Belief in Hung Vuong worship: The enduring vitality of a legacy

DNHN - After ten years as UNESCO's Representative Intangible Cultural Tradition of Humanity, the Hung King’s Worship Belief continues to propagate and confirm the enduring vitality of a precious religious heritage in the Ethnic Vietnamese community.

Belief in Hung Vuong is a national folk practice in Vietnam that stems from a national wellspring, from respect for historical figures who contributed to the formation of a nation and nation.

The practise of worshipping the Hung Kings entails ceremonies, offerings, pilgrimages, and performances in over a hundred villages throughout Phu Tho province and the rest of the country; this practice fosters a reverence for ancestors, hence fostering a sense of pride and communal cohesiveness.

Practices of the past Hung Vuong belief worship occur on a year-round basis but are most focused in the spring, with the largest ritual being the Hung Kings Anniversary on the tenth day of the third lunar month at Hung Temple on Nghia Linh mountain near Phu Tho.

Prof. Dr Pham Hong Tung, Director of the Institute of Vietnamese Studies at Hanoi National University, confirmed that Hung Vuong's belief holds special significance in the spiritual realm of the Vietnamese people. To begin, it is related to ancestor worship, not only among the Vietnamese but also across a large number of communities and ethnic groups throughout East Asia and Southeast Asia.

In particular, in the national historical journey, Hung Vuong's creed is the spiritual pedestal for patriotism and nationalism. This is also a call for our nation in particular and the entire world to have a source-oriented mentality, arousing a sense of gratitude to ancestors, parents, and grandparents. "With such spiritual language, the worship of Hung Vuong can have an intercultural dialogue with many different cultures and religions," Prof. Dr Pham Hong Tung said.

Belief in Hung Vuong is not only a connection to the past, present, and future but also a strong connection between people; between ethnic communities in reality. 

Mr Nguyen Dac Thuy, Director of Phu Tho Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism, said that Hung King worship and Hung Temple Festival also show the community's attachment in the sense of "compatriots", with legends. Lac Long Quan - Au Co, the Vietnamese people share the same origin, the same Lac Hong bloodline, are the children of the same bag, meaning "compatriots" was born from that, the whole country worships the same person. King Ancestor.

Therefore, the Hung Kings' death anniversary becomes a symbol of the profound and unique spiritual and cultural values of the Vietnamese nation, both the pride and strength of national unity and the expression of the tradition of "Drinking". The country remembers its source" of the nation.

In 2012, UNESCO inscribed the Hung Kings Worshiping Belief in Phu Tho to the Representative List of Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity. Assoc. Prof-Dr. Bui Hoai Son, the Standing Member of the National Assembly's Committee for Culture and Education, emphasized that this honour has affirmed the permanence, immortality, morality of remembering the roots, and national harmony. 

Vietnamese people for thousands of years, raising their sense of respect for cultural diversity and creativity. 

Belief in Hung King’s worship, which is recognized by UNESCO, also contributes to improving awareness of the heritage-holding group and the Vietnamese people's awareness of their national origin and cultural identity. 

The community is acutely aware of the value of heritage to people's cultural lives and wishes for harmony among individuals within the community of villages and hamlets practising heritage, as well as between regions and countries, to live in peace and prosperity.

According to Prof. Dr Pham Hong Tung, like Ancestor Worship Belief, at first, the Hung King’s Worship Belief was regional, then spread widely in the Vietnamese community and communities of owners of the culture. ancient Viet Minh. By the seventeenth century, the Hung Kings' worship became a national holiday, a spiritual symbol and a spiritual orientation for the ethnic community.

This is the common denominator among Vietnamese people, whether Kinh or Thuong, whether upstream or downstream, from North to Central and South. Vietnamese people share a similar language and have a strong sense of community togetherness.

Currently, Hung Vuong's devotion serves as a link to the origin of the theofetnamese people, not just in the country, but also in the Vietnamese community worldwide. 

Mr Nguyen Dac Thuy stated that for Phu Tho alone, the province has committed to implementing the Action Program to Protect the Vitality and Spread of Hung Kings Worship; implementing numerous measures, mechanisms, and policies to instil a sense of responsibility in state management agencies, local governments, and the general population community regarding the preservation and promotion of heritage values.

Following UNESCO's recognition of the Hung Kings Worshiping Belief, and despite the two years of the Covid-19 outbreak, the number of pilgrims to Hung Bai To Temple has remained consistently high in recent years. Each year on the anniversary of the Hung Kings, Phu Tho offers incense to honouree Hung Kings at Kinh Thien Palace on Nghia Linh Peak. 

Additionally, localities around Phu Tho, as well as provinces and cities, have temples dedicated to the worship of the Hung Kings and generals of the era and Great Hung Vuong performed an incense offering ceremony concurrently.

According to Mr Nguyen Dac Thuy, this is the biggest success in preserving and promoting the value of Hung Vuong's belief and worship heritage, which is the original consciousness of millions of Vietnamese people, a testament to the vitality and the strong spread of Hung Vuong's cult. 

Thereby, Phu Tho has been making efforts to bring the heritage back to the community, affirming the importance of the community as well as helping the community understand its role in the conservation and promotion of heritage values. the land of the Ancestors.

Wto demand envelops and arranges the Hung Kings Anniversary - Hung Temple Event into a model festival for the entire country, Phu Tho province has concentrated on ensuring that the yearly festival is organized intelligently, securely, and successfully. 

Residents become owners of the history, assisting in its sustainable preservation; participate more actively and proactively in numerous festival activities to jointly protect and promote the worth of this unique cultural asset.

Nguyen Tien Khoi, chairman of the Phu Tho Historical Science Association, stated that the majority of religious activities linked with the worship of Hung Kings in 13 districts, villages, and cities have been prioritized by the people in ordordere entire material. both physical and spiritual. 

People willingly pay increasing amounts of money and goods to protect, restore, and restore places of worship and religious activity; rites are taught; epitaphs, ordinations at communal houses and temples are also examined and clarified to help people comprehend...

 Quỳnh Hoa