The Mausoleum of Emperor Yan

(Photo source: hunan.gov.cn)

 

The Chinese people are proud of being descendants of Emperor Yan and Emperor Huang, who respectively ruled the Yangtze River valley and Yellow River about 5,000 years ago. They both made great contributions to their primitive tribes and are looked upon as the revered ancestors of the whole nation. According to legend, Emperor Yan "invented" spade-shaped plough, taught his people 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 from tasting poisonous herbs in Ling County. Admiring his merits and virtues, his posterity built the Ancestral Temple for 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 appropriated 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 ancestors. 
 
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 various dynasties. Beyond the gate, the vermillion steps lead to the Salute Pavilion, where worshipers are supposed to stop and give a salute before entering the main hall. Behind the pavilion unfolds three marble ramps carved in relief with patterns of intertwining 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 basket of crops, with a bunch of rice ears in the left hand and a medicinal herb in the right hand. Behind the hall is a pavilion, in which the gravestone 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 symmetrically flanked by minor buildings, such as the Sage-Worshiping Temple the Loft Virtues Archway, the Animal- Sacrificing Pavilion, and the Harvest-Singing Terrace. 
 
Surrounded by towering old trees, the mausoleum seems more stately and splendid, with the golden roofs flashing brilliantly in the sun and the purple walls occasionally from behind the lush trees.