The Hung Kings’ Temple Festival is considered one of the most significant national festivals in Vietnam. Annually, people all over the country head towards Phu Tho province to commemorate the founders of the country - Hung Kings. Join IOE to celebrate one of the country’s largest celebrations.

Legend of ancient Vietnam

Thousands of years ago in Asia, Lac Long Quan, who was the son of King Kinh Duong Vuong and the water goddess, governed the Lac Viet tribe. He was drawn to the sea and possessed magical powers from his parents. 

One day, Lac Long Quan met Au Co, descendant of the mountain fairies, and they fell in love with each other. Soon after their marriage, Au Co gave birth to a golden sac containing 100 eggs and those eggs hatched into 100 boys. 

As time passed, Lac Long Quan began to spend more and more time in the water, and Au Co was longing for him to return home. As Lac Long Quan was the sea dragon and Au Co was the mountain fairy, they decided to split up. Half of the sons went to the sea with their father and the rest followed their mother to the mountain. 

Their oldest son established himself at Phong Chau, which is now in Phu Tho province and became Hung King I. The 18 kings consecutively ruled the country in peace, built a sense of community, taught people to cultivate wet rice, etc. 

As the children of Lac Long Quan and Au Co were ancestors of the Vietnamese, the people here are known as “Dragon and Fairy descendants”. The Vietnamese people hold the festival annually on the 10th of the third lunar month to commemorate their ancestors, who were the founders of the country. 

About the festival

The festival is held annually from the 8th to the 11th day of the third lunar month, and the main festival is held on the 10th. On this traditional occasion, Vietnamese people from every part of the country come to Phu Tho province to commemorate their ancestors. The main ceremony takes place at Hung Kings’ Temple on Nghia Linh mountain, beginning with a bronze drum performance.

The people prepare offerings, including traditional dishes such as Banh Chung - Banh Day, fruit, flowers and incense to express their gratitude towards their ancestors.

Besides the ceremony, there are also a lot of activities during the festival. People can take part in traditional folk games such as bamboo swings, rice cooking competition and lion dance. An exciting activity that cannot be left out in a typical Vietnamese festival is human chess, where people take the role of various chess pieces. This game is usually played outdoors, where people draw the squares of the board on the grassfield. In addition, local people also perform traditional art forms such as “Gheo” and “Xoan” singing during the festival. 

The tradition of worshipping Hung Kings in Phu Tho is an occasion to acknowledge the origin of the country and for the Vietnamese people to commemorate Hung Kings. This is also a chance for us to look back at our thousand-year history and to express gratitude towards our ancestors. 

Ban Tổ chức IOE tổng hợp và biên soạn