Hùng Temple, centred at Nghĩa Lĩnh mountain in

Phú Thọ Phú Thọ () is a district-level town in Phú Thọ Province, Vietnam Vietnam, officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam (SRV), is a country at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of about and a population o ...

province, is a temple complex in Vietnam.

Background

The area is a complex consisting of several temples dedicated to the cult of Hùng Vương: the first descendants and the mythological founders of the

Vietnamese Vietnamese may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Vietnam, a country in Southeast Asia * Vietnamese people, or Kinh people, a Southeast Asian ethnic group native to Vietnam ** Overseas Vietnamese, Vietnamese people living outside Vietna ...

Lạc Long Quân Lạc Long Quân (Chữ Hán: 貉龍君; "Dragon King of Lạc"), also known as Sùng Lãm (崇纜), is an ancient king of the Hồng Bàng dynasty of ancient Vietnam. Quân was the son of Kinh Dương Vương, the king of Xích Quỷ. He is ...

and

Âu Cơ Âu Cơ (chữ Hán: 甌姬; ) was, according to the creation myth of the Vietnamese people, an immortal mountain snow goddess who married Lạc Long Quân (), and bore an egg sac that hatched a hundred children known collectively as Bách Vi ...

. Styled sequentially as Hùng Vương I to Hùng Vương XVIII, the monarchs were the first dynastic rulers of Văn Lang, the primordial kingdom of the Vietnamese. Popular belief designates the Hùng temple as also the site of Văn Lang's capital,

Phong Châu Phong Châu () was the capital city of Văn Lang (now Vietnam) for the most part of the Hồng Bàng period, from the Third dynasty to the eighteenth dynasty of Hùng kings. History The historical site was the third capital of Văn Lang, foll ...

. The kingdom is associated with the Đông Sơn culture and the famous bronze drums. For the successive Vietnamese dynasties and states, the Hùng Temples are revered with annual processional festivities known as

Giỗ Tổ Hùng Vương A death anniversary (or deathday) is the anniversary of the death of a person. It is the opposite of birthday. It is a custom in several Asian cultures, including Azerbaijan, Armenia, Cambodia, China, Georgia, Hong Kong, Taiwan, India, Myanmar ...

held every 10th day of 3rd lunar month.

Associated legend

Legend recounts that in his search for a site for his court, Hùng Vương I traveled to 99 places but found none to his satisfaction. Upon reaching the village of Hy Cương, the king's mount abruptly stopped and whinnied. The king climbed the highest peak Mount Nghĩa Lĩnh nearby where he scanned the four directions. It was then that he proclaimed the site as fitting of his capital.

Modern history

Phạm Quỳnh Phạm Quỳnh (December 17, 1892 – September 6, 1945) was a monarchist during the late Nguyễn dynasty and supporter of adhering to traditional Vietnamese customs in the establishment of a constitutional monarchy. He was born near Hanoi ...

made a pilgrimage to the temple complex in the late 1920s, describing it as a "symbol of the eternal soul of the nation". In 1956,

Trần Huy Liệu Trần (陳) or Tran is the second most common Vietnamese surname after Nguyen. More than 10% of all Vietnamese people share this surname. History The Tran ruled the Trần dynasty, a golden era in Vietnam, and successfully repelled the Mongol ...

proposed that the anniversaries of the Hùng Kings' deaths be celebrated at the temple collectively.

Notes

Sources

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Hung Temple Temples in Vietnam Buildings and structures in Phú Thọ province

Background

Associated legend

Modern history

See also

Notes

Sources