Historical imprints and profound meanings
September 19, 1954 became a milestone in the history of the nation. On this day, President Ho Chi Minh, before returning to take over the capital Hanoi, stopped at Hung Temple to talk with the officers and soldiers of the Former Army.
Here, the One left an immortal advice: "The Hung Kings have built the country, we, the uncles andcles, must work together to protect the country". The sentence is concise but contains a profound philosophy of historical responsibility, of inheriting and promoting national traditions.
Remembering and following Uncle Ho's instructions, in 2001, the Hung Temple Historical Site was built a relief by the Ministry of National Defense and Social Affairs at the Dien Gieng Temple 5-way intersection. The project was initially of modest scale with a width of 11.71m and a height of 7.58m, created from collapsed stone blocks.
For two decades, this relief has become a place of traditional education, where groups of visitors, armed forces and youth union members come to visit and offer flowers to engrave Uncle Ho's teachings.
After more than 20 years of existence, due to the influence of weather and nature, the stone relief is no longer suitable for the regional landscape and affects the quality of art. Along with that, in December 2012, Hung Vuong Worship belief was recognized by UNESCO as a Representative Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity, and in October 2020, Hung Temple was recognized as a National Tourist Area. These important events require the upgrading and restoration of works in the area, including the relief.
The process of restoration and embellishment of works
In order to continue protecting, preserving and promoting the value of the project worthy of special national monuments, at the same time, to ensure solemnity, create the best conditions to serve the leadership of the Party, the State and the people in the rituals to offer flowers to gratefully the merits of President Ho Chi Minh and heroes, martyrs, historical sites of Hung Temple, proposed the project to renovate and embellish the expansion of reliefs.
The project was approved by the Ministry of National Defense for sponsorship and approved by the Chairman of Phu Tho Provincial People's Committee in Decision No. 3084/QD-UBND dated November 25, 2022, with a total investment of up to 50.49 billion VND. The project started on June 15, 2023 and after more than 9 months of construction, by April 2024, the new relief was completed, ensuring progress, technique and aesthetics.
The new relief complex was built with an area of thousands of square meters, including a yard, garden, lighting system, flower beds, trees, three-level steps, concrete and stone yard. The space is as large as an outdoor stage, and can host many cultural events and festivals. On both sides of the relief are installed 18 12m high stainless steel flag posts, creating a solemn and magnificent space.
The new relief is designed in an arc shape with a length of 28.16m, 10.99m high (including the pedestal), 30cm thick reinforced concrete wall walls are linked to stainless steel steel box suspension system to install the art of copper alloy. The basic art is kept on the basis of the sculpture of the old relief, but is expanded and replaced with an average 1.5cm thick copper alloy material.
The impressive highlight of the relief is the immortal saying of Uncle Ho: "The Hung Kings had the merit of building the country, our uncle had to keep the country together" engraved with yellow striking on the reliefs in red copper. The reliefs also recreated the scenery of palm forest and tea hills typical of Phu Tho midland, creating a harmonious and lively overall.
The reliefs "Uncle Ho talked to the great army" not only a work of art but also an important highlight in the journey of the sacred destinations of Hung Temple. The project creates synchronization with architectural works and space, solemn and sacred landscape of the monument, converging historical and cultural values from the Hung Vuong era to the Ho Chi Minh era.
Every year, at this location, leaders of the Party, State, government and people of localities solemnly perform flower offering ceremonies to pay tribute to President Ho Chi Minh and heroes and martyrs along with other activities to serve the Hung Temple festival. This is also a place that attracts attention, stops to visit, and takes souvenir photos of many domestic and foreign tourists when coming to pay their respects to the Hung Temple festival.
