Khum Bridge – a special bridge of the people of Yen village

‘Slopping the back of the shrimp / Squeezing the scales / The water flows through / Swallowing people in and releasing them’ are the verses that describe the unique beauty of Khum bridge that the people of Yen village pass on to each other. first time visitor.

Khum Bridge is located in the east of Yen village (Thach Xa Commune, Thach That, Hanoi City) adjacent to the Thach Xa – Huu Bang inter-commune road. In the past, the bridge spanned a stream flowing from Huong Ngai, Canh Nau, Dong Bui to Tich River, the water rushing all year round. Now people have adjusted the flow to make a large fish pond, and the bridge is also less crowded. Although, the bridge is no longer used for travel as before, but this is a spiritual place for people around the region in particular and throughout Hanoi in general. The bridge is designed in the form of “upper family, lower house”, meaning the upper is the house, the lower is the bridge. That’s why the people in the village gave this bridge the name Khum Bridge, which looks like an upside down bamboo boat from afar. When talking about the longevity of the bridge, the village elders all shook their heads, because they were born with this bridge. Only know that born in 1935, the bridge was badly damaged and was rebuilt by the people in the village as it is today. Mr. Do Duc Long (70 years old, Yen village, Thach Xa commune, Thach That district, Hanoi) a member of the Management Board of Yen village’s communal house and temple relics shared: “The bridge has the characteristic that the upper is the house, the lower is the bottom. is a bridge for water to flow through, so it is called upper house, lower house. The bridge is shaped like an upside down boat, so there is a verse: Crouching on the shrimp’s back / Squeezing the scales / Water flows through / Swallowing people in and releasing people. Now, this address has become a spiritual place, people often come to pray for health and fortune. In the past, Khum Bridge was the main way for people in the village. All production and living activities pass through this way. Later, people’s lives were more developed, and vehicles began to travel. When they felt that the road was no longer suitable, they began to build outside roads. The part on the bridge deck is built like the architecture of a house. The middle space is planned to be an altar with a set of 6-leaf door panels, the two sides are left empty to make a wooden stall that can be used as a place to rest. Thuong Gia’s house is made of wood, with 2 rows of female columns and 2 rows of military columns. The because of the connection by rafter, with momentum connecting 2 tops of the rafter, armpit beams connect the main column with the child column. The two sides of the middle compartment are sealed to make an altar to worship Quan Than Linh, the two borders are left empty to make wooden stalls. The architecture inside the temple is made of wood, roofed with tiles from ancient times, the Upper part is over 12m long, divided into 5 compartments. Inside the temple, there is also a place for the villagers and the guardians of the temple to sit and rest. The bridge over the flowing water leads to Dong Hoa Temple, both a bridge and a place of worship for the people of Yen village. The fish-scale tile roof of Khum bridge. The entire wall is built of ancient laterite. According to people here, the bridge was repaired in the year of the Pig 1935, in which the lower part of the country was completely redone. In 1948, the French invaders swept over, burned the bridge, the villagers came to put out the fire to save it, the dark gray burns remain to this day. Every day, especially on the full moon day, the first day, people around the area come to burn incense to pray for good luck.