Remember your roots, think about human morality

My aunt is from Phu Ninh (Phu Tho). No matter how busy she is, on the Hung King's death anniversary, her family still prepares two neat trays of food to return to Phu Tho to offer to the Hung King and to worship the ancestors. In that tray of food, there must be rice balls made of palm leaves, which, according to my aunt, is a dish of love and nostalgia for the homeland. This is a rustic dish from ancient times in the Land of Ancestors. My aunt asked relatives in Phu Tho to go up the hill to cut young palm leaves and send them to Hai Duong. The young, green palm leaves that have not yet fully opened were heated over a fire until they were soft, wiped clean, and then used to make rice balls. Each rice ball with striped edges shaped from palm leaves, imbued with the fragrant scent of Kinh Mon yellow sticky rice with a bit of palm leaf scent, dipped in sesame salt, I remember it forever after eating it. I firmly told my family: "It's not rice balls made of palm leaves, it's sticky rice from Dong land made of palm leaves made of the Land of Ancestors." My aunt smiled and nodded. A wonderful, unique, delicate, and warm blend between Phu Tho and Hai Duong of my aunt.

So, each Vietnamese person remembers the National Ancestor in his own way with respect. Many families, especially the elderly, even though not healthy, still want to return to the Ancestral Land, to offer incense to their ancestors. Many young men and women also take advantage of their days off to go to Nghia Linh Mountain, to calm their minds under the spreading palm trees, to know how to create for themselves a reason to live, faith and pride in their origins.

Some people, due to circumstances, cannot return to their homeland, so they choose to pay their respects at home. They prepare a meal with many traditional national dishes to respectfully offer to their ancestors and the Hung Kings. Some families carefully purchase dong leaves to wrap banh chung and banana leaves to wrap banh giay. Children and grandchildren gather to wrap banh chung and listen to stories about the Hung Kings and the stories of banh chung and banh giay, as if to remind the younger generation of the nation's traditions, filial piety, and gratitude to their ancestors.

There is also a family that has been playing Xoan songs in the afternoons, stirring people's hearts. Passing by, one accidentally looks in and sees the people sitting in front of the TV screen watching and humming along to the Xoan melodies and songs. They are not elderly people but a couple in their 30s. It is true that at first hearing those songs may not seem nice, but listening to them often will feel that hidden within each lyric are many deep and profound meanings.

As for my younger siblings, I bought books, folk stories, and legends about the Hung Kings' time to read to them at their bedside every night.

Only with these unique ways of remembering can we fully see the pride, respect, gratitude, and remembrance of generations of descendants with Lac Hong blood, especially the young people, about their ancestors and nation.

Obviously, the National Death Anniversary has been deeply rooted in the sacred hearts of every Vietnamese person for generations, becoming a spiritual symbol, carrying a unique cultural identity, forming a sense of origin and compatriotism.

Origin is the root, the place that exists first to produce the following values. Remembering, being grateful and appreciating the origin brings many profound meanings to each person. Origin helps us realize where we come from, what we must do so that we can understand and reflect on the traditions, history, culture and important values ​​that our ancestors have left behind.

Thinking about one's roots, one can sympathize with those who, due to circumstances and the burden of making a living, have to live in a foreign land, far from their families, unable to return to reunite on the anniversary of their ancestors. But it is also blameworthy for those who live without knowing their roots, their past, being ungrateful, indifferent, and insensitive to what has given them the peaceful and beautiful life they have today.

Remembering our roots and responsibilities, we must always unite, protect, love, share, constantly strive to study, work, labor, produce, build our families, offices, homelands, and make our country more and more dignified and beautiful. Every Vietnamese citizen, especially the young generation, must have the responsibility to follow Uncle Ho's teachings: "The Hung Kings built the country, we must work together to protect the country."

In the warm weather of March, groups of people are going to Nghia Linh peak, sincerely offering incense to commemorate and show gratitude for the merits of the Hung Kings - the common kings of Vietnamese people all over the world.