There is Huangling County in the central part of Shaanxi Province in my country. There is a bridge mountain in the north of Huangling County, and there is a tall mausoleum on the top of the bridge mountain. This is the tomb of the legendary Yellow Emperor, the ancestor of the Chinese nation. People called it Huangling, so the county originally called "Central" was renamed Huangling County.
The Huangdi Mausoleum is magnificent and majestic. Ancient books record that it is surrounded by mountains and water: "The mountains are like bridges, surrounded by water." Huangling is surrounded by the undulating peaks of the Northern Shaanxi Plateau. The mountains are covered with forests of ancient cypresses, which are lush and towering, symbolizing the antiquity, erectness and vigor of the Chinese nation.
It is said that this Huangdi Mausoleum has existed since the Han Dynasty. Sima Qian's "Historical Records" records: "The Yellow Emperor was buried in Qiaoshan". Emperor Wu of Han, the famous emperor of the Western Han Dynasty, once came here to offer sacrifices. There is also a small episode about this matter: Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty visited Shuofang (today's Hetao area in Inner Mongolia) from the north and returned south. He passed by Qiaoshan with an army of more than 100,000 people. When he saw the Yellow Emperor's mausoleum, he suddenly thought of a question and said to his ministers: "I heard that the Yellow Emperor was not dead, and now his tomb appears again. What is the reason for this?" The ministers replied: "The Yellow Emperor became an immortal. He has gone to heaven. This mausoleum is where the Yellow Emperor's subordinates buried his clothes in memory of him." Later, Zhu Yuanzhang, the founding emperor of the Ming Dynasty, and Emperor Kangxi of the Qing Dynasty also personally wrote sacrificial texts to worship Huangling. This all shows that our country has a long history of worshiping its ancestor, the Yellow Emperor, throughout the dynasties.
During the Anti-Japanese War, on the Qingming Festival in 1937, the Shaanxi-Gansu-Ningxia Border Region Government also held a grand memorial ceremony for Huangling. On April 6 of this year, the "New China News" published in northern Shaanxi at that time had a very eye-catching report on this event: The Central Government of the Chinese Soviet Union and the Republic of China specially sent Lin Boqu as a representative to participate in this national tomb-sweeping ceremony. , to express his determination to be a pioneer in resisting Japan and saving the nation. Chairman Mao and Commander-in-Chief Zhu also co-wrote the "Essence on Sacrifice to the Yellow Emperor", which praised the contributions of the Yellow Emperor: "The illustrious ancestor, Wu Huazhao (meaning the beginning) created; Zhou Yan (the descendants continue) She Mian (the long-term leader of the country) (Chun), Yue'e (mountain high) and river Hao. He is smart and wise, and his light is far away (far and near); he built this great cause and stood tall in the east." The memorial text regards the Yellow Emperor as the spiritual symbol of the Chinese nation to resist foreign aggression and revitalize the motherland. Lu Xun also regarded the Yellow Emperor as a great national symbol. He said in a poem: "I recommend Xuanyuan with my blood", which means that I will use my own blood to defend the Chinese nation. In recent years, during the Qingming Festival, Chinese people have come to the Mausoleum of the Yellow Emperor to pay homage to the ancestor of the nation with reverence. Taiwanese compatriots and overseas Chinese who come to the mainland almost always come here to find their roots and show their descendants' respect for their ancestors. People regard the Yellow Emperor as the symbol of the Chinese nation.
Five thousand years have passed, and the image of the Yellow Emperor has always inspired the Chinese nation to work hard and make more contributions to mankind.
What kind of person was Huang Di? What achievements has he made to our nation? Unfortunately, the Yellow Emperor is too far away from us. It is difficult to collect historical information about his deeds. We can only use ancient myths and legends to outline his great image.
Why is the Yellow Emperor called the "Huang" Emperor? This is explained in ancient books. The book "Huainanzi" says: "The central earth has its emperor Huangdi, and its assistant (help) Houtu (the god in charge of the earth), holds the rope (law) and controls the four directions." This is because the Yellow Emperor is the leader of the center who manages the four directions. He is responsible for the land, and the soil is yellow, so he is called "Yellow Emperor". Why is Huangdi also called Xuanyuan? According to historical records, Huangdi once invented a method of chariot warfare. During the war, the soldiers all stood on the chariot; during a truce, the chariots were connected and formed into a circle, with the commander in the middle, leaving only one empty space as a The entrance and exit doors play a role in protecting the commander. The ancients called the chariot with a curtain "Xuan" and the space between the two chariots "Yuan". Because Huangdi was the inventor of this chariot warfare method, later generations also called Huangdi Xuanyuan.
Explained from a scientific point of view, the Yellow Emperor was probably the leader of a tribal alliance in the patriarchal clan commune era at the end of my country's primitive society. At that time, tribes and clans were still living together, and classes and countries had not yet emerged. Historical records vary from place to place where Huangdi's tribes lived. Some say that the Yellow Emperor once lived in the mountains in Zhuolu County, Hebei Province, which is called "Zhuolu Wilderness" in history books. Some also say that his tribe lived in the area of ??Xinzheng, Henan Province today, and was called "Xuanyuan Hill". This shows that the tribes were not fully settled at that time, and the tribes migrated frequently. The Huangdi tribe was generally active along the Yellow River in today's Shaanxi, Henan, and Hebei.
In legend, Huangdi is a very smart and capable figure.
He could not only calculate astronomy and formulate China's earliest calendar, but also make cars, boats and compasses. He was also proficient in medical skills and developed a set of diagnosis and treatment methods with the miracle doctor Qi Bo. The dialogue between him and Qi Bo about medicine was compiled into the earliest medical book in my country - "The Yellow Emperor's Internal Classic". Huangdi's wife Leizu was also very capable. She taught the people how to raise silkworms and summed up a set of experiences in feeding silkworms, reeling silk, and weaving silk. From then on, people were able to make clothes, crowns, and shoes. They dressed up from top to bottom, completely changing the original habit of wearing leaf and animal skins in ancient times. In ancient times, people were restricted from drinking water. Residents relied on rivers and herders chased water and grass, which was very inconvenient. Huang Di invented the well, which made it possible for people to develop in places far away from rivers. People at that time did not know how to build houses, so they lived in caves in the wild and made wooden structures into nests. It was also the Yellow Emperor who taught people to "cut down wood and make wooden structures to build palace treasures, with upper buildings and lower buildings to protect them from wind and rain." Huang Di gathered a large number of talented people under his command, and they could all use their specialties. For example, the philologist Cang Jie created hieroglyphs, the musician Ling Lun divided the twelve-note scale into music, and Li Shou, who was proficient in mathematics, formulated various weights and measures, etc. Of course, these inventions are mixed with many elements of myths and legends. In fact, any invention can never be the credit of one or two people. These records in history only reflect the wisdom and wisdom of our ancestors in the Huangdi era. Because the Yellow Emperor is the ancestor of China unanimously recognized by ancient scholars, people attribute all civilization systems to him. ”
The Yellow Emperor was also the representative of the force of justice in ancient times. Ancient books say that he acted fairly and was supported by many neighboring tribes. At that time, there was a southern tribe leader Chi You who was brave and good at fighting. He often relied on his With powerful force, he attacked other tribes, burned, killed and looted, making people unable to live a stable life. Chi You pointed the finger at the Yan Emperor tribe who had formed an alliance with the Yellow Emperor, and drove the Yan Emperor tribe to the Zhuolu area of ????Hebei Province controlled by the Yellow Emperor. Chi You took advantage of the victory to pursue. We tracked Zhuolu again. Here, we finally had a fierce battle with the Huangdi tribe. The Battle of Zhuolu is a very fierce battle in ancient Chinese legends. Legend has it that Chi You invited Feng Bo and Yu Master to perform magic. The heavy wind and rain caused Huang Di's troops to lose their way. He deployed a surprise formation and used the compass made by the wind queen to determine the direction of the wind. Huang Di took advantage of the victory and chased Chi You to Shandong, where he captured and killed him. , took Chi You's head back to Zhuolu and buried it there. Therefore, there is still a Chi You tomb in Zhuolu County, southeast of Zhangjiakou City, Hebei Province.
After the Yellow Emperor defeated Chi You, his prestige became even higher. He was respected as the leader of the Han Dynasty by various tribes in the Central Plains. Later, the Huangdi tribe and the Yandi tribe were collectively called the Huaxia tribe. The Chinese nation has been called the "descendants of Yan and Huang" for generations. , Yao, Shun, and Yu who appeared in the history of our country after the Yellow Emperor, as well as the subsequent Xia, Shang, and Zhou dynasties, are all descendants of the Yan and Huang people. Not only the Han people in the Central Plains say this, but also the Xiongnu in the north and the Qiang people in the west (Qiang people in northwest my country). The ethnic minorities living in the Qinghai area and some ethnic minorities in the south also claim to be the descendants of Yan and Huang.
There is also a beautiful myth circulating about the death of the Yellow Emperor. It is said that he did not die. , the final destination is to ascend to heaven by riding a dragon. Therefore, there is now a stone tablet on the front of the wall in front of Huangling in Shaanxi, with four characters engraved on it, called "Qiaoshan Dragon Control", which refers to this story. The Yellow Emperor is extremely respected by people. People do not want him to die, but hope that he will live forever. This myth expresses the good wishes of his tribe and descendants.