My system is not decent

Chapter 1879 Sculpture of the Tang Dynasty, the highest peak in history
Although the ancient ancestors have not yet invented iron chisel tools, they have been able to use the most general points and lines to reflect the objective reality of the object.

The shapes and lines of these utensils are so graceful, so symmetrical and precise.

The ancient ancestors have fully understood that the most beautiful form is also the most convenient and practical utensil.

For our Chinese nation, stone carvings have always existed since Xia, Shang and Zhou dynasties.

The Xia Dynasty was definitely a controversial era, but our countrymen are confident that this era does exist.

The most recent proof is the discovery of the Xia Dynasty Huangchengtai ruins, and although no writing was found in it, a variety of stone carvings were found.

Although the stone carving art in our country has existed since the Paleolithic age, there are not many leftover works because of its long history.

Most of the remaining stone carvings are in the form of tools.

Although stone tools and stone carvings are both works made of stone materials, they are different in terms of functionality and practicality.

In particular, stone tools are mostly works of life, while stone carvings contain patterns and even some characters.

Therefore, no matter in terms of archaeological significance, stone carving works are superior to stone tool works.

Recently, the archaeological excavation of the Shimao site has made important progress.

The joint archaeological team unearthed more than 70 pieces of exquisite stone carvings when they completely exposed the south wall of a "big platform" on the top of Huangchengtaitai, the core area of ​​the site.

The discovery of these stone carvings pushed my country's stone carving art from the Shang Dynasty to the Xia Dynasty.

These stone carvings are all early Xia Dynasty stone carvings, including stone pillars, stone implements, stone platforms and many other carvings.

It can be said that this discovery has played a role in connecting the past and the future for the research on the history of stone carving art in my country.

Huangcheng Terrace is the best preserved and largest early Miyagi building in East Asia.

The discovery of the Shimao site has continuously refreshed the height of the academic circle's understanding of my country's early civilization.

The batch of stone carvings unearthed from the Jinan retaining wall in Datai far exceeded the previous academic judgment on the height of my country's early civilization 4000 years ago.

These stone carvings have a very high degree of civilization in terms of shape and carving.

From a historical point of view, the discovery of these works has enriched my country's ancient stone carving culture and made up for cultural gaps.

The Shimao site is a super-large central settlement from the late Longshan period to the early Xia Dynasty in northern my country.

The site consists of three parts: Huangchengtai, inner city and outer city.

In 2018, in the east of the top of Huangchengtai, the archaeological team discovered and confirmed the "big platform".

From 2018 to 2019, the archaeological team clarified the "four to" range of the Datai Foundation, and fully exposed its south parapet.

The plane of the foundation of Huangcheng National Taiwan University is roughly rounded square, with a side length of about 130 meters, surrounded by stone walls.

The south retaining wall is built with sandstone blocks with staggered joints. There are many koji holes in the wall, and the highest residual height is about 4.5 meters.

It has now been confirmed that these parapet walls are the earliest existing city walls in my country, and they are also the oldest sites that mark the beginning of urbanization in my country's buildings.

Among these ancient buildings, stone carvings are naturally indispensable.

More than 70 pieces of exquisite stone carvings are the most important discoveries at the Jinan parapet of Datai.

Most of these stone carvings were unearthed in the collapsed stone blocks of the wall, and some of them were embedded in the wall.

The carving content of stone carvings can be roughly divided into five categories: god faces, human faces, beasts, animals and symbols, among which the stone carvings of god faces are the largest.

A small number of column-shaped stone carvings are two-sided symmetrical images of gods and men. One of the oval columns stands on the ground in the middle of the road, with a height of nearly 1 meter.

Column-shaped stone carvings may already have the nature of totem poles.

At present, it is determined that these should be the totems of our country during the Xia Dynasty, and the history is earlier than the dragon culture of our country.

Preliminary speculation is that the God-man was conceived in the period of the ancestors. On the stone-carved God-man, the forehead, nose, eyes, mouth, and beard below are all in the form of a leisurely figure.

Dating data show that the age of these stone carvings should be no later than about 2000 BC.

These stone carvings also laid an extremely important material foundation for the core position of Huangcheng Terrace in Shimao city site.

They should have the same spiritual connotation as the "hidden jade in the wall" found at the Shimao site and the use of human heads to lay the foundation.

The ancients had a strong sense of awe for stones, and even believed that stones contained life.

Through the processing of these carvings, the form of the gods can be presented. This is the source of the earliest stone carving culture in my country.

At present, the archeology is still going on, and it is not known what kind of stone carvings will be discovered in the future. I hope that more elements will be discovered, so that our country's civilization and art can form a perfect closure.

From this archaeological excavation, the stone carving art of the Xia Dynasty has been determined, and in the Shang Dynasty, the stone carving art was even more brilliant.

After the Erlitou Culture, there is the Erligang Culture, which represents the remains of the mid-Shang Dynasty.

At this time, the production of stone tools still played an important role. At that time, various pottery sculptures were popular, but there were few eye-catching stone sculptures.

Until the period of Yin Ruins Culture, entering the heyday of my country's Bronze Age, the art of stone carving once again bloomed with dazzling brilliance.

Among the statues of famous figures in the late Shang Dynasty, there are also the afterimages of the mortar stone figure from the No. 1004 tomb of Houjiazhuang in Anyang, and the No. 376 stone figure from the Fuhao Tomb of the Yin Ruins.

These figures are meticulously depicted, and their costumes and hairstyles are clearly identifiable. They are the direct expression of social life by ancient sculptors, thus leaving a model for future generations to observe.

In the society of the Shang Dynasty, the primitive religious view of animism prevailed, and animals were also gods worshiped by people at that time.

Therefore, stone carving artists are especially good at expressing all kinds of animal world.

Large-scale animal stone carvings are mostly found in Yin, Anyang, the capital of the kingdom.

The stone duck unearthed in Houjiazhuang has a heavy shape and engraved decorations all over the body, which is a re-creation that does not stick to the original shape.

Its sharp beak and protruding eyes embody the essential characteristics and fierce personality of birds of prey.

The rest of the details are omitted, and the feet underneath are of different thicknesses to support balance and avoid monotony.

The feathers and wings on its body are represented by line engraving.

This method of incorporating pattern decoration into the shape of the round sculpture is a distinctive feature of the unique style of Shang Dynasty sculpture, which is different from prehistoric sculpture.

Next, the heyday of stone carving appeared in the Tang Dynasty.

Sculpture in the Tang Dynasty is the highest peak in the history of sculpture in my country, and it is still divided into two categories: mausoleum stone sculpture and Buddhist stone sculpture.

The Buddhist sculptures of the Tang Dynasty were still dominated by grotto statues. In addition, there are still a few colored sculptures and small Buddha statues preserved in plain Buddhist temples.

The statues of the Tang Dynasty are represented by the statues of Fengxian Temple, which are majestic, plump and round.

This strongly embodies the characteristics of the Tang Dynasty style, in which Dunhuang colored sculptures are the main body and essence.

There are so many of them, their content is quite rich, and their artistic level has reached a very high level, which is unmatched by the statues of all dynasties.

The statues in the Tang Dynasty have become independent round sculptures, mostly group statues, with a Buddha sitting in the middle and Bodhisattva disciples on both sides.

Heavenly Kings and Hercules echo each other from afar.

(End of this chapter)