The bronze ritual vessel brought out the civilization of ritual music
On the afternoon of January 7, the 159th Wenhui Lecture Hall "The Origin and Formation of Chinese Civilization" series of four lectures on New Year's Eve was successfully concluded, specially supported by the surging news network as media. The 159-4 issue of "4000 Years Ago, The Mysteries and Secrets of the Kingdom and Dynasty of China" invited three keynote speakers - Gao Jiangtao, researcher of the Institute of Archaeology of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences and leader of the Tao Temple archaeological team, Di Nan, deputy research librarian of the Shaanxi Institute of Archaeology and deputy leader of the Shiji archaeological team, and Zhao Haitao, associate researcher of the Institute of Archaeology of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences and leader of the Erlitou Task Force, to explain and interact with Tao Temple, Shiji and Erlitou in the upper and middle reaches of the Yellow River.
The question was published yesterday (see link at the end of the article), and three keynote speakers will be published today, which is the first part of the two miles from 3800 to 3600 years ago.
Zhao Haitao gave a lecture on Erlitou and mentioned the latest discoveries
Just now, everyone felt the majestic stone ridge and the pottery temple that was first completed by the ceremonial system, although they were very prosperous, but they all ended in the end. Join me in walking into Erlitou to understand how it created the glory of China's bronze ritual civilization and led the process of future civilization on a large scale.
Consensus: It has established an important position in the space-time coordinates of Chinese civilization
Many people in Erlitou are familiar with it. In 1959, Mr. Xu Xusheng, a famous ancient historian, discovered that it might be the capital of SenseTime. In the autumn of the same year, the Institute of Archaeology of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences sent experts to excavate, and a series of important discoveries have been made in the 64 years since then.
In 1959, Mr. Xu Xusheng discovered the Summer Market and caused a sensation
On May 28, 2018, the Information Office of the State Council held a "Press Conference on the Achievements of the Origin and Early Development of Chinese Civilization", which gave a general summary of the main development process of Chinese civilization in China from 5,800 to more than 3,500 years ago - around 5,800 years ago, the Hongshan culture was the representative, and signs of civilization appeared in some places; Around 5300, represented by the Liangzhu culture, many regions entered the stage of civilization one after another; 3800 years ago, represented by the Erlitou culture, a more mature form of civilization appeared in the Central Plains, becoming the core and leader of the general process of Chinese civilization.
After more than 60 years of archaeological work, we can come to two consensuses: one is to establish the important position of Erlitou in the space-time coordinates of Chinese civilization, and the other is to establish its core position in the formation of the Chinese dynasty and the study of Xia culture.
The 2018 press conference defined Erlitou: the core and leader of the general process of Chinese civilization
Among the world: the geographical location of Erlitou culture
Erlitou is located in Yanshi District, Luoyang City, Henan Province, belongs to the Central Plains region in a broad sense, the Central Plains region includes Shaanxi, Shanxi, Henan provinces, geographical conditions are very superior, the place where the major dynasties of ancient China built the capital, but also the main political stage center of ancient China.
The Luoyang Basin is more special, with an area of only more than 1,000 square kilometers, and is a standard small basin, surrounded by mountains. Within these 1,000 square kilometers, there are 6 capital city ruins, with an architectural history of more than 1,500 years, and 13 dynasties have built their capitals here.
Erlitou was the first to establish the system of "choosing the sky and building the capital", and the well-known Western Zhou bronze "He Zun" inscription has the expression "Yuqizhai Zi China", this "China", according to documentary research, refers to the Luoyang Basin. In the "Book of Shang", "Book of Yi Zhou" and "Shiji", there are also some records of King Zhou calling Wang Jiandu after he destroyed Shang, among which "Youxia's residence" refers to the Luoyang basin where Erlitou is located is among the world.
The reason why such importance is attached to the world is that during the Xia Shang and Zhou Dynasty, it was believed that "among the world" was the closest to the heavens, which was convenient for respecting the emperor and worshiping the gods, and it was also convenient for the emperor to govern the four sides, and it was convenient for the princes of the four sides to pay tribute to the central government. It follows from this, at least in the Zhou Dynasty, that the Xia Dynasty established the capital city in the "middle of the world" in the Luoyang Basin.
The position of Erlitou is in the "world under heaven" considered by the Zhou Dynasty
According to the latest date, the Erlitou culture is dated from more than 1750 BC to more than 1520 BC, which is between the late Longshan period before the formation of the Chinese dynasty and the more mature Erligang Empire, which is a key period for the formal formation of the Chinese dynasty.
Huanghuang Dadu: The best in China created by Erlitou Duyi
In the past 64 years, the main discoveries in Erlitou can be summarized as the best of China: the earliest urban trunk road network and the earliest two-wheeled ruts, the earliest Founder Palace Castle and the earliest palace building complex with the central axis layout, the earliest multi-entry courtyard palace complex, the earliest national sacrificial ground and sacrificial area, the earliest bronze casting workshop and the earliest turquoise workshop, the earliest bronze ritual ware group and the earliest bronze weapon, the largest settlement in the first half of the 2000 BC, and the earliest large capital with clear urban planning , the earliest core culture of the East Asian continent.
Moreover, it is the only large capital with a well-planned Bronze Age in the same period, and the culture represented by Erlitou is the earliest core culture in East Asia.
* The "well" framework plans the sacrificial area, the palace area, the workshop area, and there are already two-wheeled vehicles
Erlitou found a two-wheeled rut and speculated that only the highest nobles could use it, and the car was a ceremonial vessel
Why are roads the most important discovery?
Unlike the stone ridges, which are all stone, tall and majestic, the palaces, city walls, and roads in Erlitou are all soil, but these soils have special value. The four roads in the central area of Erlitou, two north-south and two east-west, form a "well" shaped framework, which first has the function of passage, and most importantly, has the function of planning.
Two-wheeler ruts were found on the south-west road. Although the two-wheeled rut was found around 4,000 years ago in Pingliangtai, Huaiyang, Henan, it is a little out of the parallel from the photo, and it cannot be confirmed that it must be a two-wheeled vehicle, so the two-wheeled vehicle in Erlitou is the earliest. At the same time, the symbols on the pottery pieces found in the soaphorn tree in Luoyang are generally believed to be the shape of the car, proving that there must have been a car at that time. The car is first and foremost a means of transportation and at the same time a ceremonial vessel. At present, the width of the four roads in Erlitou is 10-20 meters, and two two-wheeled ruts have been found on such widths, indicating that there were very few cars at that time, and only the highest nobles could use them, so it may be a ceremonial vessel.
The strict layout of the "well" shaped road shows a developed mode of domination
The three most important functional areas of the "well" shaped road are in the middle road of the capital, and the center of the enclosed space is the palace area, and from north to south are the sacrificial area, the palace area, and the workshop area. On the east and west sides of the middle road are the residence and burial areas of the nobility, and houses and tombs of the nobility are found in each lattice.
These important functional areas are distributed around the palace area, such a rigorous and regular pattern reflects the very strict division of social structure at that time, the ruling order is orderly, indicating that there was a developed ruling system and ruling mode at that time, we believe that it is the most important symbol reflecting Erlitou's entry into the dynastic state.
The 110,000-square-meter palace castle, with a grand scale and regular shape, was inherited and developed by the Shang and Zhou dynasties
At the very center of the "well" shaped frame is the Miyagi Castle, which covers an area of nearly 110,000 square meters, and the walls were not found in the early days, so it can only be called the palace area. In the late period, a 2-meter-wide rammed earth wall appeared to enclose it, and it could only be called Miyagi.
More than 20,000 square meters of rammed earth buildings were excavated in these 110,000 square meters, which was the highest aristocratic residential area at that time, and these buildings were grand in scale, regular in shape and orderly arrangement, indicating that it was a concentrated distribution area of political and religious power at that time, and was inherited and developed by many dynasties such as Shang and Zhou dynasties, until the Forbidden City reached its peak in the Ming and Qing Dynasties, which is also an important embodiment of Erlitou's guidance on the process of civilization in later generations.
* In the early days of the courtyard, there was a phenomenon of dwelling and burial, and a combination of turquoise dragons and copper bells appeared to be sacrificed
In the palace area, there are the earliest multi-entry courtyard palace rooms. Since the beginning of the Zhou Dynasty, the mainstream of Chinese palace construction is to enter the courtyard, and the earliest source is Erlitou. At present, it has been found that there are two early multi-entry courtyards, No. 3 and No. 5 rammed earth buildings are juxtaposed east and west, and noble tombs of the same period have been found in the courtyard, and we have clear evidence that these palace buildings and tombs are all residential and burial, that is, after the palace building is completed or used for a period of time, it is directly buried in the courtyard of the building living at that time. This was a special funeral custom at the time.
At present, it seems that only the tombs of nobles were buried in the palace area in the early period, and the highest-ranking tombs in the early Erlitou period are also currently found in the palace area.
A turquoise dragon unearthed in the tomb, 70 cm long, made of 2,000 turquoise inserts
One of the tombs was unearthed with a turquoise dragon, which is the largest and most beautifully crafted piece of the early dragon image. With a length of nearly 70 centimeters and more than 2,000 turquoise inserts, the processing level including the design level is very high, and it looks vivid and lifelike. Its image is likely to come from Shiji, which was also inherited by later bronzes; The coiled dragon in some bronze plates of the Yin Wu period may be a curled dragon combined with it by the Tao Temple. It co-occurs with copper bells. The bronze plaque is actually an abstract dragon.
Whether it is a bronze medal ornament or this large turquoise dragon appears together with the copper bell, the dragon and the bell or play a role in guiding the soul and guiding the gods to and from heaven and earth, the "Book of Poetry" records that the King of Zhou sacrificed to the temple of Zhou "Dragon Banner Yangyang, and Ling Yangyang", that is, the dragon and bell appear together, which is precisely this phenomenon in Erlitou.
*The national sacrificial site Dakeng, where young pigs were sacrificed, appeared, and was passed down to the Shang Dynasty
According to archaeological speculation, the imaginary map of Erlitou Miyagi Castle: symmetrical central axis, quadrangle courtyard style, inherited by later generations
The late period is a quadrangle-style complex of central axis layout, represented by palaces No. 1 and No. 2. Palace No. 1 is about 10,000 square meters, surrounded by walls, and the main hall is in the north of the wall, sitting north facing south. No. 2 also sits north facing south and is a standard rectangle. Their palace complexes are preceded by rammed earth buildings with a common axis. These reflect certain regulations: symmetry of the central axis, sitting north facing south, and siheyuan style, which were inherited by the Shang Dynasty, including later palace buildings, thus creating the basic paradigm of Chinese palace architecture and an important embodiment of the leading role of future generations.
National places of worship are found on the north side of the palace area. First, the area north of the palace area has an area of about 230,000 square meters; Inside, a circular altar-like remains were found, one of which was a large rammed earth round platform with a diameter of 8 to 9 meters, and several small round pits were dug on it, which were filled with different soil. The distribution of small circles is very regular, one in the middle, 6 circles in the second circle, 11 in the third circle, may actually be 15, but it was destroyed. There were also tombs, which excavators believed were altars for sacrifice.
More than 6 complete pigs were found, which found the source of the national sacrifice system of Yanshi Mall
The other is a large pit of 2,200 square meters in the northeast corner of the palace area, with a depth of 4-6 meters, which may be for the construction of large rammed earth works such as palace walls or palace buildings, and after the formation of the large pit, many activities were carried out in the pit, including the sacrifice of young pigs.
More than 6 complete pig bones were found in more than 100 square meters, although the direction was different, but the posture was basically with the hooves on the left, the head and back on the right, and the left body, providing important information for understanding the sacrificial customs and systems of the time. In Yanshi Mall, there is also a sacrificial area north of Miyagi, and hundreds of pig bones have been found in excavations, which are basically consistent with Erlitou, so it also finds the source of the national-level sacrifice system of Yanshi Mall, and also proves the leading role of Erlitou.
* The official workshop area is guarded by a wall, and the copper casting workshop and turquoise tool processing workshop are mature
To the south of the palace area is the official workshop area, and its east and north sides are found with walls, and the width of the wall is nearly 2 meters, which shows the importance of the workshop area. There are copper casting workshops with an area of about 20,000 square meters and turquoise tools processing workshops with an area of more than 1,000 square meters. The products processed by these two workshops were also the highest level of ceremonial articles of the time.
Insertion: The government-run workshop is guarded by a wall, with a copper casting workshop of 20,000 square meters and a turquoise processing workshop of 1,000 square meters
For example, the turquoise processing workshop found a pit, and there were more than 7,000 grains of turquoise unearthed in the pit, the largest grain is only 1 or 2 cm, the small one is only about 2 mm, and even the size of a millet grain being processed. After preliminary research, it was found that the relics including the processing of turquoise pipes, beads and inserts, such as raw materials, blanks, semi-finished products, finished products, waste products, and waste, can basically restore the entire process of turquoise processing at that time.
A variety of copper-casting relics were found in the copper casting workshop, such as pottery fans, crucibles, copper slag, copper materials, and tools for processing cast copper. Although this pottery fan is badly damaged, only a small fragment, but from the part preserved above intact, it may be a cast bronze ding fan, its inner wall has a pattern, according to its mouth to restore its diameter is about 30 centimeters, so far no such a large bronze has been found, nor has a bronze with this pattern been found, that is to say, the highest level tomb in Erlitou has not yet been found.
* Bronze ceremonial weapons such as bronze jue appeared, and a small number of bronze weapons and jade weapons reflected the importance of ritual and military power
A bronze ceremonial instrument found in Erlitou
There are several types of bronze ceremonial vessels found in Erlitou, the most is that there are 16 bronze jue, 2 copper cups, 1 copper ding, 2 copper staffs, 7 copper bells, 1 copper ding, and 3 bronze medals, which is the earliest batch of bronze ceremonial vessels. There are also a small number of bronze tools and weapons, including Go, Tomahawk, Cymbal, these 3 categories, the more numerous are arrows, although small, but they are expendable weapons, which can also show that bronzes have a certain production capacity.
There are mainly 6 types of jade ceremonial vessels, which are very different from the pottery temple and stone feng, and the largest number is the handle-type vessel, which is relatively small in size, and is not also found in the highest level tombs. The other 6 types of weapons are jade knives, jade knives, jade ge, jade bi, jade qi, and jade yazhang, these six types are rectangular thin jade weapons, reflecting the importance of military power in the Erlitou period.
A jade ceremonial weapon in Erlitou
From the perspective of residence, from the No. 1 palace of 10,000 square meters, the No. 2 palace of several thousand square meters, to the general private houses of several square meters, all show a strict hierarchy. The burials also show strict hierarchies in terms of size, number of burial objects, and specifications. In many aspects, Erlitou is already a strict hierarchical society, with a highly developed degree of civilization, and some unprecedented creations, many of which are not found in Shiji and Tao Temple, showing a dynastic atmosphere.
Weiwei Huaxia: The ruling grid of the Erlitou culture
The distribution area of Erlitou culture is roughly Henan Province, east to Kaifeng, west to eastern Shaanxi, south to northern Hebei, west to southern Shanxi and even to Jinzhong, greatly breaking through the distribution range of Tao Temple, but also breaking through the distribution range of Henan Longshan culture, it is distributed in a larger area.
* Created the supercore model of a large-scale wide-area royal state and inherited it for future generations
In this distribution range, from the perspective of settlement size, height and distribution location, a pyramid-shaped social structure and a distribution pattern of "stars holding the moon" have been formed, indicating that it has a highly developed control network and ruling civilization, and is at the core of the entire Chinese civilization at that time.
In the late Longshan period, people from all over the world chased the Central Plains, providing conditions for Erlitou to be eclectic
Since 5,000 years ago, various places represented by Liangzhu have successively appeared large stages of civilization, and then declined successively, and after the decline, there was no extremely developed civilization period in those areas. Erlitou is located in the Central Plains, and people from all over the world are competing with each other in the Central Plains, so the Central Plains region is eclectic on the basis of its own civilization development level, absorbing advanced cultural factors from various places, and finally a mature civilization form has emerged.
The emergence of the Erlitou civilization broke the large-scale distribution of large centers that did not go beyond the regional unit in the Longshan era, and for the first time created the model of a supercore of a large-scale wide-area royal state, which was inherited by future generations.
* Influence the main civilization of the Central Plains, and the advanced culture represented by Yazhang radiates and transforms the surrounding areas
After the appearance of Erlitou, many of its civilization achievements were inherited by later generations. The urban planning, the palace city system, the palace building system with multiple courtyards, and the courtyard-style palace building system just mentioned can see its influence in Yanshi Mall, Huanbei Mall, including the Zhou Dynasty.
The courtyard-style palace architecture has been passed down from Erlitou
Before Erlitou, the Tao Temple had copper lings, and bronze containers appeared in the third phase of Erlitou, and the basic types, shapes, casting techniques of bronze containers in Erlitou, of course, including the bronze ritual music system embodied behind it, were inherited by the Shang and Zhou dynasties, laying the most important connotation and mode of the Shang and Zhou bronze civilization, and opening the prelude to the Bronze Age. Although these bronze vessels in Erlitou look relatively primitive and quaint, they play a fundamental role in laying the foundation.
Jade can also be seen in the Shang Dynasty, and has a strong leading role in future generations.
The main pottery in Erlitou, such as Tao Jue and Pottery Cup, including some pots, basins, large mouth Zuns, etc., has been passed down to the Erligang and Yin Wu periods, and the shape is basically in the same vein and continuous development.
It can be seen from the above that the Erlitou culture, whether from the superstructure to the general daily pottery, has laid the most important and direct foundation for the emergence and development of the Shang civilization.
After major changes, Nga Chang radiated to all parts of the south, as far as northern Vietnam
In addition to the influence on the main civilization of the Central Plains, Erlitou also has many influences on the surrounding culture. For example, copper lings, bronze medals, including pottery ritual wares, in the Chifeng area in the northeast, in the lower reaches of the Yangtze River in Jiangsu and Zhejiang, and in Sanxingdui, Sichuan, you can see different kinds of typical artifacts of Erlitou.
More important is Yazhang, and Yazhang in Erlitou may inherit Shiji or from Shandong. Although it is not the earliest, compared with before, Erlitou's Yazhang has undergone major changes: large-scale, dragon-type, and ceremonial instrumentalization. The teeth on the Erlitou Yazhang are likely to represent the image of a dragon with an open mouth. The Yazhang of Shiji are basically in the cracks of the city wall, and the four Yazhang unearthed from the first three tombs of Erli all appear in the tombs of high-ranking nobles, which are ritual vessels that can only be used by high-ranking nobles.
Erlitou Yazhang affected many areas to the south, such as in Hubei, Hunan, Guangdong, Fujian, Hong Kong can see the Erlitou period Yazhang, all the way down the Yangtze River to Sanxingdui, and even to the north of Vietnam. The location where Erlitou-style Yazhang was unearthed is generally only Yazhang, and there are no other artifacts with Erlitou characteristics, which may indicate that it is not the people of Erlitou who have passed, but that these places have taken the initiative to learn and accept the advanced civilization achievements and systems of Erlitou, indicating that Erlitou did not rely on military conquest but the influence of advanced culture was accepted by the local area and changed the local civilization process. These fully reflect the degree of civilization and civilization system of Erlitou and have a large-scale leading role.
Erlitou entered the Kingdom Age and played a leading role in Chinese civilization
Overall, Erlitou entered the dynasty era and was the earliest core culture in the Central Plains. Its emergence marks a major turning point in Chinese history, from the previous uncentered pluralism to the era of integrated and centered kingdoms, and a series of unprecedented creations created by it laid the most important and direct foundation for the later Shang-Zhou civilization, and together with the Shang-Zhou civilization, it created the basic characteristics of the Chinese ritual civilization, and is the core and leader of the general process of Chinese civilization.
Finishing: Li Nian
Link at the end of the article:
Gao Jiangtao: The Tao Temple 4300 years ago, "first China" came and grew |Lecture Hall 159-4(1)
Who was the northern power Shiji eliminated? Is the Panlong of Tao Temple Really a Dragon?| Lecture Hall 159-4(4)
Author: Zhao Haitao
Photo: Authorized from guest speech PPT
Editor: Li Nian
Responsible editor: Li Nian
*Wenhui exclusive manuscript, please indicate the source for reprinting.