Yellow Emperor

The Yellow Emperor, son of Shaodian, bore the ancestral surname Gongsun and the personal name Xuanyuan; he resided at Xuanyuan Hill and is venerated as the common ancestor of the Huaxia people. Cultivating virtue and strengthening his military, he first waged battle against the Yan Emperor at Banquan—eventually forging an alliance—and later defeated Chi You at Zhuolu, thereby unifying the realm under his rule and earning the title of Son of Heaven from the feudal lords. His era witnessed a flourishing of civilization: the invention of clothing and headgear, construction of boats and chariots, establishment of mathematics, codification of musical scales, and founding of medicine. His dialogues with the physician Qibo culminated in the *Huangdi Neijing* (*The Yellow Emperor’s Inner Canon*), earning him the title of Forefather of Chinese Medicine. He also commissioned Cangjie to invent writing, Leizu to domesticate silkworms, and Lishou to develop arithmetic. Legend holds that, having completed his great achievements, the Yellow Emperor cast a sacred bronze ding cauldron at Jing Mountain and ascended to heaven riding a dragon. Every year on the 3rd day of the 3rd lunar month—the anniversary of his birth—tens of thousands gather at Xinzheng’s Huangdi’s Hometown for the Grand Ancestral Worship Ceremony; people of Chinese descent worldwide proudly identify themselves as 'descendants of Yan and Huang' and jointly revere the First Patriarch of Chinese Civilization.