Past the Great Gate (Đại môn), the climb begins. Two hundred and twenty-five stone steps lead up to Đền Hạ (Lower Temple), one hundred and sixty-eight more lead to Đền Trung (Middle Temple), and a final one hundred and two reach Đền Thượng (Upper Temple) on the peak of Nghĩa Lĩnh Mountain, 175 meters above sea level. The higher one climbs, the thicker the forest grows, the voices at the foot of the mountain fade away, and the three temples appear one by one like three stages of a single undertaking that must be carried through to the end.
This is not one large temple. It is a mountain arranged into a place of worship, with each level carrying its own layer of meaning. What sets this place apart from every other sanctuary in the library is that it does not honor the ancestors of one clan or one village. It honors common ancestors, what Vietnamese people sum up in the two words Đất Tổ (the Ancestral Land). For that reason, the death anniversary kept here is not the anniversary of a single household.
IThe Hùng Kings worshipped here
Those honoured here are the Hùng Kings (các Vua Hùng), remembered in tradition as the founders of the Văn Lang polity who set their capital in the land of Phong Châu, corresponding to present-day Việt Trì and its surroundings. Also honoured within the complex are the National Progenitor Lạc Long Quân, the Ancestral Mother Âu Cơ, the two princesses Tiên Dung and Ngọc Hoa, and generals of the Hùng Kings period whose shrines are scattered across the region.
In the thinking of ancestor veneration, the dead do not vanish but pass into another state and continue to take part in the lives of their descendants. Keeping death anniversaries is the way that bond is maintained. What is distinctive at Hùng Kings Temple is that this bond is stretched beyond the bounds of a family, because visitors do not come claiming descent from a name written in a clan genealogy, but recognizing that they belong to a shared origin. The proverb when drinking water, remember its source (uống nước nhớ nguồn) and the Vietnamese word for compatriots, đồng bào, literally born of the same womb, both belong to this line of thought. The altar here is therefore a family ancestral altar enlarged to the scale of an entire country.
As far as written records can be verified, the names Hùng Vương and Văn Lang appear relatively late. The earliest surviving texts date from the 14th and 15th centuries, including Việt điện u linh, Lĩnh Nam chích quái and Đại Việt sử lược. By the time Đại Việt sử ký toàn thư was completed in 1479, the Hồng Bàng line and the Hùng Kings were placed in the Outer Annals (Ngoại kỷ), the section that court historians already regarded as beyond firm verification. On the archaeological side, the sequence of cultures along the Red River basin from Phùng Nguyên, Đồng Đậu and Gò Mun to Đông Sơn shows a real social progression long enough to give rise to an early state form. On 7 August 1990, villagers digging a lime pit right at the foot of Nghĩa Lĩnh Mountain uncovered the Hy Cương bronze drum, measuring 93 centimeters across the face and 70 centimeters high, a major Đông Sơn artifact now kept in the Hùng Vương Museum. The two lines of evidence do not overlap neatly, since legend provides a name while archaeology provides a process, and how the two connect is still debated.
The most common misunderstanding concerns the phrase eighteen generations of Hùng Kings (mười tám đời Hùng Vương). Many people take it to mean eighteen individual kings reigning one after another. If that number is set beside the traditional chronological frame from 2879 to 258 BCE, a span of about 2,622 years, each king would have had to reign for an average of nearly 146 years, a figure that cannot stand. Many scholars therefore read the word đời here not as an individual reign but as a branch or lineage, with each branch comprising several successive rulers. Moreover, the number eighteen itself is a conventional number in ancient East Asian culture, recurring in many other legends. Put simply, eighteen is a way of speaking about long continuity, not a headcount.
IIFrom mountain shrines to heritage complex
The structures on Nghĩa Lĩnh Mountain were not built all at once. The oldest surviving layer belongs to the 17th and 18th centuries, a major restoration took place in the early 20th century, and several large complexes at the foot of the mountain were completed only within the past twenty years.
- 17th to 18th centuryLower Temple and Well TempleAccording to the heritage dossier, Đền Hạ (Lower Temple) was rebuilt between the 17th and 18th centuries on a two-hall parallel plan (chữ nhị), while Đền Giếng (Well Temple, Sino-Vietnamese name Ngọc Tỉnh) was built in the 18th century on an I-shaped plan (chữ Công).
- 1917Fixing the national commemoration date and building the Great GateAccording to the Hùng Vương từ khảo stele composed and erected at Upper Temple in the 15th year of Bảo Đại (1940) by Provincial Governor Bùi Ngọc Hoàn, in the 2nd year of Khải Định (1917) Phú Thọ Governor Lê Trung Ngọc petitioned the Ministry of Rites to fix the 10th day of the 3rd lunar month as the annual national rite. In the same year of 1917, the Great Gate at the foot of the mountain was built, 8.5 meters high with two tiers and eight roofs.
- 1917 to 1922Major restorationThe stone stairway up the mountain was rebuilt. Sources record different step counts, discussed in the architecture section.
- 1962First-batch national heritage siteThe Hùng Kings Temple complex was ranked as a national historical and cultural heritage site on 28 April 1962 under Decision No. 313-VH/VP.
- 1968Restoration of the Oath Stone PillarThe Oath Stone Pillar (cột đá thề) beside Upper Temple was restored as a square pillar 1.3 meters high and 0.3 meters wide, linked to the legend of Thục Phán's oath before the Hùng Kings.
- 2004Temple of Ancestral Mother Âu CơBegun in 2001, completed in late 2004 and inaugurated in early 2005 on Vặn Mountain (Ốc Sơn), reached by 553 stone steps.
- 2009Temple of Lạc Long Quân and special national rankingThe Temple of Lạc Long Quân on Sim Hill was begun in 2007 and inaugurated in 2009 on a 13.79-hectare site. In the same year, the Hùng Kings Temple historical site was ranked in the first batch of special national heritage sites under Decision No. 1272/QĐ-TTg signed on 12 August 2009.
- 2012UNESCO inscriptionOn 6 December 2012, at the seventh session of the Intergovernmental Committee for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage in Paris, the worship of the Hùng Kings in Phú Thọ was inscribed on the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity by a unanimous vote of 24 out of 24.
Two things that are often conflated should be kept distinct. The first is the monument complex, meaning the temples, tomb and pagoda on and around Nghĩa Lĩnh Mountain, which was ranked as a special national heritage site in 2009. The second is the belief practice, meaning the community custom of worshipping the Hùng Kings, which UNESCO inscribed in 2012, where what is inscribed is the living practice rather than the buildings. According to figures released on the tenth anniversary of the inscription, Vietnam has 1,417 sites worshipping the Hùng Kings and figures of their era, of which Phú Thọ province alone has 345.
IIIThree temples, the tomb and Well Temple
The layout here is vertical rather than horizontal. Lowland temples usually unfold along a flat axis from the triple gate to the rear sanctuary, whereas on Nghĩa Lĩnh Mountain that axis stands upright along the slope, with each resting stage marked by a temple. Worshippers do not walk inward so much as climb upward, and the fatigue in one's legs becomes part of the rite.
The first stage on the slope, rebuilt around the 17th to 18th centuries on a two-hall parallel plan (chữ nhị) with a front worship hall and a rear sanctuary. Tradition links this spot to Mother Âu Cơ giving birth to the sac of one hundred eggs. Right beside it stands Thiên Quang Pagoda (Thiên Quang Thiền tự, formerly Viễn Sơn cổ tự), built on an inner-Công outer-Quốc plan, with a three-branched cycad several centuries old in the front courtyard and two four-story monks' stupas.
Its Sino-Vietnamese name is Hùng Vương Tổ miếu (Ancestral Temple of the Hùng Kings). It is a single three-bay hall (chữ nhất), 7.2 meters long and 3.7 meters wide, facing south. Tradition holds that the Hùng Kings met their Lạc hầu and Lạc tướng lords here to discuss state affairs, and that Prince Lang Liêu presented square and round glutinous rice cakes (bánh chưng and bánh dày) here.
Set on the summit, comprising a ceremonial gate, a bell and drum house, a front ritual hall, a grand worship hall and a rear sanctuary. Heritage records give its Sino-Vietnamese name as Kính Thiên lĩnh điện (Hall of Revering Heaven on the Mountain Peak). This is where the most solemn ritual takes place on the national commemoration day. Beside the temple stands the Oath Stone Pillar.
Set just east of Upper Temple and a few steps lower, with a square base, an octagonal roof and dragon ornaments. Tradition identifies it as the tomb of the sixth Hùng King. This structure links the worship of deities with the grave-tending custom of ancestor veneration.
Its Sino-Vietnamese name is Ngọc Tỉnh (Jade Well). Built in the 18th century on an I-shaped plan (chữ Công) with a three-bay front hall and a three-bay rear sanctuary, it sits at the southeastern foot of the mountain and faces southeast. It honours Princesses Tiên Dung and Ngọc Hoa, daughters of the eighteenth Hùng King, and encloses the Jade Well where legend says the two princesses combed their hair.
Two modern complexes built on separate hills away from Nghĩa Lĩnh Mountain, with the Temple of Ancestral Mother Âu Cơ on Vặn Mountain and the Temple of National Progenitor Lạc Long Quân on Sim Hill. Adding these two temples brought the parental pair Lạc Long Quân and Âu Cơ into the same complex as the Hùng Kings, completing the legendary cycle of national origin.
As for the number of stone steps, the sources disagree and the library states both figures plainly. The most common count divides the climb into three stages, with 225 steps from the Great Gate to Lower Temple, 168 steps from Lower Temple to Middle Temple, and 102 steps from Middle Temple to Upper Temple, making 495 steps in all. Yet records of the 1917 to 1922 restoration mention 539 steps built with funds donated by the merchant Nghĩa Lợi. The two numbers do not match, and the library has not found a source that resolves the difference conclusively. Visitors may treat 495 as the figure most widely used for the main ascent to Upper Temple, alongside the stone paths descending to Well Temple on the flank of the mountain.
IVThe lie of the land and the facing
This section is the library's own reading through the eyes of traditional feng shui, not something recorded in stelae or temple genealogies. The library states this clearly so that readers can distinguish historical records from interpretation.
First is the position of the mountain itself. At 175 meters, Nghĩa Lĩnh is not a tall peak, but it stands at the edge of the midlands, the last cluster of hills before the land drops altogether into the delta plain. In the reading of the lie of the land, a solitary high point at the boundary between two landforms is seen as a place where qi pauses, keeping a root that connects back to the mountain chain while opening a clear view forward.
Second is water. Not far to the southeast of the mountain's foot lies the Bạch Hạc confluence at Việt Trì, where three great rivers, the Red River, the Lô River and the Đà River, meet. In traditional geomancy, a meeting of major waterways is a place of water gathering (thủy tụ) where qi collects, and a high point looking down upon that confluence holds both halves of the classic formula, backed by the midland dragon vein (long mạch) for support and facing great water as the bright hall (minh đường). This is the full form of backed by mountain, facing water (tựa sơn hướng thủy), quite unlike lowland temples that must borrow a pond or lake in place of a mountain.
Third is the stepped arrangement. Lower, Middle and Upper temples occupy three elevations along the same mountain ridge, and Upper Temple holds the very summit. In feng shui, placing the most important sanctuary at the highest point of a ridge sets it on the summit node (huyệt đỉnh), where qi has risen to its fullness without yet scattering. The placement of the Hùng King Tomb right below Upper Temple is equally noteworthy, because the dwelling of the spirits and the tomb sit stacked on one axis, worship above and burial below, sharing a single configuration of land. Such an arrangement is rare, and it fits a site whose function is ancestor veneration rather than the worship of a nature deity alone.
Last is the facing. Middle Temple faces south, Well Temple faces southeast, and the main axis of the whole complex leans toward the south and southeast, the directions most favored by temples in northern Vietnam because they receive warm light and avoid cold winter winds. Here the southern and southeastern orientation carries an added layer of meaning, since that is the direction in which the delta plain opens out, the direction toward which, in tradition, the descendants went down to clear and settle the land. The ancestral sanctuary faces its descendants rather than turning its back to them.
VThe commemoration on the 10th day of the 3rd lunar month
The ancestral commemoration day falls on the 10th day of the 3rd lunar month. This is the most important day of the year at Hùng Kings Temple, yet the date itself has a specific historical origin rather than having been fixed since time immemorial.
According to the Hùng Vương từ khảo stele composed and erected at Upper Temple in 1940 by Bùi Ngọc Hoàn, in the second year of the Khải Định reign, 1917, the Governor of Phú Thọ, Lê Trung Ngọc, sent an official dispatch asking the Ministry of Rites to fix the 10th day of the 3rd lunar month each year as the national rite (quốc tế), a shared state observance on which court officials would ascend the mountain to offer sacrifice. Before that, surrounding villages chose their own worship dates in spring or autumn, and the older custom of the local villagers was to hold their rite on the 11th day of the 3rd lunar month. In other words, the worship itself is very old, while the 10th day of the 3rd lunar month is a calendar standardization established in 1917 so that the whole country would keep the anniversary on a single day.
| Time | Rite | Content |
|---|---|---|
| Before the main day | Palanquin processions of surrounding communes | Processions from villages round about that have Hùng Kings temples converge on the foot of Nghĩa Lĩnh Mountain. |
| Morning of the 10th day of the 3rd lunar month | Incense offering at Upper Temple | The principal state and community ceremony, held at the summit temple with the reading of a ceremonial eulogy (chúc văn). |
| 10th day of the 3rd lunar month | Offering of traditional cakes | Square glutinous rice cakes (bánh chưng) and round glutinous rice cakes (bánh dày), linked to the legend of Lang Liêu, are presented on the altar. |
| During the festival period | Xoan singing and folk performances | Phú Thọ Xoan singing (hát xoan) is performed at temples in the area alongside traditional folk games and processions. |
| Throughout the year | Rites at other Hùng Kings temples | The custom is practiced not only on Nghĩa Lĩnh Mountain but at hundreds of shrines across Phú Thọ and throughout Vietnam. |
One point is worth noting. The commemoration is not confined within the gates of this monument complex. On the 10th day of the 3rd lunar month, ceremonies are also held at hundreds of village temples dedicated to the Hùng Kings and in many family homes. It is that wide network of practice, rather than a single mountain shrine, that was inscribed by UNESCO in 2012.
VILocation And How To Get There
- Address
- Núi Nghĩa Lĩnh, xã Hy Cương (thành phố Việt Trì cũ), tỉnh Phú Thọ
- Getting there
- Located on Nghĩa Lĩnh Mountain, Hy Cương commune (formerly Việt Trì city), Phú Thọ province, about 10 km north of central Việt Trì. From the parking area at the foot of the mountain, visitors walk up the stone stairways to the temples.
- Coordinates
- 21.3696, 105.3242
This is both an active place of worship and a mountain that must be climbed on foot, so its customs have two parts. Regarding ritual conduct, visitors are expected to dress modestly, remove hats when entering the inner halls, walk softly and speak quietly in the rear sanctuaries, refrain from touching artifacts and stone stelae, and place donations in the merit boxes. Regarding the climb, visitors are advised to wear shoes with good grip and rest at the landings between flights of steps. On the 10th day of the 3rd lunar month the crowds are very dense and the stone stairways are channeled into one-way paths for going up and coming down, so visitors are asked to follow the directions of on-site stewards.
Nearby places in the library
VIIContribute To This Page
Contribute photos, information or video for Hung Kings Temple
Góp ảnh, thông tin hoặc video cho Đền HùngEveryone is welcome to enrich this page: a photo you took, a detail the page misses, a short video. Every contribution is read and answered.
Thầy Ưng Khiêm mời cộng đồng cùng làm giàu trang này. Ảnh chụp tận nơi, một chi tiết lịch sử chưa được nhắc, một đoạn video ngắn: mọi đóng góp đều được đọc và trả lời.
No community contribution yet. You could be the first. Chưa có đóng góp nào từ cộng đồng. Bạn có thể là người đầu tiên.
?Quick Questions
Who is worshipped at Hùng Kings Temple
The Hùng Kings, remembered in tradition as the founders of Văn Lang. Within the wider complex, the National Progenitor Lạc Long Quân is worshipped on Sim Hill, the Ancestral Mother Âu Cơ on Vặn Mountain, and Princesses Tiên Dung and Ngọc Hoa at Well Temple. It is a sanctuary for common national ancestors rather than the ancestors of a single clan or village.
Do the eighteen generations of Hùng Kings mean eighteen individual kings
Not necessarily. If understood as eighteen individuals reigning one after another across the traditional span of about 2,622 years, each reign would average nearly 146 years, an untenable figure. Many scholars interpret the word đời here as a lineage or branch, each comprising multiple rulers, with eighteen serving as a conventional number in ancient East Asian culture.
How many stone steps lead up to Upper Temple
The most common count is 225 steps from the Great Gate to Lower Temple, 168 steps to Middle Temple, and 102 steps to Upper Temple, totaling about 495 steps. Sources differ, however, as records of the 1917 to 1922 restoration mention 539 steps built with funds donated by the merchant Nghĩa Lợi, and the discrepancy has not been conclusively resolved.
What did UNESCO inscribe and in what year
On 6 December 2012, at the seventh session of the Intergovernmental Committee for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage in Paris, the worship of the Hùng Kings in Phú Thọ was inscribed on the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity. What was inscribed is the community belief practice, not the architectural complex.
Why does the commemoration fall on the 10th day of the 3rd lunar month
According to the Hùng Vương từ khảo stele erected at Upper Temple in 1940 by Bùi Ngọc Hoàn, in 1917 Phú Thọ Governor Lê Trung Ngọc petitioned the Ministry of Rites to fix the 10th day of the 3rd lunar month as the annual national ceremony. Before that, villages chose their own dates and local villagers kept their rite on the 11th day of the 3rd lunar month. The worship is ancient, while the shared national date was standardized in 1917.