THE ANCESTRALLAND’S

CulturePhu Tho Province

Discover the distinctive culturalaspects of Phu Tho province

Issue 1|November, 2014 |

CONTENTS

An OverviewHistoryDemographicsTopographyClimate

FestivalsHung Temple Festival

The triplets of animals offering ceremonyThe Chung and Day Cakes offering ceremonyThe Pilgrimage from Gieng to Thuong Temple

Tich Dien Festival

ArtXoan Singing Performance

AN OVERVIEW OF PHU THOTHO

Phu Tho is a province in thenorthern of Vietnam. This namewas derived from Sino-Vietnameseand its capital is Viet Tri, which is80 kilometers from Hanoi and 50kilometers from Noi BàiInternational Airport. The provincecovers an area of 3528.1 squarekilometers and, as of 2008, it had apopulation of 1,364,700.

HISTORY

Iron Age: This period hadmany civilizations. It was thebeginning of the career of buildingup our Nation. Phu Tho was one ofthe typical places that had processof cultural development in theearly period, which include PhungNguyen’s culture and Go Mun’sculture.

Hung King Period: Therewere 15 tribes living mainly inmidlands. Van Lang tribe was themost powerful with the territoryextended from foothills of Ba ViMountain to the slopes of Tam DaoMountain. In this period, theeconomy began to develop,including the Wet rice civilizationwas decisive.

Prehistory Period:Archaeologists found that it hadprimitive tribes and clans living inthe old Red River alluvial, Lo Riverand Da River. The evidenceremains are fossils trace in HorseCave (Thanh Son – Phu Tho) and alot of stone tool of Son Vi’s culture.

Hung Kings chose theconfluence of three rivers: DaRiver, Red River and Lo River (VietTri – Phu Tho) as the capital of VanLang. Phu Tho was considered tobe the original land of Vietnam.

DEMOGRAPHICS

With a capital, a townshipand 11 districts devided into 275communes, this provice hasapproximately 1.4 millioninhabitants. Ethnic Viet (Kinh),Muong, Dao and San Chay are thedominant ethnic groups living inPhu Tho

An overview| 3

TOPOGRAPHY

The area of the province is3,528.1 square kilometers. Locatedin northern Vietnam, it is situatedat the head of a triangularformation of the Red River Delta inthe northern mountainous region.

It is delimited by the provincesof Tuyen Quang and Yen Bai to thenorth, Son La and Hoa Binh to thewest, Ha Tay to the south, and HaGiang and Vinh Phúc to the east

These provinces areconnected to Hanoi, the capital ofVietnam. Phu Tho province, due toits strategic location, is often calledthe “West Gate of Hanoi”. Itslocation is at the confluence of twolarge rivers namely, the Red and DaRivers.

CLIMATE

Phu Tho is located in thetropical monsoon region, with acold winter. The average annualtemperature is about 23.5°C. Theaverage rainfall varies between1,600 and 1,800 millimeters.Humidity is high during themonsoon season from May toOctober with the annual averagefigure of 85%.

Phu Tho province links thenorthern provinces of the RedRiver delta with the country’smountainous provinces and alsothe two Chinese provinces ofGuangxi and Yunnan.

4|An overview

Festivals| Hung Temple Festival| 5

Festival is a cultural event commonly

relating to rituals, religions and held by the

public, presents the characteristics of a

community and originates from the needs of

a community in life. It includes practices

expressing the community’s respect to the

gods or their plausible dreams that haven’t

come true.

HUNG TEMPLE

FESTIVAL

Hung Temple Festival is a traditional

anniversary held annually on March 10 on

the lunar calendar in Hy Cuong commune,

Viet Tri city, Phu Tho province by the

community of residents here relating to the

worshipping ritual of the Vietnamese in

common and of residents originating from

Phu Tho in particular. This festival is the

time for people of the Vietnamese’s

homeland to show their respects, their deep

gratitude to Hung King who founded the

government system “Van Lang” (from

around the 7th century B.C to the 3rd century

A.D).

The triplets of animalsoffered to the gods are a pig, agoat and a young buffalo. In theceremony, people prepare a set ofthese offers by wiping out theorgans and keeping the wholebodies. The offers may be keptfresh or roasted. However, peoplecommonly roast them to make tothat they will not be rotten andsmell during the ceremony.

The value of this ceremonylies in the cultural meaning ofthese animals. They areconsidered as symbols of somevaluable meanings in the local

culture, in the Vietnamese cultureas well as in the Oriental culture.The pig in the Vietnameseculture: The pig has been ananimal closed to Vietnamesepeople for a long time. Pigssymbolize the fertility, sexuality,leisure and wealth. The goat: of allthe animals, the goat has itsspiritual meaning and highsymbolic values. Apart fromsymbolizing the fertility like thepig, the goat is also the symbol ofthe benign, gentleness as well ascuteness. In addition, the goat hasknown as the symbol of sacrifice.The last offer is the buffalo.

The buffalo is very popular with theVietnamese who are so familiar with.Vietnamese agriculture. The buffalopresents the diligence and theextremely good health of farmers.Now, it symbolizes the extremelygood health of everybody.

By offering “the triplets of animals”to the Gods, people believe that theywill be blessed by them. The Godsbless the community to receivefertility, leisure, wealth, cuteness andgood health, which is very importantto make the community developwell.

THE “TRIPLETS OF ANIMALS” OFFERRING CEREMONY

6| Festivals| Hung Temple Festival

CHUNG & DAY CAKE OFFERING CEREMONY When people offer the triplets of

animals to the Gods in general, people

A Phu Tho province always offer

Chung and Day Cakes to Hung King on

important anniversaries. On Hung

Temple Festival, people make big

Chung and Day Cakes and offer them

to Hung King. After the offering

ceremony, it’s time for people to share

the offering by taking a small part of the

cakes and eating. This is an exciting

activity in Hung Temple Festival.

The reason why people use

Chung and Day Cake as the special

offerings to Hung King is related to an

ancient legend. Lang Lieu or Tiet Lieu,

the 18th son of Hung King VI, dreamed

about a god telling him how to make

Chung and Day cakes to offer to Hung

King and explained their meanings.

Tiet Lieu happily and gratefully

followed the God’s suggestion, made

the cakes and offered to Hung King VI.

Hung King was very satisfied. Later,

Lang Lieu became the heir and then the

King.

Chung Cake is Vietnam’s traditional

special dish made of sticky rice, green

peanuts and pork and covered by dong

leaves, a kind of green leaves which are

large and long. Chung cake is a square-

shaped type. It symbolizes the Earth.

Besides, Day cake is a rounded type,

which is also made from boiled sticky

rice. People pound boiled sticky rice until

they become a dollop then people make it

round by hands or rounded shape. While

Chung Cake presents the Earth, Day cake

symbolizes the Sun because of its

rounded shape. Chung and Day, when

getting together as a couple, is the symbol

of the Milky Way. Moreover, this

presents the appreciation to the paddy

rice, a traditional crop of Vietnam up to

now. It is supposed that the 18 Hung

Kings could see their deep thanks to their

common ancestors and bless them the

good things, bring them new fortunes

during the year. About eating the

offerings after the ceremony, it' s strongly

believed that people could have a good

health if they eat them even a tiny piece

of cake is enough to satisfy them.

An overview| 7

8 | Festivals| Hung Temple Festival

The architectural ensemble of Hung Temple

consists of 4 main temples in turn Gieng, Ha, Trung and

Thuong located on Nghia Linh Mountain. Apart from the 4

mentioned temples, there are 2 more temples belonging to

the ensemble which are Au Co and Lac Long Quan temples

separated from the 4 main temples. When taking part in

the festival, local residents as well as visitors from other

areas can’t help joining the pilgrimage from Gieng to

Thuong Temple because they have been expecting that by

doing this, they can express their most honest respect and

gratitude to the Kings and to the worshipped. In addition,

people consider this activity a chance to improve their

health because they have to go over the really high

mountain on foot among lots of human beings.

THE

PILGRIMAGE FROM GIENG TO THUONG TEMPLE

THE JEWEL

WELL At the beginning of the pilgrimage, people drop in

Gieng temple. Similar to other traditional festivals in

Vietnam, people practice several ritual activities to pray

for good luck during the year. Besides, residents and

visitors, when going to the Gieng Temple, share a very

distinctive belief. If you pay attention, you can see lots of

people trying to look into an ancient well inside the

temple which was used as a mirror by the two beautiful

princesses Tien Dung and Ngoc Hoa, the 2 daughters of

the 18th Hung King once upon a time. They are trying to

see their face reflected there. People said that the two

princesses, when going on an excursion with King Hung,

mirrored with the water surface because it was so pure

and crystal. “If you can see your face in the well, you will

become more beautiful”, old people said. That’s why

those who want to become beautiful, especially

teenagers or the youth, always take this action when

taking part in the pilgrimage.

Festivals| Hung Temple Festival| 9

THE DRAGONWELL

Up the mountain, people visit Ha and Trung temples.However, there are a few of activities here. Continuing thejourney, people visit another ancient well on the way toThuong Temple. To distinguish between the well in the GiengTemple and this one, people call the well in the Gieng templethe Jewel well and the latter is called the Dragon well. It’s alarge well nearby the Ha temple. It’s said that after Au Co gavebirth to her offsprings, her children (included Hung King I) were bathed with the water from this well. Nowadays, when passing by the well, people are always throwing their money into the well with a view to getting far more money and good lucks in life,especially in their business. It’s believed that you will make afortune during the year as long as you can throw your money into the well without crumpling or folding it up. Though this is a cultural practice, we must say that praying for fortune bythrowing money into the well is not a really good practice. Asa result, the local authorities and managers have been carrying out the rule that bans people from doing thispractice.

10 |Festivals| Hung Temple Festival

Tich Dien

Tich Dien is the most well-known traditional festival in Minh Nong

commune, Viet Tri city. This festival is held to celebrate the event that Hung king

taught his residents how to grow rice and do farming.

Minh Nong commune is located near the lower reaches of three big rivers:

Thao - Đà - Lô, so it has a great amount of silt every year with many vast paddy

fields and warps spreading along Thao River, which makes Minh Nong become the

native soil of rice – growing with the appearance of dense population long time ago.

According to the Hung King legend, in the old days, the residents here didn’t know

how to cultivate rice for food. They mainly lived on hunting wild animals and

collecting fruits and vegetables in the forest. Every year, the riverside land became

fertile when the water level rose highly. Hung king knew that, so he appealed his

people for damming up to keep water.

Festivals | Tich Dien| 11

Festival

12 | Festivals| Tich Dien

Tich Dien festival associates

with the legends derived from the dawn

periods of history when the Hung kings

founded the country. As a result, this

festival contributes the hallowed color to

Hung kings festival and forms the

spiritual highlight in the cultural treasure

of Vietnam. The festival is organized

with two main ceremonies: “Offering

ceremony” and “rice – transplanting

ceremony”. In offering ceremony, the

notables and villagers prepare an offering

to the village gods and the Hung kings in

the hope of getting an abundant and

flourishing crop. This ceremony is held in

Tich Dien shrine built from laterites,

having a tiger statue inside and an incense

– burner placed on a long pedestal in the

center. This ceremony is held in Tich

Dien shrine built from laterites,

having a tiger statue inside and an

incense – burner placed on a long

pedestal in the center.

To the local custom, the villagers choose an oldest man

looking hale and hearty, good at doing farming, having

a good family tradition and prestige in community to

become the officiating priest because they believe that

the good characteristics of the old man will make the

rice multiply rapidly so that they will have the good

crops. When the ceremony is started, together with the

thunderous sound of drum and gong, the officiating

priest reads the funeral oration to express great merit

of Hung king who had formed the farming career that

helped his people have a life of comfort. In the “rice -

transplanting” ceremony, the chosen old man takes the

role of Hung king to transplant rice on the field near

Tich Dien shrine together with the other eighteen

young women acting as Hung king’s princesses.

After that, the man pitches a “nêu” tree (a bamboo tree

with a circle on the top) in the hope of driving away

evils. Then, all villagers continue transplanting rice on

that field with a view to getting a crop more abundant

than usual. Tich Dien festival is one of the extremely

typical custom of Vietnamese farmers. Having been

derived from the legends in the early periods of

history, this festival reflects the special belief of the

rice – growing residents in Phu Tho province. The

ceremonies during the festival explain the initial

history of rice –growing career formed in Hung kings

era.

TICH DIEN FESTIVAL

Art | Xoan Singing Performance| 13

Xoan Singing

Performance Xoan singing is called "Hat Cua Dinh"

in Vietnamese. That form of art performance

originated in Phu Tho and then spread to

some neighbor provinces in Northern

Vietnam. In the past, Van Lang people held

Xoan singing performance in the spring to

welcome the new years. Hung Kings Temple

Festival in Phu Tho Province: usually held

from the 5th to the 10th days of the third lunar

month. On the ancestor's death anniversary,

Xoan singing will be carried out. This is a

very important and unique ritual. In addition,

during the festival, programs of Xoan singing

of ancient villages are always organized for

pilgrims to the ancestor land.

14| Art| Xoan singing Performance

Legend is that “Xoan” singing

has existed for more than 2000

years since King Hung’s Dynasty

and was a form of art performance

to serve at special events in royal

palace. “Xoan” singing was also

part of traditional liturgies.

Xoan singing is associated with

the stories about the era of the

Hung King’s national

establishment. The xoan singing

original villages are ancient

villages located in the center of the

old country of Van Lang, present-

day Viet Tri City in Phu Tho

Province. They are An Thai, Phu

Duc, Kim Doi and Thet in Kim

Duc and Phuong Lau Communes.

This art has retained many ancient

cultural features from the time

when the Hung Kings built the

country.

Traces of the ancient music of the

Vietnamese people still contain in

Xoan singing after 4000 years.

It is also the first professional

musical genre with a rather close

organization. Most of its members

in a Xoan singing group are close

relatives.

The head of the group is

responsible for bequeathing the

singing and organizing the

performance. Dancing and singing

are two components of Xoan

singing. The performers use dance

to illustrate the lyrics.

In the early spring of the old

days, the Xoan – singing groups

performed at temples or

communal houses of the village.

On the 5th day of the lunar New

Year, there were Xoan singing

performances at Hung King’s

Temple. The traditional custom of

Xoan singing at the communal

house aimed at wishing each other

good luck and praying to the

genies.

Art | Xoan singing Performance| 15

Besides, it also gave

people in different villages an

opportunity to interact with each

other. As a rule, the groups

organizing the performance were

considered older brother and the

groups coming from another

village were considered younger

brother. Once these villages came

together, boys and girls of both

sides were forbidden to marry

each other because they were

considered siblings.

Xoan singing is an

invaluable intangible cultural

heritage. However, over time, it

has become at risk of falling into

oblivion because of the negative

impact of modern society.

According to surveys, the old

Xoan songs are now preserved in

only four original Xoan-singing

groups in Phu Tho, including An

Thai Village (Phuong Lau

Commune) and Thet, Phu Duc

and Kim Doi Villages (Kim Duc

Commune).

Phu Tho Province has

only 69 Xoan singing artisans, 31

of whom are from 80 to 104

years old, and only 8 people can

teach singing. There are 81 Xoan

singers but only 49 of them can

sing fluently. Of the 30 relics of

temples and shrines which were

places for Xoan performances,

only 13 remaining relics have

been preserved, two relics have

been extremely degraded and 15

relics have completely

disappeared.

Obviously, these figures show

that the teaching of Xoan singing

to younger generations has many

difficulties. In the past, Xoan

singing was popular and

performed at all festivals of the

villages in Phu Tho, but with

changes over time the number of

Xoan singing artisans has been

on the decline.

16| Art| Xoan singing Performance

Facing the fact that Xoan

singing is at the risk of becoming

lost, Phu Tho Province

collaborated with the Vietnam

National Conservatory and the

National Cultural Heritage

Department of the Ministry of

Culture, Sports and Tourism to

carry out surveys. They organized

many domestic and international

workshops to assess the actual state

of Xoan singing so as to prepare a

dossier to submit to UNESCO for

being recognized as an intangible

cultural heritage in need of urgent

protection.

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. This is not

only good news for the people and

authorities of Phu Tho Province,

the birthplace of a unique type of

singing, but also a great honor for

all Vietnamese people..

REFERENCES

1. Intangible Cultural Heritage: “Xoan

Singing in Phu Tho Province”,

Vietnamtourism.com. Accessed 2014

2. "Hung Kings' Temple Festival - A

Pilgrimage to the Sacred Land of

Vietnam's Ancestry". Embassy of Vietnam in USA. Retrieved 2009-05-17.

3. Van Hoa: “Noi Vua Hung Day Dan

Trong Lua”, Vinhphuctv.vn. Accessed

2014

4. News: “Noi Vua Hung Day Dan

Trong Lua”, Archives.gov.vn.

Accessed 2014.

5. Dang Dinh Thuan (2014): “Le Hoi

Truyen Thong Vung Dat To”.

Retrieved 2014.

6. Vietnam – info: “Phu Tho

Province”, Offroadvietnam.com.

Accessed 2014

7. Dulich: “Du Lich Phu Tho”,

Dulichphutho.com. Accessed 2014.

8. Hung King Temple Festival.

Vietnam - beauty. Retrieved 10 August

2011.

The Ancestral Land’s Culture

--------------------Phu Tho Province-----------------

Director

Nguyen Van Manh

Secretary

Ha Hai Yen

Ha Thu Phuong

Nguyen Thi Hong Nhung

Designer

Nguyen Van Manh

Nguyen Hoang Yen