Jinyun county faithfully passes down ancient Huangdi culture

A view of the enchanting Huangdi Temple in the Xiandu scenic area. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

In the mountainous areas in southwest Zhejiang province in East China there is an ancient county with a recorded history spanning more than a millennium – Jinyun.

It is the only county in China named after the legendary ruler Huangdi – Jinyun was one of his names – and is also home to the Huangdi research and demonstration center in southern China.

Huangdi, also known as the Yellow Emperor, is a mythological-historical figure who is believed to have been the sovereign of a united China around 5,000 years ago.

Chinese people living across the world tend to call themselves "descendants of Yandi and Huangdi". That's because Huangdi and Yandi – the previous sovereign who merged their two tribes – are viewed as the two most important founders of the ancient Chinese civilization.

As a result, Huangdi has been the symbol of Chinese civilization and today he represents the desire for the reunification of the nation.

Legend has it that Huangdi consummated his life in Dinghu Peak, located in modern-day Xiandu scenic area in Jinyun county – administered by Lishui city – by riding a dragon there to heaven. As a result, the area is called Xiandu, which means "fairyland" in Chinese.

The literati of dynasties have left countless poems and calligraphy there, praising Huangdi culture and the mesmerizing scenery of Xiandu.

Jinyun's tradition of hosting Huangdi worship rituals dates back 1,600 years ago. In 1998, local authorities reconstructed an ancestral temple of Huangdi in the Xiandu scenic area and revived the holding of the ritual there.

The revered ritual was included on the list of national-level intangible cultural heritage items in 2011. In 2021, the central government gave the green light for the Zhejiang provincial government to replace the Lishui municipal government as the permanent host of the ritual.

As a result, Jinyun – along with Huanglin county in Shaanxi province and Xinzheng in Henan province – are currently the nation's three most important sites for the perpetuation of Huangdi's legend.

Last year Jinyun introduced a program – covering eight areas – to improve the inheritance and the passing on to future generations of its prized Huangdi culture.

They include Huangdi cultural interpretations, demonstrations, popularization and digitalization. They're aimed at nurturing the Huangdi culture, so that it becomes an internationally influential and high-profile cultural symbol of Zhejiang by 2025.