Four-Character Poem: A Sacrificial Offering at the Yellow Emperor’s Mausoleum[1]

(March 1937)

On the fifth day of the fourth month in the twenty-sixth year of the Republic of China[2], Mao Zedong, Chairman of the Soviet Government, and Zhu De, Commander-in-Chief of the People’s Anti-Japanese Red Army, respectfully dispatched representative Lin Zuhan[3] to perform the rites with fresh flowers and bundles of silk, offering sacrifice at the mausoleum of the Yellow Emperor, Xuanyuan, the first ancestor of the Chinese nation. The dedicatory words are as follows:

Illustrious First Ancestor,[4]
You founded our China.[5]
Your progeny spread far, the rites unbroken,[6]
The mountains tower, the rivers surge.

[1] Ji (sacrifice) means to offer sacrifice. Here it expresses reverence. The Yellow Emperor is the legendary tribal leader of China’s high antiquity. The Yellow Emperor’s Mausoleum, Xuanyuan Huangdi’s tomb, is abbreviated as Huangling. It is located on Qiao Mountain, about one kilometer north of Huangling County, Shaanxi Province, and is called Qiaoling in historical texts.

[2] The fifth day of the fourth month in the twenty-sixth year of the Republic of China is April 5, 1937. This day is Qingming Festival, a day on which the Chinese people have since ancient times observed the custom of sweeping tombs and offering sacrifices to ancestors.

[3] Lin Zuhan is Lin Boqu (1885–1960). A native of Linli, Hunan. He studied in Japan in 1904. In 1905 he joined the Chinese United League. In 1921 he joined the Chinese Communist Party and helped Sun Yat-sen establish the Three Great Policies of alliance with Russia, alliance with the Communists, and support for peasants and workers, as well as reorganize the Kuomintang. In 1937 he served as Chairman of the Shaanxi-Gansu-Ningxia Border Region Government. From the Sixth Plenum of the Sixth Central Committee onward he was elected a Central Committee member, and from the Seventh National Congress onward he was elected a member of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee. After the founding of New China, he served as Secretary-General of the Central People’s Government, and in 1954 was elected Vice Chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress. He died of illness in Beijing in 1960.

[4] Hehe means prominent, grand in appearance, describing illustriousness and grandeur. First Ancestor refers to the Yellow Emperor.

[5] Wuhua means our Chinese nation. Zhao means to begin. Zao means to build. Wuhua zhaozao means zhaozao wuhua, to have built our Chinese nation.

[6] Zhou, in ancient times, referred to the descendants of emperors or nobles. Here it refers to the descendants of the Yellow Emperor. Yan means to multiply, to propagate. Si means sacrifice. Mian means to extend, to continue without interruption. Simian means that sacrifices to the Yellow Emperor have continued unbroken through the generations.

Wise and sagacious,
Your radiance covered the farthest wilds.
You established this grand cause,
To stand majestic in the East.

The world shifts through vicissitudes,
Midway it stumbled and fell.
Across several thousand years,
A strong neighbor scorned virtue.[1]
The Liuqiu Islands and Taiwan were not defended,[2]
The Three Han were reduced to ruins.[3]
In the lands of Liao, Hai, Yan, and Ji,
How many traitors to the Han[4] there were!

To serve the enemy with our land—
Can the enemy’s appetite ever be sated?[5]
Others held the whip and rope,
We were enslaved and humiliated.

Alas, our ancestor,[6]
A hero destined for the age.
You fought fiercely at Zhuolu,[7]
And the realm[8] was brought to peace.

How could your descendants
Be so lacking in martial spirit:
A great and mighty nation,
Letting itself sink into ruin?[9]

We, Dong and others, though lacking in talent,
Roused ourselves with sword and sandal.
Across ten thousand rugged miles,
We offered our lives for the nation.

Year after year of bitter struggle,
We have endured every peril.
The Xiongnu are not yet vanquished,
How can we think of home?

All parties and all circles,
Unite solidly and firmly.
Whether soldier or civilian,
Whether poor or rich.

[1] Qianglin (strong neighbor) refers to the aggressive neighboring country, here meaning Japanese imperialism. Mie means without. Miede means without virtue. Here it means without morality or justice.

[2] Liu refers to the Liuqiu (Ryukyu) Islands. Originally part of Qing dynasty territory, they were seized by Japan in the fifth year of the Guangxu reign (1879). Tai refers to Taiwan. Originally part of Qing dynasty territory, it was seized by Japan in the twenty-fifth year of the Guangxu reign (1899). Bushou means not defended, lost to enemy occupation.

[3] Sanhan refers to Korea. During the Han dynasty, the southern part of Korea was divided into Mahan (west), Chenhan (east), and Bianhan (south), collectively called the “Three Han.” Later it was used as a substitute name for Korea. Wei means to become. Xu means ruins, a place where many households once gathered but which is now desolate.

[4] Hanjian originally referred to degenerate elements among the Han people. Now it broadly refers to degenerate elements within the Chinese nation who collude with foreign countries and betray the interests of the nation.

[5] Yu means appetite. Qi means how. Zu means to satisfy. Di yu qi zu: How can the enemy’s aggressive appetite ever be satisfied!

[6] Yi, interchangeable with “噫,” is an interjection in ancient Chinese expressing grief or lament. Wozu refers to Xuanyuan, the Yellow Emperor.

[7] Zhuolu fenzhan: According to legend, the Yellow Emperor fought a great decisive battle against Chiyou at Zhuolu. Chiyou’s entire army was wiped out and he was slain by the Yellow Emperor.

[8] Quyu means region, territory, the realm under heaven.

[9] Qi refers to China. Lun means to sink, to decline. Xu is an auxiliary word used at the end of a sentence, without substantive meaning. Lunxu means to sink into decline and ruin.

The national united front,[1]
The true remedy to save the nation.
Four hundred million people,[2]
Resolutely resist.
A democratic republic,
Reform internal affairs.
Hundreds of millions[3] with one heart,
If we fight, we shall surely win.
Reclaim our rivers and mountains,
Defend our national sovereignty.
This resolve, this will,
We swear never to forget.[4]
We marshal our arms and drill our troops,
Proclaiming openly to our forebears.
May you truly look down upon us,
Sovereign Heaven and Earth.
May you partake of the offerings![5]

The Central Inspection Delegation of the Kuomintang, accompanied by Red Army representatives Ye Jianying, Chen Geng, and others, jointly offered sacrifice at the Yellow Emperor’s Mausoleum. The photograph is a group souvenir.

[1] Minzu zhenxian (national united front) refers to the nationwide anti-Japanese national united front proposed by the Chinese Communist Party.

[2] Siwanwan zhong means four hundred million people. The national population at that time was approximately four hundred million. Here it means the entire Chinese people.

[3] Zhao, in ancient times, meant one trillion. Yizhao means the vast masses of the people.

[4] Shi means to swear, to vow. Wu means not. Xuan means to forget. Yong shi wu xuan means to vow never to forget.

[5] Shang xiang is a conventional closing phrase in old sacrificial texts, meaning: Please partake of the offerings!