A grand ceremony organized by Hunan's provincial government was held yesterday in Yanling County, Zhuzhou City at the site of the tomb of the Yan Emperor, traditionally worshiped as an original ancestor by many in China.

The ceremony, aiming to pay homage on behalf of Chinese people at home and abroad, featured dragon dancing by 18 college and university teams and about a hundred folk dancers. It was opened at 9:40 AM by Uyunqimg,  vice chairwoman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress, after sacrifices were offered.

It began with a rendition of the Ode to the Yan Emperor by a chorus of 500 in praise of the Yan Emperor's believed contributions to his clan.

The emperor, also known as Yandi and Shennong (meaning "divine farmer"), is thought to have lived about 5,000 years ago and is a figure parallel to the Yellow Emperor (Huangdi) in traditional beliefs. He was deified for contributing to teaching people agriculture.

He is also credited with making fire with stones, inventing agricultural tools, weaving cloth, identifying hundreds of medicinal herbs and establishing marketplaces. He is believed to have died after eating a poisonous herb.

According to Records of the Historian by Sima Qian (145BC-87 ?) of the Han Dynasty, the Yan Emperor was a close kin of the Yellow Emperor. The Han Chinese later regarded both as joint ancestors and called themselves "descendants of the Yan and Yellow emperors," a term which has been adopted by various ethnicities living in China.

The Yan Emperor's tomb is recorded in Yanling before the Han Dynasty (206 BC-AD220) and a temple was built in front of it in the Tang Dynasty (618-907).

The latest renovation of the mausoleum began in August 1986 and was completed in October 1988, and four ceremonies have since been held in 1993, 1994, 1997, 2000 at which public sacrifices were offered.

(China.org.cn by Wind Gu September 13, 2005)