Abstract: The Qijia cultural age is roughly equivalent to the Xia Dynasty of the Central Plains, its upper age limit is slightly earlier than the Xia Dynasty, and its spatial range is mainly distributed in the Upper Yangtze River Tributary West Han River Basin and the upper reaches of the Yellow River in the Weishui, Taohe, Daxia River, Huangshui lower and lower reaches, spanning the four provinces (regions) of Gansu, Ningxia, Qinghai and Inner Mongolia, spanning more than 800 kilometers from east to west. Judging from the thousands of Qijia cultural sites (tombs, settlements, etc.) and relics (pottery, bronze, jade, bone, etc.) that have been excavated, their cultural forms have obvious transitional characteristics due to the "hub" status of their spatial location, which have both cultural factors in the middle and lower reaches of the Yellow River and cultural factors in the Eurasian steppe. The Composition of the Qi family that created this culture should be based on the Majiayao people in archaeology or the Western Qiang recorded in the literature and absorb people from different ethnic groups around them. Judging from the widely circulated legend of Xia Yu in the Hehuang area and the geographical and folk imagery named after "Xia", the Qijia culture, like the Xia culture of the Central Plains, has also experienced the glorious period of "full of stars" and "brilliant stars" in ancient Chinese culture, but in the end, due to climate and other factors, under the background of "rare moon stars", it has been integrated into the "diversified and integrated" Chinese civilization pattern.
Keywords: Qi family culture, Xia culture, Erlitou culture, cultural psychological community, animal husbandry agricultural society
Qijia culture is an important ancient cultural fauna in the upper reaches of the Yellow River in Gansu and Qinghai, because of its special status in cultural types and geographical space, it has an important pivotal position in the formation of the "pluralistic integration" pattern of Chinese civilization, the exchange of Central Plains culture and grassland culture, and the formation of the "Faience Road", "Jade Road" and "Silk Road". Since 1924, when the Swede Anderson discovered the Qijiaping site in Linxia Guanghe, Gansu, the Qijia culture has been a hot topic of discussion among archaeologists, historians and art historians. Scholars have proceeded from different perspectives to achieve fruitful results in the study of qijia culture. From the 1950s to the present, archaeologists have found more than 2,700 Qijia cultural sites in Gansu alone.[1]
Through archaeological excavations and inductive research, the chronological range was basically determined, and its spatial distribution range was preliminarily explored. However, there is still room for further discussion on the clan genera of the Qijia culture, the source of the Qijia culture, the relationship between the Qijia culture and the surrounding cultures, and the direction of development. Chinese archaeology, deeply influenced by traditional epigraphy, initially paid only attention to artifact writing. In modern times, it has fully accepted the academic norms of Western archaeology, attached importance to site excavation and artifact typology, and paid less attention to documentary records. In the 21st century, Western archaeology has also seen a theoretical turn, with the rise of environmental archaeology and public archaeology, Chinese archaeology is also facing the innovation of theoretical paradigms, and the cross-integration of disciplines has become a major trend. The same is true of the study of ancient cultures such as the Qijia culture. Based on this, the author does not speculate on the shallowness, puts forward his own opinions on the relevant issues of the Qi family's cultural research, and asks the Fang family for advice.
First, the time and place scope and characteristics of qi family culture
Qijia culture is distributed in the upper reaches of the Western Han River and the upper reaches of the Yellow River in the Weishui, Taohe, Daxia River, Huangshui and lower reaches of the Huangshui river, with today's administrative divisions, from Ning County, Qingyang City, Gansu Province, in the east, to the north to the north bank of Qinghai Lake, south to Wen County, Longnan City, Gansu, and north to The Right Banner of Alxa in Inner Mongolia. It spans the four provinces (regions) of Gansu, Ningxia, Qinghai and Inner Mongolia, with an east-west span of more than 800 kilometers. According to archaeology and research in recent times, "the discovery of archaeological culture in the surrounding areas during the Xia and Shang dynasties, with the Qijia culture in the upper reaches of the Yellow River and the Yueshi culture in the lower reaches, can be traced back to the 1920s and early 1930s." However, the presumption of the relative and absolute chronology of the Qi family culture has gone through a considerable process"[2]6-7. "The Qijia culture is a prehistoric cultural relic in the upper reaches of the Yellow River that was later than the Majiayao culture. Its age is comparable to that of the Xia Dynasty in the Central Plains. It is named after its earliest discovery in Qijiaping, Guanghe County (formerly known as Ningding County) in Gansu Province. "The absolute dating of the Qi family culture has been roughly defined by carbon fourteen dating. A total of 6 charcoal and other specimens were measured... The measurement result (referring to high-precision correction data) is: 2183 BC (upper limit)... Until 1630 BC (lower limit)... It is roughly equivalent to the chronology of the Xia Dynasty in the Central Plains, and its upper age limit may be slightly earlier than that of the Xia Dynasty. [2] The 535-539 Qijia culture was later than the Majiayao culture and earlier than the Xindian culture and the Cayo culture.
The Qi family culture has undergone a long historical development in a specific time and space, forming its unique characteristics. On the whole, from the archaeological remains of the excavated Lingtaiqiao Village, Tianshui Xishanping, Yongjing Dahezhuang, Ledu Liuwan, Wuwei Huangniangtai and other places, its core features are as follows: First, the settlement site has a complex of buildings with white and gray faces, including kiln caves and circular altars made of stone blocks; second, pottery, jade, bronze, and bone ware coexist, and the pottery type combination is mainly binaural large pots, high-necked amphorae pots, luxury pots, pots or beans, etc., and the vessel patterns are rope patterns, basket patterns, etc., and the faience pottery is mainly red and purple Third, bronze is mainly red copper, with cones, knives, rings, axes, etc.; fourth, stone tools include stone axes, shovels, shovels, knives, knives, knives, grinding rods, grinding plates and other stone tools [2]5398. The above characteristics are recognized by scholars.
Because the Qi family culture lasts for more than 500 years in time, and the distance between east and west is more than 800 kilometers in space, it can be roughly divided into three types: eastern, central and western. The eastern district is mainly in the upper reaches of the Jingshui, Weihe and Western Han rivers, the most representative of which are the Tianshui Division Zhao Village and the Qilidun Ruins. The eastern district is dominated by plain pottery, and there are no faience pottery. There are jade ceremonial vessels such as huang, bi, and chun. The central area is the upper reaches of the Yellow River, the Tao River, and the Daxia River Basin, the most typical of which is the Qin Wei family site in Yongjing Lianhua Township, Gansu. Pottery is mainly red and reddish brown, and the plain surface coexists with ornaments such as rope and basket patterns. The western area is the upper reaches of the Yellow River, Qinghai, huangshui, longwu river basins, and the Hexi corridor, the most typical of which are Qinghai Ledu Liuwan and Gansu Wuwei Emperor Niangniangtai site. The most notable features of the West End are red bronze and faience pottery. Faience pottery is mostly black or purple-red, the pattern has triangular patterns and other geometric patterns, banana leaf patterns, deformed frog patterns, etc., in addition to amphora jars, beans, plates, pots, cups, manes, zun, koshiki, there are also high-circle foot pottery cups, double large ear pots, pottery pots, owl pots, mouth jars, as well as rare instruments such as pottery statues, animals, bells, drums and so on.
The above-mentioned different characteristics of the eastern, central and western districts of Qijia culture indicate that they are not closed cultural communities. Spatially, there are phenomena of mutual absorption and mutual influence in the Qijia cultural area in contact with other cultures, and there are also signs of spreading to the east and west. In terms of time, it has experienced the development of the fine stone and pottery era to the era of copper and stone, and the shape and ornamentation of pottery have also undergone more significant development and changes [3]. Professor Han Jianye pointed out that the early qi family culture was in the east, represented by the remains of the seventh phase of Tianshui Shi Zhao Village. It should be mainly the result of the second phase of the Culture of Keshengzhuang moving west into the southeast of Longdong and merging with the culture of vegetable gardens. Later, it expanded to central Gansu and the Qinghai and Hexi corridors. In the late Qijia culture, the circular faience pots and Jomon faience pots that appeared in the cemeteries such as Qijiaping, Mogou and Huangniangniangtai, as well as multiple ripple patterns, ladder patterns, and beard patterns, were most likely imported from the Chemurchek culture in southern Altai and the eastern part of Tianshan Mountain.[4] Among them, the circle-shaped altar formed by the gravel pile of qijia culture is very similar to the stone circle built on the top of a high mountain by the lower culture of Xiajiadian in Chifeng, Inner Mongolia, the middle and late Bronze Age stone circle in Pingding Village, Zhaobishan Township, Mulei County, Changji Prefecture, Xinjiang, and the stone enclosure of the Naredegou site in Bayingol Prefecture and Jing County, Xinjiang (1). The late Qijia culture in the west also shows signs of being influenced by the Jinnan Tao Temple culture and the end of the Miaodigou II culture (jade ceremonial vessels such as 琮, 璧, 璜).
From the comprehensive analysis of archaeological data, the Qi family culture corresponds to the patriarchal clan social form, and the way of life is mainly farming, and livestock husbandry is also engaged; in the later period, agriculture declined and animal husbandry gradually developed. In terms of spiritual culture, there were already shamans who specialized in religious sacrifices at that time, and there were institutionalized rituals (circle altars, jade ceremonial vessels such as the circle altar, the qun, the bi, and the huang) and the divination ceremony (the owner of the Qijiaping site tomb and the Emperor Niangniangtai M8 tomb used sheep bones to bury with them). This social and cultural form has obvious characteristics of the integration of farming and nomadism.
2. Creator of Qi family culture
The Qi family culture began in the Xia Dynasty, and the late Xia Dynasty entered the Xia Dynasty. And its archaeological cultural characteristics have similarities with the Erlitou culture. Therefore, scholars believe that the Qi family culture is closely related to the Xia Dynasty, and some scholars also believe that the Qi family culture had a direct influence on certain factors of the Central Plains Xia culture, such as bronze ware and pottery.[5] In fact, a large number of archaeological discoveries show that these influences come more from the outside, that is, the nomadic cultures of North Asia. Qijia culture only played an intermediate role in this long-distance cultural exchange and dissemination.[6]3-54. So, who is the creator of the Qi family culture? What is the relationship between them and the creators of Xia culture?
The Chronology of the Six Kingdoms states: "Yu Xing was in the Western Qiang. "The area of present-day Ganqing, including the Area of Linxia in Gansu Province in the upper reaches of the Yellow River and the Daxia River Basin, is the residence of the ancient Qiang people. Therefore, archaeologists such as Mr. Xia Nai, to Mr. Yu Weichao, as well as some recent ethnologists and historians, believe that the creators of the Qi family culture that originated in the Area of The Tao River and the Huangshui River basin in the upper reaches of the Yellow River were the ancient Qiang people. Mr. Xia Nai pointed out in the "Record of excavations of The Washan Mountain of Lintao Temple" that the Tao River Basin was in the area where the Xia Dynasty was in the Qiang Dynasty, and the cremation system shown by the tombs at the Siwa Mountain site coincided with the Qiang burial customs[7]269-310. Mr. Yu Weichao believes: "The comprehensive observation of the Anguo-style relics, the Siwa culture, and the Kayo culture, their interconnection with each other and their unique characteristics show that they are all Qiang cultures... From this point of view, it makes sense to regard the Qi family, the horse factory, and even the culture of the Mid-Levels, Majiayao, and Shilingxia as the precursors of the Qiang civilization. ”［8］
In summary, there are several main views: first, the Bronze Age culture in the Ganqing area is a different branch of the Qiang culture; second, it is believed that the Majiayao culture and the Qijia culture are both Qiang culture; third, the Zongri culture developed to the Kayo culture is the Qiang culture; and the fourth is that the Kayo culture is the source of the Qiang culture [9]. The main basis for scholars who hold this view is the "Yu out of the Western Qiang" in the literature, and the coincidence of the Qi family culture and the various branches of culture with the ancient Qiang people.
Other scholars believe that the creators of the Qi family culture had another group of people, the Tocharians who moved north to east from the Xia Ruins of the Southern Jin Dynasty. For example, Mr. Yu Taishan believes that "the Great Xia of Hexi and Linxia, that is, the Tocharian people, moved from southern Jin", "The Great Xia of Southern Jin seems to be traced back to the Tao Tang clan." [10] In the ancient period of 176-196, Chinese culture developed independently in various regions, and eventually formed a "multi-integrated" state of "full of stars", the long-distance transmission across mountains and rivers was mainly for the exchange of rare resources and artifacts, and the migration of large-scale people was probably not the norm of ancient culture.
British scholar Sheehan Jones pointed out: "Cultural-historical archaeology has a long-standing influence on Chinese archaeology, and Chinese archaeology also has a strong tradition of chronicle historiography and a tendency to link archaeological culture with the ethnic groups mentioned in historical books. [11]2 In fact, Chinese archaeologists have clearly recognized the importance of theoretical innovation and interdisciplinary dialogue, as well as drawing on public archaeology. This is reflected in the study of Xia culture and ethnic groups, as Mr. Lin Hu said: In the past, in the field of mainland archaeology, there was a tendency to equate certain archaeological cultures with certain ethnic groups. Related studies further show that delineated archaeological cultures are often reanalybable. The Erlitou culture, which is considered by many researchers to be a relic of the Xia culture, can be analyzed today to analyze the factors originating from the third phase of the Wangwan culture in Henan and the factors originating from the Longshan culture in Shandong. Erlitou culture mixes a variety of factors of the previous culture, which should not be explained solely from the absorption of the cultural components of the surrounding population by the people of the same origin, but should be seen as the mixed residence of people with different origins in the same region, resulting in cultural integration. If the Erlitou culture is indeed a remnant of the "Xia people", the "Xia people" are also multi-sourced in terms of blood.[12]85-89
The qi family, the creators of the Qi family culture, should be the Qi family living in the Ganqing area, although the culture they created coincided with the Central Plains Xia culture in the era, but in terms of space, they were independent of each other, although they showed signs of mutual communication through the passage of the Yellow River and the Wei River, but from the archaeological data, the influence between them was not enough to change each other from the whole. The Qijia culture in the upper reaches of the Wei river and the Yellow River is closely related to the Xia Dynasty culture in southern Jinnan, so that some scholars believe that the Qijia culture is the product of the combination of the Xia Dynasty culture transmitted from southern Jinnan and the local Majiayao culture. "Shiben Imperial Lineage": "Yu married Tu Shan's son, called Nuwa, who was born qi. "The origin of the Nüwa myth is in the northwest plateau, while the Tushan clan is in the south. The reason why such "misplaced" records appear in the "Shiben" is not due to the mistakes, but because the Xia culture has a strong attraction, is widely recognized, and the result of the mixing of various legends about the Xia Dynasty culture.
Third, the relationship between Qi family culture and Xia culture
Within the distribution range of Qijia cultural sites, there are places and other things named after "Xia" such as "Daxia River", "Xia Yan" and "Daxia City", which can be confirmed by the records in the pre-Qin, Qin and Han literature, but the "Bactria" contained in the early literature is not in the northwest, but in the south of Shanxi; but the Bactria contained in the Qin and Han literature corresponds to the area where the Qi family culture is located. What is the reason for this? This should be due to the fact that the Xia culture originated in southern Jinnan and then developed and grew in western Henan and became the mainstream culture. Based on the mainstream cultural perspective, the Shang and Zhou Dynasties also regarded other regional cultures, including the Qijia culture in the northwest region, as Xia culture. Mr. Xia Nai pointed out: "'Xia culture' should refer to the culture of the Xia people during the Xia Dynasty. ...... The culture of other ethnic groups in the Xia Dynasty era cannot be called 'Xia culture'. Not only can the culture of the ethnic minorities in the Xia Dynasty era of Inner Mongolia and Xinjiang be called 'Xia culture', if the Shang and Zhou ethnic groups were not the same ethnic group as the Xia people during the Xia Dynasty era, it could only be called 'Pre-Shang Culture' and 'Pre-Zhou Culture', but not Xia Culture. [13] This provides a good criterion for us to determine the relationship between "Qi family culture" and "Xia culture".
The "Bactria" in the early literature refers to all in southern Shanxi. The Zuo Chuan Zhao (左傳· Zhao Dynasty) contains the following words: "There are two sons of the Xi Gaoxin clan, Bo Yue Fu Bo, Ji Yue Shi Shen, living in the open forest, and not being able to do so." Day after day to seek gango, in order to compete with each other. The Later Emperor did not Zang, and moved Fu Bo to Shangqiu, the main chen. Merchants are because of them, so chen is a business star. Qian Shi Shen in Bactria, the main counselor, the Tang people are the cause, in order to serve the Xia Shang. His Ji Shi is known as Tang Shuyu. When king Yi Jiang of Wu, Uncle Fang Zhen, and Emperor Meng said to himself: "Yu Ming'er Zi Yu will be with Tang, belong to the various ginseng, and breed his descendants." 'And born, there is a text in his hand '虞', so he takes his life. And king Cheng destroyed Tang and was given the title of Uncle Yan, so he was promoted to Jinxing. Du pre-noted: "Bactria, present-day Jinyang County." Yang Bojun's "Spring and Autumn Left Commentary" thought that it was the present-day Taiyuan City [14] 1218. The "History of the Zheng Shijia" also describes the zi production language, and Pei Xiao's "Ji Xie" quotes Qian Yue: "Bactria is between Fenxun, and the Lord worships the stars." [15] In 1978, this Bactria was in tang, that is, the present-day southern wing of Jin. The "Four Years of Zuo Chuan Dinggong" also says: "King Keshang of Xiwu, King Dingzhi of Cheng, chose to build Mingde, and took the ping zhou." ...... Tang Shu was divided into The Great Road, the Drum of The Secret Beard, the Que Gong, the Gu Baptism, the Nine Sects of Huai, and the Five Orthodox Officials. The order was sealed in Xia Xuan with the Tang Dynasty, the Xia Zheng with the Qi, and the Rong Suo in Jiang. "Xia Xu" means "Xia Xu", referring to the former land of the Xia people, and Du prenoted that "Xia Xu" was in Taiyuan [14] 1536-1539. Gu Yanwu's "Rizhilu" refuted it: "Tang is in the east of the river and Fen, and the square is hundred miles." Yicheng is east of Ershui, while Jinyang is west of Fenshui, and it is not compatible. It is suspected that The seal of Uncle Tang and the destruction of Hou Miao are in the wing. [16] 1112 Du Note is not, Gu said yes. In this way, from the earliest records, the Xia culture should have originated in southwest Jin.
In the past, scholars believed that "xia" was not seen in the oracle bones, so some scholars suspected that the early literature records of xia or bactria were late. Recently, according to Mr. Zhan Yinxin, by rearranging the relevant divination materials, he examined the words in the oracle bone buci that had previously been interpreted as "夔", believing that the shape of the character resembled a human being and highlighted the image of his dancing hands and feet, and the original meaning of the words he created was exactly the meaning of music and dance, which should actually be "xia". The character "Xia" is used as a divine name in the Bu Ci, often alongside "River" and "Hua". For example, the "Oracle Bone Collection" 10076: "Peng Wu Bu, Bin Zhen, wine to ask for the year in Hua, He, Xia." In the "Bu Ci", the sacrifices of gods such as "River", "Hua", and "Xia" are often used, and the sacrifice rites are the same. Bu Ci repeatedly said "to the summer" ("Collection" 14375), "to make Summer" ("Collection" 5476) and so on. According to this, "Xia" may have originally been the name of the city, and "making xia" was to build the summer city. The "Xia" in the ritual "Xia" is a place named after a certain city or place. Mr. Zhan cited a large number of "Xia" and "Hua" and "River" at the same time, proving that "Xia" is the birthplace of the Xia people or Xia Yi. Judging from the relationship between "Xia" and "Hua" and "River", the land should be in the "Southwest Jin Plain Area" [17]. From the perspective of philology, this dispels some scholars' doubts about the authenticity of "Xia" and "Great Xia" in early literature. Mr. Jin Jingfang pointed out in his early years: "Although the seals of Bactria, Xiaxu, Tang, Yu, Xiwu, Xiyu and Uncle Tang are broad and narrow, in general, they are all the same region. "Then the homeland of Bactria is actually in the southwest corner of present-day Shanxi Province." [18] 30-31 is remarkable.
The Shiben says: "Xia Yu is the capital of Yangcheng, avoiding the merchants. Also in Pingyang, in Anyi, or in Jinyang. [19]30 According to the Chronicle of the Present Bamboo Book, "Taikang Ju Shu Xun" (太康居斟尋) "Hou Xiang took the throne, Ju Di Qiu", "Emperor Zhu lived in the original and moved from the original to Lao Qiu"[20]212-218. Xia's capital city was migrated several times, and the later relocations were in the area along the Yellow River in present-day Henan. Mr. Liu Qiyu also believes that southwest Jin is the original residence of the Xia people[21]132-133. Combined with the archaeological excavations and research of the Xia Dynasty in recent decades, there are two areas where the archaeological remains of the Xia culture are most concentrated, one is the southwest of Jin, which represents the site of Xiangfen Tao Temple, and the other is in Yuzhong, which represents the Erlitou site (2). This is also consistent with the literature.
Professor Guo Jingyun pointed out in a recent research result: "In the northwest region, the culture in the upper and middle reaches of the Yellow River has the lowest degree of nationalization, although there is a local bronze culture, but due to the high rate of ethnic flow or other factors, its influence did not become mainstream until the end of the Yin Shang and the Western Zhou Dynasty." [22]2 also pointed out that "Xia is the contradiction of the ancient kingdom of northwest China", arguing:
The Weihe and Fenhe rivers flow into the Yellow River, and their river basins together constitute a valley plain with similar conditions. At the same time, the WeiHe River basin is located between Lanzhou and Zhengluo in the upper reaches of the Yellow River. Lanzhou Majiayao faience pottery culture spread to the Weihe River Basin in the Neolithic Period. Agricultural production in the Weihe River Basin is closely related to Henan. Although it is not appropriate to overestimate the communication between the ancestors of Weifen and Zheng Luo through Sanmenxia, the living conditions are similar and it is easy to assimilate farming techniques. However, due to the lack of water sources in the eastern reaches of the Weihe River and Xianyang and the poor farming conditions, since the Neolithic Age, the agricultural settlements have been concentrated in the western reaches of the Weihe River, and the influence of banpo and Majiayao faience pottery culture on the residents of the Fenhe River Basin and the east of Sanmenxia is still weak. In the early bronze period, the Qijia culture centered on Lanzhou spread to the Weihe River Basin, passing through the two passages of the Yellow River and the Weihe River, and the Qijia type site ranged to the east to reach the confluence area of the Weihe River and the Yellow River. However, as mentioned in the previous article, the Central Plains did not seem to absorb the bronze technology of the Qi family, but instead absorbed the bronze technology of the Yangtze River Basin. However, the confluence of wei and fen into the Yellow River is located between the Qi family and the Central Plains, and the cultural relics of the Qi family and the Central Plains have also been excavated locally, and the early metal tools are mainly of the Qi family type. Therefore, it cannot be ruled out that the northern part of the Central Plains was also influenced by the Qi family culture, but from the archaeological data, the Qi family component in the Central Plains culture is quite low. ...... In the early Bronze Period, Xia was one of the many ancient kingdoms, but the literature recorded ancient events from the perspective of "Xia", and the legend of Xia Ancestors was extended to all of China. There may be two reasons for this: first, because the Zhou people who compiled the documents failed to grasp the legends of the ancestors in other regions, nor did they want to publicize the success of the ancestors of other ethnic groups, so they only retained the legends of the indigenous ancient countries; the second reason was that they originated from the most developed civilization at that time, and then became an important part of the concept of history under the heavens. ［22］123-124
It seems that the Qijia culture has been in contact with the Xia culture of the Central Plains and the Xia culture of the Fenhe River Basin, but it has developed generally independently in the early stage, and in the middle and late period, the situation has changed. The Zhou people originated in the northwest, wanted to move east to compete with Yin Shang, and culturally regarded themselves as the successors of Xia. Therefore, in the literature edited by Zhou Ren, there is always the saying that "Yu out of the Western Qiang". Zhou Renshi intermarried with the surname Jiang to form a political alliance. After the Zhou Dynasty, the Qiang people entered the ethnic group of the Huaxia ethnic group and became the surname of Jiang. "Later Han Shu Xi Qiang Biography": "The difference between the surname of Jiang in the Western Qiang Dynasty, the so-called Jiang Rong in the Spring and Autumn Period, is also its kind." Zhang Taiyan said: "In fact, the surname Jiang comes from Xiqiang, and the non-Xiqiang comes from the Jiang surname." Shennong Jiang surname, by Jiang Shuiye, its original Western Qiang. And the Yellow Emperor with the Shaodian, is also the Western Qiang species also. [23] 388 Gu Jiegang further pointed out on this basis: "Qiang and Jiang are originally one word, Qiang congren, as the name of the race; Jiang congnu, as the surname of qiang women. [24] This was all caused by the Zhou people's self-identification as inheritors of Xia culture.
All indications show that the Qi family culture in the later period was strongly influenced by the Xia culture and had a close relationship with the Xia culture. Around 3000 BC and around 2000 BC, the Central Plains culture represented by Erlitou sprang up, and the Hongshan culture, Dawenkou culture, Liangzhu culture, and Shijiahe culture declined almost simultaneously.[25]35 Therefore, the pattern of civilization at that time changed from what Mr. Su Bingqi called "full of stars" to the overall situation of "rare moon stars" [26] 160-163 in the Chinese land culture at that time. The rise and fall and growth of regional cultures will inevitably lead to the high frequency and large-scale flow of people, and eventually lead to the integration of archaeological artifact cultures in terms of shapes and ornaments, and the formation of a cultural and psychological community in which national cultures are integrated with myths, legends and historical records.
Fourth, the reasons for the decline and fall of the Qi family culture
Although the prosperity and development of the Erlitou culture dimmed the glory of other ancient cultures, the decline of regional cultures such as the Qijia culture also had its own reasons. The Qi family culture was very popular, why did it eventually decline and merge into the Culture of the Central Plains Shang Zhou? This should first be explored from the particularity of its way of life. The Qi family culture was originally based on farming as the main way of life, which is clearly recorded in the classics. The "Century of Emperors" says: "Yandi Shennong, the mother is Ren Jiao, there are clan daughters, there are female Deng, and there are young concubines." You Huayang, with the sense of the dragon's head, was born in the Yangyang Mountain. "The head of a human bull grows longer than ginger water, because of the clan yan." "To be a farmer, to teach the people to cultivate the peasants." Taste the grass and trees, let people eat the valley to replace the sacrifice of the life, so the name of Shennong. [27]3 Why did the Qi family culture decline? The internal reasons are manifold, among which climate change at the time was a very important factor. Japanese scholar Kazuo Miyamoto summarized the data on animal remains in the archaeological excavation report in the middle and upper reaches of the Yellow River compiled by Chinese archaeologists:
With the cold and drying of the climate that began in 3000 BC, the hunting of wild animals, especially deer, gradually decreased, and was replaced by pigs or domestic animals such as sheep and cattle as livestock animals. The increase in livestock is evident in the upper reaches of the Yellow River and in central and southern Inner Mongolia. Among them, the Qijia culture in the second half of the late Neolithic period and the Zhukaigou site at the end of the Neolithic period are the most prominent. ...... However, more noteworthy than the progress of livestockization of pigs is the significant increase in livestock animals such as sheep and cattle. This is inversely proportional to the decline in deer's living areas due to grasslandization in forested areas. ...... In the upper reaches of the Yellow River and in south-central Inner Mongolia, even in the stage of developed animal husbandry, farming stone tools still exist, and the same agricultural elements can still be seen as before. This shows that a certain degree of agricultural production is still taking place in these areas. I call this kind of agricultural society that depends on animal husbandry an animal husbandry type of agricultural society, in order to distinguish it from the areas in the middle and lower reaches of the Yellow River that belong to the same agricultural society as millet and millet. ［28］228-230
During the Qi family culture, it suffered a cold and dry climate, as well as natural disasters such as floods, and agriculture was destroyed. Swiss scholar Xu Jinghua also pointed out that according to the general law of human social turmoil and ethnic flow that existed throughout the world due to temperature drops in history:
In the late Neolithic period, cultivated fields included not only the Yellow and Yangtze River basins in central China, but also the northern part of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, Inner Mongolia, and western Manchuria. Most of these peoples are settled farmers, but they also raise pigs, dogs, cattle, sheep and chickens to supplement their food sources. The area of cultivation is getting bigger and bigger, and the countryside is becoming more and more prosperous. Later, the climate suddenly cooled, and near 2000 BC, northwestern China became unusually cold. In the more recent cultural layers, more animal bones appeared, while fewer farming tools appeared, indicating the degradation from farming to animal husbandry culture. The number of pigs became smaller, and in its place were a large number of sheep. Did the peasants become shepherds, or more likely, they were conquered or replaced by nomads from the north?
The nomadic invaders who came to China at the end of the third millennium were the Qiang people in the north. ［29］129-130
The climate became cold and arid, forcing the nomadic population to move inland, thus creating the form of a "livestock-type agricultural society" here. The failure to form a strong system is an important reason for its decline.
Another important reason for the decline of the Qi family culture may be due to the influence of the Western culture and the failure to form a whole. Kevin Lynch research states: "Humans are domain-minded animals that use space to control human-to-human transactions, and maintain ownership of domains to guarantee ownership of their resources." [30] 145 Archaeologists generally believe that the capitals and settlements as special spaces are a materialized form of kingship. Starting from Kevin Lynch's theory of spatial control of urban morphology, Professor He Yi put forward nine indicators for early Chinese cities or capitals in combination with the culture of Tao Temple and Erlitou City Site: "(1) Regular urban form; (2) The existence of exclusive palace and temple areas; (3) Exclusive royal cemeteries; (4) Exclusive sacrifice areas; (5) Official handicraft workshop areas; (6) large-scale storage areas for political and religious oligopolies; (7) Standardized road systems and city gate systems that have begun to take shape; (8) Clear urban layout planning concepts; (9) Diverse urban cultural features." ...... In view of this, we believe that Tao Temple was the original city and capital of China, and the Erlitou site was the first mature city and capital. [31] 3-58 From this point of view, although the Qi family cultural sites have appeared as scepters of symbolic power from West Asia, there are special religious buildings such as altars in the settlements, and there are public cemeteries, but no large palaces have been found, indicating that they have not yet formed a highly centralized royal system. Professor Han Jianye pointed out in the research results:
At the end of the Qi family culture, in the cemeteries such as Qijiaping, Mogou and Huangniangniangtai, as well as sites such as Lanzhou Yatou and Linxiawa Kiln Head, there are some faience pots or jomon pots at the bottom of the circle, which are very abrupt, and their source should be the Chemur Chek culture in the southern part of Altai and the middle of the Eastern Tianshan Mountains, especially the multi-ripple pattern, ladder pattern and other colored pottery ornaments, which are likely to be transplanted variants similar to the engraving on the Chemuercek culture clay pots. In addition, the beard stripes on amphora jars in the Pingbei district of the Great Clan, which belong to the transitional period of the Qijia culture and the Siwa culture, are also widely seen in northern Central Asia and even in Iran, which are generally simultaneous or slightly earlier; the earliest artificial iron tools found in China found in Mogou are at least about a thousand years later than the production of artificial iron tools in West Asia, Eastern Europe and other places. This shows that after the 15th century BC, there are still more Western cultural factors infiltrating the Ganqing area, which may be one of the reasons for the differentiation and transformation of the Qi family culture. The final result is that the Qinwei family type becomes Xindian culture and Kayo culture, the Mogou type becomes Siwa culture, and the Lao Niupo type is integrated into the Erlitou culture. ［4］
In fact, in the early days of the development of the Qi family culture, it was already influenced by foreign cultures. This can be confirmed by the many bronzes found at the Qijia cultural sites in Gansu and Qinghai that predate the Central Plains. However, in the late Qi family culture, its trend of spreading eastward was significantly weakened. The main reason for this is the strengthening of the Liangzhu culture in the Yangtze River Basin and the Xia and Shang cultures in the middle and lower reaches of the Yellow River. One obvious evidence is the convergence of the Qi family culture concept of sacrifice to the above cultures.
A number of stone circle altars have been found at the Qijia cultural site, the source of which is the Liangzhu culture, indicating that the Qijia culture was strongly influenced by oriental culture. For example, in the early ruins of the Qi family culture commonly known as "Dataizi" or "Gray Taizi" in Dahezhuang Village, Yongjing County, Gansu Province, 5 stone circle remains have been found, arranged with flat gravel, and the stone circle is accompanied by bones or cattle and sheep skeletons excavated as sacrifices. In addition, the same stone circle and the skeleton of cattle and sheep have also been found at the site of the Qin Wei family in Yongjing County, the site of Zhao Village of Tianshui Shi, the ruins of Qinghai Minhe County, and the ruins of cattle and sheep, indicating that this stone circle is the place of worship of the Qi family.[32] Some scholars have pointed out that such stone circles are mostly found in sites such as the Liangzhu culture, and the era is earlier than the Qijia culture in the Ganqing area[33]105-120. It shows that the concept of sacrifice in the Qi family culture was strongly influenced by the culture from the Central Plains in the east.
In addition, haibei ornaments from the coastal area [34]76-85 have been found in the Qijia Cultural Site in Ledu Liuwan, Qinghai, the Tugu Taimachang Type Tomb in Lanzhou, Gansu, the Qijia Cultural Tomb of The Wuwei Emperor's Niangniang, the Ruins of Dong'an Mountain in Minle County, Hexi Corridor, and the Siba Cultural Tomb in Yumen Huoyaogou[34], which indicates that the Qijia culture has had long-distance exchanges and interactions with other regions.
From the above point of view, during its development period, although the Qi family culture has formed a certain development scale and influence in terms of spatial distribution and time continuation, it has also reached a considerable level of development at the level of material culture and spiritual culture. However, in the later stage of its development, due to climatic reasons, a special social form of a highly mobile "livestock farming society" was formed. The organizational structure of this social form is relatively loose and does not have the basic conditions for the formation of an early state. Therefore, the bronze technology transmitted from the steppe civilization has not been translated into advanced productivity here. In addition, due to the rise of the Xia Dynasty and the Shang Dynasty in the Central Plains, its ideologies such as religious sacrifices and funeral customs were strongly influenced by the Culture of the Central Plains. Under the joint action of the above factors, the Qi family culture eventually diverged, and its main body and most of it gradually integrated into the Central Plains Shang zhou culture, while some of its parts retained some characteristics of the grassland nomadic culture.
exegesis
(1) Some scholars believe that the Stone Circle of qijia culture was introduced from the Liangzhu culture in the southeast, and continued to spread to the grasslands in the northwest, with an impact on Xinjiang and Inner Mongolia. Shan Duwei and Yang Jiangnan: "The Origin of the Stone Circle of QiJia Culture", included in the Proceedings of the 2016 China Guanghe Qijia Culture and Chinese Civilization International Forum, Gansu Culture Publishing House, 2017 edition, pp. 105-120. Some scholars believe that the stone circle resembles the stone town left by the fixed tents of the steppe nomads in Central Asia. See Hu Bo: Commentary on the Part of the Qi Family Cemetery That Belonged to the Customs of the Indo-European Peoples, translated by Li Yongdi, edited by Xia Hanyi: A Selected Collection of Ancient China, Shanghai Ancient Books Publishing House, 2008, p. 24. However, judging from the Qi family sites such as Dahezhuang, where the stone circle was found, the remains of animals were found in or near these stone circles, which is more likely to point to this as a place of sacrifice. (2) Mr. Xu Xusheng, from the early documents such as the Chinese, Zuo Zhuan, and the Bamboo Book Chronicle, concluded that the activities of the Xia people "should be paid special attention to: the first is the Luoyang Plain in central Henan and its vicinity, especially the upper reaches of the Yingshui Valley, Dengfeng and Yuxian areas; the second is the area downstream of Fenshui in southwestern Shanxi (about south of Huoshan)." See "Preliminary Report on the Investigation of the "Summer Ruins" in The Western Yuxi of 1959", Journal of Archaeology, No. 11, 1959.
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Source: Central Plains Cultural Research Public Account
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