Activities planned for death anniversary of Hung Kings

At the Hung King temple (Photo: VNA)

Phu Tho (VNA) – A ceremony marking the death anniversary of Hung Kings -  the legendary founders of the nation, and the Culture and Tourism Week of Ancestral Land will be held from April 20-29 in the northern midland province of Phu Tho with various activities.

Traditional rituals will be conducted at the temples dedicated to Lac Long Quan and Au Co in the Hung Kings Temple relic site to express gratitude to the ones who laid the foundation of the country, and incense and flower offering to Hung Kings in cities, districts, towns and communities.

The opening of the Hung Kings Temple Festival and the Week of UNESCO-listed intangible cultural heritages will be held at Hung Vuong square in Viet Tri city.

Other activities include an international conference on Vietnam’s tourism, culture, heritages and sustainable development, a swimming and stand-up paddleboarding competition, the northwest tourism fair 2023, the Hung Vuong Cup football tournament, the volleyball tournament of strong national teams competing for Hung Vuong Cup, the cuisine festival and other cultural, sport and tourism activities like exhibitions, xoan singing, and festival of traditional long dress for children.

Legend has it that Lac Long Quan (real name Sung Lam, son of Kinh Duong Vuong and Than Long Nu) married Au Co (the fairy daughter of De Lai). Au Co then gave birth to a pouch filled with 100 eggs, which soon hatched into a hundred sons. However, soon thereafter, Lac Long Quan and Au Co separated. Lac Long Quan went to the coast with 50 of the children, while Au Co went to the highlands with the rest.

Their eldest son was made king, who named the country Van Lang and set up the capital in Phong Chau (modern-day Viet Tri city in Phu Tho province), beginning the 18 generations of the Hung Kings.

The kings chose Nghia Linh Mountain, the highest in the region, to perform rituals devoted to rice and sun deities to pray for healthy crops.

To honour their great contributions, a complex of temples dedicated to them was built on Nghia Linh Mountain, and the 10th day of the third lunar month, which falls on April 29 this year, serves as the national commemorative anniversary for the kings.

The worship of the Hung Kings, closely related to the ancestral worship traditions of most Vietnamese families, was recognised as part of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity by UNESCO in 2012./.