Leaving the capital city of Beijing，we now travel out on the high loess plateau to pay our respects to an imperial tomb in Shaanxi Province.Thisimperial tomb was called“Qiao Ling”or Bridge Tomb in ancient times，and is situated in the Bridge Mountains of Huangling County，Shaanxi Province.The progenitor of the Chinese people，the Yellow Emperor，is honored and recognized by this mausoleum.A stele with the inscription“Tomb of the Yellow Emperor”stands before the Altar for Offerings.At the entrance to the precinctof the tomb is an“immortals terrace”of Han Wudi.TheXuanyuan Temple，Xuanyuan being the name given totheYellowEmperor，islocatedatthefootofthe Bridge Mountains，and is the place where generations of sons and grandsons of the Yan clan made offerings to the Emperor.Inside the temple，the central axis of the architectural grouping includes buildings called the“Mountain Gate，”“Honesty Pavilion，”“Stelae Pavilion，”“Ancestral Hall of Humanity，”on the East side is a stelae pavision，on the west side are arrayed exhibition rooms.Sixteen ancient trees stand inside the courtyard that are over one thousand years in age.Among them，the cypress that is said to have been planted by the hand of the Emperor himself is reputed to be 5，000 years old.It well deserves the title of the world’s reigning cypress tree.Surrounded by a peaceful environment of mountains and water，the tomb district is ancient and simple，conveying a sense of great and unusual majesty.
Where was the Yellow Emperor born?Where did he establish his rule，and administer his domain?According to the historian Sima Qian，of the second century BC，it was in the vicinity of Xuanyuan Hill.In the record of the Five Emperors in Sima Qian’s Historical Records（the Shi Ji，finished in 91 BC），it is written that“the Yellow Emperor，son of Shaodian，surname Sun，name Xuanyuan.Residedon Xuanyuan Hill.”This Xuanyuan Hill is in modern-day Xinzheng City，Henan Province.In ancient times，Xinzheng was thecapitalofacountrynamedforits having bears，or“Youxiong.”Shaodian，father of the Yellow Emperor，was head of the country Youxiong.Xinzheng is situated in the central part of Henan Province.In1977，archaeologists discovered a culture that they named the Peiligang Culture atthissite，evidencethatancestorsof the Chinese nation lived here some 8，000 years ago.The dating of the archaeological material corresponds roughly to the time of the life of the Yellow Emperor.Other Chinesehistoricaldocumentscont ainmanyreferencesto Xuanyuan，noting that Xinzheng was the site of his rule.In thebook Generations of Imperial Capitals，it is recorded：“The Yellow Emperor was born at Xinzheng in the country known as Having Bears.”The Yi-tong Annals recorded：“Xuanyuan Hill is located in Xinzheng County in Kaifeng Prefecture.”In former days，a tall stone stele stood six feet high to the north of Xinzheng，at the pass leading out of town.On it were inscribed four large characters：“Site of Xuan Yuan.”Since this stele was embraced by an ancient scholar tree that had grown around it，the common name for the place was“Scholar tree-embraced Stele.”The temple built to commemorate the Yellow Emperor was built near this stele.By now，both stelae and temple have long since disappeared，but a new stele has been erected at the location of the old one with the same words，and the Xuanyuan Yellow Emperor Temple has been rebuilt.Sons and grandsons of the Yan-state clan come from around the world to seek the roots of their ancestry here，and to pay respects to the Xuanyuan Yellow Emperor.
The Yellow Emperor belonged to the clan with the surnameofJi，althoughsomesayhissurnamewas Gongsun.He is said to have been the leader of the clan.
