Traditional festivals commemorate national heroes, heroines

A ceremony marking the 1980th anniversary of the Trung sisters' Uprising and kicking off the Hai Ba Trung Temple Festival 2020 was held at the Hai Ba Trung Temple, a national relic site in Ha Noi's Me Linh District on January 30 (the sixth day of the first month of the lunar year).
A ceremony marking the 1980th anniversary of the Trung sisters' Uprising and kicking off the Hai Ba Trung Temple Festival 2020 is held at the Hai Ba Trung Temple in Hanoi. (Photo: SGGP)
A ceremony marking the 1980th anniversary of the Trung sisters' Uprising and kicking off the Hai Ba Trung Temple Festival 2020 is held at the Hai Ba Trung Temple in Hanoi. (Photo: SGGP)
Addressing the event, Vice President Dang Thi Ngoc Thinh highlighted the significance of the ceremony and the Hai Ba Trung Temple Festival 2020, aiming at commemorating the Trung sisters and their troops who courageously struggled and sacrificed their lives to write down glorious pages of our history in the early stage of nation building.
According to historical records, Trung Trac and her younger sister Trung Nhi, who were born in Giao Chi Province in the northern region led the first uprising against Han Chinese occupation in the first century, around 2,000 years ago. Trung Trac is the first female leader in the country’s history. She chose Me Linh as a new capital.
The three-day traditional event will see an array of folk games and artistic performances.
On the same day, Saint Giong at Soc Temple in Hanoi’s Soc Son District, also officially opened.
Saint Giong Festival is a traditional event held annually from the 6th day to the 12th day of the fourth lunar month in several places within Hanoi, especially at the Soc Temple in Soc Son District and at Phu Dong village in Gia Lam District, Hanoi. The 9th of the fourth lunar month is the major day of the event at Phu Dong where the national hero, called Emperor Phu Dong was born.
According to legend, the national hero was a son of a woman in Giong Village. She was pregnant after stepping onto a giant footprint in the field. The kid, called Giong, was weak and couldn’t walk and talk. When the sixth Hung King called on all people to resists the Chinese invaders, the three-year-old child suddenly stood up and wanted to be fed. The villagers provided him food during three days. Giong then straight and grew into a giant. He rode an iron horse given by the King and defeated Chinese invaders around. After the victory, he rode his iron horse on to the Soc Son Mountain and flew up into the sky.
People called him Saint Giong and organized festival to commemorate and show their gratitude to the hero.
The Saint Giong Festival has been officially recognized as an Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity by UNESCO in 2010.
Traditional festivals commemorate national heroes, heroines ảnh 1  Vice President Dang Thi Ngoc Thinh beats a drum to open the Hai Ba Trung Temple Festival 2020.
Traditional festivals commemorate national heroes, heroines ảnh 2 The Saint Giong Festival has been officially recognized as an Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity by UNESCO in 2010.
Traditional festivals commemorate national heroes, heroines ảnh 3
Traditional festivals commemorate national heroes, heroines ảnh 4 Wealth-giving ceremony in Saint Giong Festival

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