Hai Thuong Lan Ong Festival recognised as national intangible cultural heritage

Le Huu Trac (1720-1791) was born in in Yen My district, northern Hung Yen province and spent most of his life in Huong Son district, Ha Tinh province.

One of his great contributions to Vietnamese traditional medicine was the summarisation of the essence of human medicine and Vietnamese traditional medicine into voluminous texts, such as ‘Hai Thuong Y Tong Tam Linh’ (The comprehension of Hai Thuong on medicine), which is considered the encyclopedia of Vietnamese Traditional Medicine with thousands of recipes and hundreds of remedies.

He was also a shining example of medical ethics. Nine articles in his ‘Y Huan Cach Ngon’ (Instructions on medical ethics) have been adopted as the ethical guideline and principles for medicine practice for Vietnamese physicians.

Each year on the first full moon in the first lunar month - the day of his death, locals and medical staff across the country flock to Huong Son for Hai Thuong Lan Ong Festival. The event has become an annual tradition in the spiritual and cultural life of local people in tribute to the enormous contribution by the famous physician to Vietnamese medicine.

To continue preserving and promoting the values of the festival, on October 13, 2015, the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism decided to recognise the festival as a national intangible cultural heritage.

Speaking at the ceremony, Deputy Chairman of Ha Tinh provincial People’s Committee Dang Quoc Khanh urged related authorities along with local Party committee, government and people of Huong Son to promote responsibilities for preserving and promoting the valuable legacy left by the Great Physician Le Huu Trac, as well as the values of the festival and the relic site dedicated to him.