After years of dedicated work, half of the 326 Hung King relics found throughout Phu Tho province have been successfully restored.
In 2012, the Viet Nam Institute of Culture and Arts Studies launched a programme across 11 northern provinces and cities to preserve and promote the worship and values of the Hung faith, honoured as Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity by UNESCO.
The project not only restores and rebuilds relics intended for the worship of Hung Kings, but also collects and preserves festivals, documents, worship customs, legends and folk games.
The institute says the programme has also enhanced communities' awareness of their cultural heritage by including them in ritual activities such as le ruoc kieu (palanquin procession), le dang huong (purification ceremony) and traditional games like cock fighting, rice-cooking contests and a dragon boat competition.
According to legend, Lac Long Quan, the father of the first Hung King, and his wife, Au Co, gave birth to a sack of 100 eggs from which 100 sons were born.
Half of the boys followed their mother up to the mountains, the eldest of which named the country Van Lang and made a capital in present-day Phu Tho. The other half of the sons followed their father down along the coast, settling in various locales.