Ngo Tuong Cong temple festival

Ngo Tuong Cong temple festival in Vinh Phuc Every year, on the 9th to 11th of January, the Ngo Tuong Cong Temple Festival in his hometown - Phuc Thang ward, Phuc Yen city, Vinh Phuc province is solemnly held. This is an opportunity for local people and tourists to look back to their roots and be grateful for the merits of Ngo Tuong Cong and his predecessors who devoted themselves to the people and the country. The characteristic of the Ngo Tuong Cong temple festival is that it is not picky about the ritual form, but through the festival, it aims to create a common living space on the first day of the new year for the people, and above all to review the morality of remembering the nation's gratitude to its ancestors. Within the framework of the Ngo Tuong Cong temple festival, participants will witness traditional rituals such as procession, offering incense, and reading prayers. After that, they will participate in community activities and folk games together. When participating in the festival, what Vinh Phuc people feel more proud of is not the joy from the activities of cockfighting, chess, tug of war... nor is it the pride from the solemnity of the palanquin procession to the temple, but that pride is the constant remembrance of the sage Ngo Tuong Cong. Ngo Tuong Cong's real name is Ngo Mien, he was born in 1371 into an intellectual and wealthy family. At the age of 22, Ngo Mien passed his PhD, but instead of choosing to become a mandarin, he returned to his hometown to open a school for the poor and spent time traveling to other lands to learn and help people in difficulty. At that time, his reputation for talent and virtue spread even further. Ngo Mien even gave his land to the poor so they could cultivate and make a living. According to historical records, he was also the person who publicly reclaimed and built a hamlet of land in Xuan Truong district, Nam Dinh province today. Admiring his virtue, in 1400, Ho Quy Ly assigned Ngo Mien to command the imperial army. In 1407, when the Ho Dynasty fell to the Ming invaders, Ngo Mien committed suicide at Ky La estuary (Ha Tinh province). He died at the age of 36. Although his body was gone, his reputation was always there. The people of Vinh Phuc built a temple to worship him and called it Ngo Tuong Cong temple. By 1991, Ngo Tuong Cong Temple was recognized as a historical and cultural relic by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism.