Editor's note:

Qingming is coming, worship the ancestors and sweep the tomb, cautiously pursue the long term. Since March 3, the "East-West Question" of China News Service has launched a special plan of "Cross-Strait Sacrifice", through the cultural inheritance of compatriots on both sides of the strait to worship Fuxi, Huangdi, Yandi, Confucius, Qu Yuan, Mazu and Sun Yat-sen Mausoleum, and gain insight into the same bloodline, the same root, the same language, the same species, and the same sacrifice on both sides of the strait. Please pay attention.

Changsha, 3 March (ZXS) -- Question: Why is the culture of Yandi Shennong condensed today?

——Interview with Zhu Jianjun, director of the China Yanhuang Culture Research Association

China News Agency reporters Bai Zukai, Deng Xia, and Liu Shuangshuang

The original ancestors with the Yandi Shennong clan as the outstanding representative created the Chinese farming civilization, and the Yandi Shennong culture is one of the important sources of Chinese civilization.

What is the core essence of Yandi Shennong culture? What is the value of the times? Why has it become an important emotional bond for compatriots on both sides of the strait? Recently, Zhu Jianjun, director of the China Yanhuang Culture Research Association, was interviewed by the China News Agency's "East-West Question".

Yandi Shennong "Beginning to make the sword, ploughing and sowing the five grains" statue. Photo courtesy of the Propaganda Department of the Yanling County Party Committee

The following is a summary of the interview:

China News Agency: What is the core meaning of Yandi Shennong culture? What are the contemporary values?

Zhu Jianjun: Throughout the ages, Chinese sons and daughters at home and abroad have used to call themselves "descendants of Yanhuang", honoring the two emperors of Yanhuang and the common humanistic ancestor of the Chinese nation, tracing back to the humanistic history, Yanhuang culture is undoubtedly an important source of China's 5,000-year civilization.

The Yandi Shennong culture is the sum of the material and spiritual production achievements created by the ancient ancestor tribe with the Yandi Shennong clan as the outstanding representative about 5,000 to 10,000 years ago, and then passed on orally by later generations, as well as the excavation, integration, interpretation and even recasting of official and folk oral and written words in successive generations, so that its cultural connotation has been continuously expanded, enriched and reconstructed, and it has radiated the vitality of the times.

A farming garden in Zhengzhou, Henan Province held a Shennong's sacrifice ceremony. Photo by Feng Lei

From the perspective of material production, the Yandi Shennong culture includes all the inventions and creations of the Yandi Shennong era. For example: starting to make the grain, ploughing and sowing the five grains; Taste herbs and invent medicine; as pottery as a vessel, smelting of axes; Japan-China as the market, the first initiative to trade; Cutting the piano and inventing music; The string wood is the arc, and the wood is the arrow; hemp into cloth and woven into skirts; Living in the soil, building houses in Taiwan, etc., that is, we usually call the "eight major achievements", which covers primitive agriculture, industry, medicine, commerce, construction, housing, security and other aspects.

From the perspective of spiritual life, the original values such as pioneering, innovation, enterprising, dedication, integration, morality, fraternity, people-oriented, Datong and honesty contained in and born in the Yandi Shennong culture have continuously evolved into an important cornerstone and core element of the Chinese national spirit, cultivating and inspiring generations of Chinese sons and daughters to unite and struggle and forge ahead courageously for the beginning of the nation's rejuvenation, reproduction, development and even contemporary rejuvenation.

On the spring equinox, Anren County, Hunan Province held the "Rushing Branch" festival to open the ploughing activity. The "Rushing Branch" was initiated by the local people to commemorate the first ancestor of China, Yandi Shennong, who tasted hundred herbs and opened medicine in Anren, and has been passed down for thousands of years. Photo by Tang Zhizhuo

Inheriting and developing the culture of Yandi Shennong is of indispensable practical significance and far-reaching historical significance for inheriting and carrying forward the excellent traditional Chinese culture, deepening the ancestral, national, national and cultural identities of compatriots at home and abroad, including Taiwan compatriots, and condensing the powerful joint force of the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation.

China News Agency: In 2006, the "Yandi Mausoleum Festival" was included in the first list of intangible cultural heritage of the country. What is the historical origin of the Yandi Mausoleum Festival?

Zhu Jianjun: Located in the west of Luyuanpi, the county seat of Yanling County, Zhuzhou, Hunan Province, the Yandi Mausoleum is the sacred place of the mausoleum of the first ancestor of China. "The great affairs of the country are in worship and fighting." According to historical records, since the Han Dynasty, it has been a custom to sacrifice Emperor Yan.

The Yandi Mausoleum is located in Luyuanpi, west of Yanling County, Zhuzhou. Photo courtesy of the Propaganda Department of the Yanling County Party Committee

The "Yandi Mausoleum Festival" sacrifice methods include literary sacrifices, material sacrifices, Yan sacrifices, music sacrifices, dragon sacrifices, etc., and the festivals are divided into civil sacrifices, official sacrifices (including ancient imperial sacrifices and modern public sacrifices) and religious sacrifices. Folk sacrifices have continued for many years, and official public sacrifices and sacrifices have continued since ancient times. According to records, the grand festival was "three years old" in the Song Dynasty, no less than 15 times in the Ming Dynasty and as many as 38 times in the Qing Dynasty.

The sacrificial process usually includes pre-festival preparation, on-site sacrifices, and worship at the mausoleum. According to the normative rituals of the intangible cultural heritage of the "Yandi Mausoleum Festival", the modern public sacrifice ceremony is carried out according to the "nine rituals": drumming, gold ringing, cannon ringing, and music; offering offerings; music and dance sacrifices; Offering high incense; Offering a basket of flowers; bow and worship; Respectfully read the sacrificial text; Honor the burning of the book; Play music, ceremony.

On November 2012, 11, the Yandi Shennong Festival on both sides of the Strait was held in Luyuanpi, Yanling County, Hunan Province. The picture shows the "Yachi Dance" performance at the ceremony. Photo by Liu Zhu

After the reform and opening up, with the continuous increase of the influence of the Yandi Mausoleum on both sides of the strait and among overseas Chinese, participating in the "Yandi Mausoleum Ceremony" has become one of the important measures for the sons and daughters of China to find national identity and hope for the reunification of the motherland. In 2012, the "Yandi Mausoleum Festival" was awarded "The World's Top Ten Most Influential Root Culture Events".

China News Agency: In recent years, cross-strait worship of Yandi Shennong has gradually become normalized. Why can the belief and culture of Yandi Shennong become an important emotional bond for compatriots on both sides of the strait?

Zhu Jianjun: Since the large-scale renovation of the Yandi Mausoleum in the late 20s of the 80th century and its opening to the outside world, the cultural exchanges between the Yandi Shennong of Xiangtai have become increasingly enthusiastic, and many activities such as the "Cross-Strait Shennong Yandi Cultural Festival", "Cross-Strait Yandi Shennong Cultural Forum" and "Xiangtai Economic, Trade and Cultural Exchange and Cooperation Conference" have been held consecutively.

On July 2006, 7, the Cross-Strait Yandi Shennong Cultural Forum was held in Wuhan. Photo by Ai Qiping

In 2015, Zhuzhou held the "Yiwei Shennong Great Ancestral Temple Holy Drive Taiwan Patrol Blessing" ceremony in Taiwan, escorting the ancestral temple Yandi Shennong Shennong to Taiwan for the first time to tour the border to give blessings, which was warmly welcomed by the Taiwanese people. In 2013, Yandi Mausoleum was approved as a "Cross-Strait Exchange Base", becoming an important platform for cross-strait exchanges, cooperation and integrated development in the new era.

The Yandi Shennong faith has a long history and extensive public opinion base in Taiwan. According to the statistics of Taiwanese scholars, there are more than 250 palaces and temples dedicated to Shennong the Great on the island, with nearly 600 million believers. Yandi is the common ancestor of the sons and daughters of China, and the believers on the island honor the Yandi Mausoleum as the "ancestral mausoleum" and "ancestral temple", and recognizing the ancestors and returning to the sect is a cultural tradition and spiritual conversion rooted in the spiritual bloodline of the Chinese nation, which is also the fundamental internal motivation for the normalization of cultural exchanges between Yandi Shennong on both sides of the strait in the new era.

The 2013 Cross-Strait Yandi Shennong Festival was held in Chiayi City, Taiwan on May 5. Photo by Lu Mei

China News Agency: In recent years, what successful explorations and practices have Hunan had in strengthening cross-strait cultural exchanges between Yandi Shennong?

Zhu Jianjun: With the advantages of cultural resources such as the Yandi "ancestral tomb" and "ancestral temple", deepen cross-strait cultural exchanges and promote the spiritual harmony of compatriots on both sides of the strait. I think that in summary, it can be summarized as "five aspects".

First, for the sons and daughters of China at home and abroad, including Taiwan compatriots, we are committed to strengthening the scientific planning, protection, construction, development and utilization of the Yandi Mausoleum. Based on the goal of building "the sacred place of humanities of the Chinese nation and the spiritual home of the global Chinese", a large number of key natural and cultural landscape projects have been planned and built, such as the patriotic education base of returned overseas Chinese, the cross-strait exchange base, the Shennong Hall, the Huaxia Square, the China Agricultural Culture Park, the Shennong Traditional Chinese Medicine Culture Memorial Hall, the Royal Monument Garden, and the Huangshan Stele Forest.

Shennong Hall. Photo courtesy of the Propaganda Department of the Yanling County Party Committee

The second is to face the history and the future, and carry out in-depth excavation, research and exchange of Yandi Shennong culture. Together with scholars and people on both sides of the strait, a series of Yandi Shennong cultural forums, discussions, exchanges and performances were carried out, and a series of literature and reading materials such as "Cross-Strait Worship of Shennong Yandi", "Shennong the Great", "Root", "Yandi Mausoleum", "Cross-Strait Yandi Shennong Cultural Forum Proceedings", "Ten Years Review: A Glimpse of the Cultural Exchange of Yandi Shennong on Both Sides of the Taiwan Strait" and other series of literature and readings.

The third is to face the folk beliefs on both sides of the strait, and continue to hold the ceremony of worshiping Shennong Yandi on both sides of the strait. According to rough statistics, since the 20s of the 80th century, more than 300 batches and nearly one million people from all walks of life in Taiwan have successively worshiped the Yandi Mausoleum.

The fourth is to continue to carry out the inheritance experience and exchange of young people on the Yandi Shennong culture on both sides of the strait for young students on both sides of the strait. Hunan University, Hunan University of Technology, Dongguan Taiwan Business School, Yanling Middle School, Mingde Primary School and other mainland schools have jointly carried out Yandi Shennong cultural inheritance and exchange activities with Taiwan schools.

On October 2014, 10, the ancestor worship ceremony of the Yandi Mausoleum was held in the Yandi Mausoleum in Yanling County, Hunan Province. Photo by Yang Huafeng

Fifth, to meet the needs of cross-strait non-governmental industry development, continue to deepen cross-strait exchanges and cooperation in agriculture, manufacturing, high-tech, cultural and creative industries. In recent years, more than 100 Taiwan-funded enterprises have successively settled in Zhuzhou.

China News Agency: How do you think the two sides of the Taiwan Strait should work together to inherit and develop the Yandi Shennong culture in the future?

Zhu Jianjun: After years of exploration and practice, cross-strait Yandi Shennong cultural exchanges have become an important carrier and form for deepening the spiritual harmony of compatriots on both sides of the strait and promoting cross-strait economic, trade and cultural exchanges and cooperation.

First, it is necessary to improve consensus. The cultural exchange of Yandi Shennong is truly planned as a measure to integrate the hearts of the people on both sides of the strait, promote the reunification of the motherland, and jointly promote the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation.

Second, it is necessary to improve the mechanism. Earnestly promote the institutionalization, standardization and normalization of cross-strait cultural exchanges between Yandi Shennong.

In April 2009, many Chinese from the United States, Japan, Germany, Malaysia, Hong Kong, Macao, Taiwan and Chinese mainland visited the Yandi Mausoleum in Zhuzhou, Hunan Province to worship Yandi Shennong. Photo by Liu Shuangshuang

Third, it is necessary to broaden the field. Extend the exchange of non-governmental worship to the academic, business, political and young people.

Fourth, it is necessary to enrich the connotation. Constantly innovate the form of communication, create a communication platform, form communication products, and make exchange activities hot and lively.

Fifth, it is necessary to stress practical results. Strengthen the integration of cultural exchanges and emerging industries, set up a stage through cultural exchanges and sing through industry-economic cooperation, promote cross-strait economic and social development, and benefit compatriots on both sides of the strait. (End)

About the Experts:

Zhu Jianjun, a scholar of history and culture, is a director of the China Yanhuang Culture Research Association, the former secretary of the party group and director of the office of the Hunan Yandi Mausoleum Foundation, and a distinguished part-time professor of Hunan University of Technology and other universities.

He has long been committed to the research of Yandi Shennong culture and Chinese traditional culture, published more than 50 research papers, presided over or participated in the compilation of 6 monographs such as "Cross-Strait Worship of Shennong Yandi" and "Yandi Mausoleum", and delivered speeches and reports as representatives of mainland experts and scholars at the Yandi Shennong Cultural Forum on both sides of the Taiwan Strait for eight consecutive sessions.