A ceremony to receive a UNESCO certificate of Intangible CulturalHeritage of Humanity for the worship of Hung Kings held recently in thenorthern midland province of Phu Tho kick-started a series of follow-upactivities on a national scale to commemorate Hung Kings, who foundedVietnam.
The commemoration of Hung Kings, known as the nationaldeath anniversary, is often from the eighth day to the eleventh day ofthe third lunar month with the tenth day observed as the major event.
The ritual part of the commemoration featureincense offerings to Lac Long Quan, the father of the Vietnamese people,and his fairy wife Au Co, the mother of the Vietnamese people, tributesto ancestors, and ceremonials to pray for peace and prosperity for thecountry and people.
The festive part is varied,ranging from cultural, music and sport activities, like Xoan singing,Chung “square rice cake’ and Day “round rice cake” making contests, tocrossbow shooting and folk games to introduce Vietnamese distinctiveculture to visitors to the event.
Last December,the worship of Hung Kings was honoured by the UNESCO as part of theIntangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity. This was the organisation’sfirst recognition of an ancestral worship ritual as an intangiblecultural heritage of humanity.
Legend has it thatLac Long Quan, son of King Duong Vuong married to Au Co, daughter ofKing De Lai. Au Co then gave birth to a pouch containing 100 eggs fromwhich 100 children were born. The couple then decided to separate inorder to populate the land and propagate the race, so half the childrenfollowed their mother to the highlands and the remaining half went withtheir father to the sea.
The first child went withmother Au Co to Phong Chau, now Phu Tho province. He then became KingHung and founded the first nation in the history of Vietnam, calledVan Lang.
Ruling the country through 18 dynasties,Hung Kings taught people how to grow wet rice. They chose Nghia Linhmountain, the highest in the region, to exercise rituals devoted to riceand sun deities to pray for favourable weather conditions and lushcrops.
To honour Hung Kings’ great services, acomplex of temples dedicated to the Kings was built on Nghia Linhmountain, and the tenth day of the third lunar month was designated asthe annual national death anniversary.
On the wayfrom the foot to the top of Nghia Linh mountain, around 175 metres,there are the Ha, Trung, Thuong, and Gieng temples.
The Ha temple is where Au Co gave birth to a sac of 100 eggs while theTrung temple is where Hung Kings and his aides met to discuss pressingaffairs of state.
The Thuong temple perched on thetop of the mountain is where rituals were held for the Kings to pray forpeace and prosperity for the nation and the Gieng Temple wasbuilt in memory of the princesses of the last Hung King dynasty.
Onthe mountain on September 19, 1945, at his talk with pioneeringVietnamese military troops, President Ho Chi Minh said: “The Hung Kingshad the merit of founding the country, you and I must work together toprotect it.”
The worship of Hung Kings has beenpreserved and spread from generation to generation despite ups and downsin history. There are 1,417 temples dedicated to Hung Kings andnumerous temples honouring Au Co scattering across the country.
The Hung Kings Temple Festival demonstrates a strong desire fornational prosperity and symbolises community spirit. Coming to thefestival is like returning to the ancestral land, a customs that deeplyrooted in the mind of Vietnamese people in and outside the country.-VNA