Same origin, same strength of solidarity

10 years after UNESCO recognized the Hung King worship as a world cultural heritage, Dr. Bui Hoai Son - Standing Member of the National Assembly's Committee on Culture and Education, Secretary of the Hung King Worship Dossier in Phu Tho still remembers clearly the days of preparing the dossier to submit to UNESCO for approval.

Hung King worship was recognized as a world cultural heritage for 10 years.

At that time, the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, the leaders of Phu Tho province and the relevant departments were all determined to complete the project day and night so that when submitted to UNESCO, it would be recognized as a heritage site right from the first submission. And the result was that the application for heritage recognition that year was a complete success; Vietnam had a heritage site that honored its ancestors and was highly admired by the world.

Although not a religion, every March 10th of the lunar calendar, Vietnamese people all over the world turn to their roots, remember their "compatriots", and return to Hung Temple to light incense on the altar of their ancestors, to show gratitude to the ancestors of their nation.

According to Dr. Bui Hoai Son - Standing Member of the National Assembly's Committee on Culture and Education, this is something that not every place has: "After 10 years, many genealogies, royal decrees, and Han Nom documents existing in Phu Tho relics and across the country have been translated into Vietnamese and stored in different formats.

Customs and practices have been preserved and promoted. We have a whole performance environment, a context for the Hung King period, not only relics but also intangible cultural heritages...

Dr. Bui Hoai Son.

In addition, there are also many relics that have degraded over time. After being recognized by UNESCO, there are many investment sources to support the restoration and embellishment of relics to promote their value in today's life."

Every nation in the world has its own origin, but the Vietnamese people are different from other nations in that they worship the same ancestor - King Hung. This creates a unique identity of Vietnam, recognized by UNESCO. For Vietnam, the Hung King worship is a symbol of the nation.

We always consider it the ancestor of the nation, the factor that binds the community in a territorial space to become a strong community, to exist, develop and maintain cultural identity.

According to historian Duong Trung Quoc, the concept of King Hung Vuong has been recorded in history books for hundreds of years and the initial religious activities were closely associated with villages, especially in the midland region of the North: "On the anniversary of King Hung Vuong in 1946, the year of Binh Ty, for the first time the State organized it at the same location as Dong Duong school, the master of ceremonies was President Ho Chi Minh. I can say that for the first time in history, a head of state, the head of state, presided over the ceremony.

"On the same day, the Minister of the Interior, a very prestigious person among the people, Mr. Huynh Thuc Khang, led a government delegation to the Upper Temple in Phu Tho to perform a ceremony to inform heaven and earth, to inform ancestors, to inform King Hung that the country was independent and people said that the delegation brought a map of Vietnam with the three regions of Central - South - North connected together to form an independent Vietnam. We clearly see that, at that time, the symbol of King Hung was not only the symbol of a distant ancestor but it had become a strength of the community" - Historian Duong Trung Quoc shared.

Historian Duong Trung Quoc.

Today, on the S-shaped strip of land with 54 ethnic groups living together with different distinct cultures but still sharing the same Ancestor - Hung Vuong. And this is the factor that unites the Vietnamese ethnic groups in the modern era, the practice of worshiping Hung Vuong is recognized by the world as an outstanding value in the cultural life of the Vietnamese people.

The responsibility of our generation is to promote the spirit of solidarity, turning to the source to become an endogenous strength to overcome difficulties, preserve heritage, remember the merits of our ancestors, as committed by Mr. Nguyen Tien Khoi - Chairman of the Phu Tho Provincial History Association: "We are honored to be recognized by UNESCO as a heritage, that is very proud but we must be aware of preserving this heritage because it is not only our property but has become a world heritage.

Every time the Hung King's death anniversary comes, we strongly promote the Hung King's death anniversary, the spirit of great solidarity: the responsibility of Phu Tho province must constantly restore and embellish, promote the strength of social contributions to continue to restore and expand this place into a cultural heritage site of the whole country. It is both to preserve the relic site and to develop the economy."

That strength will help the 54 ethnic groups, "children of one family", overcome all difficulties and challenges on the path of building and defending the country, and in the immediate future, overcome natural disasters, epidemics, and restore the economy.

The more we are aware of the value of the past, the more we understand the spirit of great solidarity so that not only the 54 ethnic groups on the S-shaped strip of land can feel the sense of compatriotism, but also unite so that 3,000,000 Vietnamese citizens living in many different countries around the world can all turn to their roots and feel the sacred value of the two words "compatriot"./.