Hongshan Culture - an important part of the study of the origin of Chinese civilization

Western Liaoning is an important region for studying the origin of Chinese civilization and the process of early civilization. Archaeological work in western Liaoning began as early as the end of the 19th century and is one of the initiators of modern archaeology in China.

Pictured: Hongshan culture jasper C-shaped dragon.

Pictured: Hongshan cultural special color pottery.

Pictured: Hongshan culture pottery statue.

Pictured: A vista view of the Hongshan Cultural Site.

Image from Liu Guoxiang

The first Chinese scholar to carry out archaeological work in the western Liaoning region was the archaeologist Liang Siyong. In 1930, after presiding over the excavation of the Ang'angXi site in Heilongjiang, he turned into Chifeng and Linxi to carry out archaeological investigations. In 1935, a batch of physical materials were excavated from the Red Mountain Hou site in Chifeng. In 1954, archaeologist Yin Da formally proposed the naming of the Hongshan culture according to Liang Siyong's suggestion. It can be seen that the Hongshan culture is the earliest and most well-known Neolithic archaeological culture discovered and named in western Liaoning.

In 1981, archaeologists in Liaoning Province, represented by Sun Shoudao and Mr. Guo Dashun, investigated and tested the niuheliang site, and formal archaeological excavations began in 1983. The goddess temple, the goddess statue, the "five tombs and one altar" turned out to be out of the sky, and representative jade objects such as jade carved dragons and oblique cylindrical jade were unearthed one after another, shocking the world. The excavation of the 16 sites of the Niuheliang site was rated as "2003 National Top Ten New Archaeological Discoveries". It is precisely because of the breakthrough discovery of the Niuheliang site that archaeologist Su Bingqi put forward the major topic of exploring the ancient culture, ancient city and ancient country of western Liaoning, making the Hongshan culture an important part of the study of the civilization process in the upper reaches of the Xiliao River and the origin characteristics of Chinese civilization.

There is already evidence of the complexity of social organization

After a long period of field archaeology, the archaeological and cultural development sequences from the early Neolithic period to the early Bronze Age in western Liaoning are basically established, followed by Xiaohexi culture, Xinglongwa culture, Fuhe culture, Zhao Baogou culture, Hongshan culture, Xiaoheyan culture and Xiajiadian lower culture. In the late Hongshan culture after 3300 BC, a high degree of social organization ability has been demonstrated, and considerable manpower and material resources can be mobilized to complete the construction of some large-scale and important building complexes.

The dense distribution of Hongshan cultural sites was a sign of the rapid population growth at that time, and the hierarchical and super-large-scale central settlements between settlements were a testament to the complexity of social organization. Taking the census data of cultural relics in Ao Han Banner in the 1980s as an example, a total of 606 sites from the Neolithic period to the copper stone and the copper stone era were found in the whole banner, of which 477 were hongshan cultural sites alone, accounting for about 78% of the total number of sites. Judging from the scale of the site, the small site is only 4000-5000 square meters, and the scale of the large site can reach 2-3 square kilometers. In contrast, the Xiaohexi culture has not yet found large settlements, and the large central settlements of Xinglongwa culture and Zhao Baogou culture are less than 100,000 square meters, which is in stark contrast to the Hongshan culture.

The Niuheliang site has a distribution area of 50 square kilometers, unified planning, orderly layout, magnificent architecture, the appearance of altars, goddess temples, stone mounds and other landmark buildings, is the late Hongshan culture known to be the largest known central burial and sacrifice sites. There are central tombs, sub-central tombs, and marginal tombs in the stone mound, and a hierarchical system is established. Jade has become the most important burial product, mostly used by the tomb owner before his death, and is a symbol and symbol of the social hierarchy, status and status of the tomb owner. The pottery industry is highly developed, and in addition to daily pottery, a considerable number of exclusive sacrificial pottery has emerged.

From the perspective of the shape of the stone mound and the altar, there is a consistent development relationship between the Hongshan culture and the Xinglongwa culture and the Zhao Baogou culture; however, in terms of the number, scale, layout and location selection of the sacrificial sites, the Hongshan culture has undergone significant changes in the late period, which is a strong evidence of social change.

In the late Hongshan culture, social differentiation intensified and a hierarchical system was established. Tomb No. 4 at site 16 of niuheliang site is the highest specification of a Hongshan culture sarcophagus tomb found so far, the stone slabs of the masonry coffin wall reach 17 floors, and the buried jade people, jade phoenixes and oblique cylindrical vessels represent a new type of high-specification jade combination relationship, of which the jade people and jade phoenix systems were found for the first time. The scale of small and medium-sized tombs is small, and the types and quantities of buried jade are also small. In the late Hongshan culture, a relatively complete jade ritual system had emerged.

Scientific and artistic achievements are remarkable

In the middle and late Hongshan culture, the agricultural economy dominated, the fishing, hunting and gathering economy was still very developed, and the stable and abundant food source provided the basic guarantee for the rapid population growth and the differentiation of handicrafts. In the economic form of Xiaohexi culture, Xinglongwa culture, Fuhe culture and Zhao Baogou culture, the fishing and hunting-gathering economy occupies an important position, and a large number of animal bones and fish bones found in the housing site and ash pit are the empirical evidence that people engaged in fishing and hunting activities at that time. The remains of artificially cultivated crops were found at the first site of the Xinglongwa site, and two varieties were identified, which proved that the agricultural economy had been generated during the Xinglongwa culture period, and the northern dryland agricultural system began to take shape at 8,000 years ago, laying an important material foundation for the prosperity of the Hongshan culture. Judging from the ancient environmental data, the southeastern part of Inner Mongolia and the western region of Liaoning ended the dry and cool stage around 6,000 years ago, and the climate became warmer, which provided an objective guarantee for the prosperity and development of the agricultural economy in the late Hongshan culture.

During the Hongshan cultural period, the level of productivity increased significantly, the differentiation of handicraft industry intensified, and a professional talent team engaged in construction, pottery, jade carving, ceramic sculpture and clay sculpture appeared. The development of building technology is prominently manifested in the planning and design of large-scale building groups. The magnificent scale of the Niuheliang site and the orderly and orderly layout of the altar, temple and tomb are the embodiment of the highest achievements of the construction industry in the late Hongshan culture.

The scientific and artistic achievements of the Hongshan cultural period are remarkable, the former is a powerful driving force for social development, and the latter is an important symbol of social prosperity and the wisdom of the ancestors. Archaeologist Feng Shi believes that the outer scale diameter of the three-ring stone altar at the second site of Niuheliang is twice the diameter of the inner scale, that is to say, the outer balance week is twice the inner balance week, indicating that the path and linear speed of the sun's Sunday visual movement at the winter solstice should be twice that of the summer solstice day, which is quite consistent with the account of the "Zhou Hip". The accumulation of astronomical knowledge is of far-reaching significance to the Hongshan society, where the agricultural economy dominates. Astronomical research provides a new perspective on revealing the multiple functions contained in the site.

The depiction of people and animals in the hongshan cultural relics mostly adopts realistic techniques, which are exquisite and vivid. The stone carved human head excavated from the Straw Hat Mountain site and the double-eyed jade-inlaid ceramic statue goddess head excavated from the Niuheliang site are similar to life-size, with upright facial features and a realistic appearance. The jade of the pig head dragon, turtle, fish, bird, owl and other animals has become the iconic instrument of the Hongshan culture, and the accurate grasp and refined carving of the animal posture show the wisdom and superb craftsmanship of the ancestors.

As one of the main artistic achievements, faience pottery began to appear in the early and late Hongshan culture, and matured in the middle and late stages. Faience patterns are all abstract geometric patterns, both single motif patterns and composite patterns, which are widely used in daily pottery and sacrificial pottery. The close exchange between Hongshan culture and Yangshao culture in the Central Plains has brought about significant changes in the appearance of the Hongshan cultural pottery group, and the coexistence of faience pottery and embossed zigzag pottery has completely changed the long-standing unified situation occupied by the long-standing embossed embossed pattern decoration sand pottery.

Eclecticism has become an important driving force for social change

In the 21st century, with the increase of new archaeological discoveries and the publication of archaeological reports, the research on the Hongshan culture has been deepened. The excavation of the second site of the Ao Han Xinglongwa Site, the Chifeng Weijiawopu, the Shangjifang Yingzi Site, and the Chaoyang Xiaodongshan Site have greatly enriched the understanding of the housing shape system and settlement layout in the Hongshan cultural period. The Weijiawopu site is the largest of the Hongshan cultural sites that have undergone formal archaeological excavations so far, and 103 sites in the middle and early stages of the Hongshan culture have been cleared, and the settlement layout has been revealed. Ao Han CaoMao Mountain and Lingyuan Tianjiagou discovered the stone mounds and altars of the late Hongshan culture, and unearthed stone carved figures and groups of jade objects with different looks, which provided important information for the study of the remains of sacrifices and burial customs in the late Hongshan culture. The excavation of the site of the prehistoric settlement of Hamin Busy Ha in Tongliao has unearthed a large number of pottery, stone, jade and other relics, which provides rich materials for the establishment of the Hongshan culture Ha Min Busy Ha type.

The western Liaoning region where the Hongshan culture is located has a unique geographical advantage, which is the link connecting the Northeast Plain and the hinterland of the Central Plains, and belongs to the typical cultural intersection area. Extensive absorption, eclecticism, and condensation of essence are important driving forces for the cultural and social change of Hongshan. The worship of heaven and earth and ancestors characterized by "altar temples and tombs, jade dragons and phoenixes" is an important cultural achievement, making the Hongshan culture around 5300-5000 years old become an important part of the study of the origin of Chinese civilization for more than 5,000 years. (The author is a researcher at the Institute of Archaeology, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences)

(Article source: People's Daily electronic edition Photo and text transferred from People's Daily, August 28, 2021, 08th edition)