Grandiose ceremony to celebrate the Yellow Emperor in Zhengzhou

A grand ceremony to worship Huangdi, the Yellow Emperor, will be unveiled in March in Zhengzhou, capital of Henan province, local government officials announced on Jan 11 in Beijing.

Wang Zhang, chairman of the CPPCC Zhengzhou City Committee, said at the press conference that the ceremony will occur on March 30, the third day of the third month on the Chinese lunar calendar, which is said to be the emperor’s birthday.

Huangdi, a legendary hero who lived 4,000 years ago, is believed to be the common ancestor of Chinese people and described as the founder of the first Chinese nation in history.

The memorial ceremony has been held in Zhengzhou since 2006. Listed as a national intangible culture heritage item by the State Council in 2008, the annual worship ceremony has nine major grand worshipping rites, which date from the Spring and Autumn Period (770-476 BC), such as firing salute guns, lighting incense sticks and reading eulogies.

Last year, hundreds of overseas Chinese from 30 countries and regions gathered at the event in Zhengzhou. On behalf of the government, Wang extended a warm welcome to the global overseas Chinese.

In addition to the ceremony, there will be various activities on economy and trade around the ceremony period.

In the past decade, the event has attracted a combined capital investment of one trillion yuan ($153.9 billion) for the city to help Zhengzhou stand out, according to the government.