Zhou Jian: Let the flower of youth bloom in the "archaeological field"

Zhou Jian (first from right) leads students in archaeological excavations (photo courtesy of interviewee)

Youth Small Archives

Name: Zhou Jian

Age: 33 years old

Hometown: Ma'anshan City, Anhui Province

Job position: Archaeology teacher, School of Humanities, Henan University of Science and Technology

Youth Voices

Luoyang is a city with very rich historical and cultural resources. Every archaeologist in his archaeological career will inevitably "meet unexpectedly" with Luoyang. As an archaeology teacher, I hope to use my professional knowledge to cultivate more young archaeologists for Luoyang, so that the flower of youth can bloom in the "archaeological field".

"Some time ago, the important progress of the 'Archaeology China' major project will focus on important archaeological discoveries in the Han and Tang Dynasties, and the site of Zhengpingfang in Luoyang City of sui and Tang dynasties has attracted attention. As a young archaeologist, I am very honored to be able to lead the students to participate in this excavation. Yesterday, Zhou Jian, an archaeology teacher at the School of Humanities of Henan University of Science and Technology, said excitedly.

Jian Zhou holds a Ph.D. in Archaeology from the School of History of Zhengzhou University, where he majored in pre-Qin archaeology. In June 2019, Zhou Jian came to Henan University of Science and Technology to teach, when the school's archaeology department was just established for a year, giving young teachers like him the opportunity and stage to "show their fists and feet".

In 2020, as the first batch of archaeology students of the school reached the third year internship stage, after many contacts, Zhou Jian led 21 students of the 2018 archaeology class to the Sui Tang Luoyang City Zhengpingfang site for the first time to participate in the excavation. Zhengpingfang is one of the important lifangs in the Luoyang District of the Sui and Tang Dynasties, and it is also the location of the Taiping Princess's residence in the literature, and the students are very excited to learn that they can participate in the excavation here.

Excitement is excitement, and there are many problems. Zhou Jian said that during the excavation process, a large pit appeared in the area of the remains of the Taiping Princess's residence. Looking at the big pit in front of them and the stones at the bottom of the pit, everyone was very confused. In order to discover the "identity" of the pit, Zhou Jian led the students to continue the excavation. When one big pit after another was connected into pieces, everyone suddenly realized: it turned out that this was the pond garden in the courtyard of the Taiping Princess. "Archaeology is about experiencing the joy of discovery in excavation." Zhou Jian said.

After that, Zhou Jian led 16 students of the 2019 archaeology class to the site of Zhengpingfang again, mainly participating in the excavation of the southwest corner and southeast part of Zhengpingfang. In the process of this excavation, we not only found the base site of the Taiping Princess's residence, but also found two house sites and the remains of xuanlang in the area of the suspected Zhengpingfang Guozijian base site. At the same time, a medium-sized kiln workshop was also discovered, which was also the first kiln site excavated in the zhengpingfang site. "This should be a temporary brick-making workshop, built specifically for the construction of the Guozijian." Zhou Jian said that this is the first time he and his students have excavated the kiln site, thanks to the guidance of teachers at the Luoyang Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology.

In addition, many architectural components such as barrel tiles and cornice tiles have been excavated from the site, as well as exquisite porcelain, pottery and other daily necessities. "Usually, I tell students about tooth bricks, loose water bricks, edge bricks, top bricks, etc., and everyone is confused. After the excavations in the field, everything was clear. Zhou Jian said, "The students have gained a lot in the excavation. These relics and relics help us understand the scale and layout of the tang dynasty and the life of the ancients at that time. ”

In practice, students learned field archaeology such as distinguishing soil color, finding edges, and analyzing layer relationships. Moreover, the summer archaeology practice team of Henan University of Science and Technology led by Zhou Jian has achieved good results, won the provincial college and secondary school student volunteer summer culture and science and technology health "three to the countryside" social practice activities outstanding team, excellent individual and other awards, and won the third prize in the "Commemoration of the Centenary of Henan Archaeology" photography competition. "I see everyone's efforts in my eyes, and I have a sense of mission to lead students to grow and progress." Zhou Jian said.

Watching the students grow and progress, Zhou Jian was very satisfied and pleased. "I hope that through my efforts, more young talents will be cultivated for Luoyang, and the flower of youth will bloom on the 'field of hope'." Zhou Jian said.

Journalist's voice

Luoyang is the fertile land of archaeology, and Luoyang is the stage for youth. It has the advantage of rich historical and cultural resources, and there are various policies to support the construction of youth-friendly cities. "Youth" and "archaeology", strong and powerful, Luoyang's young archaeologists are standing on the "field of hope" at this moment. (Luo Bao Rong Media Luoyang Network reporter Liu Jiayi trainee reporter Liang Xiaoyu)