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Huangliang County, located in the middle of Shanxi Province, is best known for the tomb of Haung Di, also known as the Yellow Emperor, the legendary chief of the Xia tribe living in the Yellow River valley during the primitive society. After defeating and forming a coalition with the Yan tribe, he united the Chinese nation. Under his leadership, the people cultivated the middle and lower reaches of the Yellow River, developed sericulture, created the written language and the Chinese calendar, and thus laid the foundation for Chinese civilization. Huang Di, or the Yellow Emperor, has since then been revered as the common ancestor of the Chinese nation for thousands of years.
Haung Di’s Tomb is on top of Mount Qiaoshan, a magnificent cypress-covered hill one kilometer north of Huangling County town. It is 3.6 meters high and 48 meters in circumference, built by Emperor Wu (6 B.C. – A.D. 57) of the Han Dynasty.
On the eastern slope of the hill is Huang Di Temple, which houses more than fifty stone tablets left from the Northern Song praise of Huang Di in the Han, Manchu, and Mongolian languages. In the temple compound are ancient cypresses, the tallest of which is 19 meters high and 10 meters in diameter. They are said to have been planted by the Yellow Emperor himself.
Huangling County is best reached by taking a train from Xi’an and visitors can stay at the local hotel.
(china.org.cn)
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