Use knowledge to fight impermanence and rebuild the power of the mind. On the evening of April 25th, the surging news "Exploring the Five Mysterious Ancient Civilizations" special lecture was officially launched, and the first guest was Han Jianye, a professor at the School of History of Chinese Min University. (Click here to watch the live lesson video)
Click on the picture to watch the live class video Has always been about the origin of Chinese civilization, the academic community said that the sky is full of stars. Professor Han Jianye believes that Chinese civilization originated 8,000 years ago and was formed 5,000 years ago, and there are at least three modes of origin in the north, the central plains and the east. And "respecting the ancestors of heaven and the law" is our most fundamental cultural gene.
In the lecture that evening, Professor Han Jianye led the online audience to trace the roots from archaeology. The following is an excerpt of some of the lectures.
What is Chinese civilization?
Today, when we discuss "civilization" and even "Chinese civilization", we often equate "civilization" with Western civilization, but in fact, more than 2,000 years ago, "civilization" has appeared in pre-Qin literature. Chinese have a more profound inner meaning when discussing "civilization."
Before 2000, Chinese "civilization":
- The world has articles and light
Individuals have moral cultivation, and society has a system of etiquette, emphasizing the inner.
"Civilization" in the eyes of Westerners 200 years ago:
- Developed material culture
The individual is cultured, the society is developed, and the emphasis is on the outside.
Throughout the ages, scholars have had different interpretations of civilization, and their views on the origin of Chinese civilization are even more like stars in the sky. Professor Han Jianye believes that the so-called Chinese civilization refers to the civilization created by the Chinese nation with the Chinese people or The Chinese people as the core, or the highly developed and long-term cultural entity or cultural circle created by the Chinese nation. Civilization is not the same as the state, and the origin of civilization is naturally richer than the connotation of the origin of the state.
The Origin of Chinese Civilization
Phase I
In the Pei Ligang era, 9000-7000 years ago, early cultural China began to sprout, and the origin of Chinese civilization took the first step.
At the Site of Jiahu Lake in Wuyang, Henan, in the Peiligang culture, archaeologists have found tortoise shells containing stones in tombs, which are believed to be instruments used for divination. At the same time, some symbols are carved on the tortoise shell, which have similarities with the Yin Ruins Oracle, and some scholars even believe that these symbols can be regarded as the origin of Chinese characters. The shape of the tortoiseshell is also very likely to indicate that the cosmology of the "round place" was already in its infancy at that time. In addition, the "regular" bone vessels, bone flutes, wine vessels, and neatly arranged "clan burial" cemeteries show that the core elements of Chinese civilization such as Bagua numeration, visual time teaching, and worship of heaven and ancestors have appeared in the Pei Ligang era.
The tortoise shell of Wuyang Jia Lake is considered to be a pattern of "eye"
In addition to the Pei Ligang culture, Professor Han Jianye also discussed a large number of archaeological examples in the Baijia culture (8000-7000 years ago), the Shangshan culture (8000 BC - 6500 BC), the Gaomiao culture (7800-7000 years ago), the Xinglongwa culture (8200-7500 years ago), and discussed that in about 8000 years ago, there have been more advanced cosmology, religious views, ethics, historical views, as well as more advanced astronomy, mathematics, symbols, Music knowledge, etc., entered the first stage of the origin of Chinese civilization.
After entering the Yangshao culture, the cultural elements previously formed continued to develop. For example, the small-mouth pointed bottom bottle at the Beishouling site in Baoji, Shaanxi, Mr. Su Bingqi believes that this kind of utensil belongs to the sacrificial wine vessel, and the word "unitary" in the oracle bone is derived from the pictogram of the pointed bottom bottle.
In the Jiangzhai village of Lintong, Shaanxi Province, more than 6,000 years ago, each group of houses represented a family, the doors were facing the central square, and the layout of the houses was a centripetal structure, which showed that there was a social state of interest and coexistence, blood cohesion and order at that time.
The tomb of the "Dragon and Tiger" found at the Site of the West Water Slope of Puyang, also more than 6,000 years old, is most likely a star map, related to the astronomical knowledge of the ancestors, and is believed to have advanced the indiscriminate period of china's Twenty-Eight Houses system by thousands of years.
The part of the tomb of the "Dragon and Tiger" and the projection of the stars it represents are indicated
In the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River, the famous Hemudu culture (7000-6000 years ago) has a developed material culture, exquisite lacquerware, wineware, jade, and exquisite patterns carved on the utensils, which are representative discoveries of that era.
Phase II
During the Yangshao cultural temple bottom ditch period after 6,000 years ago, the process of social complexity in most parts of China accelerated, and the origin of Chinese civilization entered the second stage.
The Miaodigou type of Yangshao culture is distributed at the junction of the three provinces of western Henan, southern Shanxi and eastern Shaanxi, and its influence has rapidly expanded to the surrounding areas after its emergence, making the cultural appearance of the entire Yangshao cultural area very close to the central government, forming a three-level cultural community, and the early cultural China was formally formed.
For example, the stork stone axe pattern faience pottery jar unearthed in Ruzhou, Henan Province, has a "Stork Stone Axe Diagram" painted on the abdomen, and the "stone axe" depicted is a "cymbal" symbolizing military power. It may represent a monumental depiction of the victory of the Bird Clan (Miaodigou crowd) over the Fish Clan (Banpo Crowd) in the process of the westward expansion of the Miaodigou.
In the Miaodigou era, the number of settlements at the junction of the three provinces increased by 3 to 4 times, the settlement area increased to hundreds of thousands or even millions of square meters, and hundreds of square meters of palace-style buildings and large tombs appeared. Driven by the type of temple bottom ditch, the surrounding areas have also begun the process of civilization.
The formation of Chinese civilization
Around 5100 years ago, a number of regional civilizations appeared, and Chinese civilization was initially formed, entering the stage of "ancient civilization". These regional civilizations include:
The Shiya regional civilization in the northern region
Tao Temple regional civilization in the Central Plains region
Regional civilization in the Haidai area of the lower reaches of the Yellow River (middle and late Dawenkou culture, Longshan culture)
Civilized society in the middle reaches of the Yangtze River (Qujialing culture, Shijiahe culture, Xiaojia roof culture, etc.)
Liangzhu regional civilization in the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River
The Baodun regional civilization of the Sichuan Basin
……
Liangzhu unearthed the god-man beast face pattern jade and jade
Among them, there are at least three ancient kingdoms in the upper and middle reaches of the Yellow River, namely the Ancient Kingdom of Longshan, the Ancient Kingdom of Kunshan and the Ancient State of Heluo.
The Nanzuo site in Qingyang, Gansu, which Professor Han is excavating, is one of the core sites of the ancient country of Longshan. The area inside the ring trench of the Nanzuo site is more than 6 million square meters, equivalent to twice that of the two litou; the core area of the "Jiutai" is 300,000 square meters; in its central palace area, there is a large hall with an indoor area of 630 square meters, which is the best preserved, largest and most well-laid palace-style building in China at the same time. In 2021, a large number of rare high-grade pottery was also unearthed at the Nanzuo site, such as white pottery with lids and looped foot grates, faience pots, and small-mouth flat bottom bottles with lids.
From 4500 to 4100 years ago, the Tao Temple culture appeared in Shanxi. In the ruins of the ancient city of Xiangfen Tao Temple in Shanxi, there are 2.8 million square meters of ancient tao temple, including miyagi, noble cemeteries, and "astronomical observatories". In the tombs, archaeologists have found a large number of painted pottery and jade, and the earliest stone quantities have appeared. However, around 4100 years ago, the Culture of Tao Temple underwent a huge change, the capital was destroyed, the tomb was excavated, Professor Han believes that this is a military change, most likely related to the legendary "Ji Fang Dan Zhu (Zhou ancestor Hou Ji Exile Yao's son Dan Zhu)". After this change, the late culture of the Tao Temple was formed, with ZhuShu characters, and the first composite Tao Fan copper casting technology was created.
By about 4100 years ago, Chinese civilization had entered the Xia Dynasty and the relatively mature "Kingdom Civilization" stage.
What is so special about Chinese civilization?
The three modes of origin of Chinese civilization
Professor Han believes that Chinese civilization has at least three modes of origin: the north, the east and the central plains.
The northern model and the central plains model: stable and introverted, life and death are measured, the precious is light and the rich, the orderly and courteous, and the simple and persistent.
The Oriental model: ups and downs, death as life, equal emphasis on wealth and nobility, luxury and waste.
Chinese civilization has two major cultural characteristics
1. Multi-branch cultural structure
With the Yellow River and yangtze River basin as the main body, the middle reaches of the Yellow River as the core, and the cultural outlook is multi-branched;
2. There is a continuous development process of ups and downs in development
For a long time, it will be divided, and if it is long, it will be combined, and if the center is strong, it will be divided.
The relatively independent geographical pattern and the vast and solid dual agricultural system have enabled China to form the basic concept of "agriculture-oriented" very early on, tempered the characteristics that are different from other civilizations, and become the "cultural genes of the Chinese nation that are endless and prosperous". To sum up:
Holistic thinking, unity of nature and man;
Ancestor worship, people-oriented;
Pursue order and stability;
Tolerance is great, harmonious coexistence;
Industrious and persevering, self-improvement;
Agriculture-oriented, stable and introverted.
Among them, the most important are the first two items, which, in a nutshell, are "Respecting heaven and fazu". Having a reverence for the ancestors of heaven and earth is the secret of our Chinese civilization being able to stand tall in the world for thousands of years without falling.
Q&A
1. When we talk about Chinese civilization, how to judge whether this civilization belongs to "China"? In addition to geography, what other basis for judgment?
You can think about it, in the Pei Ligang culture, Gaomiao culture, etc., we have found a knowledge system about the universe, such as the heavenly circle place, the time of observation, and the world view, whether it has always run through the Chinese civilization. Chinese civilization has such spiritual connotations, which are reflected in material culture and will also have similarities, which we can call Chinese civilization. They are not only geographically related, but must also have the characteristics and genes of Chinese civilization.
2. How do you view the development of the key settlement trenches to the wall and the ramming of people's cities from the late Yangshao period to the Longshan period? I am based on environmental changes and big cultural groups to consider, I hope you can click one or two!
The transition from the trench to the wall seems to be traceable. When digging a trench, the soil will be dug out and piled on the inside of the trench, which naturally forms a certain height. On the inside of the trench, in addition to the mound, there may be some fence walls, bamboo and wood, etc., but only the trench has been preserved to this day. In addition, the high mound also made people realize that it could also play a defensive role, so there was a city wall.
Like the ruins of the double locust tree, although a large-scale trench was found, there was no trace of any wall, probably because it was used as a center and there was no need to build a city wall; but near it, the ancient city of Xishan in the same period, so small settlements were built with walls, probably considered from the overall space, in order to defend against the large central settlement.
3. How do you think that many people like to call them "extraterrestrial civilizations" and "aliens" when they see some amazing archaeological discoveries? For example, the Egyptian pyramids and Sanxingdui have had similar speculations, how should we refute them?
There are indeed many people in society who will compile various statements for various purposes, and we hope that everyone will learn more about archaeology, read more about the works of archaeologists, learn more about the research and achievements of archaeologists, and support or refute them through evidence.
The above is the content summary of the first issue of the "Exploring the Five Mysterious Ancient Civilizations" special topic, click here to enter the surging question, you can watch the whole video.
【The lecture series is still in progress, welcome to add the Pengyou circle manager (WeChat ID: askmemore2015), join the group to watch the live broadcast! 】