#头条创作挑战赛#
Yan Wenming, born in October 1932 in Huarong, Hunan, is one of the founders of Neolithic archaeology in China. Mr. Yan's archaeological journey began at Peking University, and after graduation, Mr. Yan stayed on to teach, taking on the teaching and research tasks of Neolithic archaeology
Mr. Yan Wenming, born in Huarong, Hunan Province in October 1932, is one of the important founders of Neolithic archaeology in China. He began his archaeological career at Peking University, where he taught after graduating in 1958, where he taught and researched Neolithic archaeology. His academic research and field archaeological work have laid a solid foundation for the development of archaeology in China.
With his outstanding insight and profound knowledge, Mr. Yan put forward the theory of "double-petaled flower", describing China's Neolithic culture as a huge double-petaled flower, providing a new perspective and theoretical basis for the study of Chinese prehistoric culture, and providing an answer to the code of Chinese civilization that has continued to this day.
Mr. Yan's archaeological footprints have spread all over the country, and he has presided over more than 20 important field archaeological excavations or survey projects, making great contributions to the development and prosperity of archaeology in China. He also runs the "Introduction to Archaeology" course for undergraduates, dedicated to training a new generation of archaeologists. Mr. Yan's academic achievements and promotion of archaeology have earned him high international recognition and honors.
Mr. Yan's lifelong career as an archaeologist has witnessed the development and prosperity of Chinese archaeology for more than 100 years, and his work has not only promoted the progress of archaeology, but also provided valuable information and insights for us to understand the origin and evolution of Chinese civilization.
At the end of 2021, the film crew of "Cultural Grand View Garden" had the honor to visit Mr. Yan Wenming. At Mr. Yan's home, we had the privilege of listening to his passion and insights for archaeology, gaining insight into his academic career and the profound insights into how archaeology has advanced our understanding and perception of Chinese history. Mr. Yan's death is a great loss to the Chinese archaeological community, but Mr. Yan's archaeological spirit will forever illuminate the path for future generations to explore civilization.
Here, we hereby attach an excerpt from the content of this program to express our deep nostalgia and high respect for Mr. Yan Wenming
("Dialogue with Archaeology and Civilization" was filmed in November 2021)
Wang Luxiang: This is the Blue Flag Camp community between Peking University and Tsinghua University, which is a community specially established for academicians and senior professors of liberal arts from Peking University and Tsinghua University.
Yan Wenming, a leader in the field of Chinese archaeology and one of the founders of China's Neolithic archaeological system, took Yangshao culture as a key to the study of Neolithic culture with his extraordinary insight into archaeology. In the 80s of the last century, he put forward the theory of "double-petaled flowers", which solved the code of Chinese civilization and promoted the study of the origin of Chinese civilization.
Since the excavation of the ruins of Yangshao Village in Mianchi County, Henan Province in 1921, Chinese archaeology has gone through a hundred years. In the past 100 years, archaeology has developed in China like never before. In 1932, at the beginning of the development of Chinese archaeology, Yan Wenming was born in an ordinary family in Huarong County, Hunan Province.
Wang Luxiang: Hello Mr. Yan, this year is the 100th anniversary of Chinese archaeology, so these 100 years started from the archaeology of Yangshao Village 100 years ago, so Wang Wei, director of the Institute of Archaeology, told us that to commemorate the 100th anniversary of Chinese archaeology, it would not be possible to interview Mr. Yan Wenming. We also find it very strange that a name like yours, "Civilization", seems to have been born to do this, and this name was not changed by you later, but was it the name that your parents gave you at that time?
Yan Wenming: Yes, because my father praised Emperor Shun according to the words in the "Yao Dian", "Junzhe civilization", therefore, my generation is a literary generation, so he is called Wenming, and then called Junzhe.
Yan Wenming, who studied in a private school when he was a child, has a bit of an ancient book background, but he doesn't like to read ancient books, but wants to become a scientist. When he was admitted to Peking University, his first choice was also the Department of Physics, however, perhaps like his name, it was arranged in the dark, and he was transferred to the Department of History.
In his sophomore year, Yan Wenming met his "eternal mentor", the main founder of archaeology in New China and the pioneer of archaeology education in Chinese colleges and universities, Su Bingqi.
Yan Wenming: The least interesting thing is history, and I didn't know archaeology in middle school at that time.
Wang Luxiang: I don't know.
Yan Wenming: When I was in the second year, I was divided into majors, at that time, there was an archaeology major, and the director of the archaeology teaching and research department, Mr. Su Bingqi, came to me, archaeology needs some scientific knowledge, and there needs to be a lot of technical work, I suggest you study archaeology.
Wang Luxiang: Mr. Su Bingqi would like to suggest this.
Yan Wenming: Later, I was also very adaptable, because my first archaeological internship was Mr. Pei Wenzhong, the discoverer of the Beijing ape-man, who took me to Inner Mongolia for an internship, Mr. Pei, of course, at that time was called "the first person in Chinese paleolithic archaeology", and the Beijing ape-man was discovered by him, "the father of the Chinese ape-man", and Mr. Pei, who was not only very knowledgeable, but also very funny.
Wang Luxiang: It's humorous.
Yan Wenming: I can talk to anyone, so it was very pleasant to follow him all the way, which led me to the archaeology industry.
Important archaeological excavations and research in the Neolithic period in China began after 1950. The formation and development of Yan Wenming's academic thought is a microcosm of the development of Neolithic archaeology in China. In 1958, after graduating from the Department of History of Peking University, Yan Wenming stayed on to teach, teaching Neolithic archaeology.
Yan Wenming: At that time, there were no Neolithic writings in China.
Wang Luxiang: No.
Yan Wenming: There are only some reports, and the reports are not very detailed, but at that time in the whole country, in fact, a lot of places have been dug up, and then I turned the whole country, and every province, it has a cultural relics and archaeological team, and I took out all the materials they dug up. At that time, some people said that no one was as diligent as you, you had traveled all over the country, and you had all the information of the whole country.
Yan Wenming: This is in Gansu.
Wang Luxiang: In Lanzhou, you are standing here?
Yan Wenming: Yes, this is very interesting, what are we doing here? Because the painted pottery jar found by Andersen at that time had a zigzag pattern on it, which was said to be a mourning pattern, which could only come out of the tomb, because what he found at that time was in the tomb, so he called this a mourning pattern. I didn't believe it, I said how could such jars be funeral, so I went to Qinggangcha on the outskirts of Lanzhou and dug a house, and there were such painted pottery in the house.
Wang Luxiang: So it's halfway through.
Yan Wenming: I said that this house is out of the house.
Wang Luxiang: Then it's not a mourning pattern.
Yan Wenming: Is that still a mourning pattern? It was a very academically significant work, but we dug there for 20 days without eating a grain of grain, all potatoes.
Wang Luxiang: 1963.
Yan Wenming: At that time, it was difficult, this place was the most difficult, and there was no water, so we made such a basin of water every day, this basin of water with students, and a few people, took a towel to dip it, wiped their faces, and stayed at the construction site at night to get dirty feet, and it was still it, dipped in water, wiped feet. For the whole 20 days, we only spent 20 or so dollars.
Wang Luxiang: You can't spend the money.
Yan Wenming: Money can't be spent.
Perhaps, this is the determination of archaeologists to "go up and down to the Yellow Spring, and use their hands and feet to find things". Since Andersen's discovery of the Yangshao culture, this important Neolithic culture in the middle reaches of the Yellow River has been a hot topic in the academic research on prehistoric culture. The archaeological research of Yan civilization also began with Yangshao culture.
Yan Wenming: There are many relics of Yangshao culture. Then the back digging is the larger half-slope, the Xi'an half-slope is larger, and the back digs a ginger village.
Wang Luxiang: Jiang Zhai, in Lintong.
Yan Wenming: Jiangzhai has done a good job, a complete village has come out, so after the Yangshao culture is finished, of course, there is a lot of work, then the distribution range is also known, the earliest and the latest are also clear, the stage itself, and the local differences are also clear, so I wrote a book later, which is "Yangshao Cultural Research". Now I think that as if no one had any doubts about this book, then this is one of the foundations of my Neolithic archaeology. I have this foundation, Mr. Su Bingqi, my mentor, he said that he admired me very much, and the title of my book was written by him, and then he said, "You have found a key to unlocking Neolithic archaeology".
Wang Luxiang: This sentence is highly evaluated.
Yan Wenming: This is very high, so it means that you can also use this method when you study other cultures, which is a key, because of this kind of encouragement, of course I have some confidence.
"The Taihu Lake civilization has been connected for 5,000 years.
Thousands of miles of fertile fields were opened, and the first stone plough was created to plough rice fields. ”
Yan Wenming had a special affection for Liangzhu, and his "Ode to Liangzhu" was widely disseminated among archaeologists. On July 6, 2019, the ruins of the ancient city of Liangzhu, which testifies to the history of Chinese civilization for 5,000 years, were successfully inscribed on the World Heritage List, and the glory of a corner of China's ancient civilization shines brightly to the world. Exploring the origin of Chinese civilization has been the mission of Chinese archaeology for a hundred years, and now, with the efforts of generations of archaeologists, the "China" before one China has gradually become clear.
Wang Luxiang: We are now calling it the "Chinese Civilization Exploration Project" and the "Origin Project", which is actually to answer a question, that is, the 5,000-year civilization of Chinese civilization has been continuous and uninterrupted. But there are still some Western scholars, including some people in our country, who insist that our civilization is only to Shang, and Shang was a legend before, and its civilization requires a city, a written word, and an artificially smelted metal, and if you don't have these three elements, you can't call yourself a civilization. Then Mr. Yan, I would like to hear your opinion on this point of view.
Yan Wenming: What is civilization? Civilization is for barbarism, Liangzhu in Zhejiang, I will give such an example, how many jade workers in Liangzhu can carve it now?
Wang Luxiang: Yes, especially those subtle emblems.
Yan Wenming: Right?
Wang Luxiang: That's right.
Yan Wenming: So high-grade, Liangzhu is not only jade, it has good lacquerware, it also has silk, its handicraft industry is fully developed, there are palaces, there are cities, there are inner cities, there are outer cities, there are water conservancy projects. The project is huge, and I said that it would not be possible to do it without tens of thousands of people working for a long time. So the legend of "Dayu Controls the Water" may have something to do with this, why? Auditorium.
Wang Luxiang: It's very close.
Yan Wenming: Yu Zhishui Yu Huiji, isn't it in this place in Zhejiang? So it's hard to say. Can you find a second of these projects in the world? Without. You say that Liangzhu is not a civilization yet, what is civilization? Right? Do you have to have a text?
Wang Luxiang: That's right.
Yan Wenming: But we can't say that Liangzhu must have no writing, that is, it has not been discovered.
Wang Luxiang: Yes, I didn't find it.
According to tradition, there are four ancient civilizations in the world, and ancient Chinese civilization is one of them. Since its birth, it has been developing continuously and without interruption. How did such a great civilization happen? What are its features? What impact will it have on the development of modern society?
(Photo taken in November 2021)
Yan Wenming: For example, our writing, our writing now knows the earliest oracle bone inscription, and there should be one earlier, I don't know, what we found is the oracle bone inscription. I read an oracle bone inscription, you probably know what it means, but ancient Egyptian, the cuneiform script of the two river valleys of ancient Sumerna, who can read it?
Wang Luxiang: That's dead.
Yan Wenming: Who can read it? Who can read it? That's what French Champollion made a mathematical method to deduce it, is that right? God knows. China, because of its own cultural inheritance is very strong, 5,000 years without interruption, there is no second in the world, where did the civilization go after ancient Egypt?
Wang Luxiang: I don't know where it went.
Yan Wenming: You ponder and ponder in the world, only China's civilization is like this, why? I just like to get to the bottom of it.
Why has Chinese civilization never stopped for 5,000 years? Yan Lao gave an archaeologist's scientific dialectical answer based on a large number of archaeological discoveries. In Yan Wenming's view, the formation of the dry farming system in northern China, which is dominated by millet and millet cultivation, and the formation of two major agricultural systems in the Yangtze River basin, which is dominated by rice farming, have given the Chinese civilization a broad foundation, and the two systems complement each other and make the civilization continue continuously.
Yan Wenming: China has formed two large areas of agricultural origin, which are large and densely populated, and the two can complement each other. If the north is in arrears, the south can make up for it, and if the south is in arrears, the north can, and it can complement each other, which is a characteristic of this.
Wang Luxiang: So its civilization is not easy to interrupt.
Yan Wenming: The second feature is that it is in the middle of China, it is not on the edge, if it is in Xinjiang or Tibet, it is another matter, it is in the heart of China.
Wang Luxiang: It's geometrically centered.
Yan Wenming: The geometric center, it is here, it has its own radiant force, and then it has a centripetal force, why is it so stable and long-term in Chinese civilization? This is a very important reason. If our most developed place is in Xinjiang and Tibet, Chinese civilization will not be formed.
Wang Luxiang: It can't be formed, right.
Yan Wenming: Do you understand this truth?
Wang Luxiang: I understand this truth, it is in a central area, and then there is energy input on the four sides, it has greater energy output, and then this central plate forms a north-south yin and yang complementarity similar to Taiji, which creates a very stable structure.
Yan Wenming: Yes, it is not just a center, it also has several surrounds, its inner circle is still very powerful, for example, Zhejiang, Zhejiang it began to be a Hemudu culture, the earliest is the mountain culture, the back across the lake bridge, all the way to the back of Liangzhu, it forms a center by itself. So in this way, an inner circle is formed around China.
This is the core of Yan Wenming's paper "The Unity and Diversity of Chinese Prehistoric Culture" presented at the International Symposium on "General Principles of Ancient Chinese History and Social Sciences" in June 1986. In this dissertation, the Chinese scholar uses the structure of a flower to explain the super-stable structure of Chinese civilization, poetically presenting the academic results in the form of a "double-petaled flower".
China's Neolithic culture has been described as a giant double-petaled flower, with the Central Plains Cultural Zone being the "heart of the flower", the surrounding Ganqing, Shandong, Yanliao, the middle reaches of the Yangtze River and the Jiangsu-Zhejiang cultural districts being the first layer of "petals", and the outer cultural areas being the second layer of "petals". The Central Plains Cultural District is located in the "heart of flowers", which plays a core role in connecting various cultural districts, and also radiates culture to the surrounding cultural districts, while the peripheral cultural districts maintain their own vitality.
"Archaeology has not only pushed Chinese history forward, but also made it clear. Chinese history has been clearly explained, and the position of Chinese history in the history of the world and civilization has been clearly explained, and this is the contribution of archaeology. "—Yan Wenming
Yan Wenming: It was an international symposium, and I actually had this idea for a long time, and I didn't necessarily say it in the United States, but I deliberately spoke in the United States, so I asked you foreigners to listen, how did Chinese civilization originate? Why has Chinese civilization not been interrupted? It has such a structure, "double-petaled flower".
Wang Luxiang: "Double-petaled flowers", between each circle, there is continuous energy output input in the middle of the inner circle and the outer circle.
Yan Wenming: Yes, it is not a single one, it constantly has cultural exchanges, so that it has vitality, inheritance and vitality, is there a second culture in the world?
Wang Luxiang: No, not at the origin of civilization.
Yan Wenming: All the way to the back, for example, Egypt, ancient Egypt was very powerful at that time, what about the back? The two river basins turned out to be very powerful, but what about the back? Greco-Roman is also very powerful, what about the back? It's all gone, it's all gone, and the only thing is a Chinese civilization. So now, I have a summary, early civilization and agriculture are inseparable, without agriculture you just gather you to produce civilization is impossible. Three agricultural origins, one is the West, the earliest wheat barley, the Americas is the corn civilization, corn gave rise to the later Mayan civilization, the Aztec civilization. China is the civilization of millet rice, isn't it just three agriculture? The only thing that can be passed down is an oriental civilization, and the center of oriental civilization is in China, so the world's three major agricultural origins, three major civilization centers, then the most vital is the oriental civilization, this is not nonsense, you can't blow it, this has scientific evidence, there is historical evidence. None of this could have been done without archaeology.
Wang Luxiang: I can't do it, there is no 100 years of archaeology, and the cognition about China is the cognition in Sima Qian's "Historical Records", "Since Pangu opened the world, the three emperors and five emperors have come to the present", and then start from the "Yellow Emperor Benji", and then serious scholars will say, history is only three generations, right? It's in the third generation of Xia Shang.
Yan Wenming: So archaeology not only pushes Chinese history forward, but also explains it clearly. Chinese history has been clearly explained, and the position of Chinese history in the history of the world and civilization has been clearly explained, and this is the contribution of archaeology.
Wang Luxiang: This means that we are now commemorating the 100th anniversary of Chinese archaeology, in fact, we need to realize that archaeology has made the greatest contribution to China.