Hung temple festival

Hung Temple Festival The custom of ancestor worship in Vietnam Trần Thị Hương Giang The ritual of worshiping their ancestors and the deceased is rooted from the following beliefs: for many Vietnamese, death is not the end; that is, the physical aspect of life vanishes but the soul is immortal which is called yin and yang harmony Therefore, many Vietnamese believe that the presence of their ancestors in the daily life of the family is still here on earth They also believe that the ancestors continue blessing them For the great things that are happening in the family the head of the family utterly bows before the family ancestors first to present the issue to them and next to ask the ancestors for their blessings The custom of worshiping ancestor is a beautiful, rich, and colorful and joyful tradition in Vietnamese culture For years, the Vietnamese have worshiped their ancestors and it is very much enjoyed Every year on the day when a family member died, the surviving members gather together and commemorate the deceased person which is called “ngày giỗ” This traditional value, in the author’s opinion, should be preserved and promoted for its positive meaning to all family generations past, present and future The majority of Vietnamese families have ancestor altars to honor and remember their ancestors The size of the altars is varied in size from small to large depending on the situation of each family The altar has to be located in a high, clean, respectful place in the house where incense and flowers are displayed on the anniversary of the family member’s death, on the Vietnamese New Year as well as other occasions Generally, every altar should have three small pots of incense, two flower vases, photos of the deceased, two beautiful plates to present favorite offerings to the deceased, one bottle of wine, and a set of tea pot and cups The altar is always kept clean and neat Many families very often burn incense because they believe it will bring peace to their descendants On the first day of every month and the fifteenth day of the lunar calendar, the descendants worship their ancestors and the deceased with an offering of a few fresh flowers, bowls of water, and a bunch of bananas These offerings may vary from region to region The meanings of ancestor worship: First, ancestor worship is to express gratitude to the ancestors, the deceased parents and grandparents The children express their devotion and gratitude to the past generations who have nurtured and brought them up The filial children are expected to show gratitude to their parents for fostering them To show filial piety to their parents they should also be grateful to their ancestors and deceased grandparents This is their root that generates generations over time Everyone is proud of their roots, which is a prerequisite for their pride, identity and success in life Second, ancestor worship has practical and profound meanings It helps parents educate their children how to show gratitude toward their ancestors, learn from their values, models, personalities and their spirit of hard work because the ancestors had to overcome many difficulties to bring up and nurture new generations of descendants to this day At the same time, we should try to overcome the shortcomings of previous generations because they did not have adequate conditions to learn and were not exposed to modern information technology as is the generation of the 21st century Third, the custom of ancestor worship creates the best opportunities; concurrently, it is the goal to develop relationships between siblings, relatives and kinship It is ancestor worship that not only binds together the members of the nuclear family (parents and children) but also strengthens extended family relationships and kinship in sharing the same common ancestors Consequently, the relationships of uncles, aunts, paternal offspring and maternal offspring show greater bonding The anniversaries of deaths or New Year's Days are occasions for gathering a goodly number of relatives from near and far They meet each other prior to the ancestor worship, next to visiting, sharing joys and sorrows, difficulties, and eventually find ways to help each other Because their hearts ache when there is blood-shed, or when a person is ill, all of the family members are worried Fourth, it is more important to know that the custom of ancestor worship helps younger generations to learn to be kind to other human beings, help people in need, become useful and responsible citizens and contribute their talent and ability to further development and consolidation of independence, freedom, unification, and the sovereignty of Vietnam The last, the positive meaning of ancestor worship does not only look to the past in order to praise their previous work but also look toward the future The importance of ancestor worship is that we need to think about our own life: to have a better code of ethics and try to fulfill out assigned responsibilities This is also an opportunity to educate our children to promote and honor the good works of the ancestors and our past generations It's the beautiful, rich, and positive value part of our ancestor-worship Every one of us needs to preserve and develop this cultural identity 2.Religious worship Hung Vuong-Vũ Hồng Nhung Religious worship Hung Vuong stems from Hung King era with the belief all Vietnamese people have the one ethnic root "Fairy Dragon", a common source (Organization); while demonstrating ethical "Drink water, remember its source" spirit of national unity and community cohesion According to the legend, Lac Long Quan is the son of Kinh Duong Vuong Loc Tuc He was married with Au Co She is the daughter of De Lai King Overtime, she was pregnant Lady Au Co was delivered here of a sac containing one hundred eggs which hatched into one hundred boys Fifty boys followed the mother to mountainous regions to grow rice and fruit-trees The rest of them followed the father to plain and seacoast region to expand land The eldest son became King Hung Vuong who established his capital in Phong Chau, gave the country the name of Van Lang Vietnamese nation was born Van Lang is the first state in the history of Vietnam and was ruled by 18 kings The Hung Kings who taught people to grow rice and choose Nghia Linh Mountain, the highest mountain in the region to perform a religious ceremony of the agricultural population such as rice worship, sun god worship to pray for rain, thunder, season lush, better weather, things grow To remember the great merit of Hung Kings, the people have set up memorial temple (historical relic Hung Temple) which is the center of Nghia Linh Mountain and taking the 10th day of the third lunar month is the anniversary each year From the first center of worship, Religious worship Hung Vuong gradually spread, from generation to generation, from plains to mountains, from north to south, from domestic to foreign countries Country sometimes weak or development, sometimes dominated by invaders but Hung Vuong worship still was maintained to this day and forever after The historical documents show that Religious worship Hung Vuong has grown sharply since long before official to be honored at the Le Dynasty (1428 - 1788) These dynasties were focused and encourage people to maintain Religious worship Hung Vuong Nowaday, the Party and State are focused to worship the Hung Kings, provided funding for worship space, bringing the legendary of Hung Kings on curriculum to educate the younger generation, allows people throughout the country to sabbatical on the 10th day of the third lunar month, to participate, held ceremonial activities towards ethnic origin The total number in the country with 1,417 Hung Kings Temple 6th December 2012, in Paris (France), UNESCO officially recognized Religious worship the Hung Kings in Phu Tho is Heritage intangible representation of humanity Hung Temple festival origin Ninh Thị Thương Every year on the 10th of the 3rd lunar month Vietnamese go on pilgrim to Nghia Linh mountain to worship their ancestor _ Kings Hung The worshipping of Kings Hung is very popular and unique in Viet Nam According to the Vietnamese old historical records, during the bronze age (in 2879 BC), there are about 15 Lac Viet tribes living in the midland and northern delta of Viet Nam The Van Lang was the most powerful tribe and the leader of the tribe played a historical role of unifying all other Lac Viet tribes to establish the Van Lang kingdom He became the first King Hung And the confluence of rivers (Da river, Hong river, Lo river) was chosen by Kings Hung as the capital of the Van Lang kingdom And it is regarded as the first nation of the Vietnamese people From generations to generations, the Vietnamese people hold a festival nationwide on the 10th of the 3rd lunar month to commemorate the anniversary of their ancestor’s death, founder of the Vietnamese nation – the first Kings Hung According to legend, Lac Long Quan – son of Kinh Duong Vuong Loc Tuc got married with Au Co – daughter of King De Lai and gave birth to 100 eggs in the sac Surprisingly, the sac hatched into 100 sons After that, 50 sons followed Au Co and 50 others followed Lac Long Quan to settle The first son followed Au Co to arrived in Phong Chau Land (now Phu Tho Province) and established Van Lang Nation and became King Hung Van Lang was the first nation in Vietnamese history and ruled by 18 kings Hung Kings taught local people to grow rice and selected Nghia Linh Mountain, the highest mountain in the region to perform the religious rituals of the agricultural population as worship of rice god and sun god for the good weather, good crops To remember the great merit of Hung Kings, the people set up the temple (Hung Kings Temple Relic Site) at the center of Nghia Linh Mountain and chose the 10th day of the third lunar month as Ancestral Anniversary day Time,place and Objects of worship -Vũ Hồng Hạnh King Hung Temple Festival is a traditional festival which honors the first King of Vietnam - King Hung It's occasion for every Vietnamese to remember their origin and express their respect as well as gratitude to ancestor of Vietnamese people Therefore, it's considered as national festival of Vietnam Time: King Hung Temple Festival takes place yearly at King Hung Temple from the 8th to 11th day of the third lunar month The main festival day is on the 10th day ò the third lunar month During the festival, Vietnamese people from all over the country as well as Vietnamese people living abroad head for King Hung Temple on Nghia Linh Mountain, Phu Tho Province to take part in this historical and meaningful festival Place: The main ceremony takes place at the Hung Temple on NghiaLinh Mountain, hy Cuong commue, Lam Thao District, Phu Tho Province, some 85km northwest of Hanoi Objects of worship: Hung Kings – 18 generations of kings established Van Lang State, the predecessor ò the present – day Vietnam Characteristics: The national ancestral worshipping day, the incense offering ceremony is held simultaneously at Hung Temples in Phu Tho, Ho Chi Minh City and Nha Trang City ( Khanh Hoa Province) as well as in many other localities The Hung Temple Festival is one of the most important and sacred festivals of the Vietnamese people, deeply imbedded in the minds of every Vietnamese citizen, regardless of where they originate from Preparations for the Hung Temple festival- Lê Thị Hương To prepare for the Hung temple festival,the Phu Tho province People’s Committee commands the security and the Ministry Public Sercurity and a coputerised centre to serve the festival To celebrate the palanquin procession,the committee of the festival need to prepare something: There are some palanquins to perform the procession We need to have the bamboo elephants and wooden horses ,which are animals to express about the legend of the Hung Kings and the wedding of the Mountain Genie and Princess Ngoc Hoa They need to prepare the incenses,flowers,candles,betel nuts,jars of water and wine, parasols and an octet to make the palanquin procession People need to prepare Banh Chung(square sticky rice cake),banh Giay( round sticky rice cake) and a boiled a pig head In addition, to need singers to sing Xoan singing in Thuong temple, “ca tru” in Ha temple, and some tools to serve for some games as bamboo swings , nem con(throwing a sacred ball through the ring), cham thau(beating bronze drum)… People who act the Paladin, the Military chief and the servants are chosen by the committee before PALANQUIN PROCESSION AT HUNG TEMPLE FESTIVAL-Bùi Thị Hà The festival begins with a palanquin procession performed by three villages of Co Tich, Hi Cuong and Trieu Phu The procession carries bamboo elephants and wooden horses symbolizing the submission of animals to the Kings Hung and the wedding of the Mountain Genie and Princess Ngoc Hoa Banh chung (square sticky rice cake) and banh giay (round sticky rice cake) are indispensable offerings in the procession in order to honor the merit of the Kings Hung who taught people to plant rice and to remind people of Lang Lieu who invented these cakes At the past, about 40 villages took part in a palanquin procession contest The procession matches started from their villages and gathered at the foot of the mountain A jury decided the winner The palanquins that won the first prize would be carried to Thuong temple for the coming festival Such a procession included three gilded palanquins carved with elaborate designs The first palanquin carried incense, flowers, candles, betel nut and jars of water and wine The second palanquin contained altar, a tablet that is followed by parasols and octet The third palanquin carried Banh Chung and Banh Day on boiled pig head The procession was accompanied by a group of chao performers, gongs ang drums, flags The master of ceremonies in the robe went first, and dignitaries went after the palanquins 7.Xoan singing- Trần Thị Anh Xoan is a kind of traditional folk song of Phú Thọ region It is a folk song closely associated with festive occasion and are not popular to perform in any place Xoan singing is the ceremonial folk song that used to be sung spring and was connected with the custom of worshipping Xuan Dung princess- adaughter of King Hùng There are three forms of Xoan singing as the worship singing to commemorate Hung Kings and village guardian gods; the ritual singing to pray for good crops, good health; and the festive singing – a form of love duet Xoan singing is a form of combined arts It includes singing and dancing with the accompaniment of musical instruments Xoan songs are sung by a group of singers it is called Xoan guilds Being sung only in communal houses, Xoan singsing is called “Cua Đình” (communal house’s gate) singing The Xoan guilds are called after the names of villages, such as: phù đức, Kim đới,Thét and An Thái, which now belong to Phong Chau district Xoan singing had to observe a strict sequence comprising parts: + Religious ceremonial part, where in the performers both dance and sang in the action of offering incense and flower to the deity + Performance part, where in the life activities of people were depicted and plays based on fairytales were performed by singing in 14 various tunes + Festive singing part was composed of dancing and singing, which showed labour activities and sounded out and exchanged feeling between boys and girls and this part was usually ended by a play depicting vividly a “catching spectacle” for offering to saint In Hung temple festival , Xoan singing was performed in Thuong temple In front of the altar, the master of ceremonies prayed and a guid chief songs their prayers When singing, a young man hold a small drum and four young women sung a religious song not only offering incense but also hymns of praise On November 24, 2011, in Bali (Indonesia), UNESCO officially recognized Phu Tho’s Xoan singing as an Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity that needs to be urgently protected 8.Beating bronze drum-Phạm Đức Cảnh Bronze drum can only be used on festival Team performance include four people beating small drum, from six to nine people beating big drum To beat the beats, artists must reached a high level The artist whether male or female must disguise in bird costume and sit or stand to beatting bronze drum on style pounding rice double The drumming create rich rhythmic for dance The drumming sounded episodic urged the couple dance together, thereby contributing to produce a lyrical folk treasure Other than the gongs pray season, pray for the proliferation,… the drums beat to pray for rain, support the process of cultivation and breeding process is easy Meaning of Hung Temple Festival-Đào Thị Loan The first meaning of Hung temple festival is to remember and pay tribute to the contribution of the Hung Kings who are the traditional founders of the nation and became its first emperors Hung Temple Festival is a traditional festival which honors the first King of Vietnam – Hung King It is an occasion for every Vietnamese to remember their origin and express their respect as well as gratitude to ancestor of Vietnamese Therefore, it's considered as a national festival of Vietnam The second meaning of Hung temple festival : The worship ritual originates from ancestor worship rituals in Vietnamese families It helps to link the past and the present and foster strong sentiments of Vietnamese people for their families and country The ritual is significant in the mind of Vietnamese people as it confirms that they have the same father and mother The origin reminds Vietnamese to always unite, love and protect each other The worship of Hung Kings originates from Hung Kings dynasty in the belief that all Vietnamese people have the same origin “Dragon’s children and Fairy’s grandchildren”; and also expresses Vietnamese philosophy “When drinking water, remember the source” and the spirit of great national unity Finally, the meaning of Hung temple Festival is education Hung Temple Festival is a way to educate young generation of Vietnam to love their country and to become more unite  ... considered as national festival of Vietnam Time: King Hung Temple Festival takes place yearly at King Hung Temple from the 8th to 11th day of the third lunar month The main festival day is on the... breeding process is easy Meaning of Hung Temple Festival- Đào Thị Loan The first meaning of Hung temple festival is to remember and pay tribute to the contribution of the Hung Kings who are the traditional... citizen, regardless of where they originate from Preparations for the Hung Temple festival- Lê Thị Hương To prepare for the Hung temple festival, the Phu Tho province People’s Committee commands the