Hung King’s temple festival

Hung King’s temple festival
Introduction of Hung King’s temple festival
Vietnamese people has a common religion, this is ancestral religion. Vietnamese people
also have a common ancestral and an ancestral land to remember. Even more
fortunate, we still have a common Temple to tribute. This is Hung King’s Temple.
Death Anniversary Hung - Hung Temple Festival to educate Vietnamese people about
patriotism “drinking water, remember its source” deeply grateful to Hung Kings to build
the country and the predecessors against invaders hold country.

(Hung King)


Kings Hung (Hung - Valorous) temple festival is a crowned anniversary of which,
thousands of years passed away under the Chinese domination, the organization is
never forgotten by Vietnamese people. It is a great festival on national scale in
commemoration of Kings Hung, who had the merit of building the country. The habit to
celebrate this anniversary became for a long time the cultural tradition in Vietnam.
It is a festival of the whole country, of all the people and in the Vietnamese popular
conception, it carries the most crowned value. Thus, the festival is solemnly organized
every year with the rites of a national ceremony, the pilgrimage "towards the origin of
people" of thousands of pilgrims from all the country's corners and also in overseas.
The Hung King Temple Festival is annually held from 8th to the 11th days of the third
lunar month. The main festival day is on the 10th day of the third lunar March, on which
the National Assembly has approved Vietnamese working people to annually have one
more national holiday to mark the anniversary of the Hung King’s death.


(Hung King’s temple festival)

Every year, on this traditional occasion, Vietnamese people worldwide join their
brothers and sisters in spirit to observe Vietnam National Day in commemoration of their

ancestors. The main ceremony takes place at the Hung Temple on Nghia Linh Mountain
in Phong Chau District, Phu Tho Province, about 85km northwest of Vietnam’s capital
The Hung King Temple Festival is one of the most important and sacred festivals of the
Vietnamese people, deeply imbedded in the minds of every Vietnamese citizen,
regardless of where they originated from.
Dù ai đi ngược về xuôi
Nhớ ngày giỗ Tổ mồng mười tháng ba


On this date, Vietnamese people from everywhere always turn toward to Ancestral
Land. The Ancestors of Vietnamese people want to remind descendants: everybody
should remember the responsibilities, obligations, functions, keep the right discipline…
So the family will stable, the society will develop, prosper.

Legend of Hung King
To the Vietnamese people, Hung Vuong is considered the founders of their nation, the
forefather who had built the basic foundation of the Vietnamese society in the old time.
This legend was transmitted orally from generations to generations and has been
becoming very familiar to every Vietnamese. It was to appear on the first page of every
work of historians in the past, usually commissioned by the ruling dynasties, such as:
Dai Viet Su Ky Toan Thu (Complete History of Dai Viet) edited by historians of the
Nguyen Dynasty; Kham Dinh Viet su Thong giam Cuong muc (Summary of the
Vietnamese History established by imperial order) edited by historian Ngo Si Lien and


collaborators under the Lê Dynasty. The legend was harshly discussed by different
scholars who based their criticism on the lack of documents and the chronology of the
facts involved in the legend. But it is so attached to the memory of the Vietnamese
people to become their common heritage that reveals an origin and a reason to keep
them closely united.

(Hung King in legend)

According to the legend, the third descendant of King Than Nong, named De Minh, on
his travel to control the southern pant of his kingdom, arrived at the region of Ngu Lïnh,
met and married Vu Tien. They had a son named Loc Tuc. Loc Tuc was very intelligent
and virtuous, and his father wanted to cede him the throne. But he refused the offer and
persuaded his father to pass it on to his elder brother, prince De Nghi. So, De Minh
made his eldest son De Nghi his heirs but also conferred Loc Tuc king of the South with
the title Kinh Duong Vuong, and the name of the country as Xich Quy.


Kinh Duong Vuong married Long Nu, the daughter of Dong Dinh Vuong - sovereign of
the Dong Dinh lake - and gave birth to Sung Lam. When he succeeded his father Sung
Lam took the title as Lac Long Quan.
Admiring Lac Long Quan's talent, De Lai married Au Co (the daughter of De Lai and
grand child of De Nghi) to Lac Long Quan. Au Co became pregnant and gave birth to a
membranous sac. The sac kept getting larger and larger, and burst on the seventh day.
Surprisingly, there were one hundred eggs in the sac, which hatched into one hundred
beautiful babies. The children of Lac Long Quan and Au Co were the ancestors of
Vietnam, and so the Vietnamese are known as "Dragon and Fairy descendants."

(Hung King and Au Co with hundreds babies)

Au Co and her fifty sons went to the highlands. She crowned the eldest son, King Hung.
Hung Vuong named the country Van Lang and made Phong Chau its capital. So, began
the dynasty of Hong Bang, and with it the foundation of the Vietnamese nation.
Hung Vuong divided the country into fifteen counties, called his civilian officials Lac Hau
and his military officers Lac Tuong. He also titled his sons as Quan Lang and his

daughters My Nuong. The dynasty of Hong Bang lasted for eighteen generations, all of
its kings taking the same title Hung Vuong.
According to historical records, the regime of the Hung Kings was an impressive,
brilliant and outstanding start for establishing Viet Nam as a sovereign nation. The 18
generations of the Hung Kings saw the birth and development of a nation and are
credited with forging national characteristics such as the sense of community, mutual
affection, patriotism and unwillingness to yield to oppression. From this original
settlement, the Hong (Red) River civilization and the pre-Dong Son cultures grew. From
generations to generations, the Vietnamese people hold a festival nationwide on the
10th day of the third lunar month to commemorate the anniversary of their ancestor's
death, founder of the Vietnamese nation - the first Hung King.

Hung Temple
Hung temple, locating on Nghia Linh mountain, Cổ Tích village, Hy Cương commune,
Phong Châu district, Phu Tho province, is considered the most sacred of the historic
sites by the Vietnamese. The area is a complex consisting of several temples dedicated
to the cult of Hung Vuong - the first descendants the mythological founders of the
Vietnamese, Lạc Long Quan and Au Co. Styled sequentially as Hung Vuong I to Hung
Vuong XVIII, the monarchs were the first dynastic rulers of Van Lang, the primordial
kingdom of the Vietnamese.
Popular belief designates the Hung temple as also the site of Van Lang's capital, Phong
Chau. The kingdom is associated with the Đong Son culture and the famous bronze
drums. For the successive Vietnamese dynasties and states, the Hung Temples are
revered with annual processional festivities known as “Hung King’s death anniversary”
held every 10th day of 3rd lunar month.
Legend of Hung Temple
Legend recounts that in his search for a site for his court, Hung Vuong traveled to 99
places but found none to his satisfaction. Upon reaching the village of Hy Cuong, the
king's mount abruptly stopped and whinnied. The king climbed the highest peak Mount

Nghia Linh nearby where he scanned the four directions. It was then that he proclaimed
the site as fitting of his capital.

Located in the midland province of Phu Tho the landscape combines both mountains
and rivers. In feng shui terminology, the site fits the ideals of "sơn chầu thủy tụ"
(mountains and rivers gather), "long chầu hổ phục" (dragons and tigers prostrate),
"phượng bay ngựa chạy" (phoenixes ascend and horses gallop), abundant of "khí
thiêng sông núi" (sacred energy of the land). The rugged hills provide protection against
attacks yet with the rivers coursing through, afford easy access. Phú Thọ being at the
confluence of three major rivers: the Đà River with its black water, the Thao river with its
red silt and the Lô River with its clear water, is well situated to link the uplands and the
lower delta.
From Nghia Linh mountain looking downstream, the low hills seem to stack themselves
as graduating steps up to Hung temple. Looking upstream the village of Hy Cuong
guards the rear. Khang Phụ hill on the right and An Thái hill on the left of the temples


form the tiger-dragon pairing. At the foot of the mountain are Co Tich village and Tham
Thinh village. These named locales are associated with various myths of the Hung
Vuong era including the creation of the heaven and earth bánh chưng and bánh dày.
From Tham Thinh to Phu Loc legend spoke of the 100 elephants hills. Of these, 99
elephants peer up at the temples but one errant elephant turned the other way. For that,
the hill appeared "headless" as it was punished by decapitation.
Nghĩa Lĩnh mountain being the highest in the group, rises to the height of 175 m. Its
peers, the mountains Trọc, Vặn, and Pheo cluster nearby forming the "Tam Son Cam
Đia" (the three forbidden mountains).

Content of Hung King’s Temple festival

The festival has two main parts: the incense-offering ceremony and the recreational
activities. The typical of the Hung King’s Temple festival is that the incense-offering
ceremony is more important than the recreational activities.
The incense-offering ceremony:

The incense-offering ceremony is conducted with solemn rituals at Upper Temple, the
ritual of offering flowers of some represent of the government, party, provinces help


solemnly. It is the journey of spiritual ceremonies and expressed profound of human.
There are 41 villages procession from their home to the village of Hung’s Temple. From
the 9th dimension, village which allowed by the organizer offertory procession “banh
day”,”banh chung” are gathered enough in fron of the gate Cong Quan. In the next
morning, the delegation lined up neatly behind the palanquin which carried offering go
up to the Upper Temple in ceremony’s music. Go to front Upper Temple (Kinh Thien linh
đien), the delegation stop, respectfully offering into the palace of the Upper Temple.
Provincial leader on behalf of province and country people speak respectfully the
ceremony speech. The entire contents of the ceremony are broadcast systems,
television coverage to people nationwide festival track. While conducting ceremonies,
all activities stop to increase the strictness of the festival site.
A high-range fireworks display to celebrate the important event will also take place at
Hung Vuong square later that evening.
The recreational activities
The recreational activities are celebrated with happiness, jubilation… around the Hung’s
mountain areas. The Hung King’s Temple festival today has many forms of cultural
activities more abundant and more attraction than the ancient Hung King’s Temple
festival. In the festival areas, many shops selling souvenirs, cultural products, foods…
There are some areas performing arts, sports contest…
Folk games are selected by the organizer to serve the festival such as: wrestling, shoot
with a crossbow, pick up palanquin, making “banh chung” and “banh day” contest…

especially the nights of singing “Xoan, Ghẹo”, two original folk songs of region Chau
Phong.


(Sporting events held in Hung King’s Temple festival)


(The “banh chung” and “banh day” making contests)

The week-long festival will feature a Xoan (Spring singing) and folk songs fest, a cultural
exchange camp, a “banh chung” (glutinous-ricesquare cake) and banh day (glutinousrice round cake) making contest, exhibitions and film screenings plus sporting events
such as the PV Oil Volleyball League and a swimming competition.
A street carnival themed ‘Culture of the Hung Kings Ancestral Land: Confluence and
Shining’ will take place along main streets of Viet Tri city and Hung Vuong square
throughout the event to introduce visitors to the diversity of the locality’s folk culture.

Xoan singing, a beautiful traditional of Vietnam


(Xoan Singing)
Xoan singing is a vocal art of villages in the ancestral land of Phu Tho and is often
performed in front of the communal house during village festivals in spring. It always
held in Hung King’s temple festival.
It is associated with the stories about the era of the Hung King’s national construction.
The original villages with Xoan-singing are ancient villages located in the centre of the
old country of Van Lang, present-day Viet Tri City in Phu Tho Province. These villages
include An Thai, Phu Duc, Kim Doi and Thet in Kim Duc and Phuong Lau Communes
(Viet Tri City, Phu Tho province). This art has retained many ancient cultural features
from the time when the Hung Kings built the country.

Xoan singing has some similarities with the lullaby. Many of the songs are about love,
but it is also a kind of folk music that praises a village genie. There are many forms
including the duet and group singing accompanied by several kinds of dances.
Xoan singing is accompanied by dancing and musical instruments such as clappers and
a variety of drums. Knowledge, customs and techniques for singing, playing and
dancing are traditionally transmitted orally by the guild leader. In recent years the
singing has been taken up by clubs and other performing groups.
Xoan festivals are often held in spring in village temples. On the15th day of the 1st lunar
month, these traditional songs are performed at the Hung Temple festival.

The Hung Kings Temple festival 2013 and ceremonial receiving of the
UNESCO certificate recognizing Hung Kings worship as an Intangible
Cultural Heritage of Humanity
The Hung Kings Temple festival 2013 and ceremonial receiving of the UNESCO
certificate recognizing Hung King’s worship as an Intangible Cultural Heritage of
Humanity was officially held by the Phu Tho Provincial People’s Committee at the Hung
Kings relic sites in Phu Tho province on April 13.
State President Truong Tan Sang, Head of the Party Central Committee Commission of
Popularization and Education Dinh The Huynh, Deputy PM Nguyen Thien Nhan, other
local and foreign officials, outstanding overseas Vietnamese and tens of thousands of
Vietnamese residents from across the nation attended the ceremony.
The festival will last from April 13 -19 (March 4-10 on the lunar calendar). A series of
activities will be organized, including tourism development programs, street festivals,
folk processions, Xoan singing, traditional cake making competitions, and photo
exhibitions.


Representatives of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization
(UNESCO) granted the certificate recognizing the worship of the Hung Kings as an Intangible

Cultural Heritage of Humanity for Phu Tho province.