Van Lang's heroic spirit on the land of steel

The gathering place of Lac Hong's descendants

We visited Hung Vuong communal house in Trung Vuong ward, Thai Nguyen city during the early days of Thanh Minh festival. The communal house is the main place for tourists from inside and outside the province to visit and offer incense on the 10th of March every year and is a red address to educate the national tradition of looking back to the roots for generations, showing gratitude to those who have contributed to building and defending the country. Hung Vuong communal house has a history of over a century. According to the elders, in the past, Hung Vuong communal house was just a small temple for local people to worship the local god. After 1945, local representatives and elders went to Hung temple in Phu Tho province to ask for incense sticks to worship Hung King. Since then, this communal house has been called Hung Vuong communal house.

Mr. Pham Tran Dang - Deputy Head of the Management Board of the Hung Vuong Temple Historical and Cultural Relic Site, has also been the keeper of the incense at the temple since 2007. Although he is 90 years old, he is still diligent and dedicated to his work at the temple every day. Talking to us, Mr. Dang told us about the memories of the days of working hard day and night, accompanying the local government to have the Hung Vuong Temple recognized as a provincial historical and cultural relic and the Management Board of the Hung Temple Historical Relic Site (Phu Tho) transferred many sacred relics as national heritages to the Hung Vuong Temple. Typically: Thanh Hieu, Ngoc Pha tells about the history of 18 generations of the Hung Vuong Dynasty; 3 incense bowls, including: 1 stone incense bowl worshiping 18 generations of the Hung Vuong Dynasty, 1 stone incense bowl worshiping Mother Au Co, 1 bronze incense bowl worshiping Lac Long Quan; 1 stone incense burner weighing 1.7 tons in front of the Ha Temple - where Mother Au Co gave birth to 100 children. This is a "unique" semi-heavenly incense burner that has long been worshiped at Hung Temple (Phu Tho).

Mr. Pham Tran Dang is preparing the altar for the Hung Kings' death anniversary in 2025. Photo: My Hanh

In 2014, Thai Nguyen City organized a grand ceremony to cast the statues of the National Ancestor Lac Long Quan and the National Mother Au Co. The project was completed in 2015 and was brought back to the relic site by the local government and people. These are two statues that can only be found at Hung Temple (Phu Tho) and Hung Vuong Communal House (Thai Nguyen). In fact, the worship of the Hung Kings has been preserved and passed down by Thai Nguyen people for hundreds of years. In addition, Thai Nguyen is a revolutionary land with many historical relics worshiping people who have contributed to the country, especially the Uncle Ho Temple at ATK Dinh Hoa. "Bringing the most sacred relics and casting the statues of the National Ancestor Lac Long Quan and the National Mother Au Co to worship at Hung Vuong Communal House is very appropriate, bringing majesty and affirming the historical and religious values ​​of the communal house. The people of Thai Nguyen are very excited" - Ms. Nguyen Thi Vinh (Gia Sang Ward, Thai Nguyen City) shared.

Since the Hung King Temple was built, on the sacred national death anniversary, because they could not return to Nghia Linh Mountain (Phu Tho) to offer incense, the children of the windy capital Thai Nguyen sincerely prepared incense, lamps, oan qua, banh chung, banh giay... to pay homage to their ancestors at Hung King Temple. Notably, from 2012 to now, except for epidemic years, every year a palanquin procession is organized on the death anniversary of the ancestors. “We divided into 18 groups, the most typical of which was the leading group with veterans carrying the national flag with the meaning that only with the Fatherland can we exist; next was the group carrying 40 red flags and the image of President Ho Chi Minh with the meaning of gratitude to those who built and defended the country. The most impressive was the appearance of 100 children of father Lac Long Quan and mother Au Co in Hung Vuong era costumes. To the heroic music of the children's brass band were about 300 people waving flags in beautiful groups," said Mr. Pham Tran Dang.

Towards spiritual tourism highlights

In the days approaching the Hung Kings' death anniversary, the Xoan singing troupe of Trung Vuong ward is diligently practicing the best ancient Xoan melodies to present to the Saint. Mr. Pham Tran Dang is often present to encourage and urge the artists of the Xoan singing troupe to practice actively. According to Mr. Dang, in 2025, there will not be a grand procession like every year, instead there will be a Xoan singing ritual - one of the unique performing arts, associated with admiration and gratitude for the nation-building merit of the Hung Kings. The Xoan singing troupe of Trung Vuong ward has been practicing singing at Hung Temple (Phu Tho) for 9-10 years now, very diligently, and this year is the first official performance. The oldest member of the Xoan singing troupe is over 60 years old, but everyone is excited with the desire to express their sincere hearts, to pay tribute to the merit of the Hung Kings.

According to the Plan for Organizing the Hung Kings' Commemoration Ceremony in the Year of the Snake 2025 at the Hung Kings' Commemoration Historical and Cultural Relic issued by the People's Committee of Trung Vuong Ward, the Hung Kings' Commemoration Ceremony in 2025 will be held on April 6 and 7, 2025, which is the 9th and 10th of the third lunar month of the year of the Snake. The program will be organized briefly and solemnly with the rituals of Proclamation and Presentation to the Holy Ancestors. The incense offering ceremony will be held on the morning of April 7 to pray for national peace and prosperity, and a prosperous and happy life. Vice Chairman of the Ward People's Committee Nguyen Thi Phuong Thao shared: "The Hung Kings' Commemoration Ceremony is not only an occasion to commemorate the merits of ancestors, but also one of the important cultural activities to educate the tradition of patriotism, national pride and arouse a sense of responsibility in preserving and promoting the cultural values ​​of the Hung Kings' era".

Hung Vuong Communal House is not only a place for tourists from inside and outside Thai Nguyen province to offer incense to pay tribute to the Holy Ancestors on the occasion of the Ancestors' Death Anniversary on March 10th, but also a place to educate generations about the national origin and pay tribute to those who have contributed to building and defending the country. However, according to Mr. Pham Tran Dang, the current area of ​​the communal house is too small, while on holidays, especially on the Ancestors' Death Anniversary on the 10th of the third lunar month every year, thousands of tourists will come to offer incense to pay tribute to the Holy Ancestors, so the facilities have not met the demand. Therefore, the Management Board of the Hung Vuong Communal House Historical and Cultural Site and hundreds of families in Thai Nguyen province always hope that the communal house area will soon be expanded to ensure space for activities during the Ancestors' Death Anniversary in particular and that Hung Vuong Communal House will become a spiritual tourism highlight of Thai Nguyen province.

Ms. Le Kim Ngan (Phan Dinh Phung Ward, Thai Nguyen City) shared: We were born and grew up when Hung Vuong Temple was already there. When we were young, we often heard our elders pray : This is Hung Vuong Temple/The sacred ancestor of our country. Our grandparents and parents taught us to remember and be grateful for the great contributions of the heroes who built the country. We are always proud of the tradition of drinking water and remembering its source of the nation and are even more proud that our homeland has the mark of the holy ancestor Hung Vuong. We hope that the temple will soon be expanded so that visitors from all over can come to offer incense and express their sincerity, especially those who do not have the conditions to visit Hung Temple in Phu Tho province.

In front of the altar of King Hung, resplendent with gilded lacquer, I suddenly remembered the verse written by the late poet To Huu: “We are children of one father, one house/Flesh, bones, heart, and brain are joined together…”. Our home is the Fatherland of Vietnam, with a history of more than four thousand years. Certainly, in the world, there are few nations that share the same concept of being descendants of one family, worshipping the same ancestor, King Hung. No matter where they go in the country, even abroad, the children of Vietnam will probably always remember and be proud of their noble origins.

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Source: https://daibieunhandan.vn/hao-khi-van-lang-tren-mien-dat-thep-post409466.html