Huangdi Culture
黄帝文化
Huangdi is considered to be the founder of Chinese civilization as well as its first ancestor.
He lived about 4 thousand years ago, during the time of patriarchal clan community,
他生活在大约4000年前的父系氏族社会时期,
and was the mystical chief of one of the strongest tribes in the middle valley of the Yellow River.
是黄河流域最强大地部落之一的神秘首领。
During this period many tribes came to settle around the reach of Yellow River engaging in farming.
在这段时期,许多部落来到黄河沿岸安营扎寨,从事农业。
The different tribes clashed with each other over land disputes as each tribe sought to have more farmland.
因为每个部落都想要获取更多的土地,不同部落之间会因为土地问题起冲突。
Since the constant warring caused much suffering to the people, Huangdi decided to put an end to this chaotic situation.
当接连不断的战争使人民受苦受难时,黄帝决定终结这样混乱的局面。
He worked out a moral code and trained his army.
他制定了一套道德准则并训练了军队。
With his army, after warring 56 battles against other tribes,
他依靠自己的军队打败了56个部落,
Huangdi conquered a wide area along the Yellow River and was made chief of the tribal union.
征服了黄河沿岸的一大片区域,成为了部落联盟的首领。
Because his tribe honored the virtue of earth, he was given the title, Yellow Emperor,after the yellow color of earth, the symbol of farming.
因为他的部落尊敬黄土大帝,他就被成为“黄帝”,“黄帝”代表着大地的颜色,是农业的象征。
As the Yellow Emperor,he is remembered as having done many great things.
作为黄帝,他因做了许多好事而被人铭记。
He coined bronze money, practiced medicine, invented boats, raised silk-worms and divided his realm into provinces.
他创造了铜钱、行医、造船、养蚕,还将他的领土划分区域。
The story goes that when Huangdi was 110 years old,a yellow dragon appears in the sky,summoning the emperor to heaven on behalf of the king of heaven.
传说黄帝110岁时,天空中出现了一条黄色的龙,代表玉帝将黄帝召唤至天庭。
When the emperor riding on the back of the dragon is about to leave,
当黄帝骑上龙背准备离开时,
his subjects who were reluctant to let him go, drag him back by his clothes.
他的臣民不愿意他离开,拖住他的衣服把他拽回。
However, all that was left were only part of the emperor’s clothes and hat.
然而最终留下的仅仅是黄帝的衣衫和帽子。
In commemoration of Huangdi, his descendents buried his remains at Mt. Qiaoshan,
为了纪念黄帝,他的子孙后代将他留下的东西埋在了桥山,
where they built a mausoleum in honour of him, in present day Shanxi Province.
在那里,也就是今天的陕西省,他们建造了陵墓来缅怀黄帝。
Tradition passes down from then that every year on the fifth day of the fourth lunar month (the Qingming Festival, also known as the Festival of Pure Brightness)
传统自那时流传,每年农历的四月五日(清明节),
Chinese people of Huangdi’s origin, will remember him by coming to visit his mausoleum which has become the symbol of the Chinese nation.
中国人作为黄帝的子孙,通过参观皇帝的陵墓来纪念他,而这已经成为了中华民族的一个象征。