Rediscovering the land of Phu Tho and the Hung Kings' Commemoration Festival

Phu Tho, the land of Phong Chau, was the ancient capital during the Hung Kings' period. Phu Tho has a special geographical location, where three large rivers converge: Thao River, Lo River, and Red River, creating a convenient transportation network, increasing the bustling economic and cultural exchange between regions.

Phu Tho is also the convergence of two large mountain ranges: Tam Dao and Ba Vi, creating a solid foundation for local residents against natural disasters and enemies. According to folklore, at the Bach Hac junction of the ancient Phong Chau land, there are three sacred forbidden mountains, "three forbidden peaks" including: Hung Mountain (anciently called Ca Mountain), Van Mountain and Non Mountain (also known as Troc Mountain or Ut Mountain) standing in a row from South to North, which were deified by the people and worshiped as gods.

From very early on, ancient Vietnamese residents lived on this land. Phu Tho contains the Son Vi culture (10-20 thousand years ago). The rich history and culture have brought Phu Tho many folk festivals along with ancient customs in the daily life of Vietnamese people. Traditional festivals are cultural, religious, and community artistic activities originating from the practical needs of society. The content of the festival contains specific aspirations as well as spiritual wishes, both worldly and sacred, of the agricultural community.

In the Hung Temple Festival, the feudal state held a ceremony (national ceremony) on the 13th day of the 3rd lunar month, the death anniversary of the first Hung King (Kinh Duong Vuong). The festival was held every 5 years in even years, called the main festival. From January, people hung the sacred flag on the top of Non Mountain, informing the people near and far. The offerings were prepared by the Trung Nghia people (Hy Cuong Village, Chu Hoa), called the chief of ceremonies. Because they were local people, the court assigned them the task of taking care of the temple and serving the death anniversary of the ancestors, and at the same time they were exempted from paying taxes and were given additional expenses from the land tax of Son Hung Tuyen district. After the ceremony, it was the turn of the villages around Hung Temple to hold the ceremony. The village ceremonies created a strong spiritual emotion towards the origin. There are about 40 villages carrying palanquins from their communal house to the shrine, all of which are placed at the foot of the mountain to compete, the best palanquin is carried to the Upper Temple to represent the whole procession to worship the ancestors. This is a very solemn and exciting religious activity.

The procession is organized very elaborately, including 3 palanquins walking together. The palanquins are painted red and gilded, carved elaborately, the body is shaped like two dragons nearly 4m long, carried by 16 people. The first palanquin, displays incense, flowers, candles, betel and areca, water bottles and wine bottles; the second palanquin carries the altar of the saint with a canopy; the third palanquin carries full of banh chung and pork. The first one is the mandarin holding a loudspeaker to inform the people on both sides of the road and pedestrians in advance of the upcoming palanquin so they can welcome and watch. Next is the Cheo troupe, walking and singing, called the Cheo troupe giong duong, followed by drums beating in rhythm. The speaker troupe, the Cheo troupe and the gongs and drums can be considered a vanguard team. The main team of the procession includes the person carrying the sacred flag in the lead, 8 people carrying the swallow-tailed flags, and 8 people carrying the eight treasures. The chief celebrant wears a loose royal robe in the style of a king and walks in front, the officials divide into groups walking in front and behind the palanquin, the incense altar palanquin has a musical group playing music on both sides. Except for the musical group wearing traditional costumes (white pants, tunic, turban), the officials carrying the palanquin are dressed in the style of civil and military officials in the court.

The Le and Nguyen dynasties not only cared about the worship but also always paid attention to preserving and embellishing the Hung Temple. In 1789, the court exempted taxes for the people in the surrounding area to focus on lighting incense to worship the Hung Kings. Under the Nguyen Dynasty, the court provided money to repair, embellish, and expand the Upper, Lower, Middle temples, the Gieng temple; the pagoda, and the bell tower of Thien Quang pagoda were handed over to the local people for repair. According to the Nguyen kings' custom, every 5 years (in even years 5, even years 10), the state organized the Hung Temple festival, in odd years the locality hosted the festival. The festival area was the area around Hung Mountain, lasting 3 days.

Since the second year of Khai Dinh (1917), Governor Le Trung Ngoc requested the Ministry of Rites to set the national holiday on the 10th day of the third lunar month (one day before the death anniversary of King Hung). The procedures for offering and submitting memorials were strictly followed according to the feudal rites. The ceremony was solemnly held in temples and pagodas on Hung Mountain, the festival took place around the temple area and at the foot of the mountain, in which there were many folk performances such as merry-go-round, wrestling, cockfighting, chess, rice-cooking competitions, etc.

Hung King Commemoration Festival today

Today, the Hung King Commemoration Festival is still held according to the cultural traditions of the nation. In even years 0: The State organizes, in odd years 5: The Ministry of Culture - Information, in other years organized by the locality. During the ceremony, the incense offering ritual of the delegations was solemnly conducted at the Upper Temple. The festival still took place jubilantly and bustlingly around the foot of Hung Mountain. Traditional and modern cultural forms are organized together, notably folk cultural games, bronze drum beating, stabbing, etc.

The traditional festivals of the Hung Kings' land today still have the common features of village festivals in the midlands and the Northern Delta, while also standing out with the unique cultural nuances of Phong Chau land with its unique ancient customs. Traditional festivals of the land are also classified into: pre-agricultural festivals (hunting, fishing, etc.), agricultural festivals (praying for harvest, praying for rain, customs: rice-processing, statue casting, praying for rice, calling for rice, etc.), festivals worshiping heroes (beliefs in tutelary gods, historical heroes, cultural heroes, etc.).

The traditional festival of the ancestral land is organized not only to satisfy the needs of festival activities and restore religious relics, balance the spiritual life of the people; meet the entertainment and tourism needs of the people of the whole country and foreign tourists; is an opportunity to promote the cultural values of Phu Tho such as handicrafts, specialties, performances, games, cuisine, but more deeply, it is a place to gather, arouse and nurture patriotism, national pride of the people of the whole country and Vietnamese people abroad. The worship of Hung Kings and the Hung Kings' death anniversary festival have become the largest spiritual cultural festival in the whole country.

With that noble meaning, to be worthy of the stature of the most typical national festival, the organization of the festival needs to be closely linked with the management, restoration, preservation, and promotion of tangible and intangible cultural values; attach importance to educating people about the origin of the nation, the awareness of "drinking water, remembering its source". The Hung Temple relic complex needs to be expanded, and at the same time, tourism services need to be developed. In particular, it is necessary to build increasingly rich and unique festival content to attract visitors from all over the world. Organizing valuable and attractive festivals not only contributes to preserving and promoting national cultural identity but also acts as a driving force to promote the economic - cultural - social development of Phu Tho as well as the whole country.

Every year, on the 10th day of the 3rd lunar month, every Vietnamese citizen wants to return to the homeland, to find the roots of the nation, immerse themselves in the bustling atmosphere of the festival and listen to the sacred call of patriotism and national pride rising in their souls.

* Ministry of Culture - Information