Talking about the profession of woodcarving, we cannot help but mention Dong Ky village in Bac Ninh. Dong Ky village (Dong Quang commune, Tu Son, Bac Ninh) is famous for its traditional carpentry and handicrafts. Over time, generation after generation, Dong Ky’s products are more sophisticated and refined to every corner, touch, and engraving. Traveling to Bac Ninh to Dong Ky village today, in addition to discovering beautiful wooden products, Dong Ky communal house is a symbol of ancient folklore.
Dong Ky ancient village, whose name is Nom is Coi (Ke Coi), is located on the right bank of Ngu Huyen Khe river, close to the second peak (Co Loa, Dong Anh) of the Red River delta triangle, now in Dong Ky ward, town From Son. Dong Ky ancient village has both the common culture of the Red River Delta and the identity of the ancient Kinh Bac region. The vestiges of communal houses, temples and pagodas here with unique artistic and spiritual values combine to form an architectural cluster that was ranked as a historical and cultural relic by the State in 1988.
According to the divine genealogy, the myths that the village still retains, Dong Ky communal house is the place to worship the saint Thien Cuong (ie Hung Huy Vuong), a good general of the 6th Hung King, who was instrumental in following Saint Giong to fight the Xich Quy invaders. The An invaders. The communal house was built quite early, from the Ly dynasty, to the post-Le period, it was rebuilt on a larger scale and restored in the Nguyen Dynasty. Experiencing the restoration, the architecture and sculpture of the current communal house have many artistic styles, but the harmony of the old architecture has not been broken.
With a large architectural space, the communal house with banyan trees, hundreds of years old trees and stone bridges spanning the lake create a unique, peaceful and ancient beauty. The roof of the communal house is roofed with tiled nose, four corners have four curved blades. Inside the communal house, the columns and roof are made of ironwood, intricately carved and have a reasonable correspondence with each other. The floor of the communal house is made of wooden floors, 1m higher than the courtyard to avoid flooding in the rainy season. The wooden platform close to the outside of the door is about 8-10cm higher than the inside to serve as a place for the elderly to sit when there is a village job.
Like many other communal houses, Dong Ky communal house is a common house for people to gather, conduct cultural and religious activities and worship the gods who have contributed to helping the country. The village festival takes place from the 4th to the 6th of January. In these days, the 4th is considered the most important and bustling day, because it takes place a firecracker procession festival to commemorate the merits of the village Thanh Hoang in the past. In the past, the village festival had a procession of firecrackers, today it is a procession of firecrackers – as a way of remembering the village’s profession. During the festival, there are wrestling games, cock fighting, singing and answering contests, rice blowing contests, reading contests in Chinese and Nom characters praising the village god.
According to Bac Ninh tourism experience, in addition to festivals, a year the door is suspended 2 more times on the 12th day of the 11th month (lunar calendar) so that the village elders can summarize what they have done in the year and on the 10th. -1 (lunar calendar) to discuss things to do in the near future, or amend a wish. When leaving the communal house, they have to sit in the order of “upper mat, lower mat” clearly, older people sit on upper mats, younger people sit on lower mats. The 100-year-old grandmother sits with the 100-year-old grandmother, if there is only one 100-year-old grandmother, she alone will sit on the mat… Since the 90s of the last century, Dong Ky people have established a relic management board. and the Celebration Committee specializes in the sacrifice, care and restoration of the monument with the majority of the funding coming from the meritorious villagers.
Currently, Dong Ky is the most famous handicraft village in the country, people’s lives today are much better than before and compared to the common ground. The village has changed not only in appearance, but also in cultural features, cumbersome customs in funerals, weddings, etc. have been adjusted accordingly. The traditional beauties or festivals are clearly shown in the village’s village convention, which is preserved and respected by the people.
It can be said that Dong Ky communal house is one of the rare ancient communal houses containing many unique cultural and artistic values, and is one of the invaluable cultural heritages left by our forefathers that is still present in the world today. Bac Ninh land. The people here are not only proud of their traditional craft, which is known throughout the country, but also because of the cultural values of the North.
Source: Collected internet.