Yellow Emperor's memorial ceremony

The name of China's national intangible cultural heritage: Huangdi Festival (Xinzheng Huangdi ancestor worship ceremony)

Applicant: Xinzheng City, Henan Province

Item No.: 480

Project No.: Ⅹ - 32

Time of publication: 2008 (second batch)

Category: folk customs

Region: Henan Province

Type: Extension Project

Applicant: Xinzheng City, Henan Province

Protection unit: Xinzheng Cultural Center

A brief introduction to the ceremony of the Yellow Emperor

Applicant: Xinzheng City, Henan Province

Xinzheng City, Henan Province, is the birthplace and capital of Xuanyuan Yellow Emperor. Five thousand years ago, Xinzheng was a state of bears. According to literature, the Yellow Emperor was born on the ninth day of the second lunar month in xuanyuanqiu (now Beiguan in Xinzheng City). Later, on the third day of March, he founded the capital of the state of Xiong and established Chinese civilization. In order to commemorate the achievements of the Yellow Emperor, the ancient officials and people built Xuanyuan ancestral temple beside Xuanyuan hill, and Xuanyuan temple on the fenghouding peak of Chuci mountain (today's ancestor mountain) where the yellow emperor made great achievements. Since the spring and Autumn period, local officials and people have solemnly held ancestor worship celebrations in Xuanyuan temple and Xuanyuan ancestral temple on the third day of March every year to commemorate the founding anniversary of the Yellow Emperor Uninterrupted.

Since ancient times, the ancestor worship ceremony of the Yellow Emperor of Xinzheng has been held in two fixed places. One is the ancestral hall of Xuanyuan's hometown beside Xuanyuan hill in Beiguan, Xinzheng City, and the other is the Xuanyuan temple on the southwest of Xinzheng City, which is located at the top of the mountain. There are two forms of worship, public worship and people worship. Public worship is the official worship of the Yellow Emperor. The related records can be found in Zuozhuan, which has continued from Zhou Dynasty to Qing Dynasty. According to the memories of the elders at the foot of the Chuci mountain, from the first to the sixth day of the third month of the lunar calendar, there is a great deal of incense on the mountain and a grand temple fair is held at the same time.

Xinzheng Huangdi ancestor worship ceremony helps to enhance the sense of national identity of Chinese people, strengthen the centripetal force and cohesion of the nation, highlight the national spirit of the Chinese nation's hard struggle and self-improvement, and further promote the construction of a harmonious society in contemporary China.