Thông Tây Hội Communal House

Thông Tây Hội Communal House, before 1944 known as Hanh Thông Tây or Hạnh Thông Tây Communal House, is an ancient đình (communal house) in Thông Tây Hội, Ho Chi Minh City. The đình was built around 1679, and today it is known as the oldest communal house still existing in the former Gia Định region and the entire southern land. Thông Tây Hội Communal House is a rich source of material on the inhabitants of the Gò Vấp area, a region that emerged relatively early compared to Sài Gòn - Gia Định. With its architectural, artistic, historical, and social value, the đình was recognised by the Ministry of Culture and Information as a national-level architectural, artistic, cultural, and historical monument in 1998.

The name Thông Tây Hội is formed by combining the names of the two villages Hanh Thông Tây and An Hội. When the two villages merged into one (1944), the communal house of Hanh Thông Tây village was chosen as the shared đình and from then on was renamed Thông Tây Hội Communal House. Hanh Thông Tây village was separated from Hanh Thông village (one of the earliest-established villages - 1698).

In "Gia Định thành thông chí" by Trịnh Hoài Đức it is recorded: Hanh Thông village - Hanh Thông Tây village - An Hội village - all belonging to Bình Trị canton, Bình Dương district, Tân Bình prefecture. Hanh Thông Tây commune may have been established very early along with the formation and existence of the village community. According to local elders: the first communal house of Hanh Thông Tây village was built when the village was separated, made of wood and thatch, located at a different site, 800m south of the current đình. The second communal house was made of wood and roofed with tiles, small and simple, located at the current site. The land for the đình was donated by a wealthy local named Huỳnh Văn Thu. The present communal house was restored on the site of the second đình.

Regarding the name of the đình, Hanh Thông (Chinese characters: 亨通) means "favourable, lucky, without obstacles". Later, due to printing errors in documents and maps during the French period, the two place names Hanh Thông and Hanh Thông Tây in Gò Vấp were mistakenly written as Hạnh Thông and Hạnh Thông Tây.

Thông Tây Hội Communal House is located on a road (now Thống Nhất Street, Ward 11, Gò Vấp District). This road was formerly an unnamed village road, the main axis connecting Hanh Thông Tây and An Nhơn communes. During the Republic of Vietnam period, the road was called Minh Mạng, after 1975 it was renamed Thống Nhất. In 1982 it was named Nguyễn Văn Lượng, but has now reverted to Thống Nhất.

Thông Tây Hội Communal House has the structure typical of ancient southern Vietnamese đình from the 19th century. The đình still preserves almost intact the structure and building materials of the old communal house.

The entire đình complex is located on a plot of 5,188 m². Due to encroachment by residents for housing, only about 1,500 m² remain today. The đình faces east. The gate is built in the three-entrance (tam quan) style. The courtyard is spacious, with several trees about 10m tall. The architectural layout of the đình forms two parallel axes: a long axis (main axis) consisting of the võ ca (ceremonial stage) and main sanctuary (chánh điện); a short axis (secondary axis) is the hội sở (administrative hall). This architectural layout was very common for religious buildings in southern Vietnam in the 18th–19th centuries.

The võ ca measures 14 m wide, 17.5 m deep, and 4 m high, used for ceremonial performances and hát bội (classical theatre), consisting of 7 bays and 52 wooden columns, with no surrounding walls.

The main sanctuary consists of two overlapping houses in the "trùng thiềm điệp ốc" style. The roofs of the two houses are adjacent. There are 48 columns in total, divided into 8 rows, each with 6 columns. The four central columns are the tallest at 4.5 m, with a diameter of 30 cm (commonly called "tứ tượng"), the most important and sacred place—where the altar to the deities is located. The bases of the columns in the main sanctuary are carved in a prism shape with a constriction in the middle. On the roof ridge of the main sanctuary is a pair of green-glazed ceramic dragons contending for a pearl, and the sanctuary is surrounded by brick walls.

The hội sở (administrative hall) is the office of the management committee, a place for receiving guests and preparing for rituals, measuring 12 m wide, 19 m long, and 4.2 m high; it has 56 columns, with bases set on green stone, and 3 bays in the "trùng thiềm điệp ốc" style; wooden partitions separate the office from the storeroom.

The entire đình is roofed with yin-yang tiles, the truss system is made of wood, and the floor is paved with traditional tiles (30 cm x 30 cm).

The most distinctive decorative features of Thông Tây Hội Communal House are concentrated in the main sanctuary. Here, the beam ends and brackets are carved with dragon heads and apricot branches. There are three carved screens (bao lam): the central one is carved with the motifs of kylin, lion, tortoise, and phoenix; the two side screens are carved with peony and pheasant motifs. The most outstanding carving is the deity altar, exquisitely carved with the motifs of paired dragons flanking the moon and kylin-lion-tortoise-phoenix. There are also two side altars, a horizontal inscribed board "chung linh lưu tú", and two pairs of couplets made from coconut trunks in the main sanctuary—all are valuable works of art.

The Thông Tây Hội Communal House site still preserves 37 precious artefacts. These include carved artworks such as screens, horizontal boards, couplets, and altars, all retaining the original lacquer and gilding of ancient objects, not overpainted with new lacquer as is common in some other đình. The carving motifs in Thông Tây Hội Communal House are very common among religious buildings in Ho Chi Minh City.

Thông Tây Hội Communal House worships the Thành Hoàng (tutelary deity) according to the Vietnamese custom of deity worship. The main deities worshipped in the đình are Đông Chinh vương and Dực Thánh vương (two royal generals from the time of King Lý Thái Tổ). Other deities worshipped in the đình include:

Thần Phúc Đức (God of Virtue and Fortune)

Bà Chúa Xứ (Lady of the Realm)

Thần Nông (God of Agriculture)

Thần Hổ (Tiger Deity)

Tiên sư (Founding Ancestor)

Hậu hiền (Worthy Successors)

Ngũ hành (Five Elements)

Quan Đế (Lord Guan)

Tiền hiền (Pioneering Ancestors)

Các liệt sĩ (Martyrs)

Bạch mã thái giám (White Horse Eunuch)

Kỳ Yên Festival: This is the largest festival, held on the 14th and 15th days of the 8th lunar month. The main offerings are a pure black boar and a bull.

14th day of the 8th lunar month:

17:00: Túc Yết ceremony

18:00–20:00: Sutra recitation, prayers for peace

15th day of the 8th lunar month:

00:30: Thỉnh Sanh ceremony

04:00–06:00: Main ritual to the deities

06:00–07:00: Offerings to pioneering and worthy ancestors

08:00–13:00: Receiving guests and other communal house delegations

In the afternoon, there are lion dances, hát bội (classical theatre), and the Kỳ Yên festival concludes. During the ceremonies, ritual music, wooden fish, gongs, and drums are played.

Besides the main Kỳ Yên festival, there are several minor festivals throughout the year:

7th day of the first lunar month: Hạ nêu ceremony (taking down the New Year pole)

15th day of the first lunar month: Thượng ngươn festival

15th day of the third lunar month: Thanh minh festival

5th day of the fifth lunar month: Đoan Ngọ festival – offerings to the Lady

15th day of the seventh lunar month: Trung ngươn festival

15th day of the tenth lunar month: Hạ ngươn festival

25th day of the twelfth lunar month: Ông procession, erecting the New Year pole

These festivals used to be held regularly, but nowadays have been simplified, with only the Kỳ Yên festival still celebrated.

According to Chinese-character documents preserved in the đình, the first restoration of the communal house was in the year Bính Thân (1896). The second restoration was in the year Đinh Mão (1927).

To commemorate 300 years of Sài Gòn (1698–1998), the đình was one of six major projects to be restored. However, this restoration was considered not to have met proper standards, resulting in significant damage to the đình's decorative motifs and furniture. The management of the đình has also not been well organised. Currently, the front area of the đình, being cool and shaded, is used by some locals to sell goods such as lottery tickets, fruit, clothing, etc., detracting from its aesthetic appearance.