Ancestors of the Chinese ----Yandi and the Yellow Emperor
The great hall for offering sacrifices in the Mausoleum of Yellow Emperor in
Huangling County, Shaanxi Province—the holy palace for the Chinese to offer
sacrifices to the Yellow Emperor
About 5,000 years ago, an epic figure appeared in Shennong Clan living in the west of Guanzhong Area. He is the legendary Yandi—head of Shennong Clan. Yan was originally named Gui with the surname of Jiang. After spending his childhood in Jiangshui Area (called Qingjiang River today, a branch of Weihe River located in the recent Baoji City in mid-west Guanzhong Area), Jiang succeeded his father as the leader of the clan when he reached adulthood. Under his leadership, the clan enjoyed rapid growth in production and his charm and ability won the heart of those neighboring clans. Gradually the clan expanded and a huge clan was formed with Jiang family as the core and thus Jiang becoming Yandi, the chief of the newly-formed huge clan. Jiang was called Yandi because his clan was good at making and using fire while the Chinese character “yan” literally means fire and heat. Ancient Chinese believed fire is the sun in the sky and takes the form of flame on earth, and thus there was an old saying “Yandi refers to the sun”. This legend reflects the growth of the clan and the shift of people’s worship from the fire to the sun at that time. This can also be embodied in the yearly festive activity “she huo” held during the Spring Festival in Baoji Area, during which people show their the worship fire in order to repel evils and avoid disasters. Besides, Duke Linggong of the State of Qin in the Spring and Autumn Period (770～476BC) called for the construction of the Temple for Yandi in Wuyang, Baoji Area, which further testifies Yandi’s clan lived in Baoji Area and his clan took fire as the totem.
The imposing Temple of Yandi in Baoji Area
As the founder of the first clan union in the upper and middle reaches of the Yellow River, Yandi had worked hard in Baoji Area to change the primitive colleting-featured economic form into planting and cultivating. His great contribution also gained him the laurel of Shennongshi (literally the Divine Farmer). Under his leadership the small clan living in Baoji Area gradually became the core of a huge clan union in Guanzhong Area with ancient laws and regulations which had great influence on successive generations. Later, his clan moved eastward along the Weihe River and reached western Henan Province and then Shandong Province. As a regional culture of western Shaanxi Province, Jiang-Yan Culture has contributed greatly to the Chinese civilization. Legend has that one of his heirs named Jiang Yuan, heading one branch of his clan at Baoji Area, brought up Hou Ji, the founder of Zhou People. This legend shows that Zhou People were also influenced by Yandi and the culture he created and it is on this basis that Zhou People scored another glory in Chinese history.
Another outstanding leader born in Shaanxi is the Yellow Emperor. The Yellow Emperor is named Xuanyuan with the surname of Gongsun. Similar to Yandi, the Yellow Emperor is also the leader of a clan living in the south of the Loess Plateau in Shaanxi Province. With gradual growth of his clan, the Yellow Emperor expanded his power southward along the Luohe River to the recent Dali and Hancheng Counties in Shaanxi Province. To the east, the clan extended along Zhongtiao Mountain and Taihang Mountain to northeastern Hebei Province and the recent Beijing area. Legend has that the Yellow Emperor’s clan, Yandi’s clan and another powerful clan led by Chi You once launched the famous Banquan Battle and Zhuolu Battle in order to seize more land and power. The battles ended with the victory of the Yellow Emperor’s clan over Yandi and therefore the Yellow Emperor merged Yandi’s clan to form a huge influential clan union called the Yanhuang Clan, which became the core of the Huaxia Clan—the forefathers of China’s Han People. Due to these legends, Yandi and the Yellow Emperor are worshiped as the ancestors of the Chinese.
It is said that the Yellow Emperor managed to build palaces, make clothes, invent vehicles and thus laid a solid foundation for social development. His wife, Lei Zu started silkworm rearing and found the ways to reel silk from cocoons. His follower, Cang Jie invented the Chinese characters and another follower, Ling Lun, invented the musical scale. All these discoveries and inventions have contributed greatly to Chinese civilization and therefore the Yellow Emperor was highly praised by the following generations as the “Culture Primogenitor”.
After the Yellow Emperor passed away, people built a tomb and a temple on top of Qiaoshan Mountain, 1km to the north of the recent Huangling County. The tomb was originally named Qiaoling Mausoleum because the mountain is called Qiaoshan Mountain. Later, in order to differentiate it from another Qiaoling Mausoleum built on Fengshan Mountain in Pucheng County, Shaanxi Province for Emperor Ruizong of the Tang Dynasty, the mausoleum was renamed as the Mausoleum of Yellow Emperor. The tomb in the Mausoleum faces south with a 3.6-meter-tall mound and a perimeter of 4.8m. The whole mausoleum covers about 1,300mu (about 867,100m2) with 80,000 old cypresses to form the largest old cypress grove. At the southeastern foot of Qiaoshan Mountain, there is a Temple of the Yellow Emperor originally built in the Han Dynasty (25～220AD). Along the axis of the temple people can find the Main Gate, Chengxin Pavilion, the Stele Pavilion and the Grand Hall of the Culture Primogenitor. The Stele Gallery in the east of the temple houses 50-plus steles erected in different dynasties. In the temple, there are 13 cypresses, one of which is said to be planted by the Yellow Emperor. The plant is 23 meters tall with a perimeter of more than 10 meters. The tree is more than 5,000 years old and is lauded “Father of Cypresses in the World”.
In as early as the Warring States Period (475～221BC), officially organized sacrifices to the Yellow Emperor in Qiaoshan Mountain had started and during the 2,000 years afterwards both rulers from Han nationality and from other minorities would send officials to hold memorial ceremonies in the Mausoleum of Yellow Emperor. Chinese culture is the only continuous culture in the world and the yearly sacrificial ceremony held in the Mausoleum Yellow Emperor has actually become a symbol or ligament for the continuation of Chinese civilization. Recently, people all over China hold public sacrificial ceremonies on Qingming Festival (Tomb Sweeping Day) to show respect to the Yellow Emperor and this custom plays an important role in uniting the Chinese people all over the world. With the founding of the People’s Republic of China, the State Council declared the first batch of key cultural sites under protection, among which the Mausoleum of Yellow Emperor topped the list of highlighted cultural sites and therefore gained the laurel of “No.1 Mausoleum of China”.
