Tan Dong Communal House

Tân Đông Communal House is not famous for its history. It is famous for two bodhi trees.

The communal house stands in Gò Táo hamlet, in Tân Đông commune. The commune now lies in Đồng Tháp Province. Before, it belonged to Gò Công Đông in Tiền Giang Province. The communal house is more than a hundred years old, and the two bodhi trees have turned it into something strange. Their roots hang down, grip the walls, climb the pillars and cover the front.

The house was first built in 1901. In 1904, a storm damaged it badly. From 1905 to 1907, it was rebuilt in full on the site where it stands today, covering 538 square meters. The front has five arched doorways. Above them is a scroll-shaped panel carved with the year 1907.

The name of the house has changed with history. When it was founded, it bore the name of its village, Tân Niên Đông. The village belonged to Hòa Lạc Thượng canton in the old Gò Công Province. In April 1979, the commune was renamed Tân Đông, and the house took the same name.

The house has three parts: the võ ca, the main hall and the smoke house. The võ ca is roofed with yin and yang tiles. The main hall is built in the four-pillar style, with pillars 5.5 meters high. The smoke house was damaged during the war.

Each year the house keeps its ceremonies. The Kỳ Yên festival falls on the 16th day of the second lunar month. Kỳ Yên is a village festival at the communal house that welcomes the spirits and prays for peace and good fortune. The hạ điền ceremony is held on the 16th day of the fifth month, and the thượng điền ceremony on the 16th day of the eighth month. The offering at the end of the year comes on the 16th day of the 11th month. These ceremonies have marked village life through many generations.

The house is dedicated to the Thành Hoàng Bổn Cảnh, that is, the forebears who opened the land, as is the custom in the villages of the south. Here villagers place their gratitude: to the land, to the sky, and to those who went before them.

Around 1986, when the võ ca had fallen into disrepair, two bodhi trees growing in front of the house began to let their roots down onto the walls and pillars. The roots wrap around the pillars and rafters, and the two trunks both embrace the house and hold it up. No one planted them for decoration. They found their own way here and decided to stay.

In 2010, the house was recognized as a historical and cultural site at the provincial level. It was later restored, with a total investment of more than 2.71 billion dong. The most precious part is that the restoration kept the old front wall. That means it kept both bodhi trees and the roots that cling to it.

The strangest thing about Tân Đông Communal House is not its architecture, nor its history, nor the bodhi trees. It is acceptance. People did not cut down the trees or tear out the roots. They let the bodhi trees grow along with the house. And now, after more than 30 years, the trees and the house have become one thing that cannot be pulled apart.