Yellow Emperor Memorial Ceremony
01 · Historical Records
Jinyun's activities of sacrificing to Xuanyuan can be traced back as far as the Han dynasty.
02 · Core Techniques & Process
The Xuanyuan ceremony is a form of worship of the Chinese progenitor, still practiced today in Jinyun County, Zhejiang Province, with the Yellow Emperor as the object of sacrifice. Xuanyuan is an alternative name for the ancient Yellow Emperor. Jinyun is an official title of the Yellow Emperor, and also one of his alternative names. Jinyun County was established in the first year of the Wansui Dengfeng era of the Wuzhou period (696), named after the ancient Jinyun Mountain within its territory. During the Eastern Jin the 'Jinyun Hall' was built on Jinyun Mountain; during the Tianbao era of the Tang dynasty, Emperor Xuanzong ordered it renamed the 'Shrine of the Yellow Emperor'. Jinyun is the only site in southern China for sacrificing to Xuanyuan, the Yellow Emperor. The Jinyun Xuanyuan sacrifice, passed down through the generations, is divided into two ceremonies: spring (at Qingming) and autumn (at Chongyang). Its forms include worship in the main hall of the Yellow Emperor Shrine, worship at clan ancestral halls in various places, and worship at the family 'altar' (the skylight of a residential courtyard house). The larger-scale sacrifices are held at the Shrine of the Yellow Emperor, with worshippers divided into chief officiant, accompanying officiants, and general participants. The sacrificial rites include drumming, striking the bell, reverently reading the sacrificial text, offering the three sacrificial animals and five grains, offering yellow wine and fresh flowers, and offering sacrificial music and dance; the atmosphere is solemn and fervent. During the ceremony, all kinds of local folk performances are rich and colorful: steel forks, board (cloth) dragons, board lions, bamboo horses, land boats, yangge dancers, waist drums, copper-coin whips, and yabeifeng.
Two festivals, spring and autumn
The Xuangyuan sacrifice is kept twice a year, at Qingming in spring and Chongyang in autumn, tying worship to the farming calendar.
Shrine, ancestral hall and household altar
Worship may be held in the great hall, in a clan ancestral hall, or at a home altar in a courtyard, scaling the rite from public to domestic.
From drum and bell to the sacrificial dance
The great rite proceeds through drums, bell, reading of the text, offerings of the three sacrifices and five grains, wine, flowers, music and dance.
Plate dragon and bamboo horse
Processions, society teams and masked fragments all turn up at once, turning the sacrificial ground into a gathering of the whole township.
The temple renamed in the Tang
A hall built in the Eastern Jin was renamed the Yellow Emperor Temple by imperial decree in the Tang, giving this southern shrine its standing.
03 · Regional Records & Related Items
In recent years, local people have participated enthusiastically in the memorial ceremonies, which have also attracted large numbers of people from neighboring counties and cities, from Huangling in Shaanxi and Xinzheng in Henan, as well as compatriots from Hong Kong, Macao, and Taiwan and overseas Chinese; they play an important role in strengthening the sense of national identity.
Other submitting regions for the same item: Huangdiling Memorial Ceremony · Yellow Emperor Memorial Ceremony.
04 · Cultural Value & Contemporary Safeguarding
The reason Jinyun can single-handedly sustain a Shrine of the Yellow Emperor in the south lies in sacrifices that have continued uninterrupted since the Han dynasty, combined with the orthodox legitimacy left by the plaque renamed by imperial order during the Tianbao era of the Tang dynasty. With shrine, clan ancestral hall, and family altar standing side by side, ordinary people can complete a simplified sacrificial rite right at their doorstep. The Qingming and Chongyang ceremonies embed the sacrifice in the agricultural calendar: after the spring sacrifice comes sowing, and after the autumn sacrifice comes harvest. Going up the mountain twice a year amounts to setting a shared moment at both the beginning and the end of the farming year. The board dragons, board lions, bamboo horses, land boats, yangge, waist drums, copper-coin whips, and yabeifeng gathered during the ceremony are all old folk forms of southwestern Zhejiang that mingle procession troupes, community shrines, and nuo exorcising ritual; ceremony and entertainment arrive at the same time. On ordinary days these items each travel from village to village; once they enter the ceremony, they become the liveliest part of the rites.
06 · Authoritative Sources & Bibliography
Sources
China Intangible Cultural Heritage Network (ihchina.cn)
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