Does the Yellow Emperor exist? Is Yao Shun's succession Zen Rang? Look at early China from the perspective of cultural relics

In recent years, archaeology has gone out of the circle, from the college entrance examination yuan who aspires to enter the archaeology department of Peking University, to the "National Treasures" and "If National Treasures Can Talk" that are all over the sky, and then to the rise of cultural creation in the Forbidden City, cultural relics have suddenly entered the public vision and entered the lives of ordinary people. But do we really understand the importance of artifacts? Do we really know how to interpret the political system, ideological trends and historical changes behind a cultural relic? Early China in Cultural Relics answers these questions.

"Early China in Cultural Relics" Lin Wu Gongzi Shanghai Literature and Art Publishing House

The author, Lin Wu gongzi, humbly called "Early China in Cultural Relics" a "pamphlet" reading ancient history from the cultural relics of the pre-Qin, Qin, and Han dynasties. In fact, through 34 very representative cultural relics, such as Guodian Chujian, Qinghua Jian, Wu Hook YueJian, Mawangdui Shu, and Sanxingdui Copper Man, the book reinterprets the myths and "history of faith" that we thought we were familiar with before the Han Dynasty.

According to Mr. Gu Jiegang's thesis, the study of ancient history often appears the phenomenon of "layering ancient history", just like in archaeological excavations, the relics of the later era must be covered above the previous era, resulting in the longer the era, the more the ruins are crushed and distorted. In the study of early Chinese history, the status of excavated cultural relics is particularly important, the main reason is the lack of historical materials before the Han Dynasty, and the complicated interpretation of later generations, at this time cultural relics can most directly restore the true face of history at that time, and corroborate with historical records, which helps readers to distinguish the authenticity of the records. With the passage of time, especially after the Tang and Song dynasties, the way of writing and recording almost covered the corners and corners of social life, and the importance of excavated cultural relics gradually decreased.

Lin Wu just grasped the pain point of "believing in history and not believing" caused by the lack of historical materials and the "accumulation of ancient history" before the Han Dynasty, and selected cultural relics with words, such cultural relics are often used for large-scale activities such as sacrifices and prayers, which themselves convey a lot of information, tell a complete story, and at the same time can be corroborated with historical books, making it easier to tell the era, characters, and events related to it.

For example, there are several interesting stories: Does the Yellow Emperor exist? Is Yao Shun's succession really Zen Rang?

The memory of our descendants is engraved in the blood and bones of the Yellow People,so that we no longer question whether there are really people in history?

The author Lin Wu gongzi started from the inscription "ShaoYi Gaozu Yellow Emperor" on Chen Houyin Qi Dun, began to sort out the meaning and source of the Yellow Emperor step by step, from the Shang Dynasty to find the traces of the Yellow Emperor, found that until the Spring and Autumn Period, even in the "Poetry Classic, Shang Song Xuan Bird" and "Daya Minsheng" in the two epic poems that respectively talk about the origin of the Shang Zhou people, there is no trace of the Yellow Emperor, the author all the way back, in the "History of the Book of Feng Zen" and the "Five Emperors Benji" about the origin of the Five Emperors, the concept of the Yellow Emperor was probably formed in the Warring States Era. The integration of the ancient emperors at this time was inseparable from the social situation of the political unification of the Qin Empire at that time and the self-identity of "Huaxia", and the "Chen Houyin Qi Dun" recorded at that time was also such a story of "clinging", and the "descendants of Yanhuang" gradually became a cornerstone of common cultural and psychological identity with the expansion of the political geographical edge.

The book also discusses the controversial topic of Zen concession in ancient history, is it Zen concession or usurpation between Yao Shunyu? Is the peaceful transfer of power a glorification of future generations? In order to answer this question, the author selected the chapters in Chu Jian, Shangbo Jian and Qinghua Jian excavated from Guojiadian in Jishan Town, Shayang County, Jingmen City, Hubei Province, and opened the exploration of Yao Shun Chan Rang. These bamboo jian, which were written in the middle of the Warring States period, without exception recorded the praiseworthy good story of Zen Rang, reflecting basically the prevailing trend of thought at that time, which can be almost confirmed by the records in the main history, but they are very different from the records of the Bamboo Book Chronicle. From the discussion of Zen Rang in the surviving documents such as the Analects, Mozi, Lü Shi Chunqiu, Warring States Policy, and Mencius, it can be roughly inferred that the doctrine of Zen Rang should have been questioned only after the failure of the Yan King's Zen Rang in 314 BC.

Following the author's exploration, we can find that many of the distortions and reconstructions of later generations stem from the political needs and ideological trends of the time. For example, Guan Zhong, who was originally born into an aristocratic family, was shaped by later generations to be born with a low life and many misfortunes, and a closer look at the background at that time will find that it was precisely out of the era of the disintegration of aristocratic politics. Another example is the widely circulated Jiang Taigong in the "Fengshen Yanyi", who only worshiped the King of Zuowu in his ancient rarity, which was just an inspirational story from beginning to end, and when carefully studied from the cultural relics and documents, it was learned that Taigong wang was in his prime when he was cutting. And Taigongwang's transformation from a human being to a deified alien is inseparable from the prosperity of Taoism.

Between discourses, the author is always interspersed with his own views on history. For example, when talking about the "descendants of Yan Huang", on the self-identification of the "Chineseization" and culture of the surrounding ethnic groups, he pointed out the key points in a word, "In the process of the emergence of the Chinese state and the nation, their image has been shaped according to the common cultural and psychological needs, and the Chinese nation has been full of rivers and rivers from the time of its formation. Qian Mu said in the third chapter of "Introduction to the History of Chinese Culture", "Ancient Concepts and Ancient Life", "In ancient concepts, Siyi and Zhuxia really have a different standard, and this standard is not 'blood' but 'culture'. The so-called 'princes use Yi li to yi yi, yi di into China then China', this is the clear proof of the difference between culture and Huayi. This concept gave the ancient Chinese a kind of elastic space, not to feel lost when foreign tribes invaded, on the contrary, even a cultural self-confidence to assimilate other ethnic or non-Xia civilizations. In order to achieve political goals, when the weak civilization is close to the Central Plains, there are also many excuses to get closer to the Chinese civilization, such as the Surrounding Siyi such as the Yue Kingdom, borrowing the ancestors, myths, and legends of China and attributing themselves to the mainstream system of the Central Plains civilization. The cultural traceability from the narrative of cultural relics to the "What is China" is not an isolated case in the book. As he said, we do not want to overthrow history through cultural relics, but to break the records of the documents passed down from generation to generation, and rethink many historical issues in combination with the results of archaeological discoveries.

By unveiling the mysteries of antiquity, what brings us to ponder is actually a journey of self-knowledge. (Editor-in-charge: Li Zhengrong)