As we all know, China has a 5,000-year history of civilization, and the torch has been passed down to this day, so when and where did the earliest China appear? Shanxi archaeology found an ancient site, dating back more than 4300 years, unveiled the mystery of the earliest China, but also unearthed two texts, one of which is still unsolved, at least quite controversial!
The direct written record of the so-called "China" first appeared on the Bronze Ware of the Western Zhou Dynasty 3,000 years ago. On a cultural relic excavated in 1963 from the Time of King Wu of the Western Zhou Dynasty, there is an inscription "Yu Qizhai Zi Zhong", in which the word "Zhong or" is the meaning of "China", that is, "central domain" or "central gang".
Therefore, the earliest China should have two points: one is the emergence of the state, and the other is the concept of geography and culture in the center, that is, the country in the center, just like the name of the "heavenly kingdom" that we are familiar with.
The historical Xia Dynasty is the standard central dynasty, so will the Erlitou site representing the Xia Dynasty be the earliest China? However, the Erlitou site dates back more than 3,700 years, was the capital of the middle of the Xia Dynasty, and is far from a 5,000-year history, so the Erlitou site is neither the earliest Xia capital nor the earliest China.
He Yi, a researcher at the Institute of Archaeology of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, believes that the Xia Dynasty and the "earliest China" are related, but not a concept.
So where was the earliest China? In the 1970s, in the Linfen area of Shanxi, archaeologists discovered an ancient site, the Tao Temple Site, more than 4,300 years ago, unveiling the mystery of the earliest China!
Since 1978, in the south of Taosi Village, Xiangfen County, Shanxi Province, after three generations of tireless excavations by archaeologists, one of the earliest capital cities of China has reappeared. The ruins of Tao Temple are the sites of the Longshan Culture Tao Temple in the middle reaches of the Yellow River in China, with an area of more than 3 million square meters, with complete capital city functions, the ruins of the inner and outer city walls, the unprecedented scale of the city site, the matching king tomb (the largest prehistoric tomb in the middle reaches of the Yellow River), the world's earliest observatory, the magnificent palace, the independent large-scale storage area, the handicraft area under official management, etc. The entire capital city is fully functional, and it can be clear that this is the capital of a country.
Equally important, in the tomb of the middle period of the Tao Temple, a gui ruler measuring the length of the sun's shadow was unearthed, which the scholar Gui ruler interpreted as representing "in the middle of the earth" - generally referring to the geographical center. According to the dating data, it can be said that at least 4,000 years ago, people's consciousness of "the earth" was in the southern part of Shanxi where the Tao Temple site is located.
He Yi: Standing in the concept of the earth and the state, the tao temple site is the earliest China, in other words, it can also be called the original China.
According to Western civilization standards, writing is the key measure of civilization. Until now, the West has always believed that the oracle bone is the beginning of China's initial mature writing, but archaeologists have found two scripts in the Tao Temple site!
In 1984, archaeologists found a fragment of a flat pot, the fragment of stubble is painted red around the stubble, above the Zhu Shu two words (see the figure below), one of the words was confirmed as "wen", the other word has not yet been solved, experts have "Yao", "Easy", "Fate" and other explanations, but each has a great logical controversy.
Although only two scripts have been found at the site of the Tao Temple, one of which has not yet been solved, it confirms that more than 900 years before the oracle bone, China has begun to use writing, and there are already relatively mature scripts, which strongly refutes the fallacy of Western scholars that "there is no writing before the oracle bone, only meaningless inscriptions".
However, this raises another question: Who was the king of the Tao Temple site?
The Chronicle of the Capital city of the Zongguo Yun: "The Kingdom of Tang, sealed by the descendants of Emperor Yao, Taiyuan County, Han Dynasty, west of the Hengshan Mountains of Taihang in ancient Jizhou, with Jinshui to its south." The Book of Han and Geographical Records says: "Jinyang Ben Tang Kingdom, Yao Shi capital here." "Shang Shu Shu Evidence": "Yao wei Tianzi shi first moved to Jinyang, and then moved to Pingyang Province." "Poetry Spectrum": "Yao first lived in Jinyang, and later moved to Hedong." ”
There is a saying in the history books that "Yao Du Pingyang", combined with the geographical location of the Tao Temple site, it is not difficult to determine that the king of the Tao Temple site is the ancient Yao Emperor. This is also supported by ancient place names, Taiyuan is known as the "Northern Tang", and the purpose should be to distinguish Linfen's imperial capital "Tangdi Pingyang".
In addition, clues such as the earliest astronomical observation system of heliostats found in the tao temple site, the earliest dragon totem in the Central Plains, and the time of more than 4300 years ago also point to the king of the Tao Temple site to the historical Yao Emperor. It can be seen that the Yao Emperor in ancient mythology is not fictional.
Of course, the conclusion that the tao temple site is the "earliest China", but also to mark the four words "so far" in front, because before the Yao Emperor there are some ancient mythological figures, such as the Yan Emperor, the Yellow Emperor and others, whether they have ever existed, whether they have established a capital city, have the concept of a central country, etc., but also need to see further archaeological discoveries.
In the author's opinion, the ancient mythological figures can be remembered in the history books, may not be empty, some of them should exist, but they have not yet been discovered.