Communal House has undergone several restorations in 1839, 1901, and 1962. The most recent restoration used some modern materials and added an upper floor above the main hall.

The communal house is built of brick walls in the traditional five-bay house style. The roof is covered with tubular tiles, decorated with motifs such as two dragons vying for a pearl, carp transforming into dragons, statues of the Sun Deity and Moon Lady, and reliefs depicting Chinese opera scenes... all produced by the Đồng Hòa pottery kiln in the Year of the Ox (1901). In front of the communal house are two Han-script couplets: 嘉献复振基光旧， 盛德长留庙貌新 (Gia hiến phục chấn cơ quang cựu, thịnh đức trường lưu miếu mạo tân), meaning: Increasing literary offerings, reviving ancient endeavours, restoring the old foundation, flourishing in virtue, continuing for generations, building new temples and shrines.

The interior includes the võ ca (ceremonial music hall), the main hall, and the rear hall. To the right of the võ ca is the Ngũ Hành miếu (Five Elements shrine). The wooden frame is constructed in the "kẻ chuyền" style, with wooden columns set on stone bases, giving the communal house an ancient appearance. On the columns and crossbeams hang many horizontal boards and couplets, most of which date from the early to mid-19th century...

The main hall is built on a raised platform, with three intricately carved "bao lam" screens at the front, featuring motifs such as pine and crane, apricot and bird, lotus and duck, crab basket, and fruit basket... At the end of the main hall are three large wooden altars on brick pedestals, bordered with carvings of two dragons vying for a pearl, kylin, phoenix, and floral vines...

A brief overview of the arrangement:

The central altar enshrines spirit tablets for: Ngũ Thổ Tôn Thần (Five Earth Deities), Ngũ Cốc Tôn Thần (Five Grain Deities), Đông Trù Tư Mệnh (Eastern Kitchen Deity), and the village tutelary god (Bổn cảnh thành hoàng). In front of this altar is a stone incense burner, and on either side are stone statues of Trịnh Hoài Đức and Ngô Nhân Tịnh.

To the left is the altar for Commander Nguyễn Hữu Cảnh and Admiral General Trần Thượng Xuyên.

To the right is the altar for Trịnh Hoài Đức and Ngô Nhân Tịnh, two Minh Hương individuals who became ministers.

Immediately behind the main hall is a spacious courtyard called Thiên Quang Tỉnh (skylight), followed by the rear hall. Here, there are also three similarly decorated altars: the central one for the founding elders of the village, the left for officials and their wives who contributed to the village, including the couple Trương Công Sĩ, who donated land to the village, and the right for minor officials who rendered service.

In the Ngũ Hành miếu, Ngũ Hành Nương Nương (Five Elements Goddesses) and Chúa Sinh Nương Nương (Goddess of Childbirth) are worshipped. In front of Chúa Sinh Nương Nương's statue are two attendant statues and twelve midwife goddesses holding infants. Additionally, the main Earth God (Phúc Đức Chính Thần/Thổ Địa) and Bạch Mã Thái Giám (White Horse Eunuch) are also worshipped in the shrine...

In the communal house, in front of the main hall, still hangs a plaque inscribed with four characters 'thiện tục khả phong' (good customs worthy of praise) bestowed by Emperor Tự Đức in 1863, and a couplet composed by Trịnh Hoài Đức in the 2nd year of Minh Mạng (1821):

Minh đồng nhật nguyệt diệu Nam thiên,

Phượng chử lân tường gia cẩm tú

Hương mãn càn khôn binh Việt địa,

long bàn hổ cứ thạnh văn chương.

Tentative translation:

Bright as the sun and moon shining over the southern sky,

Kylin dances, phoenixes fly, adding splendour

Fragrance fills the land and sky, perfuming Vietnamese soil,

Dragons gather, tigers crouch, flourishing literature.

In the left corner of the main hall is a bronze bell presented by Emperor Minh Mạng, with an imperial edict allowing the name change from "village" to "communal house". The bell is rung once a year on the 16th day of the first lunar month. The bell handle is a two-headed, four-legged dragon. The bell body is embossed with two lines: "Gia Định thành Minh Hương xã công tạo", "Long tập Quý Mùi thu nguyệt" (the bell was made by Minh Hương village of Gia Định citadel in the autumn of the Year of the Goat, 1823).

There are many other valuable artefacts in the communal house, such as: a stele erected in 1839 listing notable Minh Hương officials under the Nguyễn dynasty, several horizontal boards and couplets (a total of 38 horizontal boards and 22 couplets). Especially notable are a pair of couplets curved to fit the columns, carved in relief with dragons, kylin, tortoises, phoenixes... with dragon heads protruding nearly a decimetre above the surface, two cast-iron censers made in 1842, a set of dragon and phoenix-carved chairs, a set of eighteen ceremonial weapons... In the left corner of the Ngũ Hành miếu is a bronze bell cast in the 2nd year of Tự Đức (1849).

Minh Hương Gia Thạnh Communal House is one of the oldest communal houses in Ho Chi Minh City. Besides its significance as a relic of Minh Hương village and a place of ancestral worship for the Minh Hương people, the communal house is also valuable for its calligraphic art and woodcarving in the 19th-century Vietnamese style.

Another value is that this communal house was the gathering place for the Bình Dương Poetry Society (founded by Trịnh Hoài Đức, Ngô Nhân Tịnh, Lê Quang Định), where many scholars met to compose poetry and discuss current affairs in the late 18th and early 19th centuries.

On 7 January 1993, the Ministry of Culture issued Decision No. 43-VH/QĐ recognising the communal house as a National Architectural and Artistic Monument.