.jpg)
.jpg)
From the center of Van Gia town, Van Ninh district, head north along National Highway 1A to the intersection with the North-South railway, turn left to the west, and after more than 300m, you will arrive at Phu Cang Communal House.
Phu Cang Communal House is the name associated with the village of Phu Cang (Phu Cang hamlet) in Van Phu commune, Van Ninh district, Khanh Hoa province. It was built by Vietnamese migrants who settled here around the late 17th to early 18th century to worship the Village Tutelary God, as well as to venerate Thien Y Thanh Mau (Holy Mother Thien Y), the Predecessors and Successors (those who contributed to land reclamation, resettling people, establishing villages, and building the community...), and martyrs who were sons of the village and sacrificed their lives in the two resistance wars against the French colonialists and American imperialists.
The village communal house festival takes place twice a year, in spring and autumn, on the 10th day of the 3rd lunar month, to pray for "national prosperity and people's peace" and favorable weather. During the festival, traditional "hat boi" (classical opera) is performed every three years (a triennial rite). The autumn ceremony is usually held on an auspicious day in the 8th lunar month and is an occasion to pay tribute to the Predecessors and Successors.
The communal house was built on a high, spacious location at the edge of the village. It is situated on a relatively large campus on elevated ground, covering an area of about 1,700m2, and faces the Northeast. Looking in from the outside, the site includes the following architectural structures: the Nghi Mon (Ceremonial Gate), the Screen (An phong), the Main Hall (Dai dinh), the East House, and the West House.
The Main Hall is built according to traditional structure with a wooden frame featuring four large central pillars that look very grand and sturdy, supporting a roof system with a "co lau" (upper pavilion), which is a traditional architectural style of Khanh Hoa. Together with the yin-yang tiled roof, the "upper latticed, lower panel" style doors, and the sacred animal motifs—two dragons flanking a pearl, the nghê (mythical lion-dog), and bats on the roof ridges and corners—they stand out against the deep blue sky. These are the unique, antique architectural and artistic values of Vietnamese village communal houses.
In addition to its architectural and artistic elements, which have been preserved almost intact through hundreds of years despite many changes, the communal house also bears deep marks of revolutionary history through the periods of resistance against French colonialists and American imperialists. In particular, it is one of the representative relics of the early days of the August Revolution in 1945 in Khanh Hoa province in general and Van Ninh district in particular.
In 1885, responding to the Can Vuong (Aid the King) edict against the French issued by King Ham Nghi, the Can Vuong movement in Khanh Hoa was organized by patriotic scholars and intellectuals who mobilized the masses to resist the French. The movement was led by the "Binh Tay" (Subjugate the French) General Trinh Phong and Deputy General and Governor of the North Tran Duong. In Van Ninh and Ninh Hoa, under the command of Governor Tran Duong, they dealt several terrifying blows to the French, and Phu Cang Communal House served as a gathering place for soldiers training to fight the French from the Ca Pass southward. Because the French colonialists were equipped with modern weapons, while the insurgent army mainly used primitive weapons, the insurgent forces gradually weakened, were suppressed by the French, and had to retreat.
In 1886, unable to capture Tran Duong, the French military fiercely suppressed the people and the General's family. Tran Duong surrendered so that the French would stop persecuting the people. They killed him and displayed his severed head at the market to intimidate the patriotic movement. After his death, the people brought his ancestral tablet to be worshipped at Phu Cang Communal House with sincere gratitude for the local hero.
In 1930, the Communist Party of Vietnam was founded and led the patriotic revolutionary movement of our people. In 1936, a number of Party members were active in their hometown, including Comrade Mai Duong[1] who gathered fellow party members at Phu Cang Communal House to establish the first Party Cell in Van Ninh district. From then on, Phu Cang Communal House served as a base for the operations of the Van Ninh District Party Committee throughout the resistance war against the French until the nation achieved independence.
In 1945, to prepare for the uprising to seize power for the people, the Viet Minh organization here gathered young people for training at night right in the communal house courtyard, with guards keeping watch to raise the alarm when the French patrolled. It was also in the communal house courtyard that meetings were held to study the 10 policies of the Viet Minh Front, thereby enlightening the people about revolutionary ideology, patriotism, love for their homeland, and the responsibility of the entire populace to fight the French and liberate the nation. From there, the momentum of the revolutionary movement grew increasingly stronger. When the time was ripe, on August 14, 1945, the Viet Minh Front in Van Ninh gathered the people of Van Ninh at Phu Cang Communal House, using the communal house drum as a signal to mobilize the people to rise up in unison to seize power. After the command drum sounded, people from all walks of life rose from the courtyard and marched toward the district capital with the red flag with a yellow star held high. Within just one day, fueled by the revolutionary spirit, the colonial administration and its henchmen in Van Ninh had to surrender, and power was seized for the people.
During the 1945–1954 period, Phu Cang Communal House remained a training ground for local self-defense forces and guerrillas, strengthening the Nha Trang – Khanh Hoa Front during the 101 days and nights of resistance against the French (October 23, 1945 – February 2, 1946) and supplementing forces for the 365th unit of the Inter-Zone. These forces fought bravely, creating a glorious battle where they destroyed French tanks and armored vehicles at Co Ma Pass[2].
During the resistance war against America to save the nation, Phu Cang Communal House remained a location associated with the local revolution. It was a place for sheltering revolutionary cadres and receiving the wounded from the 1968 Tet Offensive. During the years 1971–1972, Phu Cang Communal House served as a revolutionary base for comrades from the Da Ban revolutionary base (Ninh Hoa – Van Ninh), or for those moving from Van Ninh through Co Ma Pass to Phu Yen. From secret bunkers in Van Phu commune and neighboring communes, this was a site that provided documents on the guidelines and policies of the Party for propaganda and direction of the resistance in local revolutionary bases.
With the generations-old revolutionary traditions of the local people associated with the communal house, especially as the site where the local masses were mobilized to rise up and seize power for the people earliest in Khanh Hoa, in 1998, the Ministry of Culture and Information (now the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism) ranked Phu Cang Communal House as a National Historical and Cultural Relic.
Some images of Phu Cang Communal House:
[1] During the resistance war against America, he was the Secretary of the Khanh Hoa Provincial Party Committee and the Chairman of the People's Committee of Phu Khanh province after liberation.
[2] Nearly 10km north of Phu Cang Communal House on National Highway 1A – a memorial stele for Ninh Ma has now been built there.
Source: https://disanvanhoa.khanhhoa.vn/
