Ceremony in Thanh Hoa marks Lam Son uprising

A ceremony marking the 590th anniversary of the Lam Son uprising against the Ming invaders and, the 580 th coronation of King Le Thai To was held in central Thanh Hoa province on September 21, 2008 in the presence of National Assembly Chairman Nguyen Phu Trong and Deputy Prime Minister Nguyen Thien Nhan.

The ceremony was the highlight of the three-day Lam Kinh Festival, launched in Tho Xuan and Ngoc Lac districts on Sept. 19 to commemorate the 10-year fight by the farmer hero Le Loi, who defeated Chinese Ming invaders and brought independence to his people, becoming the first king of the Le dynasty with title of Le Thai To.

The ceremony began with a palanquin procession and followed by rituals in memory of the ancestors. Art performances were held re-enacting important historical events in the ten-year resistance against the Ming invaders, such as the ceremony of Le Loi and his soldiers making their fighting vows, the battles of Le Loi and his coronation.

Hundreds of thousands of people have come to the festival to pay tribute to the Le Kings.

Earlier at a meeting with leaders of Thanh Hoa province on Sept. 20, NA Chairman Trong expressed his pleasure at the province’s achievements in socio-economic development and security maintenance.

In the first haft of this year, the province obtained an economic growth rate of 9.4 percent, 0.3 percent over the same period last year.