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| The Huangdi Tomb |
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It is located in Huangling County, 150 kilometers northwest of Xi'an.
Huangdi also known as Xuanyuan, was a famous tribal chief in the area
at the middle and lower reaches of the Yellow River in remote antiquity,
and was regarded as the ancestor of the Chinese nation by later generations.
He used jade as his weapon, and made boats, vehicles, bows and arrows.
His wife, Luozu, could raise silkworms, and his history official,
Cangji, created characters his subject, Danao, created the Ganzhi
calendar, and his music official, Linglun, made music instruments.
Huangdi was also recorded in the history books for punishing the evil
and unifying the Chinese people for the first time. It was said that
he was buried at Mount Qiaoshan in this area.
Chinese people often refer to themselves as the descendants of
Huangdi, a part-real, part-legendary personage. In Chinese history,
many extravagant tales have grown up around Huangdi. Chinese legends
claimed that he lived in Xianglongxia next to the Jushui River at
the foot of Qiaoshan Mountain, during the time of patriarchal clan
community 5,000 years ago. He was the mystical chief of one of the
strongest tribes in the middle valley of the Yellow River. During
this period of time, many tribes came to settle around the Yellow
River engaging in farming. The different tribes clashed with each
other over land disputes as each tribe sought to have more farmland.
Since the constant battles caused much suffering to the people,
Huangdi decided to put an end to this chaotic situation. He worked
out a moral code and trained his army. With his army, after warring
56 battles against other tribes, Huangdi conquered a wide area along
the Yellow River and was made chief of the tribal union. Because
his tribe honored the virtue of earth, he was given the title, Yellow
Emperor, after the yellow color of earth, the symbol of farming.
Later he unified three major tribes in the Yellow River and Yangtze
River areas and became the leader of all the tribes on the central
plains.
Legends also claimed that Haungdi invented the cart and the boat,
and that his dialogues with the physician Qi Bo were the basis of
China's first medical book, the Yellow Emperor's Canon of Medicine.
His wife, Lei Zu, taught the Chinese how to weave silk from silkworms
and his minister Cang Jie devised the first Chinese characters.
For thousands of years, Huangdi has been the symbol of Chinese civilization,
and today he represents the desire for the reunification of the
nation. |
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