BEIJING, April 11, 2024 /PRNewswire/ — A report from China Daily:
Actors perform in the Yellow Emperor worship ceremony held in Xinzheng of Zhengzhou, Henan province, in 2022. MA JIAN FOR CHINA DAILY
On the third day of the third lunar month, Chinese people from all over the world congregate at Xinzheng of Zhengzhou in Central China’s Henan province to reconnect to their roots by worshiping Huangdi, also known as the Yellow Emperor.
Xinzheng, a county-level city of Zhengzhou, is the birthplace of the Yellow Emperor and has become the permanent home for the annual worship ceremony held to pay homage to the nation’s legendary ancestor.
Xuan Yuan, the Yellow Emperor, is a revered figure in ancient Chinese history and culture. He is credited with many inventions and innovations, including the compass, the calendar and traditional Chinese medicine, and with leading the ancient people from savagery to civilization.
The Yellow Emperor was the first ruler to unify various tribes in ancient China and is credited with establishing the capital of Youxiong, now known as Xinzheng, on March 3 on the Chinese lunar calendar. The day is considered the ancient National Day for Chinese people to celebrate the emperor’s significant contributions. The accomplishments of the Yellow Emperor, combined with the contributions of his contemporary Yandi, or Yan Emperor, resulted in the two rulers being highly regarded as the joint creators of both the Chinese nation and its civilization. This is why, traditionally, the Chinese people consider themselves the offspring of Yandiand Huangdi. Today, the Yellow Emperor is widely regarded as a cultural hero and an important symbol of Chinese identity and national pride.
Embracing the cultural heritage of Chinese civilization, for the past 18 years, Xinzheng has held an annual ceremony to honor the Yellow Emperor on March 3 on the lunar calendar. The event was launched in 1992 and rebranded into a ceremony in 2006. In 2008, the ceremony was included in the first batch of national intangible heritage celebrations by the State Council.
Themed on shared roots, ancestry and origins and promoting peace, harmony and unity, the event has been held online and offline, attracting representatives from China’s Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan as well as overseas Chinese executives from Fortune Global 500 and China 500 businesses. The ceremony has evolved from a regional commemorative event into a grand festival for the descendants of Yandi and Huangdi to seek their roots and worship their ancestors both at home and abroad. More than a cultural gala, it is a platform to enhance cooperation and exchanges to achieve win-win advancement, local officials said.
It is reported that over the past decade, leveraging the platform of the worship ceremony, Xinzheng has attracted a total of 708 investment enterprises, with total registered capital of 109.86 billion yuan ($15.19 billion). It has accumulated an actual foreign investment of $1.58 billion and set up a modern industrial system that accelerates the growth of emerging industries such as modern commerce and logistics, food manufacturing, biopharmaceuticals, electronic information, high-end equipment manufacturing and cultural tourism.
"The worship ceremony is the most influential and important cultural brand in Henan province and a key platform for Zhengzhou to take a leading role to excel in the province’s construction," said An Wei, Party secretary of Zhengzhou. "The ceremony plays an important role in promoting outstanding traditional Chinese culture, consolidating a strong sense of the unity of the Chinese nation and serving opening-up."
Exploring the new characteristics of the Yellow Emperor culture in the new era, this year’s ceremony, which is being held on April 11, is expected to have more high-level supporting trade and cultural activities. It has invited outstanding figures from various fields such as culture, science and business in a bid to further enhance the appeal of the event to all Chinese people and inject more vitality into Zhengzhou’s development in culture, tourism, economy and trade.
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