The Mausoleum of Emperor Yandi (Yandi Ling Park)
 2016-12-21 11:08:08   Zhangjiajie Tourism Information Website  

The Chinese people are proud of being descendants of Emperor Yan and Emperor Huang, who respectively ruled the Yangtse River valley and Yellow River about 5,000 years ago. They both made great contributions to their primitive tribes and are looked on as the revered ancestors of the whole nation.According to legend, Emperor Yan "Invented"spade-shaped plough, taught his subjects how to do farm work, tasted various herbs, made medicines, wove hempen cloth and set up markets."

Late in his life, he continued to serve his people by treating their diseases and, unfortunately, died of tasting poisonous herbs in Ling County. Admiring his merits and virtues, his posterity built the Ancestral Temple to Emperor Yan at his burial mound in 967. Since then, in important ceremonials, sovereigns of every later dynasty would always tell envoys to visit the temple and offer sacrifices. Ruined several times in wars, it was rebuilt in the Qing dynasty(1616-1911). Yet, in 1954, it was burnt down. In October, 1985, the provincial government approriated a large sum of money and ordered the construction of the Mausoleum of Emperor Yan at the former site in Ling County. Now it has been a sacred place where the Chinese people pay homage to their ancestor.

The front gate is called the Meridian Gate since our ancestor enjoys supremacy even unchallenged by sovereigns. It is flanked by partitioned rooms that house dozens of steles inscribed with funeral orations of varous dynastied . Beyond the gate, the vermillion steps lead to the Salute Pavillion, where worshipers are supposed to stop and give a salute before entering the main hall. Behind the pavillion unfolds three marble ramps carved in relief with patterns of invertwining clouds and dragons. They are fixed between six flights of marble steps that climb up the three-tiered terrace. High on the terrace stands the main hall, a finely decorated building with a hipped and gabled roof of double eaves. It houses a golden statue of Emperor Yan siting behind a basketful of crops, with a bunch of rice ears in the left hand and a medicinal herg in the right hand. Behind the hall is a pavillion, in which the grave stone is erected; and further on, the resting place of our revered ancestor lies in the rear of the courtyard. These major buildings, distributed one after another along the central axis, are symmet-rically flanked by minor buildings, such as the Sage-Worshiping Temple the Loft Virtues Archway, the Animal- Sacrificing Pavilion and the Harvest-Singing Terrace.

The memorial ceremony has two types; the official and the folk, both of which have been preserved from ancient times. According to historical records, the grand ceremony was held 15 times during the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644), and 38 times during the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911).