Binh Dong Communal House

A communal house on Ba Tang islet in the Kenh Doi canal, a National Historical Relic, linked to the bank by a bridge over 100 m long

Set on Ba Tang islet on a branch of the Kenh Doi canal, Binh Dong Communal House is a more than century-old dinh from which today's Binh Dong Ward takes its name. In the mid-19th century, it was just a thatched house where local people gathered and made offerings, and it received a royal decree of recognition from Emperor Tu Duc. In 1922, it was rebuilt with a tiled roof, plank walls and wooden columns and trusses; after being badly damaged in the war in 1968, it was rebuilt in 1991 in reinforced concrete while keeping its overall architecture. In 1997, it was designated a National Historical Relic. The communal house follows the Southern Vietnamese layout: the vo ca hall and main sanctuary in the centre, the East and West wings on either side, and the Nghia Tu hall alongside. The courtyard is spacious and leafy, and all three gates face the canal bank; the main gate is a three-entrance gate topped with two dragons vying for a pearl. The main sanctuary still keeps red-lacquered and gilded horizontal boards and parallel sentences, the shrine of the guardian spirit, a set of the eight precious objects, and statues of a black horse and a white horse on either side. The grounds also contain a memorial house to President Ton Duc Thang. The biggest festival is the Ky Yen ceremony on the 12th – 13th days of the 2nd lunar month, with hat boi (classical opera) performances that draw large crowds from the area. Since 2017, a bridge over 100 m long connecting the communal house to Pham The Hien Street has made it easy for visitors to reach. The communal house is part of the programme "District 8 – Land of Stories".

English text: machine translation from the Localis platform — proper names kept in Vietnamese.