As a fan of pre-Qin history, I think it is necessary to clarify all kinds of false words on the origin of Chinese civilization. Therefore, based on archaeological discoveries and referring to historical documents and myths and legends, I have constructed a concise history of the origin of Chinese civilization. It can't be said that there are no mistakes or omissions in the contents, but the basic framework is based on solid facts.
Before explaining the origin of Chinese civilization, let's briefly discuss the origin of China people and the standard of civilization.
With regard to the origin of China people, it is basically certain that Yuanmou, a Beijinger, Lantian and Yuanmou, whom we used to know well, are extinct human beings and have nothing to do with us modern people. All modern people on the earth originated from the late Homo sapiens who originated in Africa 1, years ago. According to genetic research, these late Homo sapiens came to the south of China about 5, years ago, and some primitive people moved to the north about 3, years ago.
According to the age of late Homo sapiens, we can know about the migration route of these primitive people: Lijiang people in Yunnan (about 5, years ago)-Liujiang people in Guangxi (about 4, years ago)-Ziyang people in Sichuan (about 39, years ago)-Wushan people in Gansu (about 38, years ago)-Hetao people in Inner Mongolia (about 35, years ago)- Of course, the above route also includes many feeder lines. In order to avoid verbosity, I won't go into details.
About 1, years ago, these late Homo sapiens entered the Neolithic Age one after another, and formed the farming mode of rice in northern Li 'nan. About 8 years ago, a series of important ancient cultures appeared and became the source of Chinese civilization. More important here are Jiahu culture, Dadiwan culture, Chengbeixi-Pengtoushan culture and Xinglongwa Culture, which are distributed in the east, west, north and south of China. Among them, Jiahu culture in Henan and Dadiwan culture in Gansu have the widest influence. As for Hemudu culture and Beixin culture, they have little influence on the process of prehistoric culture in China, so it is hereby explained.
Dadiwan culture soon developed into Yangshao culture. Under the pressure of Yangshao culture, the precocious Jiahu culture migrated to the east, north and south. Soon, Dawenkou culture, Hongshan Culture culture and Daxi culture appeared in these three directions respectively, and they interacted with Yangshao culture. However, it should be noted that Yangshao culture was the backbone and core of ancient Chinese culture in this period.
About 5, years ago, these cultures came to the threshold of civilization one after another, among which the important achievements were the palace architecture in Dadiwan, the Niuheliang Goddess Temple and its altar, the exquisite jade articles in Lingjiatan and Liangzhu ruins, etc. Soon, with Yangshao culture as the core, Longshan culture developed in the Central Plains, and our ancestors gradually entered the civilized era.
Culture is different from civilization. Culture refers to the sum of material and spiritual wealth created by human beings. The emergence of civilization generally requires three conditions: the emergence of words, the emergence of cities and the use of metal tools, and the most obvious symbol is the establishment of state power.
The earliest characters in China are carved symbols on tortoise shells unearthed in Jia Hu from 8 to 9 years ago. With the migration of Jiahu culture and the influence of other characters (such as Shuangdun Wen Tao), these symbols finally evolved into the earliest mature characters found in China-Oracle Bone Inscriptions
The earliest city in China was located in Chengtoushan site, Hunan Province, more than 6 years ago. Affected by it, cities began to appear sporadically in the Central Plains soon. By the Longshan era, the Central Plains was already full of cities, but compared with other ancient civilizations, the scale of cities was small. My understanding is that the cities in China at that time were mainly for defending the privileged class, not all residents. An obvious evidence is that there were huge palaces in some cities at that time, but there were many primitive semi-crypt houses outside the city.
The form of political power organization in ancient China originated from the painted pottery cultural circle in the central and western parts of China, which was characterized by power politics, the integration of politics and religion, and a strong secularization color, which laid the foundation for the autocratic dictatorship dominated by the king for thousands of years in China. As for the Dingxing cultural circle and the cylindrical cultural circle in the east of China, they have contributed complete sets of ritual vessels and systematic sacrificial ceremonies to Chinese civilization. Among them, the most prominent are the exquisite jade articles found in Hongshan Culture, Lingjiatan culture and Liangzhu culture, as well as some high altars.
The appearance of metal tools in China is relatively late. Early bronzes are mostly found in Majiayao culture and Qijia culture sites in Ganqing area of western China, mostly small bronzes, about 4,5-5, years ago. Crucibles for smelting copper were found in Hongshan Culture site 5, years ago, and the Longshan period was a stage of combining copper and stone, with more copper slag and few complete metal utensils.
After the development and integration of the above elements of civilization, Chinese civilization began to appear about 4,5 years ago. After the Battle of Hanquan and the Battle of Dolphin, the written arithmetic calendar was invented one after another, and the embryonic form of the country was looming. The excavation of Taosi site provided strong evidence for these legends.
The time and place of Taosi site in Xiangfen, Shanxi Province is close to the legendary Pingyang, which is about 4,6 years ago-4,1 years ago. The Taosi site not only has "the tomb of the king", pottery vessels, bronzes and Zhu Shu characters, but also has city walls, palaces, sacrificial areas, storage areas, and more importantly, the earliest "observatory" in China. From the perspective of settlement form, high-standard palace buildings, religious buildings and building facilities related to astronomical calendar should be the landmark architectural elements of "Wangdu" level settlements. Obviously, Taosi has possessed some basic elements of early civilized society.
In addition, the Shijiahe site in the Yangtze River valley is similar to the Taosi site, with the same age, and basically entered the civilized era.
About 4, years ago, those prosperous archaeological cultures in Longshan period died out or entered a low ebb. Except for the lower culture of Xiajiadian in northern Yanshan and western Liaoning, Qijia culture in northwestern Gansu and Qinghai, and the archaeological culture of Sanxingdui site and Jinsha site in central Sichuan, the whole Erlitou site stands out. The influence of this culture even reaches the south of the Yangtze River. A unified ancient country appeared, and many people associated this country with the Xia Dynasty. Its central site is Erlitou, Henan Province.
According to the recent investigation and drilling results, the existing area of Erlitou site is about 3 million square meters, and the actual area is even larger. After more than 4 years of unremitting field archaeological excavations, criss-crossing road networks, large-scale rammed earth building sites and Miyagi city walls have been discovered here, and several large palace building sites, one large bronze smelting and casting workshop site, several sites related to pottery and bone making, several architectural sites related to religious sacrifices, and more than 4 large, medium and small tombs have been discovered, including tombs unearthed with bronze ritual vessels, jade articles and lacquerware. In addition, a large number of important relics have been discovered and excavated, and a large number of objects of various materials have been unearthed, some of which also carry sporadic words.
By the time of the Shang Dynasty, 3, years ago, Chinese civilization was very mature. At this time, the Shang culture replaced Erlitou culture, and many capital cities of Shang kings were discovered in the Central Plains. The scale of cities far exceeded Erlitou culture, and bronze technology was at the forefront of the world at that time. In addition, the mature Oracle inscriptions and splendid Fang civilization (such as Sanxingdui culture) also symbolized the height reached by this civilization.
In short, compared with the two river basins, ancient Egypt, ancient India and even ancient Greece, Chinese civilization did appear later, but in terms of archaeological discoveries, Chinese civilization appeared at least 4,5 years ago. In this sense, it is not entirely false to say that Chinese civilization has a history of 5, years.
China is one of the earliest origins of agriculture in the world.
Millet dryland crops originated in the Yellow River valley, and artificially cultivated rice originated in the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River.
The coexistence of rice farming and dryland farming, and the coexistence of north and south, is a major feature of early agriculture in China. Besides millet, millet and rice, there are millet and soybean which originated in China. Agriculture with a long history has had a far-reaching impact on the survival and development of the Chinese nation and the creation of civilization.
Jiangzhai site in Lintong, Shaanxi Province is a typical early farming settlement. The life scene of Jiangzhai site with the same farming and equal distribution shows that it was still in the primitive social stage.
the origin of Chinese civilization: the form of collective memory of early ancestors' creation-the legend of Yanhuang
During the formation and development of Huaxia nationality, the legends about Yandi and Huangdi have occupied a prominent position in historical documents since the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period. In modern times, people in China generally call themselves descendants of the Yellow Emperor.
in recent 5 years, a series of excavations of archaeological and cultural sites have made many specific situations of the origin of Chinese civilization increasingly clear. There are a large number of exquisite jades in the late Neolithic sites found in various parts of China, and the difference between cemeteries and funerary objects is obvious, which shows that the primitive and equal relationship in early society has been destroyed, and the social hierarchy of distinction between noble and humble has existed. The excavation of ancient cities, altar sites and complete sets of jade ritual vessels shows that conflicts between tribes have intensified and political entities above ordinary settlements or tribes have also emerged.
these archaeological data show that the origin of Chinese civilization was like a starry sky, rising in all directions at the latest 5-4 years ago. Among them, the Central Plains of the Yellow River Basin is the most concentrated area of tribal migration, division and conflict, and also the core area of the integration and birth of Chinese civilization.