Ancient ancestor honored in Zhejiang

A grand ceremony honoring Huangdi, also known as the Yellow Emperor, was held on Wednesday at the Huangdi Temple in Jinyun county, part of Lishui city in Zhejiang province.

Revered throughout Chinese history, Huangdi, who reigned over a united China around 5,000 years ago, is believed to be the legendary ancestor of the Chinese people and the founder of Chinese culture. Legend holds that the Yellow Emperor practiced alchemy at Dinghu Peak in Jinyun and rode a dragon to heaven.

More than 400 people, including national role models, Taiwan compatriots and overseas Chinese, attended the ceremonial rituals.

The sacrificial rites started at 9:50 am — representing jiuwu, or "nine five", numbers that, when combined, represent the Yellow Emperor's supreme majesty.

Drums were then beaten 34 times and bells struck 15 times, representing the 34 provinces, municipalities, autonomous regions and special administrative regions, and the 1.5 billion Chinese people worldwide. Flower baskets and wine offerings were presented, and music and dance performances, as well as various rituals were also held.

"It is part of the fine traditional culture of the Chinese nation that all descendants of Yandi and Huangdi should follow," said Tsai Meng-hsuan, a student from Taiwan who just finished his doctoral studies at Fudan University. The achievements of Huangdi, together with the contributions of his contemporary Yandi, or the Yan Emperor, led to the two sovereigns being widely regarded as the joint creators of both the Chinese nation and its civilization, and as the forefathers of the Chinese people.

"These rites are our roots and origins," Tsai said. "If you lose them, you will lose your direction and forget who you are."

For Tsai, the ceremony was a homecoming: his grandfather was originally from Longquan, a county-level city also administered by Lishui, and moved to Taiwan in the late 1940s.

"Young people in Taiwan should take full advantage of the diverse social media platforms on the mainland, such as Douyin and RedNote, and immerse themselves in person in cultural experiences like the ceremony today," Tsai advised.

The ceremony also coincided with the Double Ninth Festival, also known as Chongyang Festival, which falls on the ninth day of the ninth month on the traditional Chinese calendar and is celebrated to honor and show respect to the elderly.

Local people began paying tribute to Huangdi over 1,600 years ago during the Eastern Jin Dynasty (317-420), with the practice peaking during the Tang (618-907) and Song (960-1279) dynasties, according to Zhang Hongmin, a researcher with the Zhejiang Academy of Social Sciences.

"These traditions collectively demonstrate the Chinese nation's continuous inheritance of the Yellow Emperor culture throughout history," he said.

With the rapid development of artificial intelligence technologies, the image of Huangdi and his deeds can be further interpreted and elucidated, enabling new possibilities for understanding and spreading the cultural legacy, Zhang added.