目擊炎帝陵祭祀大典

“炎黃子孫”，華夏兒女都以這個光輝的名字自謂，中華民族也以此傲立于世界民族之林。

炎黃子孫的先祖就是炎黃二帝。地處陜西的黃帝陵已成為海內(nèi)外炎黃子孫世代祭拜之地，名聞遐邇，聲譽(yù)環(huán)球；而深居湖南腹地的炎帝陵，世人卻知之不多，頗顯冷落。

今年9月12日舉行的2005年中國湖南旅游節(jié)，組織者特地把開幕式放到炎陵縣鹿原陂上的炎帝陵舉行，將旅游活動與百龍祭炎帝巧妙地結(jié)合在一起，以光大炎帝功德，弘揚(yáng)中華優(yōu)秀傳統(tǒng)。

祭祀儀式開始，全國人大常委會副委員長烏云其木格和國家旅游局、湖南省及株洲市和炎陵縣的官員在肅穆莊嚴(yán)的儀式中誦讀了祭文，同唱《炎帝頌》，深情歌頌了偉大的民族始祖炎帝的功德，傾注了華夏子孫對炎帝的無限敬仰和追思。香港鳳凰衛(wèi)視、臺灣東森電視新聞臺、亞洲臺、美洲臺和湖南衛(wèi)視均同步直播整個祭拜儀式。

炎陵縣是中華民族始祖炎帝神農(nóng)氏的陵寢所在地。炎帝神農(nóng)氏是我國上古時代杰出的部落首領(lǐng)，生活于原始社會由母系氏族向父系氏族過渡的時代，距今6000年至5500年左右。據(jù)《史記》《路史#8226;后記》(宋#8226;羅泌撰)等史書記載，炎帝神農(nóng)氏姓伊耆，名石年，生于烈山(今湖北隨州)，長于姜水，故又號烈山氏或厲山氏。炎帝是農(nóng)耕文化的創(chuàng)始人，他因天之時，分地之利，開創(chuàng)了原始農(nóng)業(yè)，被尊為神農(nóng)氏；因以火德代伏羲治天下，亦稱炎帝，在位120年。

炎帝和他所帶領(lǐng)的原始氏族先民，在長期的生產(chǎn)和實(shí)踐中創(chuàng)造了豐碩的物質(zhì)財(cái)富和精神財(cái)富，為中華文明的發(fā)軔和中華民族的形成準(zhǔn)備了最初的物質(zhì)、文化基礎(chǔ)。其主要貢獻(xiàn)可概括為八大功績，即“始作耒耜，教民耕種；遍嘗百草，發(fā)明醫(yī)藥；日中為市，首辟市場；治麻為布，制作衣裳；削桐為琴，織絲為弦；弦木為弧，剡木為矢；耕而作陶，冶制斤斧；建屋造房，臺榭而居”。炎帝神農(nóng)氏與黃帝軒轅氏在中國歷史發(fā)展過程中都做出過奠基性貢獻(xiàn)，因而受到中華民族的歷代尊崇。

據(jù)史料記載，炎帝遍嘗百草，為民治病，曾“日遇七十毒而不輟”，終因誤嘗斷腸草而“崩葬長沙茶鄉(xiāng)之尾”，即今炎陵縣城西17公里處的鹿原陂。鹿原陂西漢時已有帝陵，自唐代開始即有奉祀，至五代而輟。宋王朝建立，宋太祖趙匡胤遣使臣遍訪天下古陵，在茶陵縣南一百里之康樂鄉(xiāng)鹿原陂覓得炎帝陵，遂于乾德五年(967年)詔命“建廟陵前，肖像而祀”，隨之遣官詣陵致祭。此后“三歲一舉，率以為?！?。歷代以來，民間祭祀更是香火鼎盛，綿綿不絕延續(xù)至今。

1986年，炎帝陵進(jìn)行了一次大規(guī)模的整修。修復(fù)至今已建成炎帝陵殿、神農(nóng)大殿、御碑園、圣火臺、詠豐臺、圣德林等主體工程，共投入建設(shè)資金1.1億元。1999年對炎帝陵風(fēng)景名勝區(qū)總體建設(shè)規(guī)劃進(jìn)行了修編，建設(shè)規(guī)模為111.86平方公里，分為祭祀謁拜區(qū)、故道游覽區(qū)、農(nóng)耕文化區(qū)、神農(nóng)采藥區(qū)、日市集貿(mào)區(qū)、華夏歸根墓園區(qū)、風(fēng)景區(qū)發(fā)展備用地七個功能區(qū)，建設(shè)計(jì)劃分3期完成，總投入3個多億，目前已完成一期工程，即將啟動以農(nóng)耕文化園為標(biāo)志的二期工程建設(shè)。炎帝陵修復(fù)后，黨和國家領(lǐng)導(dǎo)人胡耀邦、江澤民分別題寫了墓碑和匾額。此后，相繼被定為全國重點(diǎn)文物保護(hù)單位、全國愛國主義教育示范基地、全國歸國華僑愛國主義教育基地、國家AAAA級旅游景區(qū)和“湖南十大文化遺產(chǎn)”之一。

大規(guī)模祭祀炎帝這一天，炎陵縣萬人空巷，身著56個民族盛裝的90名青年組成的花環(huán)表演隊(duì)載歌載舞；500名《炎帝頌》合唱演員的歌聲響徹云霄；24只大鼓組成的“二十四節(jié)令鼓”演出隊(duì)，粗獷豪邁、抑揚(yáng)頓挫的鼓聲讓人熱血沸騰!這鼓聲是人們長期在農(nóng)耕活動中對二十四節(jié)令的感悟，也是對炎帝神農(nóng)氏“首創(chuàng)農(nóng)耕，教民耕種”偉大功績的歌頌……

鼓聲驟息，“百龍祭祖”正式開始，首先是祭：只見用綠色中草藥扎制的九條“藥龍”渾身插滿檀香，每三條“藥龍”分成一組，龍身散發(fā)的檀香氤氳繚繞，宛如群龍穿霧，如夢如幻。接著是地祭，大祭幡、龍鳳幡迎風(fēng)招展，鑼鼓嗩吶合奏樂曲，獅龍飛舞其間，三牲供品陳設(shè)其中，70名青年手捧五谷，踏歌敬獻(xiàn)。

廣場上的盛大龍舞，則是這次祭祀活動的高潮。“華夏龍族，闔家一堂”，伴著“超級女聲”冠軍李宇春《龍的傳人》歌聲，由18名青年男女帶領(lǐng)22個學(xué)齡前兒童表演的“人龍”登場，完全不用道具全靠身體組成龍陣；此時由大學(xué)生舞龍隊(duì)出演的18條巨龍紛紛亮相，龍的海洋、龍的世界：在每隊(duì)20米見方的場地上，18米長龍?jiān)跀?shù)十名選手的操控下，上下穿梭、游弋翻騰，熱氣騰騰，動人心魄，令人嘆為觀止!

Grand Ceremony to Memorize Yan Emperor

By Yao Zhenfa， Shi Guowen

We Chinese are descendents of Yellow Emperor and Yan Emperor. The mausoleum of Yellow Emperor in Shangxi Province is the venue where a grand annual memorial ceremony takes place and numerous Chinese descendents come to attend. Both the mausoleum and the event are well known. However， the mausoleum of Yan Emperor in the center of Hunan Province is not so popular.

The organizers of the Hunan Tourism Festival 2005 decided to promote the province’s tourism at the mausoleum of Yan Emperor. The opening ceremony was held there on 12th of September.

According to historical records， the legendary emperor introduced agriculture in China. He was worshipped as God of Farming. As he promoted the use of fire， he was known as Yan Emperor. Yan in Chinese means flame. He ruled for 120 years， which was about 5，500 years-6，000 years ago.

Yan emperor invented the plough and taught people to farm; he tasted herbs and invented medicines; he gathered people to trade at noon and initiated markets; he wove hemp into fabric and invented garments; he made Qin， a musical instrument; he made bows and arrows; and he made pottery and axes; he built houses for people to stay in.The eight major contributions to the Chinese civilization prepared a solid material and cultural foundation for the nation to flourish. Like Yellow Emperor， he is legendized as one of the founding fathers of the Chinese nation.

According to history， in search of medicines for his people， Yan Emperor tasted 70 poisonous herbs one day. He died from tasting a highly poisonous herb near Changsha， today’s capital city of Hunan Province. He was buried there. In the Western Han Dynasty (206B.C.-24A.D.)， there was a mausoleum in his name. Memorial ceremonies were held in the Tang Dynasty (618-907). However， the memorial ceremony was dropped during the Five Dynasties (907-960). When the Song Dynasty (960-1279) came into being， Taizu Emperor sent envoys out in search of ancient tombs and mausoleums all over the country. Yan Emperor’s mausoleum was rediscovered in Luyuanpo， fifty kilometers south of Chaling County， Hunan Province. The emperor issued a decree to build a memorial temple in front of the mausoleum and make a portrait for memorial ceremonies. The emperor then sent officials to hold a memorial ceremony. The big ceremony was held once every three years. Since then， the memorial ceremony， official or unofficial， has continued.

The year 1986 witnessed a large refurbishing program started on the mausoleum of Yan Emperor. The 110-million-yuan program built two large temples， a garden of royal steles， two platforms， and a large area of woods. In 1999， another large-scale program was started. The investment topped 300 million yuan. The program takes in an area of 111.86 square kilometers divided into 7 sections. When the three-phase program is finished， the mausoleum zone will be a large tourist attraction.

On September 12th， 2005， a grand memorial ceremony was held to celebrate the great contributions made by Yan Emperor. Leaders of the state， provincial and local governments altogether were present to pay their homage to the ancestor. Ninety people dressed in the costumes of 56 ethnic groups danced， and a 500-singer group chanted the Ode to Yan Emperor. A group of 24 percussionists beat huge drums in celebration of the 24 solar terms developed by Yan Emperor for farming. Teams joined hands to put up a grand dragon dancing show.

(Translated by David)