Phu Tho is the land of the nation's origin, the origin of the Hung King worship - a representative intangible cultural heritage of humanity. This belief has been created and preserved by generations of Vietnamese people for generations, bearing the cultural identity of the Vietnamese people.
Tourists from all over the world come to Hung Kings' Commemoration Day - Hung Temple Festival. Photo: Trong Bang
The Hung King worship belief originates from the ancestor worship belief, rooted in gratitude, respect for the past, and origins. From the dawn of national history, the community of residents in the central area where the ancient Vietnamese people gathered and developed - the confluence of three rivers: Red River, Lo River and Da River, the center of which is the area of Hung Temple today - chose Nghia Linh Mountain - Hung Temple as the place to practice the ritual of worshiping natural gods (worshiping Heaven and Earth).
In this land of origin (present-day Phu Tho), the legends of “Dragon Father, Fairy Mother” and “Hundred Egg Sac” were born to tell the origin of the Vietnamese ethnic community. The 18 generations of Hung Kings were passed down to establish the Van Lang state, the first state of the nation. The Hung King legend has built the image of the Hung Kings as cultural icons, symbols of national solidarity. It is the source of strength that creates an immortal spiritual support throughout the history of building and defending the country of the Vietnamese people.
Through many historical changes, from the Ly, Tran, Le dynasties to the Ho Chi Minh era, Hung Temple has always been worshiped and embellished by the people day and night.
In Vietnamese culture, the trend of "historicizing" legendary and legendary figures has helped the cultural hero Hung Vuong gradually become a village tutelary god worshiped in communal houses and temples in villages and communes of Phu Tho province and become the ancestor of the entire nation worshiped as the King of the Vietnamese people. Over time, the worship of Hung Vuong has been maintained and cultivated by the Vietnamese community. Originating from the need to gather people's hearts and consolidate the national community, the Ly and Tran dynasties, especially the later Le and Nguyen dynasties, conferred titles on communal houses and temples to worship Hung Vuong, granted grace and regulated worship rituals, and granted fields to people in villages and communes around Hung Vuong Temple to cultivate for profit in order to take care of the temple and practice worship rituals of Hung Vuong. Since then, through many historical ups and downs with political institutions practicing the Hung King worship ritual from the village scale of a province to the National Day with national rituals because this belief is suitable for the people, meets the historical needs, so it has gained great consensus in society.
Since then, Hung Vuong has become the King of the nation and the Hung Vuong worship has become a cultural symbol that people from all over the country aspire to, and that the Vietnamese community voluntarily worships out of their faith and admiration. This is also the reason why the Hung Vuong Commemoration Day on the 10th day of the 3rd lunar month every year has become a national festival, with millions of Vietnamese people carrying the blood of Lac Hong making a pilgrimage to the sacred Ancestral Land to offer incense to their ancestors.
With the current policies of our state, people are free to believe within the framework of the law. Vietnamese people believe in many religions, but whether they follow Buddhism, Catholicism, Protestantism, Cao Dai or Hoa Hao..., in every family, the most solemn place is always an altar for ancestors. Likewise, Hung Vuong, from a legendary cultural hero, has entered the real life of Vietnamese people as a sacred symbol admired, worshiped and honored. That is a unique cultural phenomenon of the Vietnamese people, the basic criterion for UNESCO to honor the Hung Vuong worship in Phu Tho as a representative intangible cultural heritage of humanity.
The Vietnamese people's belief in worshipping the Hung Kings was spread and carried in their hearts and minds and in their journey to the South. With the consciousness of returning to their roots, the migrants in the Central and Southern regions built temples to worship the Hung Kings, which they considered a solid spiritual support to overcome the difficulties and challenges of life in the new land.
The Hung King worship is a combination of convergence and spread (from the center of the Hung King worship practice - Hung Temple - Phu Tho to the Hung King worship relics in and outside the country), spread and converge (all the Hung King worship relics are unified to organize the Hung King's death anniversary on the 10th day of the 3rd lunar month solemnly and respectfully), becoming the belief of the entire Vietnamese community. The Hung King worship is honored by UNESCO, of international stature, but the content of this heritage is not scholarly, difficult to understand but simple, easy to understand, everyday like breathing, meals in the lives of Vietnamese people. Regardless of religion, rich or poor, gender, age, ... all Vietnamese people, carrying the blood of Lac Hong, voluntarily believe, absolutely respect, voluntarily worship Hung King.
Recognizing the role and significance of the Hung Kings worship belief in the flow of traditional culture, Phu Tho province has done a good job of preserving and promoting the value of heritage. The policy of socializing activities to protect and promote cultural values has been widely implemented, attracting many social resources, affirming that the heritage is created, held, transmitted, and spread by the community, and the community is truly the owner of the heritage. The Hung Kings worship belief is truly a spiritual and cultural need, with lasting vitality in the lives of the Vietnamese people, a spiritual support, a bond connecting the strength of great national unity in the cause of building and defending the socialist Vietnamese Fatherland.
Le Truong Giang
Director of Hung Temple Historical Site
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