The earliest “Forbidden City” found at Erlitou site
Since childhood, we have accepted the fact that China, like Babylon, Egypt and India, is an ancient civilization with a history of 5000 years, and are proud to be born in such a country. Only when we grow up will we know that we actually have only archaeological evidence of the 4000 year history of civilization after the Shang and Zhou dynasties. When and where did Chinese civilization begin, and what was the earliest “China”? These seemingly unchallenged questions have become the pursuit of scholars for generations.
So there is the “Xia Shang Zhou dating project” at the end of the last century and the “source exploration project of Chinese civilization” that has been going on since the beginning of this century. The US weekly science, published on August 21 this year, has made a comprehensive report on the origin of Chinese civilization with this as its cover topic.
At present, the work of the second stage of the source exploration project has been completed, and the work of the third stage is about to begin. The world and China want to know how much progress has been made towards the origin of Chinese civilization after eight years of exploration.
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Erlitou: the earliest “China”
In ancient China, the word “state” means “city” or “state”. In gold inscriptions or bronze inscriptions, the original font of the national character is “Ge” plus “Kou”. Ge is a sound symbol, meaning to hold Ge and defend the city, and Kou means the city. It can be seen from the glyph that a state is centered on the capital city and combined with the rural areas of the four regions. “China” means “central city” or “central state”.
Erlitou in Yanshi, Henan Province, is the name of an ordinary village located in Luoyang plain, the hinterland of the Central Plains. Under the ground covered by wheat fields, the earliest “China” is hidden. Xu Hong, a researcher at the Institute of Archaeology of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, said in his new work the earliest China.
Erlitou site was discovered during the exploration of Xia ruins in 1959. The excavation of Yin Ruins in Anyang, Henan Province since 1928 has established the existence of Yin Shang civilization in archaeology. Li Ji, the father of Archaeology in China, believes that the oracle bone inscriptions in the Yin Ruins are very mature, and it takes at least a thousand years for the characters to enter the mature period from the formation period. The exquisite bronze ware making technology in the Yin Ruins will not fall from the sky. If we regard Shang as the origin of Chinese civilization, it is a bit like people born with white bearded old men. There must be an earlier civilization before Shang, and Erlitou culture is an earlier civilization.
Xu Hong, who has been digging in Erlitou for more than ten times since 1999, said that there is no consensus on the signs of civilization formation at all times and in all countries. The signs of material form include cities, characters, bronzes and ritual vessels, and the level of social form includes social division of labor, class differentiation, countries and dynasties. Erlitou shows a mature civilization from any angle. It has at least five “firsts”: the earliest dynasty capital ruins in China that can be confirmed so far, the earliest large-scale palaces in China, the earliest “Forbidden City”, the earliest bronze ritual vessels and bronze workshops, and the earliest urban trunk road network. All these show that the dynasty culture has been formed.
“More importantly, we can find the source of various Confucian ritual systems we are familiar with in Erlitou. The three legged wine barons unearthed in Erlitou are roughly the same in shape as those unearthed in the Shang Dynasty. The bronze wares, musical instruments and jade ritual vessels unearthed in noble tombs constitute a unique ritual and music civilization. This is the characteristics of early Chinese civilization.”
Writing is one of the important signs that mankind has entered the era of civilization. However, in Erlitou, the glyphs that may be related to characters are only found in pottery and bone vessels. At present, there is no unified opinion on whether they are words or not. “As no written materials like oracle bone inscriptions that can confirm the archaeological cultural identity have been found so far, the dynasty attribution of Erlitou is still a mystery to be solved.”
The late famous archaeologist Xia Nai once said humorously: “in China, people surnamed Xia are said to be descendants of the Xia Dynasty Royal family. Although my surname is Xia, as a conservative archaeologist, I think the exploration of Xia culture is still an unresolved problem.” Xu Hong said, “Erlitou, whether in the late Xia dynasty or the early Shang Dynasty, does not prevent it from being the earliest embryonic form of China.”
Starry sky: the state before the earliest “China”
In the archaeological community, even the most conservative people admit that China has entered the era of civilization during the Erlitou culture period. However, Erlitou is also a fairly mature civilization, which should take a long development process to arrive. So, what was the state before this earliest China?
Wang Wei, director of the Institute of Archaeology of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences and head of the “source exploration project of Chinese civilization”, said that one major discovery after another has proved time and again that there are indeed more distant but more developed forms of civilization than Erlitou culture.
On October 24, the construction of Niuheliang archaeological site park officially started. This is also a name that inspires the ancient Chinese. In the 1980s, at the junction of Lingyuan, Kazuo and Jianping cities and counties in western Liaoning, large altars, goddess temples and jishizhong sites with a history of more than 5000 years were found. Their layout and properties are similar to those of the temple of heaven and the Tai Temple in Beijing. The noble tombs with rich types of burials and exquisite jade wares showed that there had been a differentiation between the rich and the poor in society at that time. This major discovery almost advanced the history of Chinese civilization by more than 1000 years, and was described as touching the “dawn of China’s 5000 year civilization”.
In Chifeng City, Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, archaeologists conducted nearly 10 archaeological excavations at the Xinglongwa site in Aohan banner, which has a history of more than 8000 years. They found millet and millet here, as well as the world’s earliest jade. The discovery of millet provides clues to the pending origin of millet in the world, and the discovery of jade also shortens the distance between the region and civilization.
In the southwest of beiwudu Town, Wuyang County, Henan Province, there is a quiet water called Jiahu. Jiahu Bone Flute recorded in history is named after this place. In April, 2001, archaeologists found a two hole bone flute during the seventh excavation of the site. It is brownish yellow, with regular diamond patterns carved on both ends, and the patterns are as thin as hair. According to the measurement of carbon 14, this bone flute was identified as an object 9000 years ago. It is the earliest two hole bone flute found by the world archaeological community so far, which proves that a developed musical civilization has been created here as early as the early Neolithic age.
There are also the ruins of Taosi in Shanxi Province. More than 1000 tombs that have been unearthed show a typical pyramid structure, and the characteristics of class society are very obvious. For example, about 90% of the tombs contain only one person without any funerary objects; Less than 10% of tombs have dozens of funerary objects; In less than 1% of the tombs, there are not only coffins, but also hundreds of funerary objects, including valuables such as dragon discs, alligator drums, stone chimes and so on.
The world’s first astronomical observation building has also been found here. According to records, Yao measured the number of days in a year, twenty-four seasons and four seasons. “Shang Shu Yao Dian” has calendar records such as “the period of three hundred has sixty days and six days”. These calendars will not come out of thin air. The discovery of the Taosi Observatory confirms the real history of “calendar like the sun, moon and stars, and teach people time”, which indicates that the region may have been the first to appear in early countries.
There is also the 4300 year old ancient city found in the lower reaches of the Yangtze River Basin in 2007, which is considered to be part of the Liangzhu culture of the Neolithic Age (between 4000 and 5300 years ago). Yan Wenming, a professor at Peking University, believes that this ancient city may be the capital of the Liangzhu kingdom. If this inference is true, then Liangzhu culture is not only a prehistoric culture, it will likely become a dynasty in China, and earlier than the Xia Dynasty.
Wang Wei has always agreed with the late archaeologist Su Bingqi’s theory of “stars in the sky” in the 1990s, that is, about 6000 years ago, from western Liaoning to Liangzhu, the spark of civilization in China was as bright as stars in the sky. There are Qijia culture system in Gansu and Qinghai, Hongshan culture system in western Liaoning, Longshan culture system in Haidai, Shijiahe culture system in the middle reaches of the Yangtze River, Liangzhu culture system in the lower reaches of the Yangtze River, and Yangshao culture system in the Central Plains. Each of these cultural systems has its own roots and has created a splendid culture.
In the second stage of the civilization source exploration project, 3500 BC was taken as the starting point of the study. Wang Wei said that considering that at that time, there had been a relatively obvious trend of social complexity in the Central Plains, and at the same time, this process had also begun in the Huaihe River Basin, the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River, and the Xiliao River Basin, where there had been grade or class differentiation, early Chinese civilization had begun to take shape at this time. However, how the stars are distributed, how they flicker, and how they disappear are the main tasks of the third stage of the source exploration project.
Diversified and integrated pattern of Chinese civilization
Wang Wei likes the verbs “convergence” and “radiation” very much. He believes that this is an important model for the formation of Chinese civilization. In the Longshan age of the Neolithic age, cultural factors from all over the country converged to the Central Plains. From the Taosi culture in Shanxi, we can see the influence from all over the country. In Erlitou culture, the situation has changed significantly, which is mainly reflected in the strong radiation of the culture of the central plains around. Yelitou culture style Yazhang has been unearthed in Hong Kong and Vietnam, and Erlitou culture style pottery wine vessels have also been unearthed in Dadianzi cemetery in Chifeng area, Southeast Inner Mongolia. Such an intersection channel appeared in the early stage of civilization, which shows how strong the vitality of culture was at that time.
Chen Xingcan, deputy director of the Institute of Archaeology of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, said that there have been four views on the origin of Chinese civilization, from the initial “west theory” to the “east west theory”. In the 1950s, the “Central Plains theory” became the mainstream, and now more people agree with the “pluralistic integration theory”. In other words, for a long time, we have thought that the Yellow River is the only cradle of Chinese civilization, but the saying of stars in the sky announced the end of this concept, and the origin of Chinese civilization showed a diversified, regional and unbalanced development trend.
In the process of exploring the source of civilization, the cultural relics of Donghu, Shanrong, Beidi, Qiang, Xirong, Ba, Shu and other tribes have also been found continuously, which has greatly enriched the understanding of the cultural diversity of various regions in early China, and also provided valuable information for discussing the formation and development of the pluralistic and integrated Chinese nation.
Wang Wei said that the source of civilization is not to reproduce the glory of that year, but to find details, pay attention to how and why, how the cultures of several major regions converge into the civilization of the Central Plains, how the civilization of the Central Plains radiates to other regions, and how the pattern of Chinese civilization with the Central Plains as the core is formed? And it is obviously difficult to solve these problems by yourself. Archaeological excavation may set up a framework, but multidisciplinary participation, especially scientific and technological archaeology, can fill in details, making the history of civilization plump and flesh and blood.
Why did the culture represented by Erlitou become “China”? Yuan Jing, director of the center for scientific and technological archaeology of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, explained that the birth of a civilized society must be supported by material, spiritual and social conditions, but the most fundamental thing is to have a stable and sustainable economic foundation. Technology, economy and environment are two topics in the civilized source exploration project. The study found that the changes of agriculture and natural environment have a great impact on the trend of civilization.
In the Central Plains region, after 2500 BC, a “five grain agriculture” including millet, millet, rice, soybeans and wheat was developed, with livestock species including pigs, cattle, sheep, etc. This diversified economic model is conducive to economic sustainability. The area of human activities is concentrated in the Loess Plateau, which is not affected by floods.
In the west of Liaoning Province, the latitude is high, and the climate becomes cold, which is very easy to have a fatal blow to agriculture. The two regions in the middle reaches of the Yangtze River and the lower reaches of the Yangtze River are relatively similar. Agriculture is dominated by pure rice and has strict requirements on water conditions. Under the double impact of climate fluctuations and frequent floods, human activities are extremely vulnerable. Around 2000 BC, a large range of climate fluctuations occurred in the Yellow River and Yangtze river basins, which had varying degrees of impact on the cultural development and social evolution of various regions. The Liangzhu Culture in the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River Basin has changed from prosperity to decline, and the culture in the middle reaches of the Yellow River has risen strongly.
Wang Wei said that the culture of a region has peaks and valleys. What is the main reason for the transition between the two stages? Does the decline of civilization have anything to do with faith? These studies are of great significance for contemporary civilization.
Interaction is the driving force for the formation and development of Chinese civilization
The reporter asked Wang Wei how much an archaeologist contributed to the whole source exploration project? He believes that the most important contribution of archaeologists to the study of the origin of civilization is the rediscovery and re study of important sites such as Taosi, Erlitou, Hongshan and Liangzhu. Without new discoveries, there will be no great progress in the study of the origin of Chinese civilization.
In the process of research, Wang Wei found that the development of economy and technology played a very important role in the formation of civilization, even in the early stage. If there is no development of economy and technology, agriculture and handicraft industry in a region, there is no possibility of surplus products, and there is no possibility for some people to become full-time managers without labor. Then, civilization will certainly not appear in this region. Where civilization originated earlier, the prehistoric economy of the region developed faster. On the contrary, in the prehistoric period, where the economic development was relatively slow, the process of civilization was also relatively slow.
In the civilization source exploration project, through plant Archaeology and animal archaeology, it is also confirmed that wheat, sheep and goats are not native products, but come from Central Asia or East Asia. Wang Wei said that this shows that although the Chinese civilization is a civilization of independent origin, the communication between the Chinese civilization and the external world existed at the beginning of its formation. The interaction between people and their cultures in various regions is an important driving force for the formation and development of Chinese civilization. Civilization is also formed in the process of mutual promotion, learning, absorption and competition, which is no exception at all times and in all countries.
Chinese civilization is the most glorious aspect of human civilization. Only by studying it in the context of all mankind, its brilliance will become more distinct. At present, there are still many fractures and unsolved mysteries in the study of the origin of Chinese civilization. The future work is to try to connect these broken chains. Rewriting a line of words in history books requires scientists to make thousands of efforts.
Wang Wei finally stressed that the concepts of state, civilization, private ownership and so on we currently apply are imported from abroad, and they have incomparable advantages in the expression of historical research, especially the research on social evolution. However, some concepts inherent in ancient China, such as state, city, state, surname, surname, etc., may have more advantages in the discussion and expression of the origin of civilization. The project of exploring the source of civilization may encourage Chinese scholars to form a discourse expression system about civilization with Chinese characteristics. If it can be so, it will be a great contribution to the study of the origin of world civilization.
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Chinese civilization source exploration project (background link)
The “project of exploring the source of Chinese civilization” is another major scientific research project supported by the state to combine multiple disciplines and study Chinese history and ancient culture, following the national key scientific and technological research project of the Ninth Five Year Plan – “the project of dating Xia, Shang and Zhou Dynasties”. The project first conducted a three-year (2001-2003) pre study. On the basis of pre research, in the summer of 2004, the national “Tenth Five Year Plan” key scientific and technological research project “Chinese civilization source exploration project” (the first stage, 2004-2005) was officially launched.
The second stage of the source exploration project is from the beginning of 2006 to the end of 2008. On the basis of the first stage, the spatial scope of the research is extended to the upper, middle and lower reaches of the Yellow River, the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River and the Liaohe River Basin, and the research time is extended to 3500 BC to 1500 BC.
The next phase of the source exploration project will last for 7 years, from 2009 to 2015.