The legend "The Sea Dragon and The Mountain Fairy" has been used to explain the origin of the Vietnamese. Based on this legend, Lac Long Quan (the Dragon King) and Au Co (the Mountain Fairy) met each other on a high mountain, and immediately they fell in love. After getting married, Au Co gave birth to a pack which had a hundred children, and very soon these beautiful sons grew up into strong young men. However, because of the differences between the two living environments, Lac Long Quan and Au Co had to live a part. Thus, Lac Long Quan took fifty sons with him back to the sea, while the other fifty sons accompanied their mother to the mountain. Later, the children spread out, divided and ruled the land. They were called the Hung Kings in Vietnam . For that reason, they were known as the ancestors of the Vietnamese. Today, Vietnamese people are proud to say that " we are Dragon and Fair descendants." There is a popular saying that no matter where you go, remember the 10th of the third month in the lunar calendar, when people commemorate the anniversary of the death of King Hung in Vietnam. Thus, every year we celebrate " Hung Kings Temple"as Vietnam's traditional festival. This is like we celebrate Thanks Giving in America.
Just a awesome story and very interesting part of tradition. I would like to hear how Vietnamese people celebrate it, and how "Hung Kings Temple" Vietnam's traditional festival looks like? In Serbia, actually in my home town of Smederevo we have celebration of Serbian rich medieval history in our 6 century old fortress. The celebration is called "Smederevo's fall festival."
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