Abstract: Since about 8,000 years ago, in the Sites of Gaomiao, Niuheliang and Lingjiatan, there have been lowland "Heavenly Ladder" and mountain peak "Circular Hill" and other Heavenly Relics, indicating that in the Neolithic Yangtze River, Yellow River and Xiliao River Basins, there were already relatively complex cosmology, clear concepts of worship and heavenly behavior, and then inherited, blended and developed, continuing to the Xia, Shang, and Even the entire ancient China after the Qin and Han Dynasties. The concept of respecting heaven has also developed simultaneously with ancient astronomy, which has had a profound impact on china's ancient political system, philosophical thought, science and technology, etc., and has become the core cultural gene of the Chinese nation like ancestor worship.
Keywords: Chinese Neolithic Qitian, Respect for Heaven, Gaomiao, Niuheliang, Lingjiatan
One
"Worshiping heaven" or worshipping "heaven" and "God" is one of the core characteristics of Chinese civilization, and the relevant rites were completed in the Western Zhou Dynasty. In the concept of the Zhou people, "heaven" is supreme, "heaven", "heaven", "haotian", "emperor", "mintian", "god", "haotian god", "emperor god", etc., all of which refer to the ultimate master or supreme god of heaven and earth. The King of Zhou was called "The Son of Heaven", ruled the "Heavenly Lord", destroyed the merchants and called "Heavenly Punishment"[1], and was called "Mandate of Heaven" [2], and the Zhou people had a strong idea of respecting Heaven, the Concept of Mandate of Heaven, or the worship of "Heaven"[3], and the Worship of Heaven was the highest level of sacrifice rites of the Zhou people. "Zhou Li Chunguan Zongbo": "Worship the Hao Heavenly God with Zen, worship the Sun, Moon, and Stars with Shi Chai, and worship the Si Zhong, Si Ming, Wind Master, and Rain Master with the Qiao Fire", these "Heavenly Gods" who are worshipped obviously take "Hao Tian God" as the highest level [4], or these other heavenly gods are just different aspects of the Hao Heavenly God, because the sun, moon, stars, etc. are actually only part of the "heaven". The Zhou Yuan Oracle and Zhou Jinwen also have records of "telling the heavens"[5].
The Zhou Li (周礼) refers to the "Zen Ceremony" of the God of Heaven, which means to burn firewood and raise smoke for nine days, as stated in the Rites[6]. The "Real Firewood" of the Sun, Moon, and Stars, the "Que Li Qi" of the Qisi Zhong, the Si Ming, the Wind Master, and the Rain Master, or the Real Animal Body, or the Burning Jade Vessel actually have the content of burning wood and raising smoke [7]. The Zhou Li also explicitly states that the winter solstice day is held on the "circular hill",[8] while the Book of Rites says that the heavens should be sacrificed at the "Tai Tan",[9] and the "suburbs" should be held in the southern suburbs to worship the Emperor of Heaven.[10] The Book of Poetry, the Book of Yizhou, and the Chinese records that when the suburbs were worshipped, the ancestors of the Zhou people were sacrificed with houji[11]. However, the worship of heaven should not only be in the southern suburbs, nor should it be in the man-made hills and altars, but also on the top of the mountain, which should also be an important form since ancient times.[12] According to the Zhou Rites, the Worship of Heaven belongs to the Act of the Son of Heaven[13], but the Eastern Zhou Ritual System gradually relaxed, and the princes and others also began to worship the Heavens[14], and it is impossible to exclude the folk belief and worship of the Heavens. Since the Fall of the Qin and Han Dynasties, the practice of worshiping heaven and the tradition of worshiping heaven have been continued, becoming the ritual witness and ideological source of the legitimacy of many regimes.
Similar to the Zhou people's concept of respecting heaven, it already existed in the Shang Dynasty, and the "God", "Ling Rain", "Ling Wind", "Ling Lei", "Descending I Wei (馑)", "Descending Disasters", and "Descending Diseases" in the Oracle Bone Of Yin Ruins have been condescending to determine major events such as weather, annual success, and blessings[15], which is already the nature of the highest god [16]. [17] The words "Heavenly Emperor" and "Heavenly Age" in the Bu Ci indicate that there are already personified gods. The Shangshu Tang Oath "There are many sins of Xia, and the Destiny of Heaven is destroyed", "The Xia clan is guilty, fear God, and dare not be wrong", "The Book of Poetry and Shang Ode", "The Destiny of Heaven Xuanbird, descending to give birth to the Shang", "Emperor Lizi sheng shang", all obviously regard "heaven" and "God" as one thing. [18] This can even be traced back to the Xia Dynasty or even earlier.
Compared with the rich records, the remains of the Xia, Shang, and Zhou dynasties identified by field archaeology are still very limited.[19] But in fact, the remains related to the heavens have been seen everywhere as early as the Neolithic Age. This paper focuses on the three typical sites of Gaomiao, Niuheliang and Lingjiatan, and makes a slight analysis of the remnants of the Heavenly Cult and the concept of respecting the Heavens in the Neolithic Era of China.
Two
The Gaomiao site is located at the northwest edge of the Anjiang Basin in Hongjiang City, Hunan Province, on the first-class terraces on the north bank of the Yuanjiang River, with a total area of about 30,000 square meters. A large sacrificial place belonging to the Gaomiao culture was found in the lower level of the site, with a restored area of about 1,000 square meters and an age of about 7800 to 7000 years. The sacrificial site has four square pillar holes with a side length of about 1 meter, and excavators speculate that it should have been a "row of shelf ladder-like buildings", as well as dozens of sacrificial pits and outbuildings. Bones and shells of animals such as cattle, sheep, deer, turtles, and fish that had been burned were unearthed in the sacrificial pits, and there were human bones in individual pits. The excavated white pottery is very exquisite, with intricate patterns stamped on it, which excavators speculate is a sacrificial vessel. The patterns on the white pottery include the "heavenly ladder" image that can correspond to the main building of the sacrificial site, as well as the eight-pointed star pattern, the fangs god face pattern, the sun pattern, the bird pattern, etc. [20] (Fig. 1, 1-4, 6).
Figure 1 White pottery stamp pattern at the Gaomiao Temple and Tangjiagang ruins
1~4、6. Gaomiao(91T1015:16、04T101613:1、04T101613:34、05T11-0224:13、04T111613:10) 5. Tang Jiagang (T2310:55)
The "row of frame ladder-like buildings" supported by the pillar hole of about 1 meter long on the side of the Gaomiao ruins should be very high, which corresponds to the "heavenly ladder" pattern on the white pottery, plus the patterns related to the "heaven" such as the god's face pattern and the bird pattern, as well as the animal pits and human animal pits that may be buried after the sacrifice, which is enough to restore a credible scene of heavenly sacrifice. The core of this type of celestial relic is a very high "ladder", and the object of worship should be the sacredness represented by the image of the god face, the sun and the octagonal star. The ruins of the High Temple are located on terraces that are not very high, which may be the reason for the construction of the "Ladder of Heaven" to reach the sky. Judging from the white pottery images, there are at least three kinds of such "ladders", namely the "ladder que" type (Figure 1, 1) at the top of the triangle, the wire tower type with three horizontal frames (Figure 1, 2), and the pyramid type with two "antennas" obliquely out.
The most prominent feature of the god's face is the huge mouth with one or two pairs of fangs that seems to swallow everything, and the wings are generally extended on both sides. From the image, it is slightly equal to or even higher than the "ladder" and is wider. He Gang's presumption of such a vicious behemoth as a "flying dragon" is more convincing,[21] but because it depicts a positive image, the body of the dragon cannot be seen. In the four corners of some dragon mouths, each has an arc side quadrangle with arc patterns, which is also found in the core of the octagonal star pattern. Dragon figures are often held between a pair of "ladders" or held up by a bird (Figure 1, 2).
Some octagonal star composite patterns are quite complex: the center is an arc-edged quadrangle, the outer circle, and then the outer octagonal star pattern, the outermost is a multi-circumference circle and so on. He Gang believes that this indicates that the "cosmology of the heavenly circle place" had been created at that time[22]; like the inscriptions of the glyphs "ten", "well", and "ya" excavated at the Bengbu Shuangdun site at the same time or a little later, it may have indeed expressed the concept of four squares and five places, eight squares and nine palaces, and the heavenly circle place. The eight-pointed star pattern of the high temple, as well as other "ten" patterns, diagonal lines, eight square patterns, and sixteen star patterns, should be the symbols of the universe and the earth, and these eight-pointed star patterns are often held up by phoenixes. There is also a saying that the octagonal star represents the celestial pole.[24]
Underneath some eight-pointed star-patterned images, there are patterns similar to the arms and body of a person, which together resemble a humanoid "god" with a composite pattern of eight-pointed stars on the head (Fig. 1, 4), reminiscent of the description of people in the Huainanzi Spiritual Training that "the circle of the head is also like the sky, and the square of the foot is also like the earth". The character "tian" in the oracle bone and gold script is considered to be a round head with a human form standing on the front and a symbolic canopy, so this concept of tangible "heaven" [25] may have been formed during the Period of the Gaomiao Culture. Even the character "Yuan" in the Yuanjiang River, where the Site of the Gaomiao Temple is located, may be related to the word "Tian" [26]. On the white pottery of the Tangjiagang culture, which is later than the Gaomiao culture and inherits it, there are more regular eight-pointed star patterns, each of which has a figure similar to the human body and limbs in each of its four parts, and the "head" shares a central four-pointed star pattern [27], which should belong to the development form of the humanoid "god" of the high temple (Fig. 1, 5).
Three
Located at the junction of Jianping, Lingyuan and Kazuo counties and cities in western Liaoning, the Niuheliang Ruins Group is distributed at least 20 sites on the ridge of the beam ridge more than 10 kilometers from north to south, and the most important remains such as "temples, altars, and tombs" belong to the late to late Hongshan culture[28], about 5700-5000 years ago[29]. The second largest site, which covers an area of nearly 6,000 square meters, has a multi-storey altar mound made of stone, dating from early to late. According to stratigraphic relations and excavated pottery, the lower mounds of No. 4 are the earliest; the upper mounds are dated to a pair of round altars (Z4B1, Z4B2), the square altar (Z4A) that breaks the two altars in the fourth mound, and the third mound (Yuantan Z3) on the west side of it are dated again[30], and the first and second mounds (Fangtan Z1 and Z2) west of No. 3 Mounds may also be roughly at this time[31]; the burial age of breaking these mounds and altars is the latest (Figures 2 and 3).
Fig. 2 Floor plan of the ruins of tombs No. 4 and No. 5 at the second site of Niuheliang
(The picture is based on the "Niuheliang - Hongshan Cultural Site Excavation Report (1983-2003)" with a redrawn picture)
Fig. 3 Floor plan of the remains of the first to third mounds at the second site of the Niuheliang
The earliest no. 4 mound lower mound, has found 10 tombs, divided into four rows, can see the shape of the tomb are round, six or seven meters in diameter, surrounded by a circle of bottomless pottery cylindrical vessels, the mound tiled rubble, excavated pottery tower-shaped vessels; there is a tomb in the center of each mound, some with exquisite burials with covered pottery urns, oblique cylindrical jade and so on. These circular stone mounds located on the mountain beams are easy to associate with the "circular mound" or "temple of heaven" of the later heavens; the barrel-shaped vessels on the perimeter of the tomb are vertically connected above and below, which should also be related to the communication between heaven and earth; although the tower-shaped vessels on the tomb have the saying of "ancestral" shaped vessels[32], but the upper and lower connections, the small and large, do not rule out that they are smoker cover utensils placed on the firewood during the sacrifice; the tomb in the center of each tomb may belong to the witch tomb of the heavens, when it has the nature of matching heaven or sacrifice. The slanted cylindrical jade that accompanies the burial is straight up and down, and may be a heavenly prop for witches. However, there were as many as 10 such small altars at that time, which may be the result of the crowds of people from different areas in the vicinity who gathered in this sacred place and held their own rituals.
A pair of round altars (Z4B1 and Z4B2) on the upper level of the fourth mound, each with three steps, the outer edge of each step is composed of standing stones to form boundary piles, the altar surface is piled with stones, and the diameter of the outer stone boundary pile circles is about 19 and 15 meters respectively. On the inside of the inner stone boundary pile circle, a circle of pottery cylindrical vessels was erected, and there were also terracotta tower-shaped vessels in the middle of the altar. From the east side of the circular altar (Z4B2), its east side extends to the south of the stone east wall, intersecting with the stone south wall, if the west side of the round altar (Z4B1) south of the original so, then the whole is the structure of the north circle south. It is very likely that the round altar is dedicated to the heavens, the square altar altar, or as an ancillary facility of the round altar. The area of the altar is much larger than that of the lower altar, and there are only two, or it represents the emergence of two larger groups of sacrifices, and there is a clear tendency to centralize the power of sacrifice. There is no tomb in the center of the altar, probably to highlight the sanctity of the object of worship itself.
Later, it probably formed a pattern centered on the No. 3 circular Ōtsuka Altar (Z3), with a square altar (Z4A) to the east, a square Ōtsuka (Z2) to the west, and a mound tomb area on the outside of the west. The structure of the No. 3 altar is similar to that of the previous round altar, except that the diameter of the outer stone boundary pile circle is expanded to about 22 meters, and the diameter of the inner stone boundary pile circle is about 11 meters, and the center of the altar surface is the highest. The side length of the square altar (Z4A) of the fourth mound on the east side has been restored to more than 12 meters. This circle and square altar may be used to sacrifice heaven and earth, respectively, and the main altar is to worship heaven and earth. Feng Shi considered the altar to be "the most complete cosmological illustration of gaitian in the prehistory period seen so far",[33] and noted that the outer (outer balance) diameter of the circular altar (circular mound) was exactly twice the diameter of the inner perimeter (inner scale), which was exactly the same as the ratio of the outer and inner balances shown in the Seven Balances Diagram in the Zhou Hip Arithmetic Classic. Guo Dashun said that the altar "resembles the circular mound of the Temple of Heaven in Beijing during the Ming and Qing dynasties". If this is the case, then the astronomical ideas shown in the structure of the Oxhe Liang Circle Altar have also been gradually developed and matured, because the previous round altars (Z4B1, Z4B2) on the upper level of the fourth tomb have not yet seen such a ratio. Further, the area of the Altar No. 3 was further enlarged, and there was only one, which may be a reflection of the integration of society near the Ngau Ho Leung into a sacrificial group. In the center of the Large Square Tomb (Z2) next to the altar is the large tomb M1 with the highest level of Niuheliang, whose owner may be the Great Witch of Heaven and Earth. The large and medium-sized tombs of the Dafang Tomb (Z2) and the west side of the mound, or other different levels of witchcraft, constitute the witch worship group.
The burial items of these tombs are basically exquisite jade, in addition to the oblique cylindrical vessels, bi, dragons, phoenixes, cloud-shaped vessels, turtle shells, etc. should also be related to the heavens. Jade bi is considered to be a ritual vessel in the Zhou Dynasty literature[36], as Zheng Xuan said, "Bi round like heaven", Bi may have been used in the Hongshan culture period, especially the small number of regular round hole round bi, and the most typical round hole round bi of The Hongshan culture may be a symbolic synthesis of "heaven round place", similar to the Luoshu jade version in Lingjiatan. The jade dragon is believed to resemble the larvae of insects such as pigs, bears, or cicadas, and whatever it looks like, its essence should be that of the dragon, plus the jade phoenix, which is related to "heaven"; and some of the jade dragons in the Hongshan culture also have fangs,[37] but they are far less large than the fangs of the flying dragon represented on the white pottery of the Gaomiao Temple. The cloud-shaped jade or symbolizing the Big Dipper Tianxuan. The jade turtle shell may be the same as the jade turtle shell in Lingjiatan and the turtle shell in JiaHu, which contains the cosmology of the "heavenly round place" with the round back armor elephant heaven and the square flat belly carapace shaped earth. In addition, the jade man caressed his chest with both hands and bent his legs slightly, which looked very pious, which was likely to be a true portrayal of the Heavenly Witch.
Of course, in addition to the remains of the heavens, Niuheliang should also have the remains of the sacrifice of the land, the goddess, the ancestors, etc., which will not be repeated here.
Four
The Lingjiatan ruins are located on the hilly land on the north bank of the Yuxi River in Hanshan, Anhui, with a total area of about 1.4 million square meters, and the main remains belong to the Lingjiatan culture, dating from about 5600 to 5300 years ago. An altar remain was found in the north-central part of the site, restored or nearly rectangular, covering an area of about 1,200 square meters. The altar is made of artificial padding, with a layer of pure soil at the bottom, a dense layer of small stones and adhesives in the middle, and a mixed layer of small pebbles, small pebbles and clay on the top. On the altar, several small stone circles and 3 small rectangular sacrificial pits were found, and the sacrificial pits contained pottery, stone urns, poultry bones, etc. There is also an oval "tomb" numbered M1 with red-burned earth particles, and three pieces of jade, one stone "bi", and several pieces of jade ornaments have been unearthed, which Shuozhi believes may also be of the nature of a sacrificial pit. In the southeast corner of the altar there are remnants of braised earth and thick grass and wood ash, and between the altar and the residential area in the southeast direction there is a large distribution area of red clay block architectural remains, excavators speculate that the former belongs to the remnants of the burning sacrifice, and the latter may be the remains of the "temple". Dozens of tombs were found in the south of the altar, buried around the altar, especially the large tombs are in the south of the altar, it is speculated that it should be at the same time and closely related to the altar, along with the plates in the burial, turtle shells, turtle-shaped vessels, bi, "birds", dragons, people and other forms of jade [41], as well as the jade people in the sacrificial pit, stone "bi", etc., all have a certain relationship with "heaven".
The most important jade in Lingjiatan is the rectangular jade plate excavated from 87M4, which is engraved with an octagonal star pattern in the central circle, and the second circle is divided into eight straight lines and eight equal parts, each part is engraved with an outward radiating arrow shape, and the second circle radiates four arrow shapes to the four corners, and the four sides of the jade plate are drilled with 5, 5, 4, and 9 small holes (Figure 4, 1). Chen Jiujin and Zhang Jingguo believe that the four squares and eight sides of the jade version are related to the four elephants, the bagua and the seasons, and the number of small holes on the four sides coincides with the "Luo Shu" as the "Luo Shu Yu Edition". Qian Boquan directly regarded it as a disk containing the cosmology of "heavenly circle place" and "static heavenly movement". Feng Shi also compared it with the style plate, believing that it embodied the concept of four squares and five places, eight squares and nine palaces, and the heavenly circle place. Now we know that this "Luo Shuyu Edition" is in the same line as the eight-pointed star pattern of the High Temple. The jade turtle shell excavated from the same tomb as the jade version has a slightly rounded back carapace and a more square abdomen carapace, both of which have small holes drilled to connect with each other, or are related to the cosmology of the "heavenly circle place", and it is not excluded that it is used for turtle occupation in the same way as the turtle shells of Jia Hu and Wang Yin. The 3 pieces of jade turtle-shaped artifacts excavated from the largest tomb in Lingjiatan, 07M23, some of which also have jade sticks in them, and the excavator Zhang Jingguo clearly pointed out that they should be turtle occupancy tools.
Figure 4 Jade artifacts unearthed from the Lingjiatan tomb
1. Jade Edition (87M4:30) 2. Jade Eagle (98M29:6)
The jade "eagle" unearthed from Lingjiatan 98M29 is also very important, it has an eight-pointed star pattern in the circle in the chest and abdomen, and there is a beast head on each wing (Figure 4, 2), which the excavators called the pig's head, some people say it is the bear's head. The image of the pig is believed to be related to the Beidou. In fact, this shape is very close to the image of the eight-pointed star and the dragon held by the phoenix on the white pottery of the High Temple, if so, then the "eagle" on this jade may be "phoenix", and the head of the beast may be the head of the "dragon". The discovery of the 98M16 Jade Dragon is a clear proof of the existence of a dragon image in Lingjiatan. The giant jade "pig" found above the 07M23 tomb filling soil is not impossible to be regarded as the head of the jade dragon. There are many Lingjiatan jade or stone bi, although most individuals are small, but there are also larger bi with an outer diameter of more than 12 cm (such as 98M25:1), so there should be a real behavior of using bi to worship the sky. 98M29 also found 3 pieces of jade people, other tombs have also been found, chest and knee-bending devotion gesture and Hongshan culture people resemble gods, as a witch phenomenon.
On the whole, the main nature of the Lingjiatan altar should be the heavens, and the tombs on the south side of the altar should also be mainly related to the Heavenly Witch Group. The relics of lingjiatan ancestral heaven should basically belong to the category of high temples, such as the terrain is low and flat, the sacrifice sites are roughly rectangular rather than circular, and all have deep meanings of eight-pointed star patterns. Although Lingjiatan has not found any clear "ladder" relics such as the High Temple, excavators believe that a large block of red-burned earth in the southeast direction of the altar should be regarded as a "temple" remains, and the possibility of buildings such as "ladders" cannot be ruled out. On the other hand, there are many similarities between the Lingjiatan culture and the jade of the late Hongshan culture[46], such as the jade people, jade dragons, jade turtles, jade oblique mouth utensils, as well as rounded corners and slightly square jade bi and jade lianbi, etc., most of which reflect the absorption of spiritual factors such as the Lingjiatan culture's cosmology and sacrificial beliefs of the Hongshan culture,[47], while the jade turtle, jade oblique mouthpiece and stone qi show the reverse influence of the Lingjiatan culture on the Hongshan culture.
Five
We can divide the typical ancestral relics of the above three sites into two categories, namely the lowland "heavenly ladder" class represented by the high temple and the mountain peak "round hill" represented by the Niuheliang. In all parts of early China, there were quite a few who may have belonged to the remnants of the Heavenly Heavens, most of which could have fallen into these two categories.
Lowland "ladder" type of heavenly relics, because it is difficult to find the tall ladder-frame building and "ladder" shaped image represented by the huge pillar hole like the high temple, so it can only be roughly judged. For example, in the Late Yangshao Culture, the Qingyang Nanzuo Site, the core palace-style building has a circular fire altar with a diameter of more than 3 meters in the center, and there are 9 rammed earth altars around the palace area, which may be related to the sacrificial heaven and earth. Another example is the anti-mountain cemetery of the Liangzhu culture, there are high-level tombs with a large number of bi and Qun buried, such as interpreting the god and man god face pattern on it as the god and man riding the dragon pattern, plus the common phoenix bird pattern on jade, lacquerware, and beautiful pottery, which is very close to the content of the white pottery image of the Gaomiao Temple [48], but whether the anti-mountain cemetery is related to the Great Witch of the Heavens is not yet certain. The tombs on Mount Yao and Mount Huiguan, with the burial of a large number of jade and not seen or rarely seen jade bi, should not be early in age, but may be mainly because of its related to the sacrificial site.
The remains of the "circular hill" on the summit of the mountain have been found in other sites of the Hongshan culture, such as the tall circular mound at the thirteenth site of Niuheliang[49] and the small circular stone altar of the eastern mountain mouth of Kazuo [50]. At the Baotou Ashan site, beaded stone piles of the Yangshao culture Ashan Phase III were found, with the largest circular stone pile at the top with a bottom diameter of 8.8 meters, and these stone piles were surrounded by gourd-shaped stone walls[51], which may also belong to the remnants of the circular mound class.
There are also some relics related to possible "heavens" or ancestral heavens, such as tortoise shells, bone gauges, and bone plates at the Wuyang Jiahu site belonging to the Peiligang culture,[52] the stone pile dragons belonging to the Fuxin Chahai site center of the Xinglongwa culture,[53] the fangs god face pattern on the stone tablets of the Tazhiyingzi site[54], the glyphs of "ten", "well", and "Ya" from the Bengbu Shuangdun site belonging to the Shuangdun culture[55], and the sunbird lianshan pattern and the curved four-pointed star pottery on the pottery statues of the Lingyang River in Juxian County, which belong to the Dawenkou culture [56] The remains of a semicircular "observatory" that belong to the Tao Temple culture[57] and so on. Archaeological discoveries are very accidental, and there are still very few remains of the Heavenly Heavens that can be preliminarily determined or related to the "Heavens", and the areas that have not been found do not necessarily have no Acts of Heavenly Worship. As quoted above in the "Book of History and Feng Zen", Yongzhou, that is, the main area of the Loess Plateau, has had the tradition of worshipping God on the mountain since ancient times, and after the Qin and Han dynasties in the Qingyan Prefecture area, it is often seen that the emperors have sealed the Zen heavens in Taishan and Yishan, and there is a possibility that the heavens in Taishan and other places will be as early as the Neolithic Age.
In short, since the middle Of the Neolithic Age of about 8,000 years ago, there have been more complex cosmology, clear concepts of worshiping heaven and worshiping heaven, and unlike the custom of "family burial" that was first only found in the Yellow River Basin, this concept of worship and worship of heaven may have appeared in the Yangtze River, Yellow River and Xiliao River Basin in the form of "long-distance communication between the upper layers" from the beginning [58], and has been inherited, blended and developed since then, continuing until the Xia, Shang, and Third Dynasties, and even the entire ancient China after the Qin and Han Dynasties. The concept of respecting heaven has also developed simultaneously with ancient astronomy, which has had a profound impact on china's ancient political system, philosophical thought, science and technology, etc., and has become the core cultural gene of the Chinese nation like ancestor worship.
[1] Shang Shu Pastoral Oath: "Now give it to you, but you will do the punishment of heaven."
[2] Shangshu Zhaoxuan: "I am appointed by heaven, and if there is a summer calendar year, do not substitute for the Yin calendar year."
[3] The Book of Poetry, the Shi of the Living People, and the Plate: "Respect the wrath of heaven, and dare not hesitate." Respect the heavens, no dare to drive. Hao Tian Ming, and Er out of the king. Hao Tian Yue Dan, and Er You Yan. "The Book of Poetry, the Shi of the Qing Temple, I Will": "I am afraid of the night of the night, afraid of the might of the heavens, and protected by the time." ”
[4] Wang Zhaoyu of the Song Dynasty believed, "The Haotian God refers to the Heavenly Emperor's ear." Heavenly Beings, the Body of Emperors. Emperor, the use of heaven. See Wang Zhaoyu: Detailed Explanation of Zhou Li, Volume XVII, Wenyuange Siku Quanshu, Photocopies of the Taiwan Commercial Press.
[5] Such as the phoenix chick oracle bone H11:96: "Small warning to heaven, west death blame". "He Zun": "The court told the heavens".
[6] Ritual Rituals: "Sacrifice to the heavens and burn firewood." ”
[7] Quoted in the Zhou Li Chunguan Zongbo Wen Zhengxuan note: "The smoke of the words of Zen." Zhou ren still stinks, the smell of smoke. Maple, Ji also... All three of them accumulate firewood and livestock. Or there is jade burn, and the smoke so the yang also. ”
[8] Zhou Li Dasi Le: "On the winter solstice, play it on the round hill on the earth, and if the music changes six times, the gods will descend and will be able to receive the ceremony." ”
[9] Ritual Book of Sacrifices: "Burn firewood on the altar of Tai, and sacrifice to the heavens." ”
[10] Li Ji (礼記・郊特牲) "In the southern suburbs, the Yang position is also... In the suburbs, it is called the suburbs. "Suburbs so tomorrow also." "Li Ji Li Yun": "Therefore, the emperor was sacrificed in the suburbs, so the heavenly throne was also fixed."
[11] Shijing Zhou Song Siwen: "Siwen Houji, Ke Pei Tian." "Yi Zhou Shu Zuo Luo (Zhou Gong)" is set up in the southern suburbs to worship God and be worthy of Hou Ji. "Chinese Lu Yu Shang": "Zhou Ren Yu and Jiao Ji, King Zuwen and King Zongwu." ”
[12] The Book of History and Feng Zen: "Since ancient times, Yongzhou has accumulated heights, the gods of the gods, so the gods of the suburbs, and the shrines of the gods have gathered clouds." When the Yellow Emperor was covered, he tried to use things, although the late Zhou was also suburban. See also Yang Tianyu: "The Second Question of the Western Zhou Suburbs Heavenly Ritual Examination", Wenshizhe, No. 3, 2004, pp. 91-96.
[13] Li Ji Qu Li Xia: "The Son of Heaven sacrifices heaven and earth. "The Book of Rites and the Royal System": "The Son of Heaven sacrifices heaven and earth, the princes sacrifice the society, and the doctor sacrifices the five gods." ”
[14] Li Ji Li Yun: "(Confucius) Lu Zhijiao, Incivility, Zhou Gongqi declines!" The suburbs of Qi are also Yu Ye, and the suburbs of Song are also Qi Ye, which is the matter of the Son of Heaven. ”
[15] Hu Houxuan, "God and the Emperor in Yin Buci", Historical Research, No. 9 and No. 10, 1959, pp. 23-50, 89-110; Zhu Fenghan, "Worship of the Gods in the Shang and Zhou Dynasties", Chinese Social Sciences, No. 4, 1993, pp. 191-211.
[16] Li Yanong: Social Life in the Yin Dynasty, Shanghai People's Publishing Du, 1955.
[17] See Feng Shi, Astronomy and Humanities in Ancient China (Revised Edition), China Social Science Press, 2006, p. 68.
[18] Shang Shu Gan Oath: "There is a power of the Hu clan to insult the five elements, to neglect the three righteousness, and to use heaven to suppress his life." "Shang Shu Yao Dian": "It is the fate of Xi He, Qin RuoHao Heaven, the calendar is like the sun, the moon and the stars, and the time of honoring people." "Shang Shu Shundian": "Wanton to God, Zen to the Six Sects, looking at the mountains and rivers, and all over the gods." ”
[19] Xiao TunBing's establishment of the foundation site of the foundation buried Bai Cangcheng pair of jade bi, is believed to belong to the late Shang Dynasty capital of the sacrifice of heavenly relics; the lixian Xishan site circular rammed earth platform and sacrifice pit, is believed to be related to the two weeks (770 BC) Qin Xianggong sacrificed the White Emperor Xi qi, but there is still a certain difference between the White Emperor and the Haotian God. See Shi Zhangru: "Xiaotun", the first book, "The Discovery and Excavation of the Ruins, B. B. And The Architectural Remains of Yin Ruins", Institute of History and Linguistics, 1959; Wang Zhiyou and Liu Chunhua: "A Comparative Study of Qin and Han Xixi", Qin and Han Studies (Ninth Series), Shaanxi People's Publishing House, 2015, pp. 161-174.
[20] Hunan Provincial Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology: "Briefing on the Excavation of the Gaomiao Site in Qianyang, Hunan", Cultural Relics, No. 4, 2000, pp. 4-23; Hunan Provincial Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology: "Neolithic Ruins of Gaomiao Temple, Hongjiang City, Hunan", Archaeology, No. 7, 2006, pp. 9-15.
[21] He Gang, "Prehistoric Remains of Western Hunan and Legends of Ancient Chinese History", Yuelu Book Society, 2013, pp. 254-262.
[22] He Gang, "Prehistoric Remains of Western Hunan and Legends of Ancient Chinese History", Yuelu Book Society, 2013, pp. 342-345.
[23] Feng Shi, "Civilization Ends: Ancient Astronomy, Thought and Institutions", China Social Science Press, 2018, pp. 46-78.
[24] Li Xinwei, "The Concept of "Heavenly Pole" Reflected in Chinese Prehistoric Pottery Images", Central Plains Cultural Relics, No. 3, 2020, pp. 81-93.
[25] See Feng Shi, Astronomy and Humanities in Ancient China (Revised Edition), China Social Sciences Press, 2006, p. 66.
[26] The Classic of Mountains and Seas, Hai Nei Dong Jing: "Yuanshui Mountain is like the west of the county of Yancheng, into the East Zhujiang River, into the lower Junxi, and in the hedong court." "The Classic of Mountains and Seas and the Classic of Zhongshan": "The wind of Liyuan and the abyss of Jiaoxiaoxiang are between the Jiujiang River." "Chu Ci Nine Songs": "Yuan has Zhi Xi Xi You Lan." It can be seen that Yuanshui already existed in the pre-Qin period. Yuan is yuan, and the glyph may be related to "heaven", which is related to the humanoid round head god of the high temple.
[27] Hunan Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology: Anxiang Tangjiagang - Neolithic Site Excavation Report, Science Press, 2013, p. 55.
[28] Liaoning Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology: Niuheliang- Excavation Report of Hongshan Cultural Site (1983-2003), Cultural Relics Publishing House, 2012.
[29] There are four late and late year-dated data of the Hongshan culture at the Niuheliang site, three of which have the corrected dates of tree wheels from 3799 BC to 3517 BC, 3771 BC to 3519 BC, and 3700 BC to 3521 BC, and one from 3360 BC to 2920 BC. Considering comprehensively, the late middle and late dates of the Hongshan culture are provisionally inferred from 3700 BC to 3100 BC. See Liaoning Provincial Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology: "Niuheliang - Report on the Excavation of Hongshan Cultural Sites (1983-2003)", Cultural Relics Publishing House, 2012, p. 479; Liu Guoxiang: "Research on Hongshan Culture", Science Press, pp. 18-20, 2015; Wang Fen, Luan Fengshi: "The Staging and Chronology of the Hongshan Cultural Graves in Niuheliang", Zhongyuan Cultural Relics, No. 4, 2016, pp. 27-33.
[30] Tian Guanglin and Liang Jingxin, "Several Questions about the Fourth Tomb of Hongshan Culture at the Second Site of NiuheLiang", Journal of Liaoning Normal University (Social Science Edition), No. 6, 2018, pp. 131-136.
[31] Gao Yunyi, "Re-understanding the Age of the "Female Temple" and the Jishizuka Era at the Niuheliang Site", Frontier Archaeological Research (No. 26), Science Press, 2019, pp. 63-74.
[32] Guo Dashun, "Some Clues to the "Ancestor Worship" Seen in Niuheliang and Other Hongshan Cultural Sites", "Tracing the Origin of Liaohe Root-Seeking Civilization: Proceedings of the Academic Symposium on the Origin of Chinese Civilization", Cultural Relics Publishing House, 2012, pp. 100-106.
[33] Feng Shi, "Astronomical Research on the Three Ring Stone Altars of Hongshan Culture: On the Earliest Circular Hills and Square Hills in China", Northern Cultural Relics, No. 1, 1993, pp. 9-17.
[34] Feng Shi, History of Ancient Chinese Material Culture and Astronomical Calendar, Enlightened Publishing House, 2013, pp. 301-305.
[35] Guo Dashun, "The "Only Jade for Burial" of Hongshan Culture and the Re-understanding of the Origin Characteristics of Liaohe Civilization", Cultural Relics, No. 8, 1997, pp. 20-26.
[36] Zhou Li Chunguan Zongbo: "With Cangbi to the heavens, with Huang Zhen to the land." ”
[37] Liu Shujuan, "An Inquiry into the Types of Jade Artifacts in Hongshan Culture", Liaohai Journal of Cultural Relics, No. 1, 1995, p. 22 (Figure 1, 3).
[38] In the Book of Luo, there is a record of the spirit turtle "going up to the heavens of the Dragon and the earth of the lower level" (the eleventh quotation of the Turtle of the Scales of the Book of Beginners).
[39] Shuo Zhi: "An Examination of the Remains of the Lingjiatan Altar", Research on the Culture of Lingjiatan, Cultural Relics Publishing House, 2006, pp. 170-180.
[40] Anhui Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology: "Lingjiatan: One of the Field Archaeological Excavation Reports", Cultural Relics Publishing House, 2006, pp. 29-33.
[41] Anhui Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology: "Lingjiatan - One of the Reports on Field Archaeological Excavations", Cultural Relics Publishing House, 2006; Anhui Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology: "New Discoveries of the Fifth Excavation of Lingjiatan Site in Hanshan County, Anhui", Archaeology, No. 3, 2008, pp. 7-17.
[42] Chen Jiujin and Zhang Jingguo, "Examination of the Graphics of Jade Pieces Unearthed from Hanshan Mountain", Cultural Relics, No. 4, 1989, pp. 14-17.
[43] Qian Boquan, "Jade Plate Excavated from the Neolithic Site of Lingjiatan", Cultural Relics Research, No. 7, Huangshan Book Society, 1991, pp. 152-157.
[44] Feng Shi, "Civilization Ends: Ancient Astronomy, Thought and Institutions", China Social Science Press, 2018, pp. 65-67.
[45] Feng Shi believes that there was a "tradition of attaching pigs to the Beidou" in ancient China. See Feng Shi, "Civilization Ends: Ancient Astronomy, Thought and Institutions", China Social Science Press, 2018, pp. 538-548.
[46] Tian Mingli: "Exploring the Origin of Jade in Lingjiatan Cemetery", Southeast Culture, No. 5, 1999, pp. 18-25; Tian Mingli: "Lingjiatan Remains and Hongshan Culture", Cultural Relics Research, No. 15, Huangshan Book Society, 2007, pp. 79-90.
[47] Li Xinwei, "The Cosmology Reflected by China's Prehistoric Jade: On the Upper Exchange Network of The Prehistoric Complex Society of Eastern China", Southeast Culture, No. 3, 2004, pp. 66-72.
[48] He Gang, "Prehistoric Remains of Xiangxi and Legends of Ancient Chinese History", Yuelu Books, 2013, p. 271.
[49] Guo Dashun: Hongshan Culture, Cultural Relics Publishing House, 2005, pp. 88-91.
[50] Guo Dashun and Zhang Keju, "Briefing on the Excavation of the Hongshan Cultural Complex site in Dongshanzui, Kazuo County, Liaoning Province", Cultural Relics, No. 11, 1984, pp. 1-11.
[51] Baotou Municipal Institute of Cultural Relics Administration, "Neolithic Sites in the Western Section of Daqingshan, Inner Mongolia", Archaeology, No. 6, 1986, pp. 485-496.
[52] In addition to being used as a tool for turtle possession, tortoise shells may also symbolize heaven and earth; bone gauges and bone plates are thought to be possible "rules" for observing celestial phenomena. See Henan Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology: "Wuyang Jia Lake", Science Press, 1999; Henan Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology, Department of Science and Technology History and Science and Technology Archaeology of University of Science and Technology of China: "Wuyang Jia Lake (II)", Science Press, 2015; Henan Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology, Department of Science and Technology History and Science and Technology Archaeology of University of Science and Technology, Wuyang County Museum: Briefing on the Excavation of Jia Lake Site in Wuyang County, Henan Province, Archaeology, No. 12, 2017, pp. 3-20; Li Xinwei: The Cosmology Reflected by Chinese Prehistoric Jade: On the Upper-Class Communication Network of The Prehistoric Complex Society in Eastern China," Southeast Culture, No. 3, 2004, pp. 66-72; Wang Nan and Hu Anhua, "Confirming Myths and Legends: The "Rules" of Bone System Found at the Jiahu Site", China City Daily, July 22, 2019, 13th edition.
[53] Liaoning Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology: "Chahai- Excavation Report of Neolithic Settlement Sites", Cultural Relics Publishing House, 2012.
[54] Liu Yong, "7,500-year-old stone statue of a god and man found at the Chahai site in Fuxin, Liaoning," Guangming Daily, September 29, 2019, 11th edition.
[55] Feng Shi believed that these inscriptions should indicate spatial concepts such as the four square five and the eight square and nine palaces. See Anhui Provincial Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology, Bengbu City Museum: "Bengbu Shuangdun - Neolithic Site Excavation Report", Science Press, 2008; Feng Shi: "Civilization To the End: Ancient Astronomy, Thought and System", China Social Science Press, 2018, pp. 46-78.
[56] The most common flame-shaped symbol under the upper sun shape in the late Dawenkou culture is also relatively similar to the "heaven" glyph image of the high temple, and together with the mountain shape below, it can be understood as the sun bird combination above the mountain or the "sky" on the mountain. The four-pointed star pattern on the arc side, as seen in the High Temple, may be related to the heavens or the heavenly poles. See Wang Shuming, "From the Lingyang River and dazhu Village to discover Taozun script", Oriental Archaeology, vol. 1, Science Press, 2004, pp. 385-403; Han Jianye, "The Era of the Five Emperors: Archaeological Observations of the Ancient History System with Huaxia as the Core", Xueyuan Publishing House, 2006, pp. 149-170.
[57] The remains of the so-called "observatory" may also be the relics of the Sun Festival. See Shanxi Team of institute of archaeology of Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, Shanxi Institute of Archaeology, etc.: "Briefing on the Excavation of large-scale building sites in the sacrificial area of Taosi City Site in Xiangfen County, Shanxi Province", Archaeology, No. 7, 2004, pp. 7-24; "Briefing on the Excavation of large-scale buildings at the middle-term city site of Tao Temple in Xiangfen County, Shanxi Province, 2004-2005", Archaeology, No. 4, 2007, pp. 3-25.
[58] Li Xinwei used the model of the "network of long-distance communication between the upper echelons of Chinese prehistoric society" to explain the cultural and social commonalities that emerged throughout China after about 3500 BC. This model is more effective in explaining the commonalities in ideas and knowledge systems in most parts of China during pei ligang's time. See Li Xinwei, "The Formation of a Long-distance Communication Network in the Upper Echelons of Chinese Prehistoric Society", Cultural Relics, No. 4, 2015, pp. 51-58.
(Originally published in Jianghan Archaeology, No. 6, 2021)