An organic combination of ancient historical legends and archaeological evidence. According to ancient historical legends, around the time of the Five Emperors, many tribes and tribal alliances were once inhabited in the Yellow River and Yangtze River basins. Historians have long been paying attention to the combing of these legendary materials. Among them, Meng Wentong noticed that different legends came from different historical systems, and he divided the residents of various places into three groups accordingly, namely, the Heluo nationality, the Haidai ethnic group and the Jianghan ethnic group according to the ancient history system inherited by each department; Xu Xusheng's "Legendary Era of Ancient Chinese History" divides it into Huaxia Group, Dongyi Group and Miao Man Group, which has a more extensive impact on the academic community.
Although this division is difficult to be accurate, it corresponds to the division of archaeological cultural systems and does reflect a certain historical truth. Combined with archaeological evidence, it is known that the three major groups divided by Meng Wentong and Xu Xusheng correspond to the Central Plains Cultural Area, the Haidai Cultural Area and the Middle Reaches of the Yangtze River Cultural Area of archaeological culture, respectively.
It is generally believed that Yangshao culture - Henan Longshan culture belongs to the remnants of the ancestors of the Huaxia Group, while the Dawenkou culture - Shandong Longshan culture is the remnants of the ancestors of the Dongyi Group. In the East, there are Tai Hao (or Tai Hao), Shao Hao, Xuan You and other clan groups. The literature records that "Wei, the void of the Emperor Qiu, is therefore The Emperor Qiu", the place mentioned in present-day Puyang, Henan, is the adjacent area of the distribution of the two major tribal groups in the East and the Central Plains, and it is also the intersection area of the Dawenkou culture in the East and the Yangshao culture in the Central Plains, which can be confirmed with the above legends.
According to archaeological findings, these three major cultural areas, at least in the middle of the Neolithic Age, have formed the prototype of cultural areas. Among them, in the Central Plains, the cultural development relationships from the middle Of the Neolithic era to the xia dynasty were the former Yangshao culture (including the Pei Ligang culture in central and western Henan, the Magnetic Mountain culture in southern Hebei and the Laoguantai culture in the Weishui River Basin), the Yangshao culture, and the Central Plains Longshan culture; The prehistoric cultural order of the Haidai area is The Post-Li Culture, the Beixin Culture, the Dawenkou Culture and the Typical Longshan Culture; In the middle reaches of the Yangtze River, there is Pengtou Mountain culture, Chengbeixi culture, Daxi culture, Qujialing culture and Shijiahe culture. The prehistoric culture of these three district cities laid the foundation for the relationship between the Central Plains and the East and the South.
In the early Yangshao culture dating back to 6000 or 7000 years ago, especially in the period equivalent to the Miaodigou type, the momentum of the Central Plains influencing the East and the South was obvious, and the faience patterns and pottery of the Miaodigou type in the iconic Central Plains affected the hinterland of the Dawenkou culture and the Daxi culture. In the late Yangshao culture, which dates back to 5000 or 6000 years ago, the central plains weakened, while the eastern and southern forces rose and advanced into the hinterland of the Central Plains, so that the tombs of the late Dawenkou culture and the pottery of the Qujialing culture style can be seen in the Zhengluo area. In the Longshan era, 4,000 to 5,000 years ago, the Central Plains rose again and became the central area in the core pattern of China's prehistoric cultural diversity. This tortuous and complicated relationship between the Central Plains and the Oriental Haidai Culture and the Cultural Region of the Middle Reaches of the Yangtze River in the South is a reflection of the relationship between the three major groups in ancient history and legend.
Of course, in the division of neolithic cultural communities, there are not only these three cultural areas, Su Bingqi was once divided into six, Yan civilization divided into twelve, it can be seen that the real situation of history is much more complicated than legends, only by organically combining ancient historical legends and archaeological evidence can the true appearance of ancient history be restored.
Of the events that reflect the relations between the various ethnic groups, the most influential is the legend of war. Earlier was the alliance of the Yellow Emperor and the Yan Emperor, a battle with Dongyi Xuanyou. Roughly speaking, the Yandi clan and the Xuanyu clan had a war, and the Yandi clan was defeated and asked for help from the Yellow Emperor clan. Therefore, the Yellow Emperor made "Ying Long Animal Water" to submerge Xuan You's army. Yu Nai asked The Wind Bo and the Rain Master to destroy Ying Long's water array. The Yellow Emperor also invited the goddess of drought to make the sky clear. Later, he finally defeated Xuan You and captured and killed Xuan You in the wilderness of Jizhou.
The archaeological reflection of the war between the Yellow Emperor and Xuan You can be somewhat confirmed by the relationship between the late Yangshao culture and the late Dawenkou culture.
"Yellow Emperor Warrior You" on the portrait brick
After the defeat of Xuan You, another war broke out between the Yellow Emperor and the Yan Emperor. The location is in Hansen Nono. According to history, the Yellow Emperor and the Yan Emperor "fought in the wilderness of Hanquan, fought three battles and then won his ambitions". Since then, the tribal alliance led by the Yellow Emperor has become the most powerful tribal alliance in the Yellow River Basin.
The war later in the era was the conflict between the Huang and Yan groups and the Sanmiao clique in the south. Later was Yao Shunyu's continuous conquest of Sanmiao. The "Lü Shi Chunqiu Summoning Class" has "Yao fought in Danshui Noura to serve the southern barbarians". "Mozi Fei Attack" says: "In the past, there were three miao chaos, the fate of heaven was destroyed, the sun demon came out, the rain and blood three dynasties, the dragon was born in the temple, the dog wept in the city, Xia Bing, the earth and the spring, the five grains changed, and the people were greatly zhen." Gao Yang was ordered to order Xuan Gong, and Yu Qin took the Heavenly Rui Order to recruit Youmiao. Four electric temptations, there is a god and a human face bird body, ruojin to serve, overflowing with miao xiang. The Miao master was in chaos, and after that, it was a few. Yu has three seedlings, and the mill is a mountain, and the other things are up and down, and the country is controlled by the great pole, and the gods and people do not violate it, and the world is quiet. ”
"History of the Five Emperors Benji" Yun: "The three miao are in Jiangsu, Huai, and Jingzhou, and the number is chaotic." "Shang Shu Lü Punishment" says: "Miao Minfu uses his spirit to make punishments, but he kills innocents by the punishment of the five abuses." As for the story of the conquest of Sanmiao, it can be confirmed from the central plains since the late Yangshao culture until the Longshan culture has dissipated the qujialing-Shijiahe cultural forces in the middle reaches of the Yangtze River.
Among the events of the legendary era, the story of Dayu Zhishui is the most widely circulated. "Poetry Sutra, Shang Song, Long Hair" Cloud: "The flood is vast, and Yu lays down the earth." "Mencius Teng Wen Gongshang" has a more vivid narrative: "When Yao was in power, the world was still uneven, and the flood was flowing and flooding the world. The grass and trees are lush, the animals and animals breed, the grain is not climbed, and the animals are forced. The way of the animal's hooves and birds was handed over to China. Yao alone worries, lifts Shun and shikishe..... Yu Shu Jiu River, Yu Ji Luo and Zhu Hai; Decide the RuHan, drain the Huai Si and inject the river, and then China can get and eat. When it was time, Yu was outside for eight years, and three times passed through its door without anyone. ”
"Shennong's Taste of Medicine"
The success of the water control made Dayu a hero praised by many, so much so that some ancient texts described him as a god.
In ancient history and legend, it is common for an emperor to invent a certain creation legend. For example, Emperor Yan, also known as Shennong, invented agriculture, medicine and pottery; The "Records of History" and "Huainanzi" record the story of Shennong tasting hundreds of herbs and using herbs to cure diseases and save people.
Among the descendants of Emperor Yan, one of them was the Lieshan clan, whose son, Zhu, would grow grains and vegetables, and was revered by posterity as the god of grain - the god of grain. Another branch of the Gonggong clan of the descendants of Emperor Yan, whose son Hou Tu successfully managed the flood, was revered by posterity as the god of the society - the god of the land. Since then, the god of society and the god of ji have become the highest gods of agricultural society, and have been widely worshipped by people since the Western Zhou Dynasty, and later extended "sheji" to the righteousness of the world and the country, and have a supreme position.
Qing carved version of the "Order Official's Time Map"
In the creation legend, the legend of the invention of the Yellow Emperor is multifaceted. For example, legend has it that he excavated copper mines in Shouyang Mountain, smelted them, and cast them into copper dings; Also casting twelve bronze bells, and with five notes, music can be played. For another example, legend has it that he used trees to make boats and cars for transportation; Others say he invented sewing and made clothes; He also said that he invented the calendar, sent people to the four realms to observe the celestial phenomena, determined the four seasons of spring, summer, autumn and winter, sowed hundreds of grains of grass and trees according to the changes of the four seasons, and so on.
According to the "Shiben Zuo", there are many more characters involved in the creation and invention, such as BoYu zuoyi, Shi Huang zuotu, Cangjie zuoshu, Kunwu zuotao, Zhu Rongzuo city, Huayi zuojing, Xuan you with Jin as a soldier, Cang Zuocheng, Yao Zuogong, Xi Zhong as a car, Ling Zuole, etc., involving people's clothing, food, housing, social life, cultural relics and rules and other aspects. These creation legends often attribute a certain or even a certain invention to a person with great supernatural powers, which is not necessarily correct, and some of the statements contradict each other, so they cannot be fully trusted. If these inventions are regarded as the products of the times and are compared with archaeological discoveries, it can be seen that these inventions are not fictional to the wall. The legendary era has so many inventions and creations, which shows that it was an era of profound social changes, an era full of inventions and creations, and an era when the dawn of Chinese civilization was first revealed.