Hung King's Death Anniversary - Sacred Origin

The Hung King worship of the nation has gone beyond national boundaries to become a common cultural heritage of all mankind. The Hung King's Commemoration Day is an occasion for us to remember the Hung King's merits in founding the country, and at the same time, to understand and be proud of our origins, our nation and our ancestors.

Unique and everlasting national beliefs

Worshiping Hung Kings has an important role in the Vietnamese people's consciousness, affirming that Vietnamese people have a common ancestor and origin - that is the "red thread" that creates the tradition of solidarity, love and mutual support. Worshiping Hung Kings has become a cultural and religious symbol connecting the past with the present, helping to foster feelings for family, village and nation. With that meaning, the Vietnamese community voluntarily preserves and develops the worship of Hung Kings naturally, without coercion. As Prime Minister Pham Van Dong once said on the Hung Kings' Commemoration Day in 1969: "From gratitude to respect for previous generations and ancestors, our family, clan and nation have developed this form of cultural and spiritual activity into a unique national morality and belief, which is the worship of a common ancestor of the entire nation: the Hung Kings".

The worship of Hung Kings originated from the ancient land of Phu Tho, then spread throughout the country. The worship of Hung Kings began with the establishment of Hung Kings temples on Nghia Linh Mountain by local residents around the Hung Temple area. Temples such as Ha Temple, Trung Temple, Thuong Temple, and Gieng Temple in the Hung Temple Historical Relic Area were established along with the development of villages at the foot of the mountain...

Hung Temple Historical Relic Area - the focal point of the Hung King Worship practice with solemn and respectful festival activities taking place at the temples on Hung Mountain and Hung King worship relics in Phu Tho province, attracting millions of compatriots nationwide and overseas Vietnamese to participate in the Hung King's Death Anniversary - Hung Temple Festival every year.

In addition to the Ancestral Land, to commemorate the Hung Kings, localities across the country have places to worship Hung Kings such as in Hanoi, Vinh Phuc, Hai Phong, Bac Ninh, Thai Nguyen, Lang Son, Nghe An, Thua Thien - Hue, Lam Dong, Binh Phuoc, Khanh Hoa, Dong Nai, Ho Chi Minh City, Ben Tre, Kien Giang... On the 10th day of the third lunar month every year, provinces and cities organize incense offering ceremonies in memory according to the general instructions of the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism in a solemn and respectful manner, expressing the gratitude and merit of the descendants to the ancestors for the nation-building work of the Hung Kings.

Not only in the country but also in many countries around the world, the Vietnamese community abroad also built temples to worship the Hung Kings such as in California (USA), Canada, Australia... or places of worship with altars, tablets and statues of the Hung Kings so that overseas Vietnamese can hold incense offering ceremonies, remembering their roots and ancestors on National Holidays such as in Laos, Russia, Czech Republic...

It can be seen that the worship of the Hung Kings has been deeply rooted and spread widely. Wherever Vietnamese people live, there is the worship of ancestors - the worship of the Hung Kings. Those spaces of the Hung King worship are a reminiscence of the past, of history, and are vivid and convincing evidence of the preservation and development of the Hung King worship in the Vietnamese community.

The relics and places of worship of King Hung everywhere are always preserved, maintained and built by the Vietnamese people, which is an affirmation of the lasting spiritual value in the spiritual life of the community. That is the invaluable spiritual baggage of the whole nation in the history of the struggle to build and defend the country as well as the process of building and developing the country.

According to the Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism of Phu Tho province, currently, 1,417 relics have been built nationwide to worship the Hung Kings, their wives, children, and generals of the Hung King era; and the annual Hung King Commemoration Day is held to express gratitude to ancestors. This is a testament to the belief that the Hung King worship is a unique cultural heritage, lasting with the history of the nation; at the same time, it is also an important occasion for us to introduce to the world a heritage that has permeated the soul, emotions, and become the traditional morality of every Vietnamese person.

On December 6, 2012, at the 7th Session of the Intergovernmental Committee for the Safeguarding of Intangible Cultural Heritage held in Paris (France), the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) officially approved the decision to recognize the Hung King worship in Phu Tho as a representative Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity, the pride of the Vietnamese people as well as Phu Tho province.

The inscription of the Hung Kings Worship Ritual into the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity has contributed to the recognition of the importance of ancestor worship rituals in many other countries, thereby encouraging the international community to acknowledge the similarities in the beliefs of peoples around the world, while promoting respect for the cultural identity of the Vietnamese people.

Spiritual convergence point and spirit of national solidarity

Hung Temple and Hung Kings' Commemoration Day have been deeply rooted in the sacred hearts of every Vietnamese person for generations. This is a spiritual convergence point, a convergence of unique cultural identity and the spirit of great national unity.

The Hung Kings' Commemoration Ceremony and the Cultural - Tourism Week of the Ancestral Land in 2023 have been carefully prepared by Phu Tho province to ensure a solemn, dignified, respectful ceremony with a profound community character. The festival activities are organized in a joyful and healthy manner, closely linked to tourism, to introduce, promote and honor the values ​​of the unique cultural heritage of the Ancestral Land.

According to the Organizing Committee, the Hung Kings' Commemoration Ceremony in 2023 will have many activities to introduce and promote the cultural heritages of Phu Tho province, especially the two UNESCO-recognized World Cultural Heritages, namely Hung Kings Worship and Phu Tho Xoan Singing, so that people can better understand these unique cultural values.

During the days of the Hung Kings' Commemoration and the Cultural - Tourism Week of the Ancestral Land in 2023, Phu Tho province organized many traditional ceremonies such as: Incense offering ceremony to commemorate the Hung Kings; Commemoration ceremony of the National Ancestor Lac Long Quan; Incense offering ceremony to Mother Au Co; Incense offering ceremony at the relics worshiping the Hung Kings and famous people and generals of the Hung Kings' era in the province; Incense offering ceremony of districts, cities and towns at Hung Temple; Palanquin procession ceremony to Hung Temple organized by communes, wards and towns in the vicinity of the relics...

At the Hung Temple Historical Relic Site and Viet Tri City, from April 21 to 29 (March 2 to 10 of the lunar calendar), many sports and cultural activities will continuously take place such as: Opening of the Hung Temple Festival and the 2023 Culture - Tourism Week and the UNESCO-recognized Intangible Cultural Heritage Week at Hung Vuong Square, Viet Tri City; International Conference on Vietnam Tourism, Culture, Heritage and Sustainable Development Forum...

Coming to the Hung Kings' Commemoration Day this year, visitors can also participate in exciting activities such as: Rowing and stand-up paddleboarding competitions at Van Lang Park Lake; Hung Vuong Cup Football Tournament at Viet Tri Stadium; Volleyball Tournament of strong national teams competing for the Hung Vuong Cup in Viet Tri City...

Visitors can participate in many events with unique experiences such as: Festival of performing intangible cultural heritages representing humanity; Northwest Tourism Fair 2023 and Festival of Cultural Cuisine of the Ancestral Land; Fair of Industry and Trade Exhibition of the Northeast region and Competitions of wrapping and cooking banh chung, pounding banh giay; demonstration of stabbing and beating bronze drums; Exhibition of "Cultural Heritage, Tourism of Vietnam's Capital Regions"; water puppetry performance for the Hung Kings' Anniversary; performance of Ao Dai costumes and setting Vietnam Guinness records; competition of traditional sports for the Hung Kings' Anniversary...

Speaking at the opening ceremony of the Hung Temple Festival, the 2023 Culture - Tourism Week of the Ancestral Land and the 20th anniversary of the 2003 UNESCO Convention and the Vietnam Intangible Cultural Heritage Festival recognized by UNESCO, Deputy Prime Minister Tran Hong Ha emphasized: The Hung King worship ritual expresses pride in the origin and aspiration for unity, the unique wisdom of the Vietnamese nation and people, associated with the tradition of wet rice agriculture, the will to be self-reliant and the spirit of solidarity against foreign invaders and natural disasters, creating the strength of Vietnam. With that meaning, along with 14 typical intangible cultural values, the Hung King worship ritual has been honored by UNESCO as an Intangible Heritage of Humanity.

The Hung Temple Festival and the 2023 Culture - Tourism Week of the Ancestral Land with the theme "Sacred Origin - Hung King Ancestral Land" is a place where the quintessence of cultural heritages from all regions of the country converge, bringing visitors and people on pilgrimage to the origin of the Ancestral Land profound experiences, to understand more, love more and be more proud of the country, culture and people of Vietnam.

In particular, the Festival is an opportunity to look back on the 20 years of Vietnam being a responsible member in implementing Action Programs on the protection of Intangible Cultural Heritage. Vietnamese cultural heritages continue to be preserved and spread the system of values ​​of identity and humanity; contributing to making Vietnamese culture shine in the flow of world civilization.

According to the representative of the Hung Kings Temple Historical Relic Site, after more than 10 years of UNESCO recognizing the Hung Kings Worship in Phu Tho as a representative intangible cultural heritage of humanity, Phu Tho province has increased investment in preserving and restoring many Hung Kings Worship relics in the area. Up to now, the Hung Kings Temple Historical Relic Site has been invested in spaciously with functional areas such as: Hung Kings Temple National Forest, Festival Center Area, Hung Kings Tower Area, Hung Kings Cultural Tourism Village, Hung Kings Cultural House Area, Northern and Southern souvenir tree planting areas... The organization of the Hung Kings Commemoration Ceremony and cultural and tourism activities aims to honor the cultural heritage values ​​of the nation, affirming the great value of two World Cultural Heritages: Hung Kings Worship and Phu Tho Xoan Singing.

Ms. Pham Thi Phuong Anh, a tourist from Hanoi, said that after two years of being affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, this year, she had the opportunity to return to Hung Temple, sincerely burning incense, respectfully hoping that the ancestors would bless her whole family with good health and well-being. Attending the opening ceremony and the event that set a record for the largest number of people wearing Ao Dai in Vietnam with 3,739 people, she was very impressed with the organization as well as the work of ensuring security and order of Phu Tho province, thereby creating a beautiful image of the land as well as the people of the Hung King's Land in the hearts of visitors from near and far.

According to VNA