China Popular Itineraries |
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The Mausoleum of Huangdi, founder of the Chinese nation, stands at the foot of Qiaoshan Mountain, 50 kilometers or so north of Xi'an City.
Huangdi was believed to have lived for 110 years, having twenty five sons, fourteen of whom had been granted the family names, and twelve of whom were given different family names. Yao, Shun, Yu and later Xia, Shang and Zhou dynasties were the descendants of these twelve clans. As a re-sult, there was a tie of blood between them and Huangdi.
Huangdi was a great tribal chief at the end of primitive society in China. He was honored as the ancestor who had initiated Chinese civilization. He in-vented jade weapons, carts, boats, and bows and arrows. Leizu, his wife, was good at raising silkworms; Cangjie, his imperial historian, created the Chinese pictograph; Danao, one of his officers, worked out the first "Heaven-ly Stem and Earthly Branch Calendar;" Linglun, his official composer, devel-oped musical instruments. All of these brilliant achievements were attributable to the later success of China as one of the world's four countries with an an-cient civilization.
The mausoleum is about 4 square kilometers. It is surrounded by moun-tains and rivers, and covered by lush cypress. The most arresting sight is a stone tablet named "Xia Ma Shi. " It is said that in ancient times, those who came to pay homage would walk from this spot up to the tomb. In front of the tomb there is a memorial pavilion with a huge stone tablet, on which Guo Moruo's calligraphy is carved. It reads "Mausoleum of Huangdi. " The Mau-soleum of Huangdi stands right in the middle of the mountain top, which is 3.6 meters high and 4.8 meters in circumference. At the south side is a twen-ty-meter-high platform, named "Han Wu Xian Tai. " It is said to have been built for Emperor Wudi of the Han Dynasty to pay homage to Huangdi, and to pray for good luck. At the east foot of the Qiaoshan Mountain stands a mag-nificent temple known as Huangdi Temple. It is said to have been built in the Han Dynasty. In the temple there is a huge cypress, 19 meters high, 10 me-ters in circumference at the bottom, and 6 meters in circumference in the mid-dle. Legend goes that Huangdi planted it himself, so it is called "the Father of world Cypress. "
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