Tân Ngãi Communal House

Tân Ngãi Communal House, with the formal name Tân Ngãi đình, is located in Tân Xuân hamlet (near Trường An market and Cái Côn bridge on National Highway 1, on the section from Mỹ Thuận bridge to Vĩnh Long city), Tân Ngãi commune, Vĩnh Long city, Vĩnh Long province (Vietnam). On 28 May 2008, this đình (communal house) was recognised by the Vĩnh Long provincial government as a provincial-level historical and cultural site.

Around the mid-18th century, during the southward expansion, a group of Vietnamese migrants chose this place to settle and make a living. After many years of diligent land reclamation, they established two villages, Tân Sơn and Vĩnh Tòng (which, by the mid-19th century, merged to become today's Tân Ngãi village), and then built a đình to worship the Tutelary Deity of the Local Area around 1836. In the beginning, the đình was simply constructed from wood and leaves, on a large area of 11,000 m², donated by Mr. Trịnh Đạo Thiện. Later, the đình was destroyed by fire.

In 1836, Mr. Đỗ Văn Sơn, Tô Văn Vận, Tô Văn Hiệp, and others mobilised the villagers to rebuild the communal house. This time, the đình was reconstructed on a larger scale with brick and tile, but for various reasons, it was not completed until 1851.

On 19 November, the fifth year of Tự Đức (1852), the tutelary deity of Tân Ngãi Communal House was granted an imperial certificate by the Huế court as: Bổn cảnh Thành Hoàng chi Thần, with the honorific titles: Quảng hậu, Chánh trực, Hựu thiện, Đôn ngưng chi Thần.

From 1914 to 1918, as the village school was damaged, the row of six kitchen houses (nhà trù) of the đình was converted into a school.

In 1945, Tân Ngãi Communal House was the base of the Tiền phong Youth Organisation, led by Mr. Trần Chí Đề (Quản Đề) and Mr. Tô Văn Đạt.

In 1946, the kitchen row of the đình was dismantled by French troops, who used the materials to build Trường An market. It was not until 1954 that Mr. Trương Văn Thành (Đốc phủ Thành) and Mr. Phạm Văn Ngà (Hội đồng Ngà) took charge of rebuilding it.

In 1970, Mr. Dương Toàn Trung (Tám Tốt) and Mr. Trần Chí Đề mobilised the villagers to build a võ ca (traditional opera stage) for performing hát bội (classical Vietnamese opera) during festivals.

In 1976, the two sides of the stage in the võ ca were used as two kindergarten classrooms.

In 1977, the Tân Ngãi commune authorities requisitioned the entire communal house as the office and rice warehouse for the Cửu Long Provincial Food Department (now Vĩnh Long province), and it was not until 10 April 1990 that it was returned to the people for worship.

Since then, Tân Ngãi Communal House has undergone several renovations: construction of the Tam quan gate (1993), roof leak repairs (1998), building a fence and repairing the võ ca (2001), replacing eight wooden doors with iron doors (2004), renovating the communal house yard (2005), repairing the stage in the võ ca (2006), erecting the Tân Ngãi thần đình stele (2011), etc.

The total land area of the communal house today is 4,777.6 m², with a total construction area of 839.61 m², of which the communal house itself occupies 610.6 m².

Tân Ngãi Communal House is an architectural work of art, bearing the typical features of village communal houses in Southern Vietnam. The đình is situated in a spacious compound with many ancient trees and ornamental plants. The front of the communal house faces the Cái Côn river.

The communal house is built in the xếp đọi style, consisting of a complex of interconnected buildings. The roof is tiled with yin-yang tiles. Each roof ridge is decorated with beautiful ceramic motifs such as: "Fish transforming into dragon", "Two dragons flanking the moon", "phoenix", "kylin", etc. The floor is paved with green stone, raised and solid.

The communal house consists of four sections: võ ca (opera stage), võ quy, main sanctuary (chánh điện), and assembly hall (nhà thính). To the right in front of the communal house is a miếu (small shrine) dedicated to Bạch Mã Thái Giám. To the left in front is a miếu dedicated to Ngũ Hành Nương Nương. On the left side of the communal house is a row of six kitchen houses (nhà trù).

The interior of the communal house is constructed from a system of interconnected rooms, with many round columns made from precious timber. Notably, to expand the area, the structural framework uses kèo đấm and kèo quyết beams extending in four directions from each section. On the beams, crossbeams, and purlins (especially in the main sanctuary and võ quy), there are carved motifs of "plum, orchid, chrysanthemum, bamboo", "eight treasures", "leafy vines", "seal script", etc. The ends of the beams feature cloud and dragon head motifs. In addition, the interior is decorated with many artefacts such as horizontal lacquered boards, parallel sentences, carved screens, altars, etc., all finely carved and dating from the 19th and early 20th centuries.

In Tân Ngãi Communal House, the main deity worshipped is the Tutelary Deity of the Local Area (Thành hoàng Bổn cảnh). In addition, there are altars for the Left and Right Assistants (Tả ban, Hữu ban), Thần Tài (God of Wealth), Thổ Địa (God of the Land), Tiền Hiền (Pioneering Ancestors), Hậu Hiền (Later Generations), and the heroic martyrs.

Every year, the communal house holds two major festivals:

- The Hạ điền-Kỳ yên Festival on the 16th and 17th days of the 3rd lunar month.

- The Thượng điền Festival on the 16th and 17th days of the 10th lunar month.