An Tiem communal house is located on a large piece of land between An Tiem village, Thuy Dan commune, Thai Thuy district; 24 km from Thai Binh city, along Highway 39. After nearly 200 years, the communal house is still the pride of An Tiem people because of the cultural and historical values that the communal house brings. In 2003, An Tiem communal house was ranked a provincial historical and cultural relic by Thai Binh Provincial People’s Committee. On April 14, 2011, the communal house was honored to be ranked a National Relic by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism.
The communal house was built in 1830, restored in 1895 (the 7th Thanh Thai) on the basis of embellishing the old communal house. The communal house was repaired in 3 years and was built by Cao Da (Ha Tay) workers. The communal house has an architectural scale of the second type, including 05 front halls and 03 harem halls, made of ironwood, built of Bat Trang bricks. Green slate porch steps. The communal house is delicately carved in the artistic style of the Nguyen Dynasty. Up to now, although it has undergone many renovations and embellishments, the communal house still retains the ancient carvings. In particular, the central hammock door and the letter hanging in the middle dating from the Nguyen Dynasty, the Tien Te court are almost intact.
An Tiem communal house is a place of worshiping the tutelary god who are the gods who have contributed to the country’s salvation of the people related to the formation and development of the village. According to documents that the dignitaries of the village declared in 1938 (currently kept at the Institute of Science and Social Information), the communal house worships the gods Dung General Dai Vuong and Manh General Dai Vuong, who had merits in supporting King Tran to fight the Nguyen Mong invaders. second strategy (1258). Therefore, on the 10th of the third lunar month (the date of birth of the two) and the 25th of the lunar month (the date of death of the two), the villagers open a communal house to worship these two gods. In addition, the communal house also worships 05 ancestors of blacksmithing, it is said that during the three times of resistance against the Nguyen Mong, Tran Hung Dao set up a forge workshop in Cao Duong village and was in charge of these five master craftsmen.
The family festival is held on the 3rd day of March 14, 15, and 16 of the lunar calendar. During the festival, many ceremonial activities will take place such as: procession of Thanh Hoang around the village, incense offering ceremony and special folk games such as: smashing pots, blindfolded catching ducks, tug of war, forging competition between forging teams in the village. the village…
Source: Collected internet.