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Hung Kings Worshipping



The Ancestral festival of the Hùng Kings is celebrated at the beginning of the third lunar month at the Hùng temple at Nghia Linh Mountain in Phu Tho province, Vietnam to celebrate their ancestors and pray for favorable weather, abundant harvests, and good health.

The Hung kings ruled over Vietnam for over 18 generations. The King's descendants are believed to have expanded their culture while the Hong (Red) River civilization and the pre-Dong Son cultures flourished on this site. Vietnamese celebrate to mark the anniversary of their ancestor's death, the first Hung King, founder of the Vietnamese nation.

Millions of people come to the annual festival and dress in magnificent costumes and compete to bring the most beautiful palanquins and shrines to the main temple site in order to participate in the key rite in which drums and gongs are carried to the main temple site. Rice-based delicacies, such as square cakes and glutinous cakes, are offered, and there are verbal and folk art performances, bronze drum beating, Xoan singing, and prayers and petitions.

Secondary worship of Hung Kings takes place throughout the year at sites countrywide, with knowledgeable individuals (persons of good conduct) leading and maintaining the rituals. Devoted devotees and temple guardians are tasked with tending to these sites, teaching devotees the key ritual acts, and offering incense.

According to folklore researchers, the worship of the Hung Kings is very sacred to Vietnamese culture, creating unity and strength for national construction and defense. Vietnamese people are proud of their ancestors, Lac Long Quan, the Dragon Lord, as well as Au Co, the Fairy Goddess, as their mothers.

Vietnamese pride and bonding are embodied in the worship of the Hung Kings. Vietnamese spiritual sentiments are converged during this time, aiding Vietnamese in remembering their roots and promoting national unity. This tradition continues today, embodying spiritual solidarity and acknowledging the origins of Vietnamese cultural and moral identity.

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