Traditional rituals were carried out at the temples dedicated to the ancestral couple in the Hung Kings Temple relic site.
Every year, activities worshipping them take place ahead of the commemoration of the Hung Kings, believed to be the very first founders of Vietnam, on the 10th day of the third lunar month (which falls on April 29 this year).
Every year, activities worshipping them take place ahead of the commemoration of the Hung Kings, believed to be the very first founders of Vietnam, on the 10th day of the third lunar month (which falls on April 29 this year).
Traditional rituals are carried out at the temples dedicated to the ancestral couple in the Hung Kings Temple relic site. (Photo: VNA)
The same day, a delegation of over 100 overseas Vietnamese from more than 20 countries worldwide led by Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Pham Quang Hieu, who is also Chairman of the State Committee for Overseas Vietnamese Affairs, offered incence to the Hung Kings.
The activity has contributed to raising the OVs’ pride of national traditions, while demonstrating the Party’s and the State’s attention to and responsibility for Vietnamese abroad, Hieu said.
A delegation of over 100 overseas Vietnamese from more than 20 countries worldwide offere incence to the Hung Kings. (Photo: VNA)
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 went on to give birth to a pouch filled with one hundred eggs, which 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 reigns 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 bumper 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 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.
* On the occasion of the Hung Kings Temple Festival, which falls on April 29 this year (the 10th day of the third lunar month), Vietnamese communities, agencies, and organisations in countries across the world will celebrate the “Vietnam Ancestral Global Day” (VAGD).
The annual event, starting in 2015, aims to connect and engage overseas Vietnamese and international friends in activities on preserving Vietnamese cultural intangible heritage and cement national solidarity.
A ceremony will be held in German on April 24 and another in Laos on April 29 with the participation of delegates and overseas Vietnamese from nearly 20 countries and territories. The ceremonies will be broadcast to dozens of places all over the world via mass media and social network platforms.
Within the VAGD framework, incense offering to pay tribute to Hung Kings will be held in countries. Other activities include art and musical performances, scientific seminars and workshops, and ceremonies to honour Vietnamese and foreigners with outstanding contributions to the social community, the operation of VAGD Project Board, and the friendship between Vietnam and international friends.
* A festival to honour and showcase Vietnam’s UNESCO-recognised intangible cultural heritages of humanity is underway in the northern province of Phu Tho from April 22 to 24, as part of the local 2023 Hung Kings Temple Festival and Culture and Tourism Week of Ancestral Land.
Visitors are treated to performances in 15 cultural heritage genres, with the involvement of nearly 1,000 artisans and artists from 13 provinces and cities nationwide which possess the heritages, including Hue court music, Bac Ninh’s Quan ho (love duet) singing, Central Highlands’ space of gong culture, Phu Tho’s Xoan singing, and the art of Don ca tai tu music and song in southern Vietnam, among others.
Visitors are treated to performances in 15 cultural heritage genres, with the involvement of nearly 1,000 artisans and artists from 13 provinces and cities nationwide which possess the heritages, including Hue court music, Bac Ninh’s Quan ho (love duet) singing, Central Highlands’ space of gong culture, Phu Tho’s Xoan singing, and the art of Don ca tai tu music and song in southern Vietnam, among others.
Also within the Hung Kings Temple festival and culture-tourism week, the People’s Committee of Viet Tri city, Phu Tho, in collaboration with the Phuong Ly Media company, on April 22, organised a show of Ao dai (Vietnamese traditional long dress). The event broke three Guinness Vietnam records for the longest ao dai that features a 178-metre flap and weights 200kg; the longest runway of over 500 metres; and the highest number participants wearing ao dai, at nearly 4,000.
Phu Tho is regarded as the ancestral land and the root of the Vietnamese people. In this place more than 4,000 years ago, Hung Kings founded the country of Van Lang, the first state of Vietnam. From this cradle, valuable cultural heritages of the Vietnamese people took shape, including the worshipping of the Hung Kings and xoan singing.
The commemoration of the Hung Kings has been made a national holiday, and is observed on the 10th day of the third lunar month, which falls on April 29 this year./.
At the event (Photo: VNA)
The commemoration of the Hung Kings has been made a national holiday, and is observed on the 10th day of the third lunar month, which falls on April 29 this year./.
Q.Hoa t.h / VNA
