Preface
Shang Tang's destruction of Xia is an important chapter in Chinese history that cannot be ignored, but in this magnificent history, there are some mysteries that are difficult to explain. As a monarch with such great achievements, Shang Tang's great achievements have not been fully recorded by the oracle, why is this?
Was the Xia Dynasty really called "Xia"? If not, then what was its other name? How was this long-standing civilization replaced by the Shang Dynasty? Let us trace the footprints of history and unravel the fog in the depths of time.
Traces of the Xia Dynasty
Since ancient times, the Chinese have attached great importance to history. Whenever a dynasty is overthrown, the new dynasty will compile a history book as soon as possible, recounting and sorting out the major events that occurred in the previous dynasty one by one. According to the context recorded in the historical records, the origin of the Chinese dynasty is probably the Xia Dynasty more than 4,000 years ago, and then the Shang Dynasty.
However, since the excavation of the Erlitou site in the 50s of the 20th century, archaeologists have not been able to find any valid references. What's even more puzzling is that after Shang Tang destroyed the summer, there was no record of this great achievement in the oracle bone inscription.
All the sayings about "Shang before Xia" actually come from the history books of the Zhou Dynasty and beyond. Why did an ancient civilization that once existed fade away in the long river of history and was almost forgotten? What kind of secrets are hidden in this?
The discovery of the oracle
Just when this foggy history is completely deadlocked, the emergence of a bone points people in a new direction. In the twenty-fifth year of Guangxu (1899), when Wang Yirong, a goldsmith and stone scholar, was grabbing medicine in the Crane Year Hall, he accidentally bought a keel medicinal material engraved with graphic text.
After research, Wang Yirong deduced that it came from the Shang Dynasty. In this way, Oracle has officially entered the field of vision of Chinese and foreign academic circles. It turned out that during the Yin Shang period, divination was prevalent among the nobles of the Shang Dynasty. Whether it is a major event of state or private life, such as the climate, conquests, hunting, sickness, fertility, sacrifices, etc., all require the gods to ask divination, and then engrave the prayers on the oracle bones.
These were later known as oracle bones. "Yin people respect God, lead the people to serve God, first ghosts and then salute. From the first discovery of the oracle bone inscription in 1899, about 150,000 pieces have been unearthed today, of which about 2,000 oracle bone characters have been interpreted. These contents account the major and small matters of more than 270 years from the Pangeng to the Dixin period, including political power, war, agriculture, fishing and hunting, surrounding states, and ethnic groups.
The mystery of the Xia Dynasty
What is puzzling is that in these oracle bone inscriptions, there is no mention of the "Xia" dynasty. Although the oracle bone script has the character "Xia", its original meaning has nothing to do with political power, state, or even clan, but only represents the meaning of under the scorching sun. Could it be that the Xia Dynasty was not called "Xia"?
In response to this question, historians began to wonder: Could there be other names for the Xia Dynasty? Sure enough, after some investigation, people found some new clues.
First of all, it is said in the "Book of Songs: Ode to Commerce": "The mandate of heaven is many, and the capital is set up in Yu's achievements." Later, in the Spring and Autumn Bronze "Shuyi Bell", such a description was found: "There is Kyushu in Xian, and it is blocked by Yu. This shows that although the name of the previous dynasty of the Shang Dynasty after the Western Zhou Dynasty was "Xia", this was not its only title, and "Yu" could also refer to this regime.
In addition to "Yu", there is another word that appears frequently in oracle bone inscriptions that has also attracted people's attention, and it is "Xiyi". In the chapter "The Book of Rites: Tie Yi": "Yin Ji" said: "Only Yin bows to the sky, seen in Xiyi; And there are also such words in "Shangshu Taijia".
It means that I, Yiyin, have personally met the monarch of Xia Yi in the West, Xia Yu has enjoyed the mandate of heaven for governing the people with faithfulness, and the people who assist him also enjoy the mandate of heaven. From this passage, it can be confirmed that "Xiyi" is also related to the Xia Dynasty.
Tsinghua Jane's Discovery
However, the Book of Rites is a classical Chinese written by an anonymous person, and the authenticity of the Book of Rites has always been controversial, and there is a suspicion of forgery in later generations, so these evidences are not sufficient to conclude the following.
However, in 2006, the appearance of a group of mysterious bamboo slips cleared a little cloud for the veil of the Xia Dynasty. At that time, there were a number of bamboo slips (stolen and excavated) with unknown time and unknown location in Hong Kong, which was later known as Tsinghua Jane.
Qinghua Jane comes from the middle and late Warring States period, with a total of about 2,500 pieces, which were buried in the ground before the Qin Dynasty and did not go through the "book burning pit Confucianism", so the original appearance of the original Qin ancient books can be restored to the greatest extent. Most of the bamboo slips were written in the style of the Chu State and were kept in the collection of Tsinghua University in 2008.
There is such a record in "Tsinghua Jane Yin Zhi": "From Xijian to Xiyi, there is a summer." "It is said that Shang Tang attacked from the west, destroyed the Xia Dynasty in Xiyi, and defeated the army of the Xia Dynasty. There is another article in "Tsinghua Jane Yin Huan": Yin Niantian's defeat in Xiyi Xia. He said: "Xia has no people, but also the people, and the people are dead and defended." "
At the beginning, Yi Yin sensed that the heavens were about to die in the western Xia Yi, and said that the Xia Empire had a large number of people, but the people there were no longer united as one, and they would flee or defend the city. And the "Yin Ji" quoted in the "Book of Rites" and "Shangshu" mentioned above is also this Yin He, Ji is the notice, the lawsuit is the message, and the Yi Yin Zhi is also.
The title of the Xia Dynasty
Through analysis, we can basically determine that Xiyi, which appears repeatedly in pre-Qin history books, is likely to be the name of the Xia Dynasty. So why did the Xia Dynasty call it Xiyi?
The title of Xia may come from the pictographs of the Xia totem, or the name of the tribe; the title of Xiyi may be because the Xia Dynasty is located in the west, or it may be the name of the capital, so later generations will call it Xiyi; some people believe that Xiyi is read in conjunction with Xia, so Xia and Xiyi have the same meaning.
In addition, in the oracle bone inscriptions, it is also frequently recorded that the monarchs of the middle and late Shang Dynasty all sacrificed in a place called "Xiyi", such as "Zhen: Yu Xiyi", "Xiyi Harm", "Ding Si Sue Yu Xiyi", etc., which are basically related to sacrifices.
This shows that after the fall of the Xia Dynasty, the royal family of the Shang Dynasty will also go to the old site of the Xia Dynasty to worship the gods and pray that the spirits of the Xia people will not cause disaster to Shang. For the Shang Dynasty, which was keen on divination and sacrifice, it was not surprising that the gods of the old dynasty were sacrificed.
epilogue
As the saying goes, far away in the sky, close in front of you. For a long time, people have been desperately looking for traces of the Xia Dynasty, but as everyone knows, "Xia" has always been in our field of vision.
It is worth mentioning that while solving the mystery of the name of the Xia Dynasty, we also confirmed that the Xia Dynasty did exist. Although this long-standing civilization was once lost in the long river of history, its spiritual footprints have always surrounded the rolling river of Chinese civilization and nourished this ancient land.