Schematic diagram of the development stages of the ancient Chinese civilization.
Panorama of the ruins of the goddess temple at the first site of Niuheliang. The temple site is a semi-crypt-like civil engineering structure, and the head of the goddess and the remnants of human statues have been unearthed.
Bird's-eye view of the second site of the Niuheliang site. It is 150 meters long from east to west and 60 meters wide from north to south, and is composed of 6 units, mainly altars and stone mounds, and a large number of jade artifacts have been unearthed.
Editor's note. Hongshan culture is one of the origins of Chinese civilization!On December 9, the State Administration of Cultural Heritage announced the latest research results of the "Chinese Civilization Exploration Project". According to the project, from about 5800 years ago, various regions on the land of China entered the ancient kingdom era. The Niuheliang site of Hongshan culture belonging to the late Neolithic period represents the first stage of the ancient kingdom era. This conclusion further established the position of Hongshan culture as the direct root system in the origin process of Chinese civilization.
Since the discovery of the large-scale ruins of Niuheliang in Chaoyang City in 1981, several generations of archaeologists have been continuously excavating in western Liaoning for more than 40 years, and the scope of Hongshan culture has been expanding. From the discovery of the altar and temple mound representing the ritual system to the hierarchical research of "only jade for burial", and then to the excavation of the ancestors of Hongshan in Maanqiao Mountain and the excavation of the living area, archaeologists have worked together to excavate and research, and have yielded fruitful results, and the hardships behind it reflect the perseverance and responsibility of archaeologists to Hongshan culture.
Liaoning ** has launched a special report for three consecutive days today, approaching Hongshan and Niuheliang again, listening to authoritative experts interpreting the importance and rich connotation of Hongshan culture, looking back on the excavation, protection, research and publicity of Hongshan culture in our province in recent years, and focusing on the future of "Hongshan".
Hongshan culture is the direct root of Chinese civilization.
The twilight of the year is cold and winter, and everything is quiet. Located at the junction of Lingyuan and Jianping, the first site of Niuheliang site is hidden among the undulating hills overgrown with pines, which are proud of the mountains, solemn and sacred.
The solemnity and sacredness of this place dates back more than 5,000 years.
During the 800-year period from 5800 to 5000 years ago, a group of ancestors who were called "Hongshan people" by later generations held large-scale and solemn sacrificial activities here. They worship the heavens and the Dharma ancestors and pray for peace and prosperity in grand ceremonies. The nine pedestals at the first site, as well as the goddess temple on the pedestal, the nearby sacrificial pit, and the lifelike goddess head unearthed in the goddess temple with a mysterious smile, are not only witnesses to this sacrificial scene more than 5,000 years ago, but also a strong evidence that the late Hongshan culture has entered the ancient kingdom era.
According to the latest research results of the Chinese Civilization Exploration Project, from about 5800 years ago, various regions on the land of China have successively appeared more obvious social differentiation, and entered the accelerated stage of the origin of civilization. In the time span of 2,300 years from 5,800 to 3,500 years ago, it is divided into two eras: the "Ancient Kingdom Era" and the "Dynasty Era", among which the "Ancient Kingdom Era" is further subdivided into three small stages, and the first stage of the "Ancient Kingdom Era" is represented by the Niuheliang site.
The Niuheliang site is in the middle and late stages of Hongshan culture, and it is also the peak period of Hongshan culture. On this important site, over the past few decades, major discoveries have been made - in addition to the temple of the goddess, the altar and stone mounds, jade and faience are all amazing, especially the Niuheliang site has a "north temple south altar" layout distributed according to the north-south central axis.
In this regard, Guo Dashun, an expert in Hongshan culture research and a librarian of the Provincial Research Institute of Culture and History, said that the temple and altar are the highest level of ritual buildings in the country to worship ancestors and worship heaven, and its structure and layout have continued from the Hongshan culture more than 5,000 years ago to Beijing in the Ming and Qing dynasties, showing a strong inheritance and showing that the Hongshan culture is indeed the direct root system of Chinese civilization.
As the only civilization in the world that has not been interrupted, when did Chinese civilization begin and where did it begin?In 2002, the Chinese civilization source exploration project was launched, and the above problems became the core of this major project to overcome and solve.
After more than 20 years of painstaking research, scholars have summarized the evolution process of civilization on the land of China in a contour manner: from "10,000 years of foundation" to "8,000 years of origin", from "6,000 years of acceleration" to "more than 5,000 years of entry", from "4,300 years of the rise of the Central Plains" to "4,000 years of dynasty establishment", from "3,000 years of consolidation of royal power" to "2,200 years of formation of a unified multi-ethnic state". The research results released by the State Administration of Cultural Heritage not only once again clarified the important value of the Niuheliang site, but also anchored the important position of "Niuheliang" as the representative of the first stage of the ancient kingdom era, which is of great significance.
The dawn of civilization rises in the "Niuhe Liang".
In the prehistoric period, why did the Niuheliang site become the opener of the ancient kingdom era?
The evidence given by the State Administration of Cultural Heritage is conclusive and gold-rich – here, archaeological excavations have found and confirmed that the first site of the Niuheliang site was a large platform complex consisting of nine pedestals. In this regard, Jia Xiaobing, director of the World Archaeology Research Office of the Institute of Archaeology of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences and the leader of the excavation of the Niuheliang site, who is carrying out archaeological excavations on the front line of the Niuheliang site, described it with the word "amazement", "In the prehistoric period, on the hills, the ancestors were able to build such a huge foundation project in a short period of time for sacrifice, which shows that the Hongshan people at that time had a strong mobilization and organization ability and a preliminary etiquette standard." This is remarkable. ”
If the vast foundation project of the Niuheliang site has made a note for "entering the first stage of the ancient kingdom era", then the judgment of the late archaeologist Su Bingqi on the Hongshan culture and the ancient civilization of western Liaoning further proves that the dawn of Chinese civilization rose here.
Mr. Su Bingqi said in his 1993 book "On the Ancient Culture of the Western Liaohe River - A Conversation with Chifeng Historians": "If the entire history of the development of Chinese civilization is a symphony, the ancient civilization of western Liaoning is its prelude, about a thousand years earlier than the Central Plains", "The Hongshan cultural period is the beginning of the ancient country, and the lower culture of Xiajiadian is the beginning of the Fang country." ”
Cultural scholar Wang Chonglu has been paying attention to and looking forward to the progress of the excavation of Hongshan culture and Niuheliang site. He believes that the land of Liaoning is rich and has a unique cultural charm, where nomadism, fishing and hunting and farming cultures have been intertwined for thousands of years, which not only gives this land a splendid cultural appearance, but also shapes the inclusive and straightforward character of the people living in this land.
Wang Chonglu believes that the Niuheliang site was identified as the representative of the first stage of the ancient kingdom era, which made the people of Liaoning rejoice, which not only allowed us to further clarify the important source of Liaoning's regional culture, know "why Liaoning", but also strengthened the cultural self-confidence of contemporary Liaoning people, and provided a driving force for the next step to dig deeper into Liaoning's rich history and culture, especially the creation of "high-quality cultural, sports and tourism integration development demonstration site", which laid a deep cultural foundation and injected rich cultural connotation.
Seven Days of Culture.
See Red Mountain. Gao Shuang.
In the latest research results of the "Chinese Civilization Exploration Project" released by the State Administration of Cultural Heritage a few days ago, the two terms "Red Mountain" and "Niuheliang" are prominently listed, which have attracted much attention.
In the eyes of archaeologists and historical researchers, the Hongshan culture occupies an important position in the project of exploring the origin of civilization, and this is undoubtedly the case. The "attention" that the author wants to discuss more exists at the level of the general public. I checked the junior high school and high school history textbooks of the Renjiao Edition, and in the unit of "Prehistory: The Origin of Early Human Beings and Civilization in China", "Red Mountain" is mentioned, and "Niuheliang" is also mentioned in the high school textbook, but there are only a few words, which should not leave much impression on students. Therefore, someone must ask at the moment they see the news: Niu Heliang is **?What is amazing about Hongshan culture?Hongshan culture and Niuheliang are seen and concerned, what is the significance and value of it?
The first is to evoke a sense of identity. The purpose of the Chinese Civilization Exploration Project is to verify China's millions of years of human history, 10,000 years of cultural history, and more than 5,000 years of civilization history. Li Ji, known as the "father of Chinese archaeology", once said: "We must use our eyes and feet to go north of the Great Wall to find materials on ancient Chinese history, where there is our older hometown." Now, this period has become a reality: "In the first stage of the ancient kingdom era, about 5800-5200 years ago, represented by the Niuheliang site in the West Liao River Basin. In other words, Niuheliang is a starting point, the brightest of the starry stars that twinkled on the dome of the Chinese land 5,800 years ago, providing a vivid example of the pluralistic and integrated pattern of Chinese civilization and deepening the public's recognition of this view.
The second is to enhance cultural self-confidence. We have been saying that "Liaoning has history, culture, and national treasures", the first flower and the first bird on the earth found in Chaoyang, the dragon in Chahai, the jade in Hongshan, the murals in the tombs of the Han and Wei dynasties, the pagodas and utensils in Liaojin, and the relics of the Great Wall in the Ming and Qing dynasties, all of which are living proof of Liaoning's rich history and culture. The Danghongshan culture and Niuheliang ruins have been drawn in the "Chinese Civilization Exploration Project", which makes us have more pride in the cultural content of the land under our feet.
Finally, strengthen the sense of purpose. Every time we look back at history, we look at the present. The archaeological excavation and research of the Hongshan culture continues, and it is relevant to each and every one of us to feel the power of culture from these archaeological results and find the way forward.
As an important node in the process of Chinese civilization, Hongshan, as well as the magnificent history of Liaoning opened by it, all tell us that Liaoning has never been absent in every historical period. Today, Liaoning, which undertakes the political mission of maintaining the country's "five major security", is concentrating on building the "six places" in the new era.
Liaoning** reporter Zhu Zhonghe).