The Jin culture from the Western Zhou Dynasty to the Spring and Autumn Period and its subsequent Three Jin Cultures together constituted the Jin culture of the Zhou Dynasty and was the backbone of the regional culture of the Zhou Dynasty. As one of the Three Jin Dynasty, the Zhao State occupied an important historical position during the Warring States Period. From the Jin State to the Zhao State, from the Jin culture to the Three Jin cultures, the division of the Jin Kingdom and its cultural changes have always been a major topic in the field of archaeology of the Zhou Dynasty. The recently published book "The Northern System of Jin Culture Divergence: The Archaeological Culture of the Eastern Zhou Dynasty and the Zhao Kingdom" (hereinafter referred to as the "Jin Cultural Stream") systematically expounds the north-south diversion of the Jin culture due to the division of the three Jin dynasties from the perspective of the archaeological culture of the Zhao Kingdom. This thesis is not only a new breakthrough in the archaeological research of the Zhao Kingdom, but also a new progress in the exploration of Jin culture, and its main contents can be summarized in the following three aspects.
Author: Zhang Weilian Duan Hongzhen Publisher: China Social Sciences Press Publication date: June 2024
01
The three families are divided into two parts: the north and south of the Jin culture
This is the result of the archaeological and cultural tracing of the Zhao Kingdom, that is, the Zhao culture was born from the Jin culture, and it is the result of the renewal of the north-south division of the Jin culture in the middle of the Warring States period. The main content of "Jin Culture Divergence" is the archaeological culture of Zhao Kingdom, and the author traces the origin and way of the formation of Zhao culture through archaeology and history. The analysis of the connotation and structure of Zhao culture shows that the Zhou and Jin cultures are its main sources, but since the middle of the Warring States period, the Zhao culture has gradually detached itself from the trap of Jin culture, and its own uniqueness has become more and more prominent, which is reflected in the archaeological elements: the novel architectural pattern of Handan City, the regulation of the Zhao royal tombs and the Zhao-style artifacts. A detailed comparison of the archaeological culture of the Three Jin Dynasty shows that the difference between the Han and Wei cultures after the middle of the Warring States period is much smaller than the difference between the two cultures and the Zhao culture. The archaeological trajectory of the formation of Zhao culture corroborates with the historical process of the Jin and Three Jin Dynasty. At the end of the Spring and Autumn Period, the land and inhabitants of the Jin Kingdom were divided into the Three Jin Dynasty, but the Three Jin Dynasty after the middle of the Warring States Period were geographically and politically divided into north and south: Han and Wei moved their capital to the hinterland of the Central Plains, and the two families were close to each other and gathered in the Yiluo River area, while the Zhao State was blocked by the Zhanghe River area in the south, and turned to face the vast north, and the main body belonged to the northern country; The two families of Zhao and Wei had a bad relationship over the land of Hanoi, but the two families of Han and Wei were generally peaceful and closely connected. The formation trajectory of the archaeological culture of the Zhao Kingdom is placed in the historical process of the Three Jin Dynasty to observe, and its formation path is clearer: the Jin culture did not decompose in three parts due to the division of the three Jin families, nor did it continue to maintain its unity for a long time and become a relatively integrated Three Jin culture, but was divided into two systems in the north and south: the Zhao culture in the north and the Han and Wei culture in the south. In short, the three families are divided into Jin, but the Jin culture is divided into north and south. This conclusion is about the re-understanding and positioning of the Sanjin culture, which is undoubtedly of great pioneering significance for the exploration of Jin archaeological culture.
02
The trajectory of the evolution of Zhao culture in the historical process of the Three Jin Dynasty
Placing the evolution trajectory of the archaeological culture of the Zhao Kingdom in the historical process of the Three Jin Dynasty to observe and compare is a more prominent innovation of "Jin Cultural Divergence". On the basis of the chronology of the archaeological culture of the Zhao Kingdom, combined with the key nodes of the historical process of the Zhao Kingdom, a comprehensive chronology of the archaeology and history of the Zhao Kingdom is established, and then the evolution trajectory of the Zhao culture is restored and grasped in the historical process of the Zhao Kingdom. The evolution trajectory of Zhao culture includes both vertical and horizontal levels, both of which are closely related to the historical process of the Three Jin Dynasty. In terms of longitudinal, the Zhao culture from the late Spring and Autumn period to the early Warring States period belonged to the continuation of the Jin culture, and the Sanjin culture still maintained a macro consistency. Since the middle of the Warring States period, as the three Jin Dynasty successively moved their capitals to the Central Plains, the original Jin cultural system was gradually divided into two systems, the north and the south, and the Zhao culture gradually formed its own characteristics in the vast north. In the horizontal aspect, the distribution of Zhao culture and the changes in the territory of Zhao State confirm each other, Zhao State from the Jinyang, the capital moved to Zhongmu, and to the capital Handan, seek Zhongshan, and finally open up thousands of miles to the foot of Yin Mountain, the most prominent of which is the prosperity of Zhao culture at the southern foot of Yin Mountain in the late Warring States period, which is the archaeological evidence of Zhao State through the northern Xinjiang. In addition, the boundaries between the three Jin Dynasty are intertwined and change frequently, which is also reflected in archaeology, for example, the archaeological remains in the Shangdang area have complex connotations and structures. In general, the distribution of archaeological culture in Zhao and the changes in the territory of Zhao are roughly in line with each other, but the two are not completely consistent, and there are some expansion and contraction ranges between them. The mutual corroboration and exploration of the evolution trajectory of Zhao culture and the historical process of the Three Jin Dynasty is an important expansion in the field of archaeological research of Jin culture, and it is also a new attempt to study the archaeology of the Zhou Dynasty and its territorial changes.
03
The northern characteristics of the archaeological culture of the Zhao Kingdom
The archaeological culture of Zhao is the continuation and renewal of Jin culture, and belongs to the northern branch of Jin culture during the Warring States Period. "The Diversion of Jin Culture" gives a detailed explanation of the northern characteristics of Zhao culture, and its main content has three points: first, there is a difference between the Duyi culture represented by Handan City and the Duyi culture of the Han and Wei families; Second, the northern Xinjiang culture of Zhao represented by the southern foot of Yinshan Mountain is obviously different from the hinterland culture of the Central Plains of the Han and Wei families; Third, the Zhao-style utensils represented by the burial pottery bird pillar plate, duck-shaped zun, beast-shaped bowl, etc., are typical characteristic artifacts of Zhao culture. These characteristics of Zhao culture are the updated content of the northern culture after the Jin culture was divided into north and south, and it is closely related to the historical background of the development of Zhao mainly oriented to the north. In other words, the north-south division of Jin culture and the northern characteristics of Zhao culture are mainly due to the northern strategy of Zhao State, and the northern Xinjiang culture is the core content of the northern characteristics of Zhao culture. King Wuling of Zhao implemented the Hufu cavalry and archery reform, broke through Zhuhu in the north, and expanded the northern frontier. The cultural relics of Zhao at the southern foot of Yinshan Mountain are not only the trajectory of the process of Zhao Guo's economic strategy in northern Xinjiang, but also the empirical evidence of the integration of nationality and culture. The relics of the Great Wall of Northern Zhao are not only the boundary of Northern Zhao Xinjiang, but also the boundary of the northern extension of Chinese civilization with agriculture as the core. It can be said that the development of the northern frontier and the integration of ethnic groups of the Zhao State were undoubtedly major events in the Warring States Period, which laid the general pattern of the history of northern China after the Qin Dynasty, which is the concentrated essence of the northern characteristics of the Zhao culture.
To sum up, the book "Jin Cultural Diversion" focuses on the Jin culture and close-ups the history and culture of the Zhao Kingdom. The whole is placed in the historical process and cultural system of the Jin Kingdom and the Three Jin Dynasty to observe and explore, with the time in the context, from the Western Zhou Dynasty to the Spring and Autumn Period to the Warring States; Taking the scope of the country's territory as the scripture, from the Jin culture, the Sanjin culture to the Zhao culture; The integration of archaeology and history comprehensively and systematically reconstructs the historical process of the division of the Jin Kingdom into the north and the south after the division of the three families of Zhao, Han and Wei. Based on the archaeological culture of the Zhao Kingdom, the main body covers the origin of development, research status, periodization and chronology, cultural connotation, territory of the four solstice, cities, tombs and the Great Wall, focusing on the archaeological narrative under the framework of documentary history, and makes a new interpretation and interpretation of the changes of Jin culture in the Warring States Period, which can be described as a breakthrough new harvest in the archaeological research of the Eastern Zhou Dynasty.
Needless to say, there are some shortcomings in this book, such as a somewhat brief periodical description of the archaeological culture of the Zhao Kingdom, a small number of illustrations, etc., but these shortcomings do not affect the overall content of the book. The book has a comprehensive structure, clear chapter division, rich content and detailed evidence, which establishes and improves the framework system of archaeological and cultural research of Zhao Kingdom, opens up a new way of regional archaeological and cultural research, and is a model for regional cultural research, as well as a practical reference book for the study of Jin culture and Zhao archaeological culture.
Author: Shi Yanyan
Author's Affiliation:Jiangsu Provincial Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology
Edit | Zhang Xiaozhu Intern Editor | Meng Qingling
Review | Feng Zhaohui
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