"This year I had the chance to take part in the offering to the Yellow Emperor for the first time. It was like a journey to find my past, to find where I am from,” said Zheng Boyu in his office in Beijing's Zhongguancun neighborhood, an area often referred to as “China's Silicon Valley.”

Chinese mythology, as well as ancient history writings such as "Records of the Grand Historian," tell the story of the tribal confederation led by the Yellow Emperor and the Yan Emperor defeating the Jiuli tribe led by Chiyo in the Battle of Zhuolu in present day Hebei Province, north China. The victorious Yellow Emperor and Yan Emperor established a tribal confederacy in China proper known as the Huaxia civilization that would later evolve into the Han Chinese nation. 

The two mythical rulers are venerated as the common ancestors of all Chinese, and many Chinese today would still call themselves “descendants of Yan and Huang.”

Zheng works for a start-up incubator, leading a department that helps promising entrepreneurs from Taiwan start their businesses in China's capital. He visited the mausoleum and hometown of the Yellow Emperor this year. Awed by the shrines at the site, he said it was like finding his roots. However, as 2018 approaches its end, Zheng isn't completely satisfied.

"I had the chance to be at the offering to the Yan Emperor as well. But then there was a time conflict. I feel like I've only accomplished half of my quest. I hope I can go to the Mausoleum of the Yan Emperor next year," said Zheng.

Chinese now holds ceremonial offerings to the Yan and Yellow emperors at shrines such as the Mausoleum of the Yellow Emperor in Shaanxi Province and the Mausoleum of the Yan Emperor in Zhuzhou, Hunan Province. While people in Taiwan, albeit away from the shrines on the Chinese mainland, also make offering to the Yan and Huang, from a distance.

“This shows the people in Taiwan and the Chinese mainland share a common ancestry, and are of one people. I think through this, people on both sides of the strait can find a common ground for dialogue."