"The important archaeological discoveries at the site of the Double Locust Tree empirically demonstrate the representativeness and influence of the Heluo area, the golden stage of the origin of Chinese civilization around 5300, and fill in the key materials of the key period and key area of the origin of Chinese civilization."
The interviewed experts pointed out that whether it is the geographical location, scale, cultural connotation or era of the site, it is highlighted that the "Heluo Ancient Country" is the core of the political civilization of the Yangshao culture in the middle and late period, at least in the Yellow River Basin
Wen | Gui Juan and Yuan Yueming, reporters of the "Lookout" news weekly
In the twilight of the late May 2018, Gu Wanfa, president of the Zhengzhou Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology, hurriedly stepped on the train to Beijing, met with Wang Wei, chairman of the Chinese Archaeological Society, and handed a pile of research materials to Wang Wei with excitement and solemnity.
It was the eve of the release of the phased results of the "Chinese Civilization Exploration Project", and there was already a lot of discussion within the archaeological community about a series of major discoveries to be disclosed. Liangzhu in Zhejiang, Hongshan in the Xiliao River Basin in northeast China, Tao Temple in Shanxi, Lingjiatan in Anhui... Empirical evidence of the "starry sky" of the initial period of Chinese civilization more than 5,000 years ago.
But in this piece of brilliant starlight, only henan's figure is not seen. The so-called "phenomenon of civilization depressions in the Central Plains" seems to have been confirmed again.
Exploring the origin of Chinese civilization, this land inscribed on He Zun with the four characters of "House China" should not and cannot be absent.
"The material that was not released publicly at that time was the preliminary research results of the Shuang locust tree site in Zhengzhou, Henan." Gu Wanfa said, "Teacher Wang Wei also thinks that it is very important after reading it, although further arguments are still needed, but we all know that the starlight that belongs to Henan's secret and great origin of civilization will soon no longer be dimmed..."
Double Locust Tree Ruins (Photo taken on August 27, 2019) Photo by Ang Lee/This issue
A rain "washed out" civilization
In the town of GongyiHeluo, Henan, where the Iloilo Confluence flows into the Yellow River, there is a small village called "Double Locust Tree". For a long time in the past, it was unremarkable, just silently living on a high terrace on the south bank of the Yellow River, waiting for a moment to meet the world.
Sima Qian wrote in the "Records of History": "The residences of the past three generations were all between Heluo. The record in the I Ching that "the river is out of the map, the luo is out of the book, and the saint is out of it" is even more widely circulated.
Many historical documents point to the earliest "China" in the Heluo region of the Yellow River Basin. The "Central Plains Theory" of the origin of Chinese civilization was once the mainstream view of the academic circles. However, archaeologists have been slow to find excellent empirical material.
Wang Wei has always had a "heart knot". "More than 3,700 years ago, the Erlitou culture represented by the Erlitou site has become the core and leader of the overall process of Chinese civilization. The Central Plains have made very important discoveries in various periods, and in the critical period of about 5,000 years ago, how can there be no signs of the origin of civilization? ”
In 1984, a Neolithic site was discovered in Tanxiaoguan Village, Heluo Town, named "Tanxiaoguan Ruins", which did not attract widespread attention.
That was the first time that Henan archaeologists and the "Heluo Ancient Country" passed by.
In the early 1990s, archaeologists conducted small-scale excavations of the Tanxiaoguan site in order to cooperate with the infrastructure construction. "Looking back, the excavation site was actually very close to the inner ring trench and the No. 1 Palace of the Double Locust Tree Site, but only a few meters." Gu Wanfa still regretted in retrospect, "If only there were a few more probes deployed at that time." ”
That was the second time that Henan archaeologists and the "Heluo Ancient Country" passed by.
Suddenly, it's another 10 years. In 2003, Gu Wanfa presided over the archaeological excavation work at the Huadizui site, and on a rainy day, he could not start construction, so he chatted with his fellow villagers who were sheltering from the rain.
"Aren't you just looking for tiles all day?" We have so many villages! ”
"Which village are you from?"
"Double locust tree."
This village is not far from Tanxiaoguan Village. Gu Wanfa raised his interest, will there really be "some good things"?
On another rainy day, Gu Wan started to move. In Shuanghuashu Village, a large reservoir originally dug to divert water from the Yellow River for irrigation, but was not used, the rain of several days has washed away the wall of the pool, and on the section, not only various pottery pieces are stacked together, but also the remains of the foundation, animal bones, stone axes, stone knives and other relics are exposed.
Soon, the two woven bags I carried with me were full. Gu Wanfa and the migrant worker master each carried a bag and returned in the rain.
"Both of us, with artifacts on our shoulders, rain on our faces, and mud all over our bodies." Gu Wanfa said that halfway through, one of his soles fell off, and he could only hit barefoot, and when he returned to the workstation, he found that his feet were full of mouths. "At that time, I couldn't take care of anything, and I just wanted to quickly wash the pottery pieces I had picked up."
Through comprehensive judgment, the pottery pieces found in Shuanghuashu Village clearly belong to the Yangshao cultural style, and the grade of artifacts is higher. Gu Wanfa immediately realized the importance. "It feels like 'facing the sea and spring is in full bloom', like a farmer seeing a harvest of wheat."
Subsequent drilling has found that the Tanxiaoguan site is only a corner of the northeast of the double locust tree site. The ruins of the double locust tree were identified and named.
However, the specific development of archaeological excavations still needs to be discussed by many parties. After a startled glance, the double locust tree returned to silence, overlooking the mighty river. And Gu Wanfa was also closely watching the double locust tree, waiting for the best opportunity.
Key materials for critical periods and key regions
Since 2013, with the approval of the State Administration of Cultural Heritage, the project of "Searching for the Source of Chinese Silk - Research on the Archaeological Cultural Appearance and Origin of Civilization in the Middle and Late Yangshao Era in Zhengzhou" was launched, and large-scale archaeological investigation, exploration and excavation of the double locust tree site and its surrounding areas were carried out.
It is both "looking for silk" and "finding the source". With the deepening of the work, a series of important relics of the Double Locust Tree Site have been continuously exposed.
At the turn of the spring and summer of 2020, this giant settlement site of the middle and late Yangshao culture, which was proposed by Li Boqian, a professor at Peking University and a famous archaeologist, named "Heluo Ancient Country", ushered in the moment of unveiling the mystery, traveling through 5300 years of time and laying out in front of the eyes of the world.
——This is a well-chosen and scientifically planned Duyi settlement site, and the surrounding Qingtai, Wanggou and Luoyang Suyang, Tumen and other sites, especially the sites of Xishan, Dianjuntai and Dahe Village Yangshao Cultural City, form an arch guard against the double locust tree Duyi.
- The existing area here is as high as 1.17 million square meters. The site is surrounded by a three-fold wide ring moat of inner, middle and outer trenches, forming a tight defense system. "The triple ring trench has the same curvature and huge amount of work, which obviously has the simultaneity of planning. And the planning of this form may contain a certain concept of high-level etiquette. Gu Wanfa said.
——There is the earliest "palace" in China that has been found so far, and many courtyards are built on large-scale rammed foundations, with door steps and three doors. "This form of spatial organization of large courtyards, together with the 'front-facing and backward-sleeping' style of miyagi layout composed of large residential sites, created a precedent for the Chinese palace system." He Nu, a researcher at the Institute of Archaeology of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, said.
——There is a large central residential site area with a closed row layout, and the 4 rows of large housing sites currently excavated, with laneways connected in between, of which the largest house covers an area of 220 square meters, even if it is put today, it is also a "luxury house", which shows that the identity of the occupants is extraordinary. In the southern part of the settlement area, two walls of more than 370 meters long and the northern inner trench form a half-moon structure of more than 18,000 square meters, and the shape of the two ends of the wall in the southern section is regarded by experts as the prototype of the earliest urn city in China.
——There are 4 large public cemeteries with a total of more than 1,700 strict planning, all tombs are distributed in a row, and the remains of rammed earth altars in the burial area are the first to be found in the Yangshao cultural site.
——Many artifacts containing foreign cultural factors have been unearthed here, such as the folded belly ding with the characteristics of the Dawenkou culture, the pottery combination double belly bean and the double belly bowl belonging to the Qujialing cultural factor, indicating that the Heluo area has already had cultural convergence and radiation around 5,000 years ago, reflecting the inclusive cultural tradition.
——Here also found 9 clay pots arranged into the "Big Dipper Nine Stars" relics, the earliest silkworm ivory carving associated with the origin of silk...
"The important archaeological discoveries at the site of the Double Locust Tree empirically demonstrate the representativeness and influence of the Heluo area, the golden stage of the origin of Chinese civilization around 5300, and fill in the key materials of the key period and key area of the origin of Chinese civilization." Wang Wei said that the middle and late civilization of yangshao culture centered on the site of the double locust tree can be called "the embryo of early Chinese civilization".
Yan Wenming, a tycoon in the field of archaeology on the mainland and a professor at Peking University, spoke highly of the site of the Double Locust Tree, and personally wrote a poem entitled "Praise of the City of Double Locust", which mentioned: "It is the founding of the imperial court, and the princes come to worship" "Spring silkworms spit silk diligently, and silk benefits wanfang." China creates civilization, the great scenery of Shenzhou! ”
"Silkworm ivory carving" excavated from the site of the double locust tree (file photo) Photo/ This magazine
One silkworm, nine stars, and the roots of civilization are endless
As the general person in charge of the excavation project of the Double Locust Tree Site and the chief expert of the Major Project of the National Social Science Foundation of the "Collation and Comprehensive Research of Archaeological Data of the Double Locust Tree Site", Gu Wanfa has several family treasures for the "treasures" of the "Heluo Ancient Country", but he is most fond of the "Silkworm Ivory Carving" and the "Big Dipper Nine Stars".
As soon as these two mysterious and conventionally recognized relics were announced, they triggered a lot of curious scrutiny and heated discussion from the public.
How important can a silkworm be?
This carving, made from the fangs of a wild boar, is 6.4 cm long, less than 1 cm wide and 0.1 cm thick, and has a very similar shape to that of modern silkworms. With its back raised and its head cocked, as if it were about to spit silk or was spitting silk, it is the earliest silkworm carving artwork of the era currently discovered in China. Its discovery was jokingly called "the stroke of God" by Gu Wanfa.
"In the process of 'searching for the source of silk', we found the silk objects of the middle and late Yangshao culture in the surrounding ruins, but there is still a key question that remains unresolved, is the silkworm that spits out this silk wild or domesticated?" Gu Wanfa said, "The ivory carving silkworm at the site of the double locust tree makes everything self-evident. ”
A typical feature of Chinese civilization is the Nongsang civilization and the Silk Civilization. In the 1920s, Li Ji, the "father of Chinese archaeology", excavated half a silkworm cocoon at the site of Xiyin Village in Shanxi, which triggered the archaeological community to pursue the origin and development process of Chinese silkworm mulberry and silk weaving.
Nowadays, a large number of crops and ivory carving silkworms in the state of spitting silk have been found at the site of the double locust tree, together with the agricultural and silk objects found in the nearby Qingtai, Wanggou and other ruins, which proves that the Central Plains region around 5300 years ago has begun to domesticate silkworms and form a relatively complete form of nongsang civilization.
Li Boqian bluntly said that the central settlement group of the Yellow River Basin, led by the site of the double locust tree, is the earliest representative of the era in the history of the development of China's Nongsang civilization.
Nine stars, what can be the mystery?
More precisely, it is a relic of nine clay pots placed in the shape of the "Big Dipper" in the sky, the main body of which is buried on the porch of the largest house in the central residential area of the Double Locust Tree Site. At the upper end of the "Big Dipper Nine Stars" relic, near the north pole of the "center of heaven" in the ancient sayings, there is also a complete skeleton of an elk heading south and facing the doorway.
The clay pot is half-cut in the soil, revealing only a small part, which at first glance looks ordinary, and it is difficult to intuitively realize its ingenuity in its placement.
Combined with the 'Big Dipper Nine Stars' pattern and the remains of the Dome-shaped Temple of Heaven found in clay pots previously found at the Qingtai site, Gu Wanfa said that this discovery shows that the "Big Dipper" worship more than 5,000 years ago was one of the highest beliefs of the Ancestors of Yangshao at that time.
Some experts believe that the relics of the "Big Dipper Nine Stars" have scientific and astronomical value on the one hand, indicating that people at that time already had a relatively mature "view of viewing and teaching time", which was used to observe the solar terms and guide agricultural time, and also had special humanistic connotations and political etiquette functions. This is an early representative of the ancient Chinese civilization attaching great importance to the characteristics of inheriting the destiny of heaven, and it is also an important archaeological evidence that the Chinese nation attaches great importance to the central thinking.
The "Silkworm Ivory Carving" and the "Big Dipper Nine Stars", one is the "down-to-earth" Nongsang civilization, and the other is the astronomical ritual system of "looking up at the starry sky". Material and spiritual, the two major civilizations are presented in one at the site of the double locust tree.
The interviewed experts pointed out that whether it is the geographical location, scale, cultural connotation or era of the site, it is highlighted that the "Heluo Ancient Country" is the core of the political civilization of the Yangshao culture in the middle and late period, at least in the Yellow River Basin. The cosmology in the heavens and the earth, the ceremonial thinking of ruling according to the destiny of heaven, the cultural psychology of advocating the center, and the leading social development model have been inherited and carried forward by future generations, indicating that the main root of the five thousand years of Chinese civilization can be traced back to this, and it is continuous and endless.
More than 5,000 years have passed. Bathed in the dawn of civilization, the life picture of the Middle Ages, whose life picture has been continuously restored by archaeological research, in the "Ancient Country of Heluo", look at you and me and smile. ■