China News Service, Beijing, April 15 Title: Han Jianye: When will the cultural exchanges in the early days of mankind break through the barrier of thousands of miles?
China News Service reporter Sun Zifa
From the beginning of the Paleolithic Great Migration to the Silk Road of the Han Dynasty in China, it is widely considered to be an early stage of human cultural exchange. During this period, how did the cultures of the East and the West break through the barriers of thousands of mountains and rivers to achieve exchanges and mutual learning? In terms of the impact of communication, is it "the east wind overwhelms the west wind" or "the west wind overwhelms the east wind"? What are the effects of early Cultural Exchanges and Mutual Learning between the East and the West on future generations?
Han Jianye, professor, doctoral supervisor and archaeologist at the School of History of Chinese University, recently accepted an exclusive interview with China News Agency's "East and West Question" to interpret the history of cultural exchanges and mutual learning between the East and the West before the emergence of the Silk Road.
The interview transcript is summarized below:
China News Service: What is the connection between Eastern and Western cultures in terms of origins? According to current research, when can cultural exchanges between the East and the West in human society go back?
Han Jianye: There are three main original civilizations in the world, including Central American civilization, early Eastern civilization, and early Western civilization. Among them, the early Western civilization, whether it is the Two Rivers Valley civilization or the Egyptian civilization, the fire of civilization was "ignited" by the Sumerians. According to cuneiform records, the Sumerians were "black-headed people from the East", black-headed people are black-haired people, and some early Sumerian humanoid sculptures have black asphalt hair on their heads.
Linguists believe that Sumerian has nothing to do with the ancient Afro-Asian languages of West Asia or later Indo-European languages, but closely related to the Sino-Tibetan and Altaic languages of the East. Therefore, whether the flame of Western civilization "ignited" by the Sumerians will come from the East is a very interesting topic that deserves further study.
As for the earliest stages of cultural exchange between the East and the West (excluding human migration in the late Paleolithic period), it may have appeared in the Neolithic era, but the evidence is not sufficient. In the case of faience, both China and West Asia were produced at least before 6000 BC and showed striking similarities around 4000 BC, but in fact, the East and West faience areas are thousands of kilometers apart, and no direct evidence of their communication with each other has been found so far.
In the early period of cultural exchange between the East and the West, the more explicit time should be from the era of copper and stone combined with around 3500 BC.
Professor Han Jianye (second from the left) conducted a guiding exchange during the on-site inspection of the Nanzuo site in Qingyang, Gansu. Courtesy of respondents
China News Service: Before the Eurasian Silk Road, you proposed that there were three early cultural circles, which attracted much attention in academic circles. How are these three circles divided? What is the relationship between them?
Han Jianye: Eurasia was the center of early human activities and development, and the main stage of early civilization. Early human cultures had a lot in common, but they were colorful. The Eurasian continent from the Holocene (about 11,700 years ago) to before the advent of the Silk Road (Zhang Qian's envoy to the Western Regions in 139 BC) can be roughly divided into three major cultural circles, namely the "Early Eastern Cultural Circle" centered on the "Great Two River Basins" of the Yellow River and the Yangtze River in China, the "Early Western Cultural Circle" centered on the "Little Two River Basins" of the Tigris River and the Euphrates River, and the "Early Northern Cultural Circle" with the Eurasian steppe as the main body north of the two major cultural circles in the East and West.
The deep background for the formation of the three major cultural circles of The Holocene Eurasia lies in the natural geographical environment. The key to the distinction between the early Eastern and Western cultural circles was the huge obstacle formed by the uplift of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, which divided two relatively independent geographical units and two major cultural units. Of course, there are also differences in the natural environment of the two major geographical units in the east and west, such as climate, topography, animal and plant resources, etc., thus laying the foundation for the unique characteristics of the two cultural circles. On the other hand, both major geographical units belong to the mid-latitude region, with moderate temperature and precipitation, and abundant soil, so they have developed cereal agriculture and civilized societies based on it.
The early northern cultural circle is different, it and the east and west cultural circles are not a big geographical barrier, its relative independence is mainly due to high latitude, low temperature and grassland-forest environment, the overall more suitable for hunting and gathering and animal husbandry economy. In the later period, the northern cultural circle was greatly influenced by the cultural traditions of the East and the West, and became an important channel for exchanges between the East and the West.
A large transfer of millions of livestock in the Altay region of Xinjiang. Photo by Liu Xin, a reporter of China News Service
Cultural exchange is an important mechanism for the development and evolution of the three major cultural circles, but it is not always peaceful. The larger-scale interaction zone between the three major cultural circles is the result of cultural exchanges, and is often at the forefront of cultural collisions and crowd conflicts.
China News Service: In the early three major cultural circles, how did the cultures of the East and the West communicate? What stages have you gone through?
Han Jianye: Early East-West cultural exchanges, mainly refers to the Paleolithic Human Migration, before the emergence of the Han Dynasty Silk Road two major cultural circles of exchanges, about 3500 BC, through the copper and stone era, Bronze Age and early Iron Age three major stages, the formation of grassland north road, oasis middle road and plateau south road three major communication channels, through the exchange of painted pottery, metalware, crops, livestock, etc., to promote the formation and development of Eastern and Western civilization.
The era of copper and stone use was the initial period of early East-West cultural exchanges. Although the Eastern European-Southern Russian steppe culture spread over long distances through the northern grassland route to northwestern Xinjiang, There is no sign of further penetration into China's hinterland. Objects such as faience pottery in southern Central Asia may have sporadically entered the Ganqing region through the oasis middle road, forming the original "faience road", cattle, sheep, etc. have also entered the Ganqing region from Central Asia, and new economic forms and artistic themes have emerged in northwest China, adding fresh blood to the formation of the early Chinese "ancient country" civilization.
The Bronze Age was the heyday of early cultural exchange between East and West. Through the "Metal Road" in the north of the grassland and the "colored pottery road" in the south oasis province, first the "west wind gradually", and then the "east wind gradually", and finally the Eurasian continent of the Bronze Age was gradually connected into a whole, triggering China's "Bronze Age Revolution", which played a certain role in promoting the early China to enter the mature "kingdom" civilization period.
A bronze vessel excavated from the tomb of the Lady of Anyang Yin Ruins - round-footed copper. Photo by Zhang Qingmin, China News Service
The Early Iron Age was the maturation of early cultural exchanges between East and West. The Eurasian steppe culture, including northern China, is integrated, the artistic and religious concepts of the Eurasian steppe have penetrated into the Yellow River and yangtze River basins over a long distance, and the typical cultural factors of the Yellow River and Yangtze River basins have spread to South Siberia and other places, and the southern civilization of Central Asia may have had a certain impact on the Qin and Han "empires".
It can be seen that the formation of the copper-stone combined era, the Bronze Age and the early Iron Age in most parts of Eurasia is mainly the result of cultural exchanges between the East and the West.
China News Service: After three stages of continuous exchanges and mutual learning in the early Eastern and Western cultural circles, what impact did it have on the formation and development of Eastern and Western civilizations?
Han Jianye: The three major stages of cultural exchanges between the East and the West correspond to the three important stages of the formation and development of the civilization of the East and the West, which should not be a coincidence: the internal force of the burst of civilization prompts the outward expansion of the crowd and the external influence of culture, which may be the internal cause of the emergence and development of the early East-West cultural exchange; and the cultural exchange at each stage brings fresh blood to the Eastern and Western civilization, promotes the formation and development of the early Eastern and Western civilization, and shapes the temperament and connotation of the early Eastern and Western civilization.
As far as the mode of communication is concerned, the early East-West cultural exchanges are mainly based on the gradual expansion of the living space and the migration and flow of the population, which is more reflected in the exchange of technology and ideas, rather than the direct exchange of objects. It was not until the late Warring States period that there was a long-distance trade in Chinese hinterland goods that spread far away to southern Siberia and other places.
As far as the direction of exchange is concerned, sometimes the "west wind" is strong, and the influence of the West on the east is greater, which is "the west wind overwhelms the east wind"; sometimes the "east wind" is strong, and the east has a greater impact on the west, which is "the east wind overwhelms the west wind". But most of the time and overall the two are in a mutually communicative relationship.
The evolution of civilization and cultural exchange are dialectical relations that complement and promote each other. Although the long-distance and indirect early cultural exchanges did not fundamentally shake the deep cultural foundation of the early Eastern and Western civilizations, they played a role in promoting the formation and development of the early Eastern and Western civilizations, laying the foundation for the formation of the Silk Road after that.
China News Service: As the core of the oriental cultural circle and oriental civilization, what contributions did the Chinese civilization make in the early process of cultural exchanges between the East and the West? What are the characteristics of its own development?
Han Jianye: The geographical scope of the early Eastern Cultural Circle, centered on the Yellow River and Yangtze River Basins, is mainly the "Early Chinese Cultural Circle" covering most of China, the southeast includes Southeast Asia and the Pacific Islands, the east involves the Korean Peninsula and Japan Island, the northward wave affects the Eurasian steppe, and the westward reaches Central Asia.
The world's earliest pottery was found in South China (including the southern edge of the Yangtze River Basin) and has a history of 20,000 years. After about 9000 BC, pottery with different faces began to expand in central and eastern China, and the Shangshan culture pottery in Zhejiang was the earliest faience pottery in the world, and continued to expand to the surrounding areas over time.
China is also the birthplace of rice and millet agriculture, with rice cultivated in the southern edge of the Yangtze River Basin for more than 15,000 years and millet cultivation in North China for more than 10,000 years. In addition, China has raised domestic pigs at least 9,000 years ago.
The right jaw of a domestic pig dating back about 9,000 years is the earliest domestic pig found in China. Photo by Sun Zifa, China News Service
In general, the close connection between the elements of the Eastern cultural circle lies in settlement and agriculture. After about 4000 BC, most of the Yellow River, Yangtze River and Liao River basins have established the main body of agriculture, forming a dual agricultural system of southern rice and northern millet, as well as the world's largest agricultural cultural area. Pottery is complex and diverse, faience pottery is prevalent, lacquerware and silk fabrics begin to be common, daily life is rich, central settlements appear, social differentiation, the formation of early Chinese cultural circles, and expand their influence to the surrounding areas.
In the early days, China's super-large-scale settled society and agricultural economy subtly shaped the concept of stability and introversion of people in East Asia and respect for heaven and ancestors. Around 3000 BC, inter-population conflicts were unprecedentedly fierce, societies were rapidly complicated, and early Chinese civilization was officially born.
The source of Chinese civilization is in the hot land of China, but cultural factors from the West have also added fresh blood to the formation and early development of Chinese civilization. Chinese civilization has thousands of years of accumulation of cultural genes and rich historical memory, which are different from other civilizations in the world and are the root cause of the endless life and prosperity of the Chinese nation. (End)
Respondent Profiles:
Han Jianye, admitted to the Department of Archaeology of Peking University in 1987, is now a second-level professor at the School of History of Chinese University, a distinguished professor of the "Yangtze River Scholars Award Program" of the Ministry of Education, and a member of the 8th Disciplinary Review Group of the Academic Degrees Committee of the State Council. His main research interests are in the fields of Chinese Neolithic Shangzhou archaeology, Ancient Chinese History, environmental archaeology and human-land relations, Cultural Exchanges between China and the West and comparison of civilizations, and has published about 20 academic monographs such as "Early China - The Formation and Development of Chinese Cultural Circles" and "The Origin of Chinese Civilization", published about 200 research papers such as "Three Stages of Early East-West Cultural Exchanges" and "Three Major Cultural Circles of Holocene Eurasia", and won the Outstanding Achievement Award for Scientific Research in Colleges and Universities (Humanities and Social Sciences) three times. At present, he is presiding over the major project of the National Social Science Foundation of China, "Research on the Process of Early Chinese Civilization from the Perspective of Eurasia" and the excavation of the Nanzuo Site in Qingyang, Gansu.