Hometown of the Yellow Emperor 黄帝故里

About Hometown of the Yellow Emperor

Xinzheng was in antiquity the territory of the Youxiong clan, and the tradition followed here holds that the Yellow Emperor Xuanyuan was born on Xuanyuan Hill and ruled from Youxiong. The shrine hall itself goes back to the Han dynasty; it was destroyed and rebuilt more than once, repaired in 1570 under the Ming, and a stele reading Xuanyuan Guli was re-erected in 1715 under the Qing. The Henan provincial government records the site as a provincial protected cultural heritage unit from 2000. Most of what a visitor sees, however, is modern: the Xinzheng city government rebuilt and enlarged the complex, and the Zhengzhou municipal description now gives it 70,000 square metres laid out from north to south as the Xuanyuan Hill ancestor-worship square, the shrine hall area and the Chinese surnames square, presented as three blocks standing for heaven, earth and humanity.

The provincial tourism description of the enlarged site sets out five areas rather than three, adding a tripod platform and an art garden. In its account the main hall of the shrine holds a statue of the Yellow Emperor, with his principal consort Leizu and secondary consort Momu in the flanking halls; the tripod platform carries nine bronze vessels, the central one 6.99 metres high, 5 metres across and weighing 24 tonnes, with the other eight placed at the positions of the eight trigrams and jade columns bearing the totems of the 56 ethnic groups along the sides. Xuanyuan Hill, 19 metres high and 100 metres long, contains a sunken, earth-covered memorial hall to the Yellow Emperor.

What to look for

• The shrine hall of the Yellow Emperor, first built in the Han dynasty, with his statue in the main hall and those of his consorts Leizu and Momu in the flanking halls.
• The Xuanyuan Guli stele, re-erected in 1715 under the Qing, and the Xuanyuan Bridge in front of the shrine.
• Xuanyuan Hill, 19 metres high and 100 metres long, with a sunken earth-covered memorial hall built inside it.
• The nine bronze tripods on the tripod platform, the central one 6.99 metres high and weighing 24 tonnes, the others set at the positions of the eight trigrams.
• The jade columns carrying the totems of China's 56 ethnic groups alongside the tripod platform.
• The Chinese surnames square at the south end of the present three-part layout.

Location & getting there

Getting to Hometown of the Yellow Emperor

Check which interiors and courtyards are accessible. Active places of worship and protected monuments may have different visitor rules.

• Search for 黄帝故里 with 郑州市 and 新郑市.