Festive events to mark anniversary of Kings Hung

The death anniversary of King Hung (Gio to Hung Vuong) will be held from April 7-12 (March 5-10 lunar calendar) on an area spreading from Viet Tri City in Phu Tho District till the coastal commune of the Hung temple monuments.

Nguyen Thi Kim Hai, deputy chairwoman of the People’s Committee of Phu Tho District said that a series of activities related to culture, sports and tourism will be held in the province with participation from cities and provinces across the nation. She also said that all sacrificial ceremonies will be held at the Lac Long Quan Temple, Au Co Mother Temple and Thuong Temple.

Lion dance performance is performed at Phu Tho District in 2010 to mark the death anniversary of King Hung.(SGGP)

The event will showcase a lion dance, a Xoan singing (ancestor worship singing) festival, a contest on making the traditional “banh chung” (square glutinous rice cake) and “banh day” (rice cake) at the Hung Temple.
The province will also organize a seminar on “The worship of Hung kings” as part of the efforts to seek UNESCO’s recognition of the festival as an intangible cultural heritage.

The event is an annual occasion to pay tribute to the Hung Kings, whose contribution to the founding of the nation is recognized and respected as well as to show love and pride for the country.

Legend has it that Lac Long Quan was a dragon who met and married fairy Au Co, who later gave birth to 100 eggs from which 100 children were born. The couple then parted ways due to their different origins. The man went seawards with 50 of their children, while his wife went to the mountains with the other half of the clan.

The eldest son, who followed his father, later crowned himself as Vietnam's first Hung King and the present Vietnamese people are said to be descendants of his children.

Foreigners honoured for cultural contributions

Two foreign scholars are to receive Phan Chu Trinh Awards for their contribution to promoting Vietnamese culture.

They are ethnologist Ivo Vasiljev from the Czech Republic and US writer Kevin Bowen.

The awards were announced yesterday by the science council of the Phan Chu Trinh Cultural Fund.

Vasiljev translated President Ho Chi Minh's Nhat Ky Trong Tu (Diary in Prison) into the Czech language. He has also researched Vietnamese ancient heritage and old scripts.

Bowen has promoted Vietnamese literature in the US. Over the past decades, Bowen and the William Joiner Centre in Boston, where he works as a director, have invited Vietnamese writers, poets and researchers to the US.

They have also received many delegations of Vietnamese victims of Agent Orange and called on Americans to support the victims.

The Phan Chu Trinh Awards are made annually. This year it also will be granted to Professor Hoang Tuy for his research on education renovation, literacy critic Lai Nguyen An for his research on Vietnamese literature and language, and translators Nguyen Don Phuoc and Pham Van Thieu in the field of economics and physics.

The fund was set up in 2007 by a group of scholars and comes under the Viet Nam Union of Science and Technology Associations. It aims to encourage and honour cultural research, support translated works for the World Knowledge Quintessence Bookshelf project, and sponsor scholarships for cultural research and translation training.

Phan Chu Trinh was a Vietnamese intellectual and revolutionist in the late 19th century. The awards will be presented at a ceremony next Thursday in HCM City.

Writing contest launched for late composer

The Nhac Trinh Trong Toi (Trinh's Music in My Heart) writing contest to commemorate the 10-year anniversary of composer Trinh Cong Son's death has been launched by the artist's family and BHD Star Cinema.

One hundred contestants will have the opportunity to visit his workplace and tombstone on April 2. Five best writers will be awarded the book Thu Tinh Gui Mot Nguoi (Love Letters to One Person).

Son's music lovers can send a writing sample (700 word maximum), expressing his or her emotions about Son or his songs to the following address: BHD Company, TMS building, 172 Hai Ba Trung, District 1, HCM City (email: bhdstarcinema@gmail.com) before 10pm on March 22. Contest results will be posted on the BHD Star Cinema official website at 9am on March 25.

Prime Minister launches arts promotion project

Under the project, the government will organise composition camps and meetings at literature and arts associations and press associations throughout the country. Promising artists will be supported.

All of the works must be related to the history, construction and protection of the country.

The project will also help provincial press associations create high-quality works on the Communist Party, President Ho Chi Minh, national heroes, and teachings about the resolutions of the 11th National Party Congress.

Thousands flock to Dinh Co festival

Some 13,000 pilgrims have flocked to join Dinh Co's biggest festival of fishermen in the southern region to pray for a peaceful country, good crops and prosperity for people.

Thai Van Canh, head of the festival organising board, said boats and junks decorated with colourful flags and flowers by fishermen from Ba Ria-Vung Tau and neighbouring provinces gathered at Long Hai Sea to worship for their good catches and safe return from sea.

The festival will end today, March 16.

VNN/VNS/SGGP