Yellow Emperor ancestral worship event to be held

Ding Shixian, head of the Zhengzhou Municipal Committee Publicity Department speaks at a news briefing in Beijing on March 20, 2014. [China.org.cn/Zhang Tingting]

The 2014 Yellow Emperor ancestral worship ceremony, with the theme of "connecting with roots and ancestors in peace and harmony," will be held on April 2, the third day in March according to Chinese lunar calendar in Xinzheng in central China's Henan Province, the hometown of Yellow Emperor, Ding Shixian, head of the Zhengzhou Municipal Committee's Publicity Department, said at a news briefing in Beijing on March 20.

The annual ritual aims to raise awareness of the culture of the Yellow Emperor and bring the Han Chinese people together, promote and develop Chinese culture, and make a further step to realize the Chinese dream, said Ding.

The annual nine rituals were listed as national intangible cultural heritage in 2008, and approved by the State Council. The rituals include a heyday salute, the placing of flower basket, burning incense, worshiping the gods, singing odes, dancing, praying for China and wishing for the harmony between human, heaven and earth.

Ding went on to say that the attending Chinese descendants will include political figures and celebrities from Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macao, and hundreds of representatives from cultural, science and technology and commercial sectors both at home and abroad. A special website will also be set up for netizens to worship online.

In contrast to previous years, this year's ritual will emphasize the rejection of practices of extravagance, formalism and bureaucracy. For this reason, the number of the invited attendants will be less than 7,000, about half the number in previous years. At the same time, this year's ceremony will not hold a welcoming dinner and will cut unnecessary activities.

"Epic of the Yellow Emperor," a film divided into 26 parts, has finished production and is being broadcast by Taiwan Shennong Broadcast Station.

The Yellow Emperor (also called Xuanyuan Huang Di, 2717 BC - 2599 BC), who was the first sovereign of civilized China, is recognized as a common ancestor of all Han Chinese.

China has commemorated the Yellow Emperor since the Spring and Autumn Period (around 770BC – 476 BC). Chinese often call themselves "sons and grandsons of the emperors Huangdi and Yandi."