Huanghua Gongdi City Urn Coffin Tomb Group
compere:
In 2021, seven archaeological discoveries in Cangzhou, led by the ruins of Renqiu Dumb Village, were selected as "100 Important Archaeological Discoveries in Hebei in a Hundred Years". Combined with this selection, what are the enlightenments for understanding the history and archaeology of Cangzhou?
Zheng Zhili:
2021 marks the 100th anniversary of the birth of modern Chinese archaeology. In accordance with the Guiding Opinions of the State Council on Further Strengthening the Work of Cultural Relics and the relevant deployment of the Hebei Provincial Cultural Relics Bureau, under the guidance of the Hebei Provincial Cultural Relics Bureau, the Hebei Provincial Cultural Relics and Archaeology Association organized the selection and promotion activities. The activities are aimed at important archaeological discoveries in Hebei related to ancient human beings, ancient societies and ancient cultural materials, including settlements, city sites, palaces, mausoleums, tombs and tombs that reflect various stages of ancient Chinese history and involve political, religious, military, scientific and technological, industrial, agricultural, architectural, transportation, water conservancy and other historical and cultural information. The 100 important archaeological discoveries in Hebei reflect the important contribution of Hebei archaeology in exploring the origin of Chinese civilization, restoring the historical development context, and displaying the brilliant achievements of Chinese civilization.
Understanding the history of Cangzhou is inseparable from local archaeology. Archaeology is the study of ancient history based on excavated or ancient relics and relics left over from ancient times. Contemporary Cangzhou is the continuation and development of ancient Cangzhou. To uphold and develop the culture with Cangzhou characteristics in the new era, it is necessary to systematically study the history and culture of Cangzhou, to profoundly grasp the historical law of social development in Cangzhou, to draw wisdom from in-depth thinking about history, and to move toward the future. In recent years, Cangzhou's archaeological work has made great achievements, extending the historical axis, enhancing historical credibility, enriching historical connotation, and activating historical scenes, which can be said to be of extraordinary significance.
What are the 7 archaeological discoveries selected by Cangzhou? What are the characteristics and reasons for each selection?
In this selection, a total of 150 shortlisted projects were selected from all walks of life. In the end, after selection and demonstration, the experts selected hundreds of important archaeological discoveries in strict accordance with the criteria of regional characteristics, major scientific value, major social impact and important position in the history of the development of archaeology in Hebei.
Seven archaeological discoveries in our city were selected, namely: renqiu dumb village site, Suning Houbai Temple site, Huanghua Gongdi city urn coffin tomb group, Xianxian Han tomb group, Huanghua Dazuozhuang salt industry site, Cangzhou old city site, Huanghua Haifeng town site.
Cangzhou's selected projects mainly have the following characteristics. First of all, it covers the whole era and the large span of time, showing the development process of Cangzhou's human culture; second, the distribution area is wide; third, the types of archaeological remains are rich, with a wide variety of settlements, city sites, tombs, salt industry sites, etc., reflecting a variety of cultural heritage composition; fourth, the pre-Qin period sites account for a relatively large proportion, highlighting the important position of Cangzhou archaeology in the fields of human origin, agricultural origin, origin and early development of Chinese civilization; fifth, many projects are major discoveries that occupy an important position in China's archaeological map. It has become a typical representative of China's major archaeological discoveries; sixth, many cultural relics have strong intrinsic relevance and systematic connotations.
What are the discoveries and archaeological experiences of the Renqiu Dumb Village site? What cultural relics of historical and cultural value have been excavated?
The ruins of Sangezhuang were once the earliest Ruins of Cangzhou and are now assigned to the Xiong'an New Area. At present, the earliest site of human activity excavated by science in Cangzhou is the site of Renqiu Dumb Village. The time span is about 5,000 years ago. According to the excavated cultural relics, the production and use of ceremonial utensils and production tools such as jade, pottery, mussel knives, pottery wheels, and pottery net pendants has become relatively common, reflecting the development of productive forces at that time. Inference from this, there is a long period of development before the productive forces and the means of production reach this level. That is to say, from the archaeological excavation of the Renqiu Dumb Village site, the history of early human activities in Cangzhou is not limited to 5,000 years, but earlier.
Zhang Zijing:
Located two kilometers west of Renqiu City and 1.5 kilometers northwest of the village, There is a hill, commonly known as "Knotty Peak", which is the location of the site. The distribution range is about 60,000 square meters, the south is the North China Petroleum Technical School, the west is the Xiaobai River flowing from north to south, and the north is Baiyangdian 15 kilometers.
The site was discovered in 1986 when the brickyards of Dumb Village were collected, and has since been investigated by cultural relics departments such as the former Cangzhou District Cultural Management Office and the Renqiu Municipal Bureau of Culture. With the approval of the State Administration of Cultural Heritage, in the spring of 1989, the Hebei Provincial Institute of Cultural Relics and the former Cangzhou Regional Cultural Management Institute jointly organized a rescue test excavation in the north of the site, and at the same time held a field archaeology training course for cultural relics cadres of some cities and counties in Cangzhou. In the summer and autumn of 1990, the excavation was again carried out, and the two excavations opened a total of 5×5 meters of 50 exploration parties, plus the expansion of the square, with a total excavation area of 1300 square meters. 130 ash pits, 7 wells and 2 tombs from different periods were found. More than 1,300 pieces of pottery, stone, bone, horn, mussel, jade and so on were unearthed.
The ruins of Renqiu Dumb Village are a site belonging to the Neolithic Post-Gang II culture. Therefore, understanding the main characteristics of the Hougang Phase II culture is conducive to expanding the horizon of observing the Longshan culture of Dumb Zhuang. Within the scope of Cangzhou, the sites of the Longshan culture currently include the ruins of Renqiu Dumb Village and the ruins of Chen Wei in Cangxian County, of which the ruins of Dumb Ridge Zhuang are state security units. In terms of the number of relics found, the site of Dumb Village is a pearl of the Longshan culture around the Bohai Sea.
The Hougang II culture belongs to the Yongsan culture. The Longshan culture is the most historically significant discovery in Chinese prehistoric archaeological research after the Yangshao culture. New discoveries in the 1990s suggest that the distribution of this culture extends up to the Ziya and Hutuo river basins of the Jizhong Plain, which is larger than previously thought. Its influence ranged from northern Henan and southern Hebei to parts of Luxi and northwestern Anhui. Except for the Taihang Mountains on the western edge, this area is located on the flat and fertile North China Plain, and the ruins of Renqiu Dumb Village are one of the more important ones.
What is the position of the archaeology of the Renqiu Dumb Village site in the archaeological history of Cangzhou or the archaeological history of North China? What is the significance?
The discovery of the Longshan Cultural Site in Dumb Village has made the archaeology community, especially the researchers of the Longshan culture, feel excited. This is the first time that the Longshan cultural site has been discovered and excavated in Cangzhou and even in the central Hebei region, which makes up for the gap in the discovery and excavation of the Longshan culture in Cangzhou and even in the central Hebei region. It is also the largest archaeological site of the Longshan culture in the Bohai Bay area of Hebei Province.
Some of the jade ceremonial vessels, pottery, mussel knives, fish hooks, etc. excavated from the site
The sites of the Dumb Village culture include the remnants of the Longshan culture, the Xia and Shang cultures, and the Western Zhou and Eastern Zhou cultures, which provide the possibility of sorting out the sequence of cultural development in the local area before three generations. The Yangshao Cultural Site of Sangozhuang in the north of it belongs to the middle Neolithic cultural site, which provides clues for exploring the origin of the Longshan culture of Dumb Village in the late Neolithic period. According to the general law of yangshao and longshan cultural inheritance, the cultural inheritance of the two is not impossible. The Longshan cultural layer of Dumb Ridge Zhuang and the lower cultural layer of Xiajiadian above it can be determined that there is a relationship between the source and flow, and the overall development context is established. With the passage of time and the emergence of new sites, it is entirely possible to establish a clearer cultural development context.
Excavations at the site of Dumb Village show that as early as the Neolithic period, the cultural exchanges of the people here have begun, just like the cultural exchanges in other regions, which have already spanned thousands of miles and reached the Eight Wastes. The Longshan culture of Dumb Village is influenced by the longshan culture of northern Henan, southern Hebei, Shandong and eastern Henan, which adds a support point to the understanding of the communication route and communication context of Longshan culture. It is to further find the lookout post and bridgehead of Longshan culture in the surrounding areas, especially to deeply help explore the possibility of extending Longshan culture to the north and docking with Longshan culture in the west in the future, further enriching the network and connotation of longshan cultural development in Hebei and even north China, and outlining the overall cultural style of Hebei and even North China in this period.
Although the absolute age of the ruins of Dumb Village is not determined, it should be between 2600 BC and 2000 BC. Equivalent to the Five Emperors era, in the Jizhong area, legends about the Five Emperors period are not uncommon. There are no wells in the Longshan cultural layer of the Dumb Village site, but city sites and wells have been found in the archaeology of the Longshan culture in other regions, which is a feature of human beings entering or about to enter the civilization period. Some of the wells in the city ruins have symmetrical foot sockets on the walls of the wells, and wooden structures have appeared. The well, which evolved into a symbol of secular life by later generations, has become an indispensable facility for people's lives during this period. This is the seed sown in the cultural field, after several degrees of wind and rain and several degrees of spring and autumn, in the face of Jinjing Yutai, people issued a moving chant such as "Reel Jinjing Sycamore Evening, A Few Trees Surprise Autumn" and "Jinjing Sycamore Autumn Leaves Yellow, Bead Curtains Do Not Roll Night Frost". During this period, people's economic life was based on primitive millet as the basis of agriculture, and pigs, dogs, cattle, goats, horses, chickens, cats and other animals were also raised. The dream of abundant grain and six animals flourishing began to be conceived and started in that era. The ruins of Dumb Ridge have seen the skeletons of wild animals such as four different elephants, spotted deer, and roe deer. At that time, the wild animals here must have run out of joyful scenes, and those stone hammers also helped people shoot at an era of abundant meat.
Among the 7 archaeological discoveries selected, there are many issues involving ancient human activities, slave society and the development of Cangzhou's salt industry, north-south integration, maritime transportation, handicrafts, folk customs and folklore, etc. Can we outline and restore the history of that time through archaeological excavations?
The ruins of Suning Houbai Temple can be divided into three phases, of which the remains of the first phase of Houbai Temple are basically the same as the remains of the second phase of Dumb Village. The discovery of the first phase of Houbai Temple has greatly enriched the connotation of the remains of the second phase of The Dumb Temple, and provided important materials for fully understanding its cultural nature. The remains of the second phase of Houbai Temple are from the early Shang period, and the remains of this period are only found in the central and eastern regions of Hebei, and their discoveries are of great significance for the study of the cultural appearance of the early Shang period in Hebei and the time and way of the early Shang culture to move north.
Dazuozhuang Tang Dynasty salt-making site is the only Tang Dynasty salt-making site currently scientifically excavated in our city, the discovery of this site fills the gap in the archaeology of the salt industry in Hebei Province, confirms the traditional salt-making process of "frying method" recorded in ancient documents, provides an important basis for studying China's ancient salt-making technology and the history of the development of the salt industry, and is of great significance to understanding the economic and social conditions at that time.
Cangzhou Old City has a long history, the pattern of the city is well preserved, clearly recognizable, and it is one of the largest existing ancient city ruins of the Tang and Song Dynasties in the North China Plain. Cangzhou Old City has a unique shape and original lying cow-shaped layout, which is obviously different from the construction method of the northern city pool mainly based on square layout in the same period, which is unique in the history of ancient Chinese city pool construction, and provides valuable physical information for the location and layout of ancient Chinese cities.
In the Jin Dynasty, the ruins of Haifeng Town were a trade distribution center and an important transportation port integrating water and land transportation, mainly porcelain, and should be the northern starting point of the "Maritime Silk Road" in the Song and Jin Dynasties, and a considerable part of the Porcelain of the Song and Jin Dynasties unearthed abroad, especially in East Asian countries, should be shipped out of Haifeng Town. Haifeng Town, together with the sites of Ningbo and Yangzhou in China, has built a geopolitical structure for the trade of ancient Chinese porcelain, which is of great significance for the study of ancient porcelain trade in East Asia.
Xianxian Han Tomb Group is a national key cultural relics protection unit, and there are 37 Han tombs in existence. The Han tomb group is large in scale, high in rank and full in level. In addition to the tombs of the princes, there were also tombs of famous courtiers such as Mao Chang and Guan Gong. From November 1993 to May 1994, with the approval of the State Administration of Cultural Heritage, the Han tomb of Lingshang Temple, one of the Han tomb groups, was excavated, and the excavated relics included clay pots, gilded bronze horses (fragments), jade, gold cakes, etc.
The urn coffin group of the Han Dynasty outside huanghua is one of the largest number of urn coffin burial groups found in China. The Urn Coffin Cemetery and the City of Gao di are both remnants of the Warring Han Dynasty. Japan, South Korea and other Northeast Asian countries have also found the same type of urn burial in the same period, which shows that the urn burial custom has a profound impact on the entire Northeast Asia region, and is also circumstantial evidence for the formation and development of the early "Maritime Silk Road".
The relics unearthed from the Longshan culture of Renqiu Dumb Village show that the agricultural production here has a considerable scale and occupies a dominant position, the animal husbandry and pottery industry are relatively developed, and fishing and hunting still occupy a considerable proportion. Divination relics excavated at the site include the shoulder blades of cattle and sheep, which can be determined that the worship of the gods was deeply rooted in people's hearts at that time. Under the shroud of the gods, people rely on divination to arrange activities, and in the warning of the cracks in the bones of the beasts, they carefully walk through the sunrise and sunset to resolve the storms and waves of disasters and disasters. These outline the scenes of people's lives at that time, and provide a real and reliable historical basis for the first time for archaeological research in the Cangzhou area. It once again proves that Chinese civilization does not originate from one point, but is a multi-faceted development, a form full of stars and blossoms on all sides.
Pottery and lime firing were important handicrafts at that time. No traces of the use of white ash have been found at the site of Dumb Village, perhaps due to the lack of resources or the absence of buildings. In 1950, in the mural tomb of the late Eastern Han Dynasty in Wangdu, Hebei Province, traces of writing with white ash were found, indicating that white ash had been used by people in Hebei in the late Eastern Han Dynasty. During the Ming and Qing dynasties, with the widespread use of bricks and tiles, white ash became a common building material used by people in the north, which has been repeatedly proved in the ruins found.
Combined with other archaeological data, the socio-economic foundation of the mutezhuang site has obviously been greatly improved during this period, and the social organization structure has also undergone tremendous changes. High-grade settlements of city sites have emerged; the popularity of round single-room houses in ordinary settlements reflects that monogamous individual small families have become the basic units of society; barbaric customs such as human martyrdom still exist. But the degree of its civilization has reached the threshold of the era of civilization, and the dawn of civilization has illuminated the settlement of the dumb people, who are looking forward to embracing more civilizations and throwing off the vicissitudes of the vicissitudes that cannot be looked back.
Today, in the place where we live, thinking about describing the state of life of the ancestors more than 5,000 years ago, tracing the wind, frost, rain, snow, flowers and flowers of that era, is a heart-shaking dialogue with the ancients, is the comfort and romance of traveling through time and space, and is an extraordinary act of turning silence into heat.
These 7 projects were selected as "Hebei Centennial 100 Important Archaeological Discoveries", what is the great significance for the historical research of Cangzhou? Can we sort out the general context of the cultural development of Cangzhou over the past five thousand years?
The North China Plain on the Yannan Coast is the geographical location of Cangzhou, and the archaeological discoveries in this land are an integral part of the construction of a complete Chinese civilization. As far as archaeological excavations are concerned, the current scientific excavations of Cangzhou have a history of about 5,000 years, and it is difficult to complete them in a few words. In short, the geographical environment of Cangzhou is the North China Plain with a temperate monsoon climate, which has changed greatly over the past 5,000 years, and the ancestors first lived by the water and settled on the highlands next to Baiyangdian and the main rivers.
During the Western Zhou Dynasty, Cangzhou was basically an area of activity for the Shang people. During the Western Zhou Dynasty, the artifacts unearthed in Cangzhou were many different from those of the Zhou people in the Zhouyuan region, and were extremely close to the cultural relics excavated in the Handan area of the Zhanghe River Valley. After the fall of the Han Dynasty, Cangzhou's rivers were longitudinal and developed, and major rivers such as the Zhanghe, Weihe, Tuotuohe, and Fuyang rivers promoted agricultural development, agricultural civilization gradually developed, and Cangzhou began to have larger cities. During the Sui, Tang and Song and Jin dynasties, the Grand Canal and maritime trade were of great significance to the development of Cangzhou. Since the fifth generation, the old city of Cangzhou has played a great role in border defense. In the middle of the Ming Dynasty, the whole country generally began to build brick cities. There are also many Ming and Qing dynasty brick kilns in Cangzhou, which are officially fired bricks and tiles.
In addition, the yellow river has a huge impact on Cangzhou, with a variety of elements such as diversion and alluvial, which also affect climate change, human activities, and cultural characteristics. In the early days of Cangzhou, it was a Yellow River civilization with a developed economy. After the Tang and Song dynasties, various factors caused the economic center of gravity to gradually shift southward, and Cangzhou also entered the era of Grand Canal civilization.
These important archaeologies in Cangzhou have benchmarking significance. For example, the ruins of Renqiu Dumb Village provide evidence for the study of the socio-economic culture of Cangzhou. Several archaeological sites have played a supporting role in the historical research of the entire civilization period of Cangzhou, and have taken a step forward in the study of restoring the history of Cangzhou civilization.
Neolithic culture is not a blank spot in Cangzhou. The people of Gucangzhou live and produce locally along the water system. In addition, bricks have been excavated from the ruins of the Tao Temple, which may be the earliest discovery. This shows that there were bricks in the Yongsan period.
In the ruins of Dumb Village, more fish bones, snail shells, mussel shells, turtle shells, etc. have been found, which seems to tell us a secret - there was no shortage of water here. Before the middle of the Warring States period, the lower reaches of the Yellow River were frequently diverted and naturally flooded. In the past few thousand years, the Yellow River has flowed through the Hebei Plain (including Jizhong) and entered the sea on the west bank of the Bohai Sea, and the folk proverb of "Thirty Years of Hedong and Thirty Years of Hexi" in later generations has traced the flooding of the Yellow River during this period. Is it possible that this site is on the edge of the Yellow River? Or, this site is related to the Baiyangdian water system at that time. The absence of wells in the Longshan cultural relics of Dumb Village may hint at such a problem.
After the Yellow River civilization, major historical events such as the "Anshi Rebellion" were taken as a turning point, and history changed greatly. Agriculture in the south also developed with the southward migration of the population of the north, especially the southward movement of technicians and agricultural production personnel. It turned out that the economy of the south was not as good as that of the north, and after the "Anshi Rebellion", it brought the economy and culture of the Central Plains and promoted the prosperity of the economy and culture of the south, coupled with the improvement of agricultural technology in the south, such as the improvement of the Jiangdong plough, which greatly promoted the agricultural production there, and the southern culture also radiated to the whole country. Our current ploughing sticks still have the smell of ploughing sticks in the southern Tang Dynasty.
◆ Chief Planner: Zhang Huizhen Zhou Honghong
◆ Speaker: Zheng Zhili, vice chairman of the CPPCC Qiu Municipal Committee and archaeologist
Zhang Zijing is a party history worker and an expert in local culture research in Qiu City
◆ Moderator: Qi Lingxiao
◆ Executive: Liu Wei Gao Haitao
Source: Cangzhou Daily