The beauty of Bui communal house

Receiving us in the ancient communal house, which is always cleaned, Mr. Do Don Thin, Head of the Bui Communal House's Festival Committee, slowly said: Bui Communal House worships two deities, Duc Vuong Thien Thong Dai Vuong and Ha Ba Thuy Hai Dai Vuong. Legend has it that in a year of natural disaster, an epidemic broke out, causing great suffering to the people. With the hope of favorable weather, to cure the disease and eliminate the disaster, the villagers discussed and agreed to set up an altar to pray to heaven and earth. During the ceremony, suddenly a person in the crowd stood up and said: I am a god in heaven, named Duc Vuong Thien Thong Dai Vuong, who is patrolling and controlling the world with Ha Ba Thuy Hai Dai Vuong. Passing by, seeing everyone praying sincerely, if they want to escape the epidemic, they must build a temple to worship the two deities, Duc Vuong Thien Thong Dai Vuong and Ha Ba Thuy Hai Dai Vuong. Hearing that, the people joined hands to build a temple in the 8th year of Duong Hoa (1642) under King Le Than Tong.

After the temple was built, people in the village and neighboring areas who came to pray all found it effective. During the reign of King Le Dai Hanh, the country suffered from drought and epidemics. Hearing that Bui Temple was sacred, the king immediately sent someone to ask for the god's descendants to worship in Ninh Thai commune, Thanh Liem district, to hold a prayer ceremony, praying for favorable weather, prosperity and peace. When the prayer was finished, it rained heavily, water filled the fields; the epidemic was also eliminated. In the first year of Thuan Thien (1428) of King Le Thai To (Le Loi), many soldiers were sick. When passing the temple, the king ordered an altar to be set up to hold a prayer ceremony, the soldiers naturally recovered and became healthy as usual. In the first year of Thuan Binh (1549), King Le Trung Tong came to the temple to pray for disaster relief. Knowing that the two were Upper-class gods and shared the same decree, the king issued the "International" ceremony. From then on, every year in the spring, officials in the prefecture and district came to worship.

Over time, witnessing the sacredness of the gods worshiped in the temple, the elders and officials in the village agreed to repair and embellish the temple into a communal house, considering the two gods as the village's tutelary gods, always respectfully worshiped. In 1763, the communal house was donated by Mr. Doan Van Tai, a son of the homeland who was an official under the Le Mac dynasty, who donated all the wood given by the king to repair and rebuild the communal house...

Not only a place for cultural and religious activities, during the resistance war against the French, Bui communal house was a gathering place for guerrillas; a place to send off young people in the village to join the army to fight the enemy; a place to welcome and a starting point for main units, local troops and guerrillas to attack outposts around the area such as Dam, Sui, Ngo Khe outposts... Bui Nguyen village today still has a song: "Bui communal house has a curved banyan tree/ The banyan body is winding like a flying dragon/ Since the revolution came here/ People gathered at the base of the curved banyan tree/ The banyan top fluttered the red flag/ People from all over the region came to listen/ The Viet Minh brought the revolution back...". During the resistance war against the US, Bui communal house was a liaison station to welcome troops to the South to fight...

The beauty of Bui communal house — ***Bui Communal House, a place of worship for the two village guardian spirits.*** Photo: Thanh Chau

Through the vicissitudes of history and time, the old Bui wharf, bustling with boats returning to trade, is no longer there. The Ngo Xa River of the past is now just a large lake next to the communal house. Only the Bui market still meets in shifts, still a bustling big market for the people in the area. With Uncle Thin, we slowly toured around the Bui communal house, feeling the beauty and peace of the famous sacred ancient communal house. The Bui communal house faces North, in front of the gate there is an ancient banyan tree spreading its canopy to shade a large yard. To the west of the communal house, on the lake rises a high mound of earth, according to legend this is the tomb of Thuy Hai Dai Vuong (the second Saint), covering the tomb is an ancient banyan tree, its lush branches and leaves reflecting on the clear lake. About 500m northeast of the communal house is the tomb of Thien Thong Dai Vuong, with a banyan tree worshiping the Saint.

In addition to the beautiful natural scenery, the traditional architecture imbued with national identity, Bui communal house also retains diverse, rich and unique decorative carvings on the relic's components. The decorative themes focus on the four sacred animals, the four seasons... In particular, the images of "long ma" and "long xa" are repeated on many carvings with their own nuances. It is very possible that the ancient artisans wanted to highlight the origin of the two tutelary gods worshiped in the communal house: Thong Thien Dai Vuong descending from the sky (long ma) and Thuy Hai Dai Vuong rising from the water (long xa). In addition, the famous talented carpenters of the village in the past carved the boat racing scene with the image of a person holding the oar at the stern, the image of the half-body of four strong young men holding the oar, the image of a person beating a drum to cheer for the race, the image of birds perched on lotus flowers, the scene of strong waves on the water surface causing turtles and carps to surface...

Bui Communal House was ranked as an Architectural and Artistic Relic by the Ministry of Culture and Information in 2001. Bui Communal House Festival is held on the 10th day of the 8th lunar month every year - the death anniversary of the two village guardian spirits. Proud of the famous sacred ancient communal house, over the years, the people of Bui Nguyen village have always raised their sense of responsibility in protecting, preserving and promoting the values of Bui Communal House relic, contributing to building a healthy cultural and religious life, strengthening solidarity and community cohesion in residential areas.

Pham Hien

Source