The Chinese Unity Altar

The Chinese Unity Altar

The Chinese Unity Altar is located in the Yellow Emperor City Cultural Tourism Area of Fanshan Town, Zhuolu County, covering a total area of 500 acres. It consists of China’s largest single-piece dragon sculpture, Nine Dragons Soaring, 56 ethnic totem poles, the Unity Stone Carving, the Bridge of the Three Ancestors, the Dragon-Phoenix Pillars, and the Chinese Unification Square. In the center of the altar, 56 ethnic totem stone pillars, each 9.9 meters tall, are arranged concentrically, symbolizing the great unity of the Chinese nation. The stone pillars are carved in relief, succinctly showcasing the rich and diverse cultural characteristics of China’s 56 ethnic groups. The carving patterns were designed by Jimei University and approved by the State Ethnic Affairs Commission. Built along the natural terrain, the Chinese Unity Altar is grand in scale and majestic in presence. It not only delivers a solemn and powerful visual impact but also materializes and visualizes the culture of unity formed through five thousand years of Chinese civilization.

The dragon is the totem of the Chinese nation. We live in the land of the dragon, and we are all descendants of the dragon. There are many dragon-themed structures in China, but the most distinctive is the “Nine Dragons Pillars” on the Chinese Unity Altar in Zhuolu. The Chinese Unity Altar was built to commemorate the great historical event of the Yellow Emperor’s unification ritual at Fushan in Zhuolu, marking the first integration of the Chinese nation. Following traditional Chinese concepts of “the round heaven and square earth” and “wisdom is round while virtue is square,” the core structure features a round top and a square base.

The square base of the altar is 6 meters high, and the altar surface forms the 99,999-square-meter Chinese Unification Square. The four corners of the square are inlaid with four “Unity Stones,” symbolizing the convergence of all directions toward the center. The circular altar has three tiers, each 2 meters high, with diameters of 159 meters, 129 meters, and 90 meters respectively. The first and second tiers have gates facing the “four directions” and the “eight directions,” while the top tier is the heart of the altar. This design symbolizes how “all directions come to pay homage under heaven, uniting in one aspiration.”

Based on the traditional Chinese cultural concepts of “supreme nobility of nine and five” and “nine nines returning to one,” the bronze sculpture of the Chinese totem—Nine Dragons Soaring—is created at the top of the altar. The nine dragon pillars, each 45 meters tall, jointly hold a pearl aloft, soaring into the sky and symbolizing the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation. Surrounding the Nine Dragons Soaring are 56 ethnic cultural emblems, each 9.9 meters tall, allowing every Chinese descendant to find their place and that of their ethnicity within the big family of the Chinese nation. This symbolizes “the Chinese nation is one family.”

At the square central heart of the Chinese Unity Altar, samples of the “Chinese loess landscape” are collected, along with the “Stone of Power” and “Military Talisman” from the era of the Three Ancestors, as well as other cultural relics. The “Olympic Flame” for the 2008 Beijing Olympics was lit here. Later, this site will be permanently preserved under a glass cover.