Party General Secretary and State President To Lam offered incense in commemoration of Hung Kings, the legendary founders of Vietnam, at Kinh Thien Palace atop Nghia Linh Mountain in the northern province of Phu Tho on April 26 morning (the 10th day of the third lunar month).
General Secretary and State President To Lam, together with incumbent and former Party and State leaders, begin the procession to Nghia Linh Mountain to offer incense in tribute to the Hung Kings. Photo: VNA
The incense offering ceremony was held in the special national historical relic site of the Hung Kings Temple complex.
At the Kinh Thien Palace, a sacred site dedicated to the Hung Kings, General Secretary and President Lam, along with Party and State leaders and representatives from central and local agencies, offered incense, flowers in tribute to the ancestors who founded the nation, paving the way for the construction and development of a beautiful, prosperous, and civilised Vietnam nowadays.
General Secretary and State President To Lam talks with people from all walks of life at the Hung Kings Temple Special National Relic Site. Photo: VNA
Following the incense offering, the top leader met with local residents and visitors, extending his greetings and well wishes for health, solidarity, and happiness.
He described the Hung Kings’ Commemoration Day as a deeply meaningful occasion for all Vietnamese people to honour and express gratitude to the nation’s founders as well as generations of ancestors who built and defended the country.
Recalling President Ho Chi Minh’s famous words that “The Hung Kings founded the nation; we must together protect it”, General Secretary and President Lam emphasised the responsibility of the present and future generations in preserving and developing the country. According to him, safeguarding the country today goes beyond defending territory. It includes preserving cultural values, protecting the environment, maintaining social order, strengthening public trust, and ensuring national development and prosperity.
He urged the Party organisation, authorities and people of Phu Tho to continue preserving and enhancing the Hung Kings Temple complex, ensuring it remains solemn, green, clean, beautiful, safe, and friendly. He also asked the younger generation to study hard, train well, uphold Vietnamese values, and deepen their understanding of the nation’s history and culture.
General Secretary and State President To Lam offers incense inside the Upper Palace at Thuong Temple. Photo: VNA
He called on Party committees, authorities, and Vietnam Fatherland as well as mass organisations at all levels to remain attentive to public concerns, engage in dialogue with the people, address their needs and expectations, and ensure that policies effectively reach all communities, especially those in remote and disadvantaged areas.
During the festive days, he also called on all forces on duty maintain a high sense of responsibility, provide attentive guidance to festival-goers, ensure security, public order, traffic safety, fire prevention and control, healhcare services, environmental hygiene, and other essential conditions, so that everyone visiting the Hung Kings’ Temple feels safe and well cared for. The press and media should continue to spread beautiful images of the festival, stories of kindness, civilised actions, and the historical and cultural values of the Hung Kings’ Temple and the ancestral land.
Later, General Secretary and President Lam and other Party and State officials offered flowers at the bas-relief depicting President Ho Chi Minh talking with soldiers of the Vanguard Brigade at Gieng Temple and paid tribute at the Temple of Lac Long Quan.
Legend has it that Lac Long Quan (son of Kinh Duong Vuong and Than Long Nu) married Au Co (the fairy daughter of De Lai). Au Co gave birth to a pouch filled with one hundred eggs, which hatched into a hundred sons. However, soon thereafter, Lac Long Quan and Au Co separated. LacLong Quan went to the coast with 50 of the children while Au Co went to the highlands with the rest.
Their eldest son was made king, who named the country Van Lang and set up the capital in Phong Chau (now Viet Tri ward in Phu Tho province), beginning the 18 reigns of the Hung Kings. The kings chose Nghia Linh Mountain, the highest in the region, to perform rituals devoted to rice and sun deities to pray forbumper crops.
To honour their great contributions, a complex of temples dedicated to them was built on Nghia Linh Mountain, and the 10th day ofthe third lunar month, which falls on April 26 this year, serves as the national commemorative anniversary for the kings.
The worship of the Hung Kings, closely related tothe Vietnamese people’s tradition of ancestor worship, was recognised as part of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity by UNESCO in 2012./.