Drink water today and remember its source

TIN LIÊN QUAN
	Hung Kings to be honoured in Phu Tho
	Co Loa – the oldest citadel in Vietnam

The first word a human being learns to speak is Mum. Mum and Dad are the ones who teach us the first lessons in our life. Vietnamese people have a saying: "A father’s efforts  are as huge as a mountain, a mother’s love is as tremendous as water from the source." 

Hung Kings anniversary has become the largest ritual festival in Vietnam.

We also show our gratitude to the ancestors who founded the nation through the popular saying: "Each people must have their own ancestors. They are like the root of the tree and the source of the river." Wherever the Vietnamese people travel in this world, they always think about their native country. 

Vietnamese people has a traditional respect for their ancestors and previous generations. Vietnamese parents always teach their children to drink water today and to remember its source. For centuries now generations after generations have shown respect and gratitude to their ancestors. One popular tradition of the Vietnamese people is to worship their ancestors at home. And on March 10 of the Lunar Calendar, the whole country celebrates the ancestor worshipping day of Hung Kings.

Respect and gratitude to ancestors is a tradition of the Vietnamese people. Back to the nation’s origins we can understand why the Vietnamese people often use the word "compatriots" which explains the Vietnamese ancestors were all born from the same womb. 

Hung Kings anniversary in the old days.

Legend has it that Ha Temple (The Lower temple) is the place Great Mother Au Co conceived a bag of 100 eggs which then hatched to 100 princes, the first ancestors of the modern Vietnamese people.

Next to Ha Temple, Thien Quang pagoda built in the post Le dynasty. A 700-year-old cycad still stands in front of the pagoda. 

After the pagoda, tourists can go to Trung temple (The Middle temple). On the stone there is a legend that Hung Kings and their generals used to play chess and discuss significant national issues.

The Trung Temple is also the place where prince Lang Lieu offered square cake and rice cake to Hung King. Lang Lieu then ascended the throne. Since then square cakes and rice cakes have become an indispensable part of the offerings at Hung King Festival.  

Passing Trung temple and heading to the Hung mountain top, we will see Thuong temple (The Upper temple). Legend has it that Hung Kings  used to hold ritual ceremonies to pray for good weather, a prosperous life and peace. 

There is an oath inscribed on a stone pillar in the Thuong temple. The stone pillar was said to have been erected by king An Duong Vuong who swore to worship  Hung Kings  and to protect the country against any enemies.

Half a century ago, the oath of protecting the country was repeated in the area. At Gieng temple (The Well temple) which worships princesses Tien Dung and Ngoc Hoa, on September 19th, 1954 President Ho Chi Minh spoke an immortal sentence to the soldiers "Kings Hung built up the country. We have to jointly protect the country."  The heartland has witnessed the most splendid eras of Vietnam’s history: the Hung King national construction era and Ho Chi Minh national protection era.  

Every year the Vietnamese people regardless of ethnic groups and religions in and outside Vietnam make a pilgrimage to the heartland. Every Vietnamese is proud of their origin and the nation which was formed by Hung Kings.  

Hung Kings anniversary has become the largest ritual festival in Vietnam. Visiting Hung King temple to burn incense and offering square cakes, the Vietnamese people want to express their honour and respect for the ancestors who helped shape the country of Vietnam. 

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