SHANGHAI, April 17, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Paying homage on the third day of the third month of the Chinese lunar calendar to the Yellow Emperor, also known as Huangdi, one of the legendary Chinese sovereigns and cultural heroes, is a longstanding cultural tradition. At 10 AM on April 15, 2018, leading members of the Chinese community in Hong Kong convened at L'hotel Nina et Convention Centre to take part in a ceremony held at the hotel in honour of the legendary sovereign.
This marks the third time that the ceremony in reverence to the famous emperor has been held in Hong Kong. With the same theme as its previous editions, "Homology with Roots and Ancestors in Peace and Harmony," this year's ceremony consisted of nine ritual elements incorporating well-engrained customs unique to both the Hong Kong community as well as the Hakka Han, or Hakka people, a Chinese ethnic subgroup with a strong presence in the city. Haoxiangni Health Food Co., Ltd., a Chinese jujube producer based in Zhengzhou, Henan province, where the Yellow Emperor was born, sponsored the ceremony.
The jujubes, also called Chinese dates or red dates, served at the event came from the Yellow Emperor's hometown and received rave reviews during the proceedings. The fruit, which was, as it is today, treasured in ancient times, often served as tribute to the ancient sovereign. Many of the attendees who sampled the Haoxiangni-branded jujubes commented on the rich taste of the fruit, with one quoted as saying, "Very good, thank you." Another opined, "Tastes good."
After hearing that the jujubes were produced in the same town from where the sovereign originated, several of the tasters asked where more of the fruit could be purchased so that they could bring some to their family members and friends.
Xinzheng is the birthplace of the Yellow Emperor and place of origin of the famous jujubes. Some historians claim that the ancient sovereign created the single character, pronounced zao, to identify the fruit. The Yellow Emperor also established the Xinzheng Date Garden, where, to this day, some 500 jujube trees that are more than 500 years old proudly stand. The jujubes harvested from the trees are named Huangdi yuzao, which translates as the Yellow Emperor's royal red dates, and are treasured by aficionados across China and by members of the Chinese diaspora. The rain and wind that have nurtured these trees for centuries have created a fruit that is decidedly sweet and rich in taste.
Members of the Chinese community in Hong Kong will gather at the ceremony to pay homage to the legendary Chinese sovereign on April 18, followed by a visit to the hallowed garden. With the aim of meeting the desire of the community's members to commemorate the legendary ancestor, the Global Chinese Ancestral Association and Haoxiangni Health Food inked an agreement to formally adopt the ancient jujube trees, whereby members of the Chinese community who attend the ceremony, annually scheduled on the 3rd day of the 3rd month of the Lunar Year, which this year falls on the 18th of April, can each adopt one of the jujube trees in the ancient garden.
