HONOURING TRỰC - A ritual ceremony to honour national hero Nguyễn Trung Trực during the Nguyễn Trung Trực Temple Festival, which is held on October 10 in Kiên Giang Province’s Rạch Giá City. VNA/VNS Photo by Lê Sen

KIÊN GIANG — The annual festival dedicated to national hero Nguyễn Trung Trực (1838-1868) in Kiên Giang Province’s Rạch Giá City was recognised as a national intangible cultural heritage.

The Nguyễn Trung Trực Temple Festival began in 1891 to honour Trực and his supporters as well as people involved in his uprising against the French in the middle of the 19th century.

The event is held for three days, from August 26 – 28 of the lunar calendar, at Nguyễn Trung Trực Temple in Vĩnh Thanh Vân Ward, and attracts around a million visitors.

Nguyễn Trung Trực was born as Nguyễn Văn Lịch in Gia Định, today Bến Lức District of Long An Province.

In 1861, he gathered local farmers to fight against the French in Tân An and Rạch Giá (in today Kiên Giang). They attacked and burned the warship L’Esperance of the French navy in Nhật Tảo village in Tân An.

When Vĩnh Long, An Giang and Hà Tiên were lost to the French in 1867, Trực withdrew his troops to Rạch Giá and established a military base in Hòn Chông.

In 1868, Trực’s insurgents attacked Rạch Giá military station of the French, killing the Rạch Giá provincial governor. The fight was a significant event that threatened the French colonial regime and was recorded in French military history.

The French later seized Trực’s mother and his soldiers’ families to force them to surrender. They had to surrender to save the lives of their families.

Facing the enemy, Trực stated with confidence: “Only when there is no grass in Việt Nam will there be no more Vietnamese fighting against foreign invaders.”

The French killed him at Rạch Giá Market on October 27, 1868.

Nguyễn Văn Sáu, director of the province’s Department of Culture and Sports, shared that the Nguyễn Trung Trực Temple Festival is one of the province’s major events to connect the community, strengthen solidarity, and celebrate Vietnamese people’s patriotism and national pride.

He added the festival also aims to educate about patriotic traditions and raise awareness of the importance of protecting the country and preserving and promoting national cultural heritage for young generations. – VNS