Plate 29 Painted pottery courtyard
Middle Eastern Han Dynasty
The main building is 84 cm high, 130 cm long and 114 cm wide
In 1981, The tomb of Yuzhuang No. 1 in Huaiyang County was excavated
"From the ecological intersection zone (ecotone) and edge effect to the formation of the core civilization of the prehistoric Central Plains"
Chen Liangzuo, "An Integrated Study of Chinese Archaeology and History," pp. 131-159, Institute of Historical Linguistics, 1997
This paper borrows some concepts of geography and ecology to discuss the integration of prehistoric cultures in the Central Plains and puts forward some theoretical basis. Ecological rendezvous zones refer to transition zones between two or more different communities. For example, between the forest and the grassland is a forest grassland area. Communities in the intersection area are generally more complex and heterogeneous than the adjacent communities themselves, and are the production areas of biological mutations and the places where biological diversity occurs. This phenomenon is called the marginal effect. The concept of the rendezvous zone can also be extended to geography, such as the wet and dry rendezvous zone, the water and land rendezvous zone, the mountain flat rendezvous zone, and so on. An important feature of the geographical rendezvous zone is its instability and weak ability to resist interference. The above points can explain the origin of agriculture, the spread and integration of cultures, and other phenomena.
Archaeologists argue that China's Neolithic culture can be roughly divided into seven regions: (1) the northeast of the upper reaches of the Liao River Basin; (2) the east centered on Shandong; (3) the Central Plains centered on Guanzhong, Jinnan, and western Henan; (4) the southeastern part centered on the Taihu Lake Basin; (5) the southwest centered on the two lakes and Sichuan; (6) the south of Poyang Lake and the Pearl River Delta; and (7) the west of Weishui and the upper reaches of the Yellow River. The above seven Neolithic cultures are not the same in terms of time and level of development, but the gap is not large, and each region has developed different characteristics independently. At that time, the Central Plains region was not a situation of domination. The Hongshan culture and Pengtoushan culture seem to have preceded the Central Plains region. However, the development of history is a unique cultural branch of the Central Plains, and the cultures of various places are gathered and integrated in all directions of the Central Plains, thus laying the foundation of ancient Chinese culture and becoming the core culture. Other areas, on the other hand, became the frontier areas of the Central Plains culture.
This development of Neolithic culture may be answered in terms of ecological rendezvous and marginal effects and the natural environment. The intersection zone has a phenomenon of species dominance. Marginal effects are similar to hybrid advantages in biology. The Central Plains are surrounded by other Neolithic cultures. Ecologically, each biota has a tendency to expand territory and territory. As a result, there were many marginal effects around the Central Plains. The culture of the Central Plains has chosen the strengths of each culture, thus producing a dominant culture. Other Neolithic cultures, on the other hand, could not obtain marginal effects from all directions like the Central Plains culture, thus obtaining more cultural resources. In addition, as far as the natural environment is concerned, the Central Plains north of Huaishui, in a broad sense, is the best area for ancient agriculture. It is the change of climate, and even drought and flood disasters that have become the stimulating factors for the development of agricultural civilization. The establishment of a state requires cultural and economic power, yet the establishment of political power in ancient times was almost without exception through military power. Because of the natural environment, the Central Plains culture has the richest human resources and the most war experience and military knowledge. Therefore, when China's history was about to enter the stage of the state, the Huaxia Clique completed this mission with its military strength.
The source of the text is "Research Outline of the Origin of Chinese Civilization", published by Cultural Relics Publishing House in December 2003
Institute of Archaeology, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, Research Center for Ancient Civilizations, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, ed
The pictures and descriptions are from "Han Dynasty Architectural Ming Ware Unearthed in Henan", edited by Henan Museum, 2002