The communal house is located in Tay Dang commune, Ba Vi district, Hanoi, which worships Saint Tan Vien. It is considered one of the most ancient communal houses in Vietnam.
Tay Dang communal house has an one-script shaped unique architecture, the first building materials were completely jack fruit wood, in the process of repairation later people used more some ironwood from Truong Son – the such wood get more sunlight, the sea wind to have strong twisted grains. Tay Dang communal house was built in the early sixteenth century. However, at the communal house people have still kept home some patterns of the 11th-13th century, so it is assumed that Tay Dang communal house may have been built before the 16th century.
The most unique feature of Tay Dang communal house is expressed through sculptures bearing typically cultural characteristics on each structure with themes mainly about human activities in Vietnam 16th century village such as boating, carrying children, chopping wood, singing and dancing, but in no way influenced by foreign carved patterns, which demonstrates thoughts, wisdom of ancient Vietnamese people about life and labor. The communal house comprises of 5 compartments with 6 pillar rows and 8 main pillars, 16 extra pillars and 22 third-row pillars. Both sides of the communal house are prettily shaped with two overlaying roof layers. All decorations, sketches and carvings are diversifying with images of dragon, sword, cloud, flowers, half wide blossoming and blossoming daisy flowers symbolizing the sun. Especially there exists lots of patterns lively describing folk daily life such as person purchasing deer, deer runs rashly with its head turning back or image of mother carrying her child, person carving plow, musicians playing instruments, etc. Carving architecture of Tay Dang communal house fully presents all cultural regions nationwide, from cozy atmosphere of a Northern family beside areca tree to a woman of Nung minority playing instrument in Northern highland or rowing festival in Southern. The talents of predecessors lie in the fact that entire over 1,300 patterns carved on wood of the communal house are not repeated in any way and arranged harmoniously without symmetry like architecture details included in other communal house.
Tay Dang Dinh is a museum of Vietnamese ancient carving. Every year there are many people on both domestic and international tourists back to visit, learn, research on the historical value, of the home culture.
Tay Dang is worth to be regarded as an inseparable part of sculpture museum of ancient Vietnam people. Every year, variety of foreign and domestic visitors arrives to visit, discover and research on its adorable historical and cultural values.
