Located about 40km from the center of Phu Ly city (Ha Nam) in Hoa Hau commune, Ly Nhan district, there is still an older house still in existence. 100 years is considered the prototype of “Ba Kien dynasty” in the famous work Chi Pheo by the late writer Nam Cao.Ba Kien house is located on an area of land about 900m2 wide, facing the West – South direction. According to the elders in the village, this house previously belonged to the owner. The true name of the Northern puppet agent Ba Binh. Ba Binh’s real name was Tran Duy Binh (died in 1946), and was revealed by the late writer Nam Cao to be the prototype of the famous character Ba Kien. Up to now, after experiencing many ups and downs in history, this special house is still preserved by the people here and considered a treasure of “Vu Dai” village.According to research, the “Ba Kien” house has had 7 generations of owners, the person who built this house is Mr. Cuu Hanh was a wealthy merchant famous throughout the southern Red River Delta at that time. He hired a group of more than 20 carpenters in Ly Nhan district to work for nearly a year.Mr. Hanh lost the house’s heir, his son Tran Duy Xam. Mr. Xam then left it to his son, Cuu Cat. Being an alcoholic, Cuu Cat borrowed money many times from the Northern puppet agent Ba Binh. At that time, Ba Binh was a high-ranking mandarin, so many people served his land, which was nearly half the size of Dai Hoang village. This house was bought by Ba Binh to make a church.Later, when Ba Binh passed away, he left the inheritance to his son, Tran Duy Tao, also known as Binh Tao . However, with his alcoholic nature, Binh Tao pawned his house’s belongings and sold them all. The house, the most valuable asset, was also sold by Binh Tao. Mr. Cai Hau then bought the house for 4,500 VND (about 20 gold bars at that time).The next owner of the house is Mr. Tran Huu Hoa, grandson of Mr. Cai Hau. In 2007, the People’s Committee of Ha Nam province decided to keep this house, so they negotiated with Ms. Tran Thi Sam (Mr. Hoa’s wife) to buy it back for 700 million VND. Having gone through many generations of owners, the house’s architecture is still quite intact and has been preserved until today.Accordingly, the house has 3 rooms built in the traditional house style of Northern Vietnam and is made entirely of solid ironwood. . Among them, there are 16 ironwood pillars, each base of which is covered with green boulders.The front yard area of the house is about 70 m2 and is paved with straw-burnt bricks, so it is very durable despite having been through ups and downs with the house, but this brick part has never been damaged.The roof is covered with only one type of tile in a style that closes both ends of the roof with square joints that are stepped in the correct way. traditional Northern house.In front of the house was built a rectangular water tank of about 2m2 which, according to many people’s explanation, was for suitable for the house’s feng shui.The path leading to the ancient house was signposted by the local government for people.
Ha Trang
Photo Video: Toan Vu
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