Fuxi, the legendary ancestor of the Chinese nation, was commemorated on Friday by people on both sides of the Taiwan Strait. A ceremony kicked off with drumbeats and bell tolling in the city of Tianshui City in northwest China's Gansu Province, which is considered to be the ancestor's birthplace.
The commemoration was followed by a series of practices and rituals, including the reading of a eulogy, the presentation of sacrifices to a statue of Fuxi, and worship through dance.
Fuxi is believed to have been the inventor of writing, fishing, and hunting. Worshiping Fuxi is a tradition in China with a history of more than 2,000 years.
"The Fuxi culture has been inherited for thousands of years. His descendants, the Chinese people, have continued to admire Fuxi, an ancient ancestor of human beings and cultural icon, from generation to generation, making Fuxi a common spiritual symbol of the Chinese nation," said An Deming, deputy director of the Institute of Literature under the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.
The ceremony was listed as a form of national intangible cultural heritage by the State Council in 2006.
A similar annual event was held at the same time in New Taipei City, marking the 11th year that the legendary figure has been commemorated simultaneously on both sides of the Taiwan Strait.
Legendary Chinese ancestor Fuxi commemorated across Strait
