Wang Wei: How does archaeology empirically prove Chinese civilization for more than 5,000 years?
China News Service, Beijing, February 18 Title: Wang Wei: How does archaeology empirically prove Chinese civilization for more than 5,000 years?
China News Service reporter Sun Zifa
In the history of human development, the long-standing and profound Chinese civilization located in the east of the world has always attracted much attention, but Western society has questioned the "five thousand years of Chinese civilization" for a long time.
Researcher Wang Wei, member of the Faculty of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, chairman of the Chinese Archaeological Society, and chief expert of the Chinese Civilization Exploration Project, recently accepted an exclusive interview with the "East and West Questions" column of the China News Agency to explain in detail how archaeology has empirically proved Chinese civilization for more than 5,000 years.
He said that the implementation of a century-old Chinese archaeology, especially the chinese civilization source exploration project, has advanced the time of the emergence of Chinese civilization to more than 5,000 years ago, and demonstrated the "five thousand years of Chinese civilization" from legend to credible history. At the same time, archaeological research also traces the process of the origin and development of Chinese civilization, which not only profoundly reveals the rich connotation of Chinese civilization and the historical context of the origin and development of civilization in various regions of China, but also comprehensively shows the brilliant achievements of Chinese civilization and its major contributions to world civilization.
The interview transcript is summarized below:
China News Service: The issue of the origin of mankind has long attracted much attention. What achievements have been made in archaeological research on the origin of human beings and the source of Chinese culture in The Land of China?
Wang Wei: Early Paleolithic archaeological discoveries and the latest dating data such as The Fanchang Herringbone Cave in Anhui, the Shangchen Ruins in Lantian in Shaanxi, the Maquangou Ruins in Yangyuan in Hebei, and the Yuanmouren Ruins in Yunnan, show that the age of human beings in the land of China can be traced back to 1.8 million to 2 million years ago, making it one of the important areas for early paleoanthropological activities in the world.
Archaeological excavations from a number of sites dating back 60,000 to 30,000 years show that there were ancient human beings living in both northern and southern China during this period, and their stone-making technology and living behavior still followed the local cultural tradition of stone shards formed since the Beijingers.
The study of physical anthropology also found that in modern humans in East Asia around 40,000 to 50,000 years ago, more than 80% of them had shovel-shaped incisors, which followed the characteristics that had been formed from the era of Lantian people and Peking people. This shows that although a small number of foreign people have been found in a few sites to enter the northwest region of China, there has been no replacement of the original population and cultural traditions by the newcomers in the land of China, and the ancient humans represented by the Yuanmou people, the Lantian people and the Beijing people are the ancestors of the modern Chinese.
Over the past hundred years, Chinese archaeologists have proved through a large number of physical materials and research results excavated that the prehistoric cultures that appeared in the Yellow River, Yangtze River and Liao River basins of China 10,000 years ago were all native to the region and have a clear context of their own development. China has mastered the technology of making pottery as early as 13,000 years ago, began to cultivate rice, millet and millet 10,000 years ago, mastered jade technology 9,000 years ago, appeared faience pottery and special symbols, domesticated domestic pigs, invented wine, and faience pottery in the Yellow River Basin also appeared 7,000 years ago, earlier than eurasia, making "China's prehistoric culture in the West" self-defeating.
In November 2020, in Sanmenxia City, Henan Province, the audience photographed a typical excavated cultural relics faience pottery displayed by the Yangshao Culture Museum. Photo by Sun Zifa, a reporter from China News Service
China News Service: How did the highly developed prehistoric culture of The land of China gradually develop into a regional civilization with "full of stars"? And eventually pluralism and integration to form a Chinese civilization and a unified multi-ethnic state?
Wang Wei: The study of the archaeological project implemented by the Chinese Civilization Exploration Project shows that since 5500, there has been a circle of exchange and interaction between the upper echelons of society in the middle and lower reaches of the Yellow River, the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River and the LiaoHe River Basin, forming dragon totems and ancestor worship, and showing the etiquette system of honorable status; around 5,000 years ago, some areas with relatively fast cultural and social development emerged as early countries and stepped into the stage of ancient civilization.
Around 4300 years ago, due to environmental and internal changes in society, regional civilizations such as the upper, middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River, the upper and lower reaches of the Yellow River and the LiaoHe River Basin have successively decayed, while the Central Plains region has shown a trend of sustained development and rapid rise, and has widely absorbed advanced cultural factors in the surrounding areas, thus promoting the historical pattern of Chinese civilization centered on the Central Plains region, and emerging early countries and entering the civilized society of the states.
Xia Shang Three Dynasties archaeological research shows that after the establishment of the Xia Dynasty, a complete set of regulations such as the layout of the capital city, the layout of the palace, bronze ceremonial vessels, jade ceremonial vessels and pottery ceremonial vessels was formed, and in the late Xia Dynasty, the Yazhang, one of the ceremonial jades, radiated to the surrounding area, reaching the Haidai area in the lower reaches of the Yellow River in the east, the Ganqing area in the upper reaches of the Yellow River in the west, the Hetao region in the middle reaches of the Yellow River in the north, the South China region in the south and even northern Vietnam, which proved the existence of a Chinese cultural influence circle centered on the Central Plains Dynasty.
During the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, the Zhou royal family declined, and the capitals and noble tombs of various princely states reflected the transformation of society from the Central Plains Dynasty to the situation of the central plains dynasty dominating the world and competing with each other. After the unification of the Six Kingdoms by the Qin Dynasty, China entered the imperial era, and after many dynastic changes, it continued to promote China's development into a unified multi-ethnic state.
In December 2021, Hukou Waterfall of the Yellow River in Ji County, Shanxi. (Drone photo) Photo by Lu Guiming, china news agency
China News Service: From an archaeological point of view, what are the important characteristics of Chinese civilization for more than 5,000 years? In the process of development, what kind of exchanges and mutual learning between eastern and western civilizations?
Wang Wei: Through a hundred years of archaeology, we can see that Chinese civilization has at least three major characteristics: the first is continuous and sustainable development, there have been human beings living on the land of China for 2 million years, about 10,000 years ago, from the southern rice to the northern millet invention, more than 5,000 years ago, the regions of China successively entered the ancient countries and state civilizations of the early civilization era, and then entered the kingdom civilization of the Xia Shang Zhou, to the imperial civilization after the Qin and Han Dynasties, and the Chinese civilization continued to develop continuously.
The second is openness, inclusiveness, eclecticism, and in the process of the formation and development of Chinese civilization, we constantly absorb and learn from some advanced factors of other civilizations, and innovate and integrate to form an important part of Chinese civilization.
In the long process of development, through continuous mutual exchanges and integration, the regions have formed the belief in dragon totems and ancestor worship, the concept of jade as beauty to jade is precious, the social norms of benevolence, righteousness, and wisdom, and finally realize the return of hundreds of rivers to the sea, pluralism and integration, and build a historical pattern of the development of Chinese civilization centered on the Central Plains.
Rice in the Yangtze River Basin in August 2021. China News Service reporter He Penglei photographed
Regarding cultural exchanges and mutual learning between the East and the West, the origin and development of Chinese civilization have been continuous. Archaeological studies have shown that the cultivation of rice, millet and millet is the earliest in prehistoric China, and around 5,000 years ago, the cultivation technology of these crops spread to the Korean Peninsula in East Asia, the Japanese archipelago and West Asia, Southeast Asia and other regions, which is the outstanding contribution made by the prehistoric ancestors of the Chinese nation to human civilization. About 5,000 years ago, after wheat, sheep and other animals and plants and metallurgy were introduced to China, the ancestors invented and innovated on the basis of them, and integrated into an important part of Chinese civilization. After the introduction of iron smelting to China more than 3,000 years ago, the technology has also made significant progress.
Archaeological excavations have unearthed Shu Jin embroidered with the Chinese characters of "Five Stars Out of the East and Li China", and documents and relics in various languages reflect the close relationship between the countries along the Silk Road and the Han and Jin Dynasties. Some Han Dynasty noble tombs unearthed glassware, gemstones, etc. from West and Central Asia, which is a portrayal of the opening of the Silk Road and the close exchange of Chinese and Western cultures.
A series of archaeological studies on The Tang Chang'an City found that the Tang Dynasty actively exchanged with the outside world through the Silk Road, people from all over the world served as officials and businessmen in the Tang Dynasty, and the Tang Dynasty absorbed advanced cultures from all over the world for my use, showing great cultural self-confidence and openness and inclusiveness. Underwater archaeology such as the Nanhai No. 1 shipwreck shows that a large number of Chinese porcelain was shipped to Europe during the Maritime Silk Road trade in the Song Dynasty.
The monasteries and grottoes throughout the country, represented by Luoyang White Horse Temple and Dunhuang Grottoes, reflect the Chinese nation's ability to absorb foreign cultures and achieve localization at the fastest speed, integrating them with Taoism and Confucianism originating from the mainland, making it an inclusive ability of Chinese culture.
In September 2021, the Confucius Festival was held in Shaohai Confucius Square in Jiaozhou City, Shandong Province. Photo by Wang Zhaomai of China News Agency
China News Service: As the chairman of the Chinese Archaeological Society, what are your expectations for the future development of Chinese archaeology?
Wang Wei: In the future, Chinese archaeology should develop in the direction of Chinese characteristics, Chinese style and Chinese style, and further accelerate the realization of scientific, international and popular.
In terms of scientificization, it is necessary to enhance the content of science and technology, strengthen the integration with natural sciences and deepen other humanities and social sciences on the basis of adhering to field archaeology, and carry out joint research.
In terms of internationalization, it is necessary to continue to promote international exchanges and cooperation in archaeology, especially to increase the intensity of Chinese archaeology "going out". At present, China's international cooperation in archaeology has completed the transformation from "please come in" to "please come in" and "go out" in the first 10 years or so of the 21st century, and then to "going out" since 2013. After the "Belt and Road" initiative was issued, more and more Chinese archaeological teams went abroad to cooperate in archaeology and cultural heritage protection. From 2016 to 2019, a total of 32 Chinese archaeological teams went to 22 countries to implement 36 Sino-foreign cooperative archaeological surveys and excavation projects, covering Asia, Africa, Europe and the Americas.
In May 2021, in Hangzhou, Zhejiang, foreign teacher Fudir experienced a 5G VR project in Liangzhu Ancient City Ruins Park. Photo by China News Service reporter Wang Gang
In terms of popularization, it is necessary to show and disseminate Chinese archaeology in a more vivid and diverse form, and it is recommended to use modern concepts and high-tech methods, including the use of 4D, 5D, augmented reality (AR), virtual reality (VR) and other technologies, to build themed archaeological site parks or amusement parks, and promote the popularization of archaeology through the combination of culture and tourism.
After a century of development, the Chinese archaeological community has become more and more internationally oriented, and its international influence and discourse power have been continuously enhanced. It can be said that Chinese archaeology has entered the second century and ushered in a golden age of comprehensive development, and is moving from a big country of archaeological resources to a power of archaeological research. (End)
Respondent Profiles:
Wang Wei is a member, professor and doctoral supervisor of the Faculty of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences. He is a deputy to the 12th and 13th National People's Congress. He is the chairman of the Chinese Archaeological Society, a member of the 7th National Academic Degree Committee and the leader of the archaeological review team, and the leader of the archaeological review team of the National Social Science Foundation. Corresponding academician of the German Archaeological Research Institute and lifelong foreign academician of the American Archaeological Research Institute. The general person in charge of the "Chinese Civilization Exploration Project". He is the chief editor of the Dictionary of Chinese Archaeology and the third edition of the Archaeological Volume of the Encyclopedia of China.