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Along with Stilt House of Thai ethnic people in North Western, The Rong (the Communal House) of Bana, Gia Rai; Old Houses of North and South… the Goul House is a typical architectural works for traditional houses of ethnic groups in Western Highlands and Central Vietnam such as the Cotu ethnic people. The Goul House has been aroused in the cultural heritage of this potential region.
The Cotu currently has a population of nearly 50,000 who live mainly in the Truong Son Mountain range spread from (old) Binh Tri Thien to Quang Nam Province and divided in to 3 areas: the high-land Cotu (Cơtu Nal), the mid-land Cotu (Cotu Phuong) and the low-land Cotu (Cotu D’riu). Going through many changes of nature, history as well as the war… the Cotu people still preserve many traditional customs, festivals, traditional clothes, plastic arts, sculptures, music… that contribute to the unique and diversified feature for tangible and intangible culture in the communal life including the Goul House. The Guoil house is not any kind of resident house but it plays the role of a communal house like the Dinh for the Kinh people. The Goul is “the soul of village”. It is the special kind of tangible cuture that is preserved and conserved. With the function of a communal house for all activities like the Dinh of the Kinh, the Goul is also the place where Board of Villager Elder meets and decide the vital issues of community, where many traditional festivals, such as ceremonies to celebrate new rice (Chaha Roo Tơmêê), twining-ceremony (Pơ-Ngoót),, and events to celebrate a bumper crop (Bhuối AVí)… The Cotu’ society is under patriarchy that man plays an important part. For example: man can get married with many women, and the title being traced through the man line. Therefore, the Cotu’s plural marriage is illustrated not only in marital life but also in the name of Goul’s architectural parts: one father pillar (zơrmâng) but plural mother pillars (tanar). On the research of the Cotu ethnic group’s culture, researchers believed that this ethnic group had relation with the Viet Dong Son people and even the Ameridian.
The Cotu, with the role of this culture’s owners, created the outstanding work of art that becomes the cultural heritage of them, it’s the Goul House. Goul, in Cotu language means community. The meaning of Goul somehow demonstrates the function of this architectural work. It has 3 major functions: Administration, Social activities for community and culture preservation. However, these 3 functions are not contradictory with each others but have the close relation and mutual impacts. For example, in the buffalo-stabbing festival, it is the combination of Guol’s functions that creates the distinct culture aspect as well as unique cultural character of Cotu people. The Goul House is the most beautiful, biggest and the most important one that the Cotu contribute and build up together. In the function of administration, the Goul is the place for meeting where the general issues are discussed such as: preventing dangerous wild animals, natural disasters, releasing the regulations and tribal custom, announcing the punishment…Everyday, this is place for entertainment of youth and children, even for weaving fabric, drying rice and corns and other works. However the function of administration is specifically demonstrated in which the villager elder is heart of the Goul and following him is the elderly men - like “small parliament” – support him with general community issues. They reinforce the function of legislation. Moreover, the Goul House is the first alive museum of an ethnic group – the Cotu. In the function of culture preservation: once setting foot on this area, the first impression that attracts us most is the outstanding feature of Cotu culture. In the centre of the Goul House is a major pillar with the meticulous carving designs and decorating patterns that we still witnessed on the Cotu’s clothes. The Goul House keeps the Gongs, the Drums, the Water Jars, the Ornamental Jars, Papoose, Arbalest…and never be stolen. If yes, it’s by people from other areas. They naturally exist and reserved through many generations, then become the precious antiques that create and nourish the intangible cultural elements of Cotu. It’s in Goul house that many kind of intangible culture such as: music, dancing, singing in festivals, traditional games are played and handed down from generation to generation.
The Goul is a long-lasting type of traditional architecture. The Goul House is place where Board of Villager Elder meet and decide vital issues of community… the place to hold many traditional festivals such as ceremonies to celebrate new rice (Chaha Roo Tơmêê), twining-ceremony (Pơ-Ngoót). Therefore, regardless of the rich or the poor, the Goul House must be built otherwise the tradition will be faded away. The Goul House is considered the respected and sacred place for ancestor worship as well as the place for cultural and religious activities. The Cotu people called Goul the communal House “the Goul House”, made by the efforts of all villagers. It’s the place where the unmarried men, the elders sleep every night. In the Cotu’s opinion, the Goul House is sacred place that ancestor, Spirit of their forefather stay. Women and unmarried girls are not allowed to enter the Goul House. Villagers don’t make quarrel or fight in the Goul House, instead, they unite, love and help the other in all cases for the survival and development of the Cotu people. The inside of the Guoil House is the place to worship ancestors in the religious belief of CoTu people. On the walls, they set aside one space to hung stuffed heads of animals they hunted or stuffed heads of buffaloes resulted from the village’s festivals as well as traditional music instruments. According to ancient customs, whenever the Co Tu people want to set up a new village, the first thing they have to think of is the building of Guol House. This custom is still poupular up to now. Before building the Guol House, CoTu people must perform the ritual to select land. It is one of religious beliefs which have been concerned and maintained by CoTu people through many generations. The experienced village elders who thoroughly understand CoTu people’s traditions and customs are responsible for the selection. They pray to God of mountain, God of water, God of land, ect for permission to build the Guol House there. After getting land for the foundation, CoTu people will perform the ritual to start building the Guol House. This ritual is performed in the early morning as soon as the sun rises from the east. Firstly, the major pillar will be erected. When it is erected completely, the village elder will pour some water into it for the purpose of wishing villagers health, peace, solidarity, happiness and lovingness. Upon completing the Guol House, CoTu people celebrate a two- day and three – night ceremony for new Goul House ( Lang- Tơri). This festival is a really happy time to villagers. Therefore, they contribute their good wine, fish, dried meet, chickens, ect to the festival. Their descendants whether traveling far away or getting married and then living in other villages as well as their relatives are all invited to attend and share the happiness. Upon the conditions of each village, in the celebration for new Guol House, villagers may slaughter buffaloes, erect a pole used to tie up sacrificial buffalo. They also play gongs, beat drums, dance, drink wine and sing to wish each other, After this celebration, Cotu people living in three regions: highland, midland and lowland do not hold any others relating to the building of Guol House, but, this house will be used as a place where Cotu people perform spirit rituals or celebrate new rice ceremony, twining-ceremony, wedding ceremony, ect The sacredness of the Guol House is equivalent to the Long House in E De communities, and the Rong House for the Ba Na and Xe Dang people. But the Guol House does have one unique feature which is the major pillar erected in the middle of the House. This pillar is carved with images that are similar to carvings on a pole used to tie up sacrificial buffalo. It is regarded as the central symbol of the village, of which the size shows the village’s prestige and power. As the house embodies the soul of the village, it must be built by just the villagers. Nowadays, Cotu people still comply with their own customs, which should be maintained, preserved and developed.
The Goul House of CoTu people is fairly similar to their stilt-house but it is carved more meticulously. Two tops of the Guol House is often carved and attached with scenes of cock or two stuffed heads of buffalos with sharp, curving horns in opposite direction. The inside of the House is carved with unique images embodying particular culture aspects of CoTu people such as the scenes of young men and young women dancing with gongs or hunting wild animals, ect. Although there are many kinds of Guol House, their distinguished feature lies in the central pillar with carved images that are similar to carvings on a pole used to tie up sacrificial buffalo (xờnuh). This pillar is regarded as the axis of the village. Looking at the main pillar erected in the Guol House( whether of small or big size) it is possible for us to know the prestige and power level of this village. Surrounding things as well as the walls are also carved with animals familiar to Co Tu people like buffaloes, pythons, varans and lizards, ect together with scenes of daily life such as a man beating drum, a woman embracing her child. As sculptures in the Guol House of Co Tu people are associated with the soul of each village, Co Tu people believe that it is the spirit of the village that brings the soul to these sculptures. The Guol House always occupies at the heart of the community. Its remarkable feature is the high roof with two rolled gables. Other distinct feature in comparison to other kinds of communal house is the using of even numbers such as the even number of space in one house, the even number of pillars…even the even number of ridge-beams. It indicates that each ethnic group has their own conception about number. The Guol House which represents the particular culture aspect Co Tu ethnic minority group, is built in a unique fashion by hands and brainpower of all villagers. Different completely from the architecture style that uses a system of pillars-beams to bear the equally spreading pressure as in Rong House or Communal House of Kinh people, the pressure resistant system in the architectural structure of Guol House focuses on one pillar (“father pillar”) which is deeply erected in the middle of the House and rising up to the roof, linking all system of girders, beams and ridge-beams just like the structure of an umbrella. With the high slope of the roof, but the system of roof leverages has only one fulcrum on the frame and each pair of them is connected at the roof top. Despite of this structure, Guol House can sustain loads quite well because all of roof leverages are tightly fixed by two ridge-beams. The structure using two ridge- beams has not ever been seen in any other wooden architecture in our country. Therefore, the Guol House is very airy and deep. When you investigate in details you can find it a perfect structure because it is calculated very sophisticatedly like a system of scientific data of architecture. The outstanding component of this architecture includes fine designs of geometry including triangle, circle, zigzag, ect which are arranged very logically to create decorative sheets in series with a consistent motif from inside to outside. Other distinct character you can see is the human images in a fairly large number of decorative works in the Guol House such as scenes of daily life like pounding rice, dancing, drinking wine…which are carved or painted very skillfully on beams or used to create decorative sheets to beautify the house’s interiors. It helps dispel the empty feeling in the House’s spacious place and also clearly presents decorative components in architectural space of the Guol House. Due to its material nature of a major building in Cotu village, villagers believe that the selection of land to build this House is vital to their success or failure. As a result, of all religious rituals relating to the construction of Guol House, the most important is to select the proper land. And the traditional Guol House which is called “Choong Guol” is very beautiful. It is built in the shape of a conical hat. Building the Guol House is very expensive and takes a lot of efforts. In this House, which often has a diameter of about eight meters, the roof is supported by a system of pillars composed of a major pillar (Xa nuôr) in the middle and eight minor ones placed in circle around it. These pillars equally divide the pressure by two main system in X shape which are symmetric by the mother pillar (Tanr) pierced from the major pillar to minor pillars. Its thatched roof is usually made of rattan and palm leaves.
Guol House is regarded as an honorable site, a sacred place for Cotu people to worship their folk ancestors, forefathers and hold cultural and religious activities. However, facing the wave of modern life with full of conveniences and diversified spiritual life enjoyed instantly through audio- vision media and due to economic conditions, many CoTu people now are not really concerned about the building of this communal house. In response to the fact that the traditions, cultural characters and the soul of villages are losing in oblivion just at the place where they were born, Quang Nam province advocates to restore the Guol House. Currently, the Guol House of CoTu ethnic minority Group is being restored step by step. In just Quang Nam Province, by the end of 2004, in 197 villages of following districts including: Nam Giang, Dong Giang, Tay Giang where live a large number of CoTu ethnic minority Group, of 78 villages of Tay Giang District there are 40 villages which have Guol House and there are 70 such villages compare to 119 villages of Nam Giang and Dong Giang Districts. In communes of remote regions such as Zuoih, Ch’Om, Tr’Hy, Axan, Atieng, Lang, ect, the Guol House is also gradually being restored. Restoring Guol House means preserving traditional cultural values of CoTu ethnic Group so that it can be handed down to future generations who will inherit all physical and spiritual culture values of their own ethnic group . Thanks to the preservation, the Guol House does not only exist as a symbol of unique architecture but also reflects its inherent role and functions, making it a familiar, closed and cosy image in the life of CoTu people. It is possible to say that the existence of Guol House in the Cultural Life of CoTu people is a lively evidence for the vitality of community culture aspect in Southeast Asia cultural space. It affirms the role and the position of Guol House as the main point in the process of forming and developing the communal house in this area. The Guol House is regarded as the linking bridge between past and present culture. It is also a live- museum of culture which helps us understand more about the culture of CoTu people, an ethnic minority group lived in the South Central Coast of our country. Summary by Cinet |
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