Huangdiling Memorial Ceremony
01 · Historical Records
After the Han dynasty, the sacrifice to the Yellow Emperor became a fixed institution of the imperial court. In 1911, when Mr. Sun Yat-sen took office as provisional president, he specially sent someone to the Yellow Emperor's Mausoleum to offer sacrifices to his ancestor.
02 · Core Techniques & Process
Huangling County lies in the center of Shaanxi, at the southern end of Yan'an City, and takes its name from the fact that the mausoleum of Xuanyuan the Yellow Emperor, ancestor of the Chinese nation, is located here. Xuanyuan the Yellow Emperor opened a new era in history and created Chinese culture, and is honored as the ancestor of the Chinese nation. To commemorate and cherish the spirit of the ancestor, the ancient people held grand sacrificial activities. According to the Yishi, 'when the Yellow Emperor died, his minister Zuoqu took his clothes, cap, table and staff and worshipped them in a temple.' The earliest sacrifice by a later sovereign recorded in historical materials is that in the fourth year of King Weilie of Zhou (422 BCE), when Duke Ling of Qin built Wuyang Upper and dedicated it to sacrificing to the Yellow Emperor. During the War of Resistance against Japan, the Kuomintang and the Communist Party several times offered sacrifices together at the Yellow Emperor's Mausoleum, and Chairman Mao Zedong personally wrote the sacrificial address. Through long practice the sacrificial activities at the Yellow Emperor's Mausoleum have formed a certain scale, format and ritual protocol; broadly they fall into two forms: official (public) sacrifice and popular sacrifice. The present public sacrifice at the Yellow Emperor's Mausoleum is solemn and dignified. The layout of the sacrificial site is as follows: a horizontal plaque hung above the ceremonial pavilion inscribed 'Public Ceremony of Sacrifice at the Yellow Emperor's Mausoleum'; vertical scrolls hung inside the pavilion; newly written couplets hung each year on the two side pillars; and on the sacrificial tables are placed ritual vessels, fresh seasonal fruits, flowers, candles and flour flowers. The procedure of the sacrifice is: 1. all stand in silence; 2. the chief and assistant officiants take their places; 3. ancient music is played; 4. flower baskets and wreaths are offered; 5. three bows are made; 6. the sacrificial address is read respectfully (read by the chief officiant); 7. speeches; 8. firecrackers are set off and the mausoleum is circled once; 9. a group photograph is taken; 10. commemorative trees are planted. Popular sacrifice generally takes place around Qingming and during the Double Ninth Festival, with no fixed ritual; it is usually determined by the worshippers' own wishes and customs. The procedure of popular sacrifice is: 1. all stand in silence; 2. representatives of all circles take their places; 3. drums are beaten and bells struck; 4. ancient music is played; 5. offerings are made (flower baskets and wreaths are presented, popular representatives offer the three sacrificial animals, incense is burned, paper money is offered and libations of wine are poured); 6. three bows are made; 7. the sacrificial address is read respectfully; 8. firecrackers are set off and the mausoleum is circled once (led by the drum-and-wind band, with the chief and assistant officiants proceeding in order); 9. a group photograph is taken at the mausoleum; 10. commemorative trees are planted. In addition to retaining some elements of the public sacrifice, the popular sacrifice activities emphasize their popular character, adding a drum-and-wind band, a suona band, an honor guard and a three-animals procession. After the founding of the People's Republic of China, and especially since the policy of reform and opening up, the sacrifice at the Yellow Emperor's Mausoleum has drawn ever more attention from Chinese people at home and abroad, the scale of the sacrifice has become increasingly grand, and sacrificing to the Yellow Emperor has become a major activity for carrying forward Chinese civilization, uniting Chinese people, working together for the reunification of the motherland and building a better life.
The ten steps of the public rite
From standing in silence to planting a memorial tree, the ten official steps close the rite on something that will keep growing.
Drums and banners of the public rite
The people's rite adds drummers, suona players, a banner guard and a team bearing the three sacrifices, and circulates the mound behind the drums.
Tomb-sweeping at Qingming and Chongyang
Private visits cluster around Qingming and Chongyang but follow no fixed script, letting a thousand households keep a thousand forms of mourning.
Dough flowers and seasonal fruit
The altar table carries vessels, fruit, flowers, candles and dough flowers, the last both offering and seasonal craft.
Joint offerings of both parties
During the war both parties worshipped at the mound together, and the text read there became declaration rather than prayer.
03 · Regional Records & Related Items
The sacrificial activities are concentrated at the Yellow Emperor's Mausoleum and Qiaoshan in the northern part of Huangling County; the official ceremonies have fixed altar-temples and ritual procedures, while popular tomb-sweeping is scattered across the square before the mausoleum and the nearby village roads. The festival periods fall mainly around Qingming and during the Double Ninth Festival, and public and popular sacrifices proceed in parallel in the same cemetery grounds. The popular sacrifice's procession is more complex than the official one: the drum-and-wind band, the suona band, the honor guard and the three-animals procession each form their own ranks, showing that popular ancestor worship in northern Shaanxi and Guanzhong has its own sonic system and marching order, and does not depend entirely on the official ceremony's music.
Other submitting regions for the same item: Yellow Emperor Memorial Ceremony · Yellow Emperor Memorial Ceremony.
04 · Cultural Value & Contemporary Safeguarding
The fresh seasonal fruits, flowers, candles and flour flowers on the sacrificial tables anchor a ceremony that has continued for several thousand years in concrete offerings; the flour flowers molded into patterns and placed before the altar are a common device by which Guanzhong folk practice carries the memory of festivals and farmwork into ritual. The ten steps of the procedure run from standing in silence and the chief and assistant officiants taking their places all the way to the closing act of planting commemorative trees, the last of which is especially thought-provoking: every ceremony must leave behind a living object, so that the families of the participants maintain their relationship with this land.
06 · Authoritative Sources & Bibliography
Sources
China Intangible Cultural Heritage Network (ihchina.cn)
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