Master Archaeologist

Chapter 363 Liangzhu: The Cradle of Chinese Civilization
"In the political form of the Liangzhu culture, secular power may be held in the unit represented by the family in the community."

"And the community that controls the divine power can redistribute the divine power in some way, such as distributing divine emblems and magic weapons."

"The lower reaches of the Yangtze River have experienced thousands of years of different evolution, replacement, and inheritance processes of multiculturalism, and finally formed an early civilized society of the Liangzhu Culture in the Taihu Lake Basin."

"This is a master of material performance, economic form, etiquette, social system, belief system, etc. It has become the first ancient culture in China to enter the civilization stage, and it has played an irreplaceable role in the formation of a pluralistic Chinese civilization! "

The applause was thunderous, and it lasted for a long time.

This old expert with a gray beard from Zhejiang Institute of Archeology has a very good lecture level.

Everyone gave him heartfelt applause.

After the round of applause, the old expert smiled even wider.

He stretched out his hand and pressed it, and continued:

"The Liangzhu culture from 5300 to 4300 years ago was distributed with the Taihu Lake Basin as the core, and the marginal areas reached the southern part of northern Jiangsu, southern Zhejiang and eastern AH. It had a fairly developed rice planting agriculture. Pottery, stone, jade, bone , lacquer, wood, textile and other handicrafts, as well as exquisite jade carving craftsmanship and highly unified social beliefs."

"Although the communication between it and other cultures of the same period is in a two-way situation, you can occasionally see Dawenkou Culture, Qujialing Culture and other elements in Liangzhu Culture, such as the back pot in the tomb of Liangzhu Culture in Fuquanshan, Shanghai. Typical utensils unique to the Dawenkou Culture, but in the middle and late period, they were mainly exported, and other cultural elements were rarely seen in the Liangzhu Culture.”

"The influence of Liangzhu cultural factors extends from northern Jiangsu to southern Shandong, west to the Lianghu area, and south to Fujian and Vietnam, and even has a certain cross-temporal influence on the types of Taosi in Shanxi and the remains of Shenmu and Shimao in northern Shaanxi. , the jade bi, jade cong, T-shaped tripod feet, pierced ear pots, and Kuoba cups found in the Dawenkou Culture distribution area in the lower reaches of the Yellow River and other areas can all prove the influence of the Liangzhu Culture.”

What does that mean?

That is, Liangzhu is the out-and-out big brother of Chinese civilization.

Although it was influenced by other cultures in the Central Plains at the beginning of its birth, in the middle of Liangzhu's development, it also learned some methods and styles of making utensils from other Chinese civilizations.

However, after the middle and late stages of Liangzhu civilization, Liangzhu has become the largest cultural export place on the land of China.

The excellent culture and utensils bred and born in Liangzhu had already brought forth new ones at that time, and became the strongest family in China, and they continued to influence and radiate outward.

This is like the strongest United States at that time. All kinds of new technologies emerged from the United States and then spread to the world.

In Liangzhu at that time, various new utensils and cultures emerged one after another, and then gradually spread to the whole of China.

"However, when the expansion of Liangzhu cultural factors has widely affected a wide area, not only many factors have not been effectively inherited for a long time, but some of them are gradually integrated into the local cultural genes."

"Roughly in the late Liangzhu culture, the Haochuan culture closely related to the Liangzhu culture appeared in the mountains and coastal areas of southern Zhejiang, and it also expanded to the Nanpu River basin in the upper reaches of the Minjiang River. Duan adze and other jade and stone tools illustrate the existence of inheritance."

"However, the biggest difference between the Haochuan culture and the Liangzhu culture is the lack of large-scale jade ritual vessels and animal face patterns, which shows that it is likely to be outside the theocratic distribution system of the Liangzhu state."

"The jade artifacts of the Neolithic Age in Taiwan may also be related to the influence of the late Liangzhu culture."

Chen Han, who was sitting under the stage, couldn't help but secretly stunned when he heard these words.

In that backward and barbaric era 5000 years ago.

The ancestors of the Liangzhu ancient country were able to spread their culture to the mountainous, rugged and inaccessible Fujian region, which is already remarkable.

But I didn't expect that they could spread their influence to the Taiwan Island area?

Are the jade wares unearthed from the Neolithic sites on Taiwan Island also influenced by the Liangzhu Culture?

What the hell!

Liangzhu people were able to cross the Taiwan Strait 5000 years ago?

Just by their little sampan? ?
What kind of ancestors are full of pioneering spirit!
If you don’t attend this lecture, and don’t listen to the detailed answers from experts from the Zhejiang Institute who have studied the Liangzhu site for decades, even Chen Han and others from the Institute of Archaeology, Academy of Social Sciences, have no influence on the ancient Liangzhu Kingdom. A profound concept.

They know that this is the first ancient country in China, and they also know that this is the birthplace of jade culture, and that it is a high-level civilization that can stand shoulder to shoulder with the civilizations of the Mesopotamia and the Nile Valley.

I also know that the various habits of the Liangzhu people have become part of the Xia, Shang and Zhou Dynasties of later generations, laying the foundation for China.

But the specific details, unless you pay special attention to Liangzhu-related papers every day, you will not understand so clearly.

On the stage.

The old expert went on to say:
"At the end of the Liangzhu period, the Qianshanyang culture from the western edge of the mountain had a great impact on the Liangzhu culture, and may eventually temporarily replace the Liangzhu culture in the southern part of the Taihu Lake Basin."

"People of the Wangyoufang type in the middle and lower reaches of the Huaihe River went south to the Yangtze River Delta region, which promoted the formation of the Guangfulin Culture in the southeastern part of the Taihu Lake Basin."

"In the end, the lower reaches of the Yangtze River gradually merged into the historical torrent of Chinese civilization after many interactions between the north and the south and the east and west at different times."

"Especially in the Greater Central Plains, the typical cultural elements of Liangzhu, which are dominated by jade cong, god-man animal face and jade cone-shaped decorations, have been integrated into and continued into Shang culture."

"The battle axes in weapons, the combination of tripod and bean pots in pottery, the motifs such as Taotie and cloud and thunder in decorations, lacquerware, and silk were all inherited and carried forward by the main culture of China, that is, the Xia, Shang and Zhou cultures, and became the early Chinese civilization. important genes."

"The long-term development of prehistoric culture in the lower reaches of the Yangtze River formed the agriculture with rice farming as the main body and silk as the characteristic, the jade tool production that flourished to meet the needs of the times, and the "resource-processing-trade type" characterized by trade that probably existed. "The jade industry, the jade ritual vessels centered on the face patterns of gods, men and animals, jade cong and bi, and the jade axe as the focus, and the royal power ultimately formed by the etiquette system behind it to control the society, all have local cultural characteristics."

"This kind of civilization development model with theocratic power as the link, royal power as the support, and economy as the focus, finally converged in the long river of history, and merged into a civilization tide featuring the civilizations of the Xia and Shang dynasties!"

"The rich theocratic culture of merchants has precedents to follow!"

"Liangzhu is one of the cradles of our Chinese civilization!"

The roaring applause resounded through the entire lecture hall again

　Reference paper: "The Formation of Prehistoric Cultural Pattern and Cultural Characteristics in the Lower Reaches of the Yangtze River" - Liu Yue

　　
　
(End of this chapter)