By Xiang Bin
China.org.cn staff reporter

Yellow Emperor

Olympic medalists, astronauts, and rescue workers from the Wenchuan earthquake will take part in a sacrificial ceremony to honor China's semi-mythical founding father Huangdi, the Yellow Emperor, at Xinzheng, Henan Province on March 29, the anniversary of the emperor's birth.

Ding Shixian, publicity director of the Zhengzhou branch of the Communist Party made the announcement at a Beijing press conference called by the organizing committee for the ceremony.

Xinzheng, a small city administered from Zhengzhou, is believed to be the hometown of the Yellow Emperor.

Ding said the 2009 sacrificial ceremony will take place at 9 o'clock on the morning of March 29, the third day of the third month of the lunar calendar.

The ceremony will have the twin themes "same root, same ancestor, same origin" and "peace, concord and harmony." There will be a welcome ceremony and performances, followed by the ritual worship of ancestors.

Government leaders, delegations from Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan, Olympic medalists, space heroes and rescue workers from the Wenchuan earthquake relief effort have been invited to attend the ceremony. There will be a series of activities to mark the occasion, including concerts, a cultural forum, and art exhibitions.

Who was the Yellow Emperor?

Huangdi, the Yellow Emperor, is a legendary Chinese sovereign and cultural hero considered in Chinese mythology to be the ancestor of all Han Chinese. His personal name was said to be Gongsun Xuanyuan.

The famous historian Sima Qian of the Western Han Dynasty (206 BC - AD 25) states that there were once three tribes in the middle and lower reaches of the Yellow River: the Youxiong Tribe led by the Yellow Emperor, and two others led by the war god Chiyou, and the Red Emperor.

The Yellow Emperor made his tribe the strongest by teaching them farming and improving their moral integrity.

The Youxiong and the other two tribes finally formed a union. Other tribes followed suit and the united tribes laid the foundation for the Chinese nation. The Yellow and Red emperors are thus regarded by the Chinese people as their common ancestors.

The united nation designated Xinzheng (previously known as Youxiong) as its capital. In ancient times, locals called it "City of the Yellow Emperor".

To ensure cohesion among the tribes, the Yellow Emperor gave up the totem of his own tribe, the bear, and adopted a new symbol which combined the totems of the different tribes. By assembling a snake's body, a fish's tail, a lion's head, deer's horns, and eagle's claws, the Emperor created the dragon – emblem of the Chinese nation.

The dragon pervades life in China, from imperial ceremonies to folk rituals, from dragon dances in the north to dragon boat races in the south. The Chinese people still call themselves the descendants of the dragon.

Chinese people believe most of their surnames derive from the Yellow and Red emperors and their children.

The Yellow Emperor, who according to the Historical Records had the surname Ji, had 25 sons. The sons moved to different parts of the country and derived their surnames from place names.

During the reign of the Five Legendary Emperors (2600 BC - 1600 BC), surnames of the Yellow Emperor's direct descendants were said to number 510. A further 108 surnames derived from descendants of the Red Emperor.

These family names have been passed down over the generations and disseminated not only throughout China but across the world. No matter where they go, these families never forget they are descendants of the Yellow Emperor and the Red Emperor.

Ceremonies to offer sacrifices to the Yellow Emperor on the third day of the third month of the lunar year are recorded in historical records as far back as the Spring and Autumn period (770 BC - 476 BC).

Captions: Ding Shixian, director of the publicity department of the Zhengzhou Municipal Party Committee, announces the 2009 date for sacrificial ceremonies to China's founding father, the Yellow Emperor.

(China.org.cn March 12, 2009)