Hello everyone, today I would like to share with you an archaeological work called "Why China: A Picture of the Central Plains in 2000 BC". Its author is the former captain of the Erlitou Archaeological Team and the famous archaeologist Xu Hong. In this book, he wants to explain to everyone how early China was formed, and also to clarify why the Central Plains region became the beginning of the mainstream of Chinese civilization.
To introduce this book, we must first talk about the famous bronze ware - He Zun. He Zun is known as the "National Treasure", which is a bronze vessel from the Western Zhou Dynasty in 1000 BC. At the bottom of the bronze statue is cast 12 lines of 122-character inscriptions, of which 4 characters are "Zhaozi China", which is the first time that the two words "China" appear in the form of phrases. So what exactly do the four words "Zhaozi China" mean? In fact, it corresponds to a historical event in the Western Zhou Dynasty, that is, the capital of the country was set at Luoyang at that time. And "China" means "the center of the world.".
So, why is it that in the eyes of the Western Zhou people, Luoyang, the Central Plains region including Luoyang, will be the "center of the world"? This is what the book "Why China" tells, why the Central Plains region became the beginning of the mainstream of Chinese civilization, and why the earliest China was formed here. To make this clear, I am afraid that the time will go back another 1,000 years, that is, to about 2000 BC.
At that point in time, how did the first wide-area monarchy in the Central Plains develop here? The author vividly illustrates this process with two words: one is called "Star Han Brilliant" and the other is called "Moon Star Rare". "Star Han Brilliant" means that the early tribal cultures were as brilliant as the Star Han, and the glowing points could be seen everywhere; but as time went on, thousands of years passed, these cultures slowly declined, and a protagonist appeared, which is the process of "moon stars are rare". At this time, the first wide-area monarchy was born in the Central Plains, and the earliest China also appeared.
(Look at the news Knows author: He Jie Visual Design: Lu Xinquan)