Spring Festival at the Special National Monument - King Mai Temple (Nam Dan District)
With the tradition of "drinking water, remembering its source", the Mai King Temple Festival in 2025 was organized by Nam Dan district for 4 days, from February 9 - 12, 2025 (ie January 12 - 15, At Ty year) to commemorate and pay tribute to the merits of Emperor Mai Thuc Loan and the Hoan Chau uprising; at the same time, promote the historical and cultural values of the homeland and country with many unique cultural activities through the festival.
Plum Blossom• February 10, 2025
With the tradition of "drinking water, remembering its source", the Mai King Temple Festival in 2025 was organized by Nam Dan district for 4 days, from February 9 - 12, 2025 (ie January 12 - 15, At Ty year) to commemorate and pay tribute to the merits of Emperor Mai Thuc Loan and the Hoan Chau uprising; at the same time, promote the historical and cultural values of the homeland and country with many unique cultural activities through the festival.
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Mai Thuc Loan was born in the year of Canh Ngo (670), originally from Mai Phu village, Thien Loc district (now Mai Phu commune, Loc Ha district, Ha Tinh province). After becoming pregnant, Mai Thuc Loan's mother moved to Ngoc Trung village, Dong Liet commune, Nam Duong district (now Nghia Thai commune, Nam Dan district) to live.
Witnessing the people's misery due to the harsh and exploitative policies of the Tang Dynasty, with the desire to regain independence and autonomy for the nation, in the year of Quy Suu 713, Mai Thuc Loan raised the flag of uprising to overthrow the ruling apparatus established by the Tang Dynasty in Hoan Chau; liberated the entire Ai Chau (present-day Thanh Hoa) and captured Tong Binh citadel (now the capital Hanoi).
The country was free of foreign invaders. Mai Thuc Loan ascended the throne, proclaimed himself Mai Hac De, and proceeded to build a government apparatus from the central court to the local level, issuing many important decrees: abolishing taxes, fees, and fines imposed by the Tang Dynasty, ending all tribute payments for the people of the districts and counties, plowing the fields of each village, and enjoying the work...
The Hoan Chau uprising with 10 years of independence (713 - 723) has an extremely great significance; is an important milestone on the path of fighting for national independence after 1,000 years of Chinese domination; is a powerful historical evidence, affirming the aspiration for independence and autonomy of our nation against foreign invasion and domination, has the effect of encouraging and adding great strength to generations of Nghe people and the entire Vietnamese nation to inherit and promote in the struggle to protect, build and develop the homeland and country over the past thousands of years.
The Mai Hac De Temple historical relic is the general name for the relics currently located in Nam Dan town, including the mausoleum and temple complex of Mai Hac De, Mai Thieu De in Ram valley, Hung Son mountain (locally called Dun mountain) and Mai Hac De temple.
The Mai Hac De Temple was built by the people many centuries ago to commemorate the great contributions of King Mai Hac De (Mai Thuc Loan), Mai Thieu De (Mai Thuc Huy - son of Mai Thuc Loan) and the generals who fought to liberate the nation, escape the domination of the Tang Dynasty; build and protect the independence and autonomy of the nation within 10 years (713 -723).
Along with the above relics, with the morality of "When drinking water, remember its source", the people built the mausoleum of King Mai's mother at De mountain and the temple to worship King Mai's mother at Con Chen cave, Nam Thai commune (now Nghia Thai commune, Nam Dan district), which was ranked as a provincial-level historical relic by the People's Committee of Nghe An province, along with the temple to worship Duc Ong in Nam Dan town, to worship the civil and military mandarins of the Van An court, which was ranked as a national historical relic by the Ministry of Culture and Information.
In addition, in Nam Dan town, there is also Kha Lam communal house and Van An citadel relic. The relics form the Mai Hac De Temple relic complex - a place that preserves evidence of the heroic years soaked in blood and bones of King Mai Hac De and his soldiers in the Hoan Chau uprising more than 13 centuries ago.
Mr. Nguyen Van Duong - Head of the Department of Culture and Information of Nam Dan district said: Although time has passed through many centuries with many historical events and ups and downs, since its establishment until now, the relics of Mai Hac De Temple and his mother, the civil and military mandarins in the Van An court have remained in their original positions and have been preserved, restored and repaired many times by the local government and people. In particular, the relics are currently preserving 378 artifacts made of stone, wood, paper, porcelain, etc.; of which there are 34 valuable antiques, typically the system of royal decrees, statues, thrones, tablets, etc.
In particular, on December 29, 2023, the Prime Minister signed Decision No. 1649/QD-TTg on ranking the Mai Hac De King Temple Relic as a Special National Relic. This is evidence affirming the great values of the relic, not only in terms of history and culture but also having profound political influence that needs to be preserved, maintained and promoted along with the longevity of the nation.
According to French documents, in the past, at the temple of King Mai Hac De, many ceremonies took place such as the death anniversary of Mai Hac De (17/9 lunar calendar), the opening of Spring (15th day of the first lunar month), Thanh Minh (in the third lunar month), Tet Doan Duong (5/5 lunar calendar), Tet Trung Nguyen (15th day of the seventh lunar month), Thuong Tan ceremony (in the 10th month, the beginning of the harvest season), Lap Nghi ceremony (25th day of the 12th lunar month). In addition, during droughts or the three-year exams, those who passed or were promoted to official positions were all held at the temple to present to the gods to show gratitude.
Nowadays, in the minds of Nam Dan people and many tourists, Vua Mai Temple is a sacred place, a place to return to in spiritual and cultural activities on the 1st and 15th of every month, or when returning from a long trip, they come to worship to commemorate the merits of Vua Mai, the generals and pray for their families to have a prosperous and happy life. Also at the temple, the above mentioned festivals are still maintained, but the largest festival is the Vua Mai Temple Festival, which takes place for 3 days from the 13th to the 15th of the first lunar month every year.
The 2025 King Mai Temple Festival will be held by Nam Dan district for 4 days, from February 9 to 12, 2025 (ie January 12 to 15, At Ty year). The festival will be held with solemn traditional ritual activities, including the water procession, the opening ceremony, the proclamation ceremony, the great ceremony, the opening ceremony and incense offering ceremony in memory of King Mai, the flower lantern releasing ceremony and the thanksgiving ceremony to commemorate and pay tribute to the merits of Emperor Mai Thuc Loan and the Hoan Chau uprising; at the same time, educating the spirit of patriotism, the struggle for national liberation and building, consolidating and maintaining independence among the people.
Comrade Vuong Hong Thai - Vice Chairman of Nam Dan District People's Committee, Deputy Head of the Organizing Committee of the Mai King Temple Festival in 2025 affirmed: In addition to commemorating and expressing gratitude to the merits of Mai King, the generals and educating the people on patriotism and indomitability to continue promoting the spirit of self-reliance and self-reliance to build a developed family and homeland; organizing this year's festival also aims to create a healthy and beneficial cultural living space for the people, while creating opportunities for people to connect, expand exchanges, cooperation, learn from each other, strengthen the spirit of solidarity and cohesion among the people, promote local economic development through tourism and product consumption. On the other hand, organizing cultural activities is also a way to raise people's awareness of protecting and preserving cultural heritage, thereby creating a more positive and meaningful living environment for the people.
Accordingly, this year's festival has many activities organized, including: King Mai Temple Festival; organizing folk games: human chess, card chess, tug of war, cockfighting, swing...; organizing Traditional Wrestling Tournament; Youth Camp; Open Men's Volleyball Tournament with 17 teams from 17 communes and towns in the whole district; Traditional wrestling.
New this year, Nam Dan district organized a boat racing festival on Lam River with 6 racing teams; organized a Nguyen Tieu poetry night in Uncle Ho's hometown with the theme "Vietnam takes off" with hundreds of poems sent to the organizing committee; organized an online contest to learn about the life and career of King Mai Thuc Loan..., contributing to preserving and promoting historical values and educating traditions, patriotism, and national pride for all classes of people, especially the young generation.
The district also directed district-level sectors and organizations to coordinate with communes and towns to organize booths to display, introduce and promote local specialty products, creating conditions for tourists to shop and enjoy Nam Dan's hometown products.
To spread the unique historical and cultural values of the nation in general and the Mai King Temple Festival in particular, Vice Chairman of Nam Dan District People's Committee Vuong Hong Thai also said: The opening ceremony and some activities at the festival will be livestreamed on the district's electronic information portal and social networking platforms.
