People in sweeping numbers paid their respects to the Yellow Emperor during a commemoration ceremony on Friday, in Huangling county of northwest China's Shaanxi Province.
The ceremony began with 34 beats of the drum and nine tolls of the bell, to honor the Yellow Emperor also known as Huangdi, who is regarded as the founder of China's 5,000-year-old civilization and a revered ancestor among all Chinese people.
This event has been a tradition during the Qingming Festival, or called Tomb-sweeping Day, a day bears great significance for all Chinese as they mourn their deceased family members. Since the first held in 1955, this ceremony has been organized at the Mausoleum of Huangdi in Shaanxi for almost 50 years.
The ceremony proceeds with seven traditional rituals, which includes reading funeral oration, offering floral baskets and bowing to the statue of this legendary emperor.
During this commemoration China's cultural heritage can be witnessed, which is represented through the performance of tradition dances, to pay tribute.
Co-hosted by the People's Government of Shaanxi Province, the Taiwan Affairs Office of the State Council, Overseas Chinese Affairs Office of the State Council and All-China Federation of returned Overseas Chinese, this grand worship ceremony this year marked the presence of almost 10,000 people, including the representatives of overseas Chinese from more than 50 countries.
The Chairman of Foundation of Chinese Culture for Sustainable Development, Liu Chao-shiuan and New Party Chairman Yok Mu-ming along with more than 300 Taiwan compatriots also graced this occasion.
This is not the first time that the event witnessed pilgrims from Taiwan, back in 2009, the former Chairman of the Kuomintang (KMT) party Lien Chan was an entrant to this ceremony. Subsequently, former KMT Chairman Wu Po-hsiung, former KMT Vice Chairman Chiang Pin-kung and Lin Fong-cheng also gathered here to pay homage.
Since the reforms and opening-up, the Huangling county has ushered numerous compatriots from Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macao to find their own roots.
In 2015, the Mausoleum of Huangdi was awarded the cross-strait exchange base by the state.
"We have the same roots no matter where we are born", a youth from Taiwan said to Global Times after participating in the ceremony.
The culture of worshiping ancestors has a long history in China that can be traced all the way back to the Han Dynasty (206 BC-220 AD). Since the Han Dynasty, Chinese people paying their tributes to the Yellow Emperor has never stopped.
As an important symbol of Chinese culture, in 1961, the Mausoleum of Huangdi was listed as a national key cultural relic. In 2006, the commemoration ceremony was listed as the first batch of national intangible cultural heritage. Now each year the ceremony witnesses millions of people coming to Huangling county to commemorate this ancestor.
In 2018, the Huangdi culture was also displayed to overseas Chinese in the Czech Republic, Romania, and the UK.
As a spiritual bond that unites the overseas Chinese, this ceremony enhances the cohesion of all Chinese people, carrying forward the Chinese traditional culture and improves cultural confidence.
Apart from this ceremony, a series of 15 other activities will be held to highlight the cultural innovation and achievements in Shaanxi Province, during the Qingming Festival.
5G data service was for the first time put into use for broadcasting this year's event and more than 120 media outlets reported from this ceremony.
