The Mausoleum of the Yellow Emperor () is the alleged burial site of the legendary

Yellow Emperor The Yellow Emperor, also known as the Yellow Thearch or by his Chinese name Huangdi (), is a deity ('' shen'') in Chinese religion, one of the legendary Chinese sovereigns and culture heroes included among the mytho-historical Three Soverei ...

(Huangdi) of China. It is located in

Huangling County Huangling County () is a county in the north of Shaanxi province, China, bordering Gansu province to the west. It is under the administration of the prefecture-level city of Yan'an. The county spans an area of , and has a permanent population of ...

Yan'an Yan'an (; ), alternatively spelled as Yenan is a prefecture-level city in the Shaanbei region of Shaanxi province, China, bordering Shanxi to the east and Gansu to the west. It administers several counties, including Zhidan (formerly Bao'an) ...

City,

Shaanxi Province Shaanxi (alternatively Shensi, see § Name) is a landlocked province of China. Officially part of Northwest China, it borders the province-level divisions of Shanxi (NE, E), Henan (E), Hubei (SE), Chongqing (S), Sichuan (SW), Gansu (W), ...

, China. According to legend, the Yellow Emperor attained immortality and rose to Heaven, leaving behind only his clothing and cap to be entombed. The mausoleum is located on Qiao Mountain, north of

proper. In 1961, the

Chinese State Council The State Council, constitutionally synonymous with the Central People's Government since 1954 (particularly in relation to local governments), is the chief administrative authority of the People's Republic of China. It is chaired by the pre ...

proclaimed it as the first National State-Protected Great Cultural Site, with the identifier "Ancient Tomb #1" and the moniker "The First Tomb Under Heaven". The mausoleum was anciently called "Qiao Tomb", and was an important location where generations of emperors and famous people made offerings to the Yellow Emperor. According to historical records, the earliest offerings to the Yellow Emperor at the mausoleum's location began in 442 BC. From the establishment of a shrine proper in the year 770 during the

Tang dynasty The Tang dynasty (, ; zh, t= ), or Tang Empire, was an Dynasties in Chinese history, imperial dynasty of China that ruled from 618 to 907 AD, with an Zhou dynasty (690–705), interregnum between 690 and 705. It was preceded by the Sui dyn ...

, it was the scene of regular national offerings and sacrifices. The site has been rebuilt and restored several times, most recently beginning in 1993. The Yellow Emperor Mausoleum Foundation was established to raise money for the reconstruction process, which was divided into two phases. The first phase was completed in August 2001, and in 2004 yearly national offerings to the Yellow Emperor at the mausoleum resumed.

Scenic area

The Yellow Emperor Mausoleum Scenic Area covers an area of approximately 333 hectares and is classified as a highest level scenic area by the

China National Tourism Administration The China National Tourism Administration (CNTA; ) was a Chinese government authority responsible for the development of tourism in the country. The CNTA was subordinate to the State Council. Its headquarters are in Beijing, with regional branch ...

. It contains over 60,000 mature cypress trees, of which 30,000 are over one thousand years old, making the area one of the best old cypress forests in China. The scenic area is divided into two parts: the Huangdi tomb area and the Xuanyuan Temple area.

Tomb area

On the right side of the stone path leading to the Tomb Area lies a stone entitled the "Horse-Dismounting Stone". Upon the stone is written in Chinese calligraphy the words "Wen and Wu and their officials arrived at this point and dismounted their horses", a reference to Kings

Wen Wen, wen, or WEN may refer to: * WEN, New York Stock Exchange symbol for Wendy's/Arby's Group * WEN, Amtrak station code for Columbia Station in Wenatchee, Washington, United States * WEN, ICAO airline designator for WestJet Encore * Wen (surnam ...

and Wu of the

Zhou dynasty The Zhou dynasty ( ; Old Chinese ( B&S): *''tiw'') was a royal dynasty of China that followed the Shang dynasty. Having lasted 789 years, the Zhou dynasty was the longest dynastic regime in Chinese history. The military control of China by th ...

. Nearer to the Tomb lies the "Immortal Han Wu Altar". According to tradition, as Emperor Wu of the

Han dynasty The Han dynasty (, ; ) was an Dynasties in Chinese history, imperial dynasty of China (202 BC – 9 AD, 25–220 AD), established by Emperor Gaozu of Han, Liu Bang (Emperor Gao) and ruled by the House of Liu. The dynasty was preceded by th ...

was returning from a northern campaign against the Xiongnu, he stopped at the mausoleum and made offerings. The current mausoleum is 3.6 meters tall, 48 meters in circumference, and is surrounded by a brick wall. On the south side stands a

Ming dynasty The Ming dynasty (), officially the Great Ming, was an Dynasties in Chinese history, imperial dynasty of China, ruling from 1368 to 1644 following the collapse of the Mongol Empire, Mongol-led Yuan dynasty. The Ming dynasty was the last ort ...

stone

stele A stele ( ),Anglicized plural steles ( ); Greek plural stelai ( ), from Greek language, Greek , ''stēlē''. The Greek plural is written , ''stēlai'', but this is only rarely encountered in English. or occasionally stela (plural ''stelas'' or ...

that reads "Qiao Mountain Dragon Rider" (), a reference to the story of the Yellow Emperor and his family riding into the west on a golden dragon. The eastern side's stele hallway preserves 57 Imperial stele commissioned by various emperors. On the western side stand returned commemoration stele from Hong Kong and

Macao Macau or Macao (; ; ; ), officially the Macao Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China (MSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China in the western Pearl River Delta by the South China Sea. With a po ...

. In the main hall, called the "Great Hall of Man and Civilization's First Ancestor" (), stands a

relief sculpture Relief is a sculptural method in which the sculpted pieces are bonded to a solid background of the same material. The term ''relief'' is from the Latin verb ''relevo'', to raise. To create a sculpture in relief is to give the impression that the ...

of the Yellow Emperor, as well as a niche shrine decorated with the four great spirit animals of Chinese astrology: the Azure Dragon, the

White Tiger The white tiger or bleached tiger is a leucistic pigmentation variant of the Mainland tiger. It is reported in the wild from time to time in the Indian states of Madhya Pradesh, Assam, West Bengal, Bihar, Odisha, in the Sunderbans region and ...

, the

Vermilion Bird The Vermilion Bird ( zh, c=朱雀, p=Zhūquè) is one of the Four Symbols of the Chinese constellations Traditional Chinese astronomy has a system of dividing the celestial sphere into asterisms or constellations, known as "officials" ( C ...

, and the

Black Tortoise The Black Tortoise () is one of the Four Symbols of the Chinese constellations. Despite its English name, it is usually depicted as a tortoise entwined together with a snake. The name used in East Asian languages does not mention either anim ...

. In the memorial pavilion are arranged several dedicatory inscriptions from modern Chinese leaders

Sun Yat-sen Sun Yat-sen (; also known by several other names; 12 November 1866 – 12 March 1925)Singtao daily. Saturday edition. 23 October 2010. section A18. Sun Yat-sen Xinhai revolution 100th anniversary edition . was a Chinese politician who serve ...

Chiang Kai-shek Chiang Kai-shek (31 October 1887 – 5 April 1975), also known as Chiang Chung-cheng and Jiang Jieshi, was a Chinese Nationalist politician, revolutionary, and military leader who served as the leader of the Republic of China (ROC) from 1928 ...

Mao Zedong Mao Zedong pronounced ; also Romanization of Chinese, romanised traditionally as Mao Tse-tung. (26 December 1893 – 9 September 1976), also known as Chairman Mao, was a Chinese communist revolutionary who was the List of national founde ...

, and

Deng Xiaoping Deng Xiaoping (22 August 1904 – 19 February 1997) was a Chinese revolutionary leader, military commander and statesman who served as the paramount leader of the China, People's Republic of China (PRC) from December 1978 to November 1989. Aft ...

. In front of the tomb is a pavilion for offerings, in the middle of which stands a stone stele with the three characters "Yellow Emperor Mausoleum". The stele was erected by Chiang Kai-shek during the

Second Sino-Japanese War The Second Sino-Japanese War (1937–1945) or War of Resistance (Chinese term) was a military conflict that was primarily waged between the Republic of China and the Empire of Japan. The war made up the Chinese theater of the wider Pacific T ...

but was chiseled blank in 1956 before being restored in 1963 by Guo Moruo.

Xuanyuan Temple

Xuanyuan Temple (軒轅庙 ''Xuānyuánmiào''), named after the Yellow Emperor's personal name "Xuanyuan" recorded in the ''

Shiji ''Records of the Grand Historian'', also known by its Chinese name ''Shiji'', is a monumental history of China that is the first of China's 24 dynastic histories. The ''Records'' was written in the early 1st century by the ancient Chinese his ...

'', is a temple dedicated to the religion of Huangdi in Huangling, and the largest of such temples in China (there are other smaller ''Xuanyuanmiao'' throughout the country). Construction of the temple started during the post-1993 restoration works of Huangling. The shrine is approximately 8,000 square meters in size and is made entirely of granite. Its central building is called the Hall of Xuanyuan (軒轅殿 ''Xuānyuándiàn''). Yearly sacrifices are held at the temple.

Past offerings and restorations

The emperors of Chinese dynasties venerated the Yellow Emperor's mausoleum, and most would dispatch a closely trusted high-ranked official, bearing an imperial monument written by the emperor himself, to conduct the ceremonies. *220 BC: Tradition states that

Qin Shi Huang Qin Shi Huang (, ; 259–210 BC) was the founder of the Qin dynasty and the first emperor of a unified China. Rather than maintain the title of " king" ( ''wáng'') borne by the previous Shang and Zhou rulers, he ruled as the First Empero ...

, after subduing the other Chinese states and proclaiming himself emperor, personally carried offerings and his sword to the Yellow Emperor's temple to seclude himself and offer prayers. *110 BC: In the tenth lunar month, Emperor Wu of the

led 180,000 troops to make offerings at the Yellow Emperor's tomb and set up the "Immortal's Altar" mentioned above. *During the

, the traditional sacrifices to the Yellow Emperor were officially adopted by the state. *1040 to 1043: during the reign of Emperor Renzong in the

Song dynasty The Song dynasty (; ; 960–1279) was an imperial dynasty of China that began in 960 and lasted until 1279. The dynasty was founded by Emperor Taizu of Song following his usurpation of the throne of the Later Zhou. The Song conquered the res ...

, the minister

Fan Zhongyan Fan Zhongyan (5 September 989 – 19 June 1052) from Wu County of Suzhou ( Jiangsu Province, China), courtesy name Xiwen (), ratified as the Duke of Wenzheng () posthumously, and conferred as Duke of Chu () posthumously, was a Chinese poet, p ...

made ceremonial sacrifice there three times. *1061: Emperor Renzong of the Song dynasty decreed the mass planting of

cypress Cypress is a common name for various coniferous trees or shrubs of northern temperate regions that belong to the family Cupressaceae. The word ''cypress'' is derived from Old French ''cipres'', which was imported from Latin ''cypressus'', the l ...

trees at the complex. *1325: During the

Yuan dynasty The Yuan dynasty (), officially the Great Yuan (; xng, , , literally "Great Yuan State"), was a Mongol-led imperial dynasty of China and a successor state to the Mongol Empire after its division. It was established by Kublai, the fif ...

, the Mongol emperor Yesün Temür issued a decree protecting the tomb site. *1371: The

Hongwu Emperor The Hongwu Emperor (21 October 1328 – 24 June 1398), personal name Zhu Yuanzhang (), courtesy name Guorui (), was the founding emperor of the Ming dynasty of China, reigning from 1368 to 1398. As famine, plagues and peasant revolts i ...

of the

sent imperial historian Guan Gougan to officiate an offering. *1651: The

Shunzhi Emperor The Shunzhi Emperor (15 March 1638 – 5 February 1661) was the second emperor of the Qing dynasty of China, and the first Qing emperor to rule over China proper, reigning from 1644 to 1661. A committee of Manchu princes chose him to succe ...

of the

Qing dynasty The Qing dynasty ( ), officially the Great Qing,, was a Manchu-led imperial dynasty of China and the last orthodox dynasty in Chinese history. It emerged from the Later Jin dynasty founded by the Jianzhou Jurchens, a Tungusic-speak ...

had numerous veneration ceremonies for the Yellow Emperor conducted. *1911: Following the

Xinhai Revolution The 1911 Revolution, also known as the Xinhai Revolution or Hsinhai Revolution, ended China's last imperial dynasty, the Manchu-led Qing dynasty, and led to the establishment of the Republic of China. The revolution was the culmination of ...

, the Nationalist government of the

Republic of China Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the northeas ...

continued the tradition of making offerings at the Yellow Emperor's mausoleum.

and

sent officials to perform the ceremonies on several occasions. *1939: During the

Qingming Festival The Qingming festival or Ching Ming Festival, also known as Tomb-Sweeping Day in English (sometimes also called Chinese Memorial Day or Ancestors' Day), is a traditional Chinese festival observed by the Han Chinese of mainland China, Hong Ko ...

dispatched

Lin Boqu Lin Boqu (; Pinyin: ''Lín Bóqú''; Wade-Giles: ''Lin Po-ch'u''; March 20, 1886 – May 29, 1960) was a Chinese politician and poet. An early supporter of Sun Yat-sen and member of the Tongmenghui, as well as a later participant in the Nan ...

to conduct the sacrifices and offerings. *2006: The ceremonial offerings to the Yellow Emperor were entered into the National Immaterial Cultural Relic List.

References

External links