The Chinese nation has a long history of 5,000 years of civilization development, and it is the only civilization in the world that has not been interrupted and continues to this day. However, for a long period of time in the past, the Chinese were not very clear about how their civilization originated, when it was formed, what process it underwent and why these characteristics were formed. With the development of China's archaeology since the founding of the People's Republic of China, especially since the reform and opening up, such as the major discoveries of the late Yangshao period, the late Dawenkou period, the Longshan cultural relics and the Xia Dynasty culture of Erlitou, as well as the combination of natural sciences such as modern physics, astronomy, and computers, have been applied to archaeology, which has provided important material and technical support for solving these problems.
Since the 90s of the 20th century, in order to clarify the origin and early development of the Chinese nation's civilization, with the support of the party and the world, the academic community has successively launched the Xia, Shang and Zhou dynasties project and the Chinese civilization exploration project. However, in order to carry out research on the origin of Chinese civilization, it is necessary to first improve the chronological framework of the Xia and Shang dynasties. Because only when the boundaries of the three generations are clear, can retrospective research be carried out from near and far. Therefore, before the "Chinese Civilization Exploration Project", the first to start the implementation was the "Xia, Shang and Zhou Dynasty Project".
The relevant records of the three dynasties of the Xia and Shang dynasties are frequently found in Chinese historical and cultural classics, but the earliest clear dates of the three dynasties can only be traced back to the "first year of the Republic" (841 BC). Although since Liu Xin of the Western Han Dynasty, many scholars have tried to presume the date before the first year of the Republic for thousands of years. However, due to the fact that scholars are "fighting on their own", coupled with limited data and underdeveloped technology, there has been no breakthrough. Moreover, due to the lack of evidence from archaeological remains, some scholars even believe that "there is no history of faith before the Spring and Autumn Period".
On October 15, 2020, a turquoise dragon was unearthed at the Erlitou site in Beijing. (China News Service**).
With the birth of Chinese archaeology in the 20s of the 20th century and decades of excavation research, "new archaeological data have a contour record of the history before the Western Zhou Dynasty and even the Xia Dynasty". Therefore, the "Xia, Shang and Zhou Dynasty Project" launched in 1996 set four goals: First, before the first year of the Western Zhou Republic, from King Wu of Zhou to King Li of Zhou, determine a more accurate date. Second, in the late Shang Dynasty, from the Shang King Wuding to Di Xin, a more accurate date was determined. Third, in the early Shang Dynasty, from Shang Tang to Xiaoyi, a more detailed chronological framework was proposed. Fourth, the basic chronological framework of the Xia Dynasty is proposed. Since its launch, this "unprecedented grand academic project" has aroused great repercussions at home and abroad. Su Bingqi, a famous archaeologist, said with emotion, "The descendants of the dragon are looking for their own cultural roots." At the same time, foreign academic circles are also very concerned, and the "Ancient Chinese Newsletter" of the United States, as the most important journal for the study of ancient China in Europe and the United States, has made a detailed report on this project. Some foreign scholars also sent the latest results of research on the age of King Wu and Keshang for the reference of relevant experts in China.
After more than 200 multidisciplinary experts for five years of joint research, the project was completed in 2000. On November 9, the "Xia Shang Anniversary Table" was officially announced. This chronology extends China's scientifically based historical chronology from the first year of the Republic in the late Western Zhou Dynasty, that is, 841 B.C., by more than 1,200 years. The project was set in the beginning of the Xia Dynasty in about 2070 BC; The Xia and Shang boundaries were around 1600 BC; Pangeng moved to Yin around 1300 BC; The Shang and Zhou dynasties were divided into 1046 BC. "As the phased results of the chronological research of the Xia, Shang and Zhou dynasties, these have solved a number of difficult problems that have not been determined for a long time in China's historical chronology, and laid the foundation for continuing to explore the origin of Chinese civilization, revealing the development context of the 5,000-year history of civilization, and leaving a complete chronicle of civilization for future generations."
After two years of pre-research (2002-2003), the "Chinese Civilization Exploration Project", the largest comprehensive and multidisciplinary national project in China to date to study major issues in the humanities, was officially launched in 2004. The main task of the first phase (2004-2005) was to study the civilization patterns of the Central Plains between 2500 BC and 1500 BC. In the second phase (2006-2008), the upper limit of the study was extended to 3500 BC, and the spatial scope was extended from the Central Plains to the upper, middle and lower reaches of the Yellow River, the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River and the West Liao River basin, where civilization started earlier. The third phase (2006-2015) focuses on the comprehensive research on the origin and early development of Chinese civilization, the application and support of modern science and technology in the Chinese civilization exploration project, and the research on key technologies for the protection and display of cultural relics. In 2016, the overall project was completed, and archaeological surveys and excavation examples show that around 5,800 years ago, there were signs of the origin of civilization in the Yellow River, the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River, and the West Liao River. Since 5,300 years ago, various regions of China have entered the stage of civilization one after another; Around 3,800 years ago, the Central Plains formed a more mature form of civilization, radiating cultural influence to all directions, becoming the core and leader of the overall process of Chinese civilization. That is to say, since the launch of the "Xia, Shang and Zhou Dynasty Project" in 1996, to the completion of the fourth phase of the "Chinese Civilization Exploration Project" in 2016, after 20 years of research, the Chinese finally have a scientific answer to the origin and early development process of their own nation's 5,000 years of civilization - that is, the Chinese nation and Chinese civilization have grown up independently on their own land, and have shown the development characteristics of multiple and multi-point emergence and finally integration into "one".
In the 90s of the 20th century, the "Xia, Shang and Zhou Dynasty Project" and the "Chinese Civilization Exploration Project" were conceived and launched, which not only have historical significance, but also have great political and practical significance. Academically, the engineering research team has published hundreds of academic articles and dozens of academic monographs, trained a large number of master's and doctoral students and postdoctoral fellows in related majors, promoted the development of Chinese archaeology, and explored a multidisciplinary joint research path. In society, the latest research results are presented in the newly revised history textbooks, which is conducive to enhancing the national self-confidence and pride of young students. Internationally, it can not only provide sufficient and powerful evidence for the image of China's ancient civilization, but also provide technical and methodological reference for the study of ancient human civilization. (End) (Original title: "The descendants of the dragon are looking for the roots of their own culture" - the Xia, Shang and Zhou dynasties project and the Chinese civilization exploration project).
Written by Fu Jizuo.