Why is it said that "a history of Henan is half of the history of China"? Because archaeological discoveries here are "Taizhong"!

In the Chinese civilization origin exploration project, Henan plays an important role as the main root and main vein, and has made great contributions, mainly in the following aspects:

Henan is an important birthplace of Chinese civilization and Huaxia civilization

There are numerous important archaeological discoveries in Henan, from the Paleolithic Sunjiadong site in Luanchuan, the Zhijidong site in Xingyang, the Laonian Temple site in Zhengzhou to the Neolithic Peiligang site in Xinzheng, the Miaodigou site in Sanmenxia, ​​the Shuanghuaishu site in Gongyi, and even the Erlitou site in Yanshi, the Shangcheng site in Zhengzhou, and the Yinxu site in Anyang during the Xia, Shang and Zhou dynasties. This series of major archaeological discoveries in Henan have proven the unbroken history of Chinese civilization, carrying China's one million years of human history, ten thousand years of cultural history, and five thousand years of civilization history.

In the spring of 2002, the national science and technology project, "Comprehensive Research on the Origin and Early Development of Chinese Civilization" (abbreviated as "Origin Exploration Project"), was approved. The "Origin Exploration Project of Chinese Civilization" adheres to the concept of "multi-disciplinary, multi-angle and all-round".

2002-2003 was the preliminary research period, and the geographical scope was placed in the central area of ​​the Huaxia Group - the central and western Henan and the southern Shanxi. The time range was set at 3000 BC to 2000 BC, that is, the Longshan era in archaeology, which is roughly equivalent to the Five Emperors period in ancient history legends. The preliminary research set up a total of 9 topics, including dating, paleoenvironmental research, writing and engraving research, ancient astronomical phenomena and calendar research, and comparative research on the origins of ancient Chinese and foreign civilizations. There are 4 sites, including the Taosi site in Xiangfen, Shanxi, the Wangchenggang site in Dengfeng, Henan, the Xinmi ancient city site, and the Xinzhai site in Xinmi. Among them, 3 are in Henan, becoming the highlights of the preliminary research of the Chinese Civilization Origin Exploration Project.

The first phase was from 2004 to 2005, and included five topics: precise dating of the periodization of archaeological cultures in the Central Plains from 2500 BC to 1500 BC, natural environment research, social structure research reflected by settlement forms, economic and technological development research, and civilization forms research. Six large-scale and high-level central cities in the Central Plains, including the Xipo site in Lingbao, Henan, the Taosi site in Xiangfen, Shanxi, the Wangchenggang site in Dengfeng, Henan, the Xinzhai site in Xinmi, Henan, the Erlitou site in Yanshi, Henan, and the Dashigu site in Zhengzhou, Henan, were studied in particular, five of which were located in Henan.

The second phase, from 2005 to 2008, expanded the spatial scope of the study to the entire Yangtze River, Yellow River and Xiliao River basins, and the time range to 3500 BC to 1500 BC, starting from the Yangshao culture and ending at the end of the Xia Dynasty and the beginning of the Shang Dynasty. The study of the settlement forms of central settlements between 3500 BC and 1500 BC, such as Lingbao Zhudingyuan (Xipo), Xiangfen Taosi, Dengfeng Wangchenggang, Yuzhou Wadian, Yanshi Erlitou, etc., was deepened. By investigating the layout and changes of large buildings and noble tombs in these central settlements, the social structure and its changes within the central settlements were explored. In addition to the above-mentioned sites, the Xishan site in Zhengzhou and the Huadizui site in Gongyi were also studied.

2010-2012 is the third period. The focus has been expanded from multidisciplinary research on the origin and early development of Chinese civilization to the application and support of modern science and technology in the Chinese civilization origin exploration project, and research on key technologies for cultural relics protection and display. The topic setting of the Origin Exploration Project (III) has been adjusted, including chronology and environmental topics, regional settlement and resident research topics, and overall research topics on the formation and early development of Chinese civilization. It also includes livelihood, economic and technological research topics, as well as sub-topics such as metallurgical archaeology, plant archaeology, and stone tool research. The archaeological sites related to Henan are generally the same as the previous period.

2013-2015: The fourth phase of the Origin Exploration Project. The time and space scope was further expanded to the entire Yellow River, Yangtze River, Xiliao River basins and border areas. The projects involving Henan Province include: a comprehensive study of the Xipo site in Lingbao, a study of prehistoric settlements in the Baihe River basin centered on the Baligang site in Dengzhou, a comprehensive study of the Wadian site in Yuzhou and the Wangchenggang site in Dengfeng, and a settlement archaeological study centered on the Xinzhai site in Xinmi.

Since 2020: The fifth phase of the Origin Exploration Project. The Origin Exploration Project (V) has undergone an overall structural adjustment, and the focus of research has shifted to the process of regional civilization. Comprehensive research topics have been set up for three key areas of the origin of China's early civilization, namely the northern Great Wall area, the Central Plains and the Haidai region, and the Yangtze River Basin. The sites related to Henan archaeology include the Shuanghuaishu site in Gongyi, the Xinzhai site in Xinmi, and the Erlitou site in Yanshi.

Archaeologists from Henan Province became the backbone of this large-scale system project.

This breaks the "Eve Theory" that has been advocated by the international genetics community.

Through archaeological excavations at multiple sites dating back 60,000 to 30,000 years, including the Zhiji Cave site in Xingyang, Henan, and the Laonina Temple site in Zhengzhou, we have obtained a wealth of remains and artifacts of human activities, which have made up for the weak link in China's lack of excavation results from sites of this period and broke the "Eve Theory" that has been advocated by the international genetics community.

The Lijiagou culture represented by the Xinmi Lijiagou site is the earliest Neolithic culture discovered in the middle reaches of the Yellow River, dating back to about 10,000 to 9,000 years ago, indicating that Henan had already begun to see initial settlement 10,000 years ago.

About 9,000 to 7,000 years ago, during the Peiligang culture period in the Central Plains, agriculture developed, the population increased, and rice was planted, pigs were raised, and pottery, stone tools and bone tools were made. People who mastered the skills of carving characters and making bone flutes appeared within the clan. For example, the bone flute made of crane ulna, which is more than 8,000 years old and unearthed from the Jiahu site in Wuyang, Henan, reflects the extremely high artistic level of ancient Chinese ancestors. The bottom of some tortoise shells unearthed in the tombs are engraved with symbols similar to the oracle bone inscriptions of the Shang Dynasty, which provides precious information for the study of the origin of oracle bone inscriptions, but there was no obvious social differentiation during this period. A settlement of 300,000 square meters was discovered at the Tanghu site in Xinzheng, while the previous discoveries were generally only 100,000 square meters. There are 65 house sites that have been discovered here, and drainage systems have also been discovered in the settlement. Of course, the ages of these 65 house sites vary, and they are not necessarily all built at the same time. In any case, the expansion of settlement area during this period indicates that the Neolithic Age in the Central Plains region had an initial development from the emergence of agriculture to the Peiligang culture period.

The representative place where early states emerged and entered regional civilized society

About 7,000 years ago, the Yangshao culture formed in the middle reaches of the Yellow River, with the early Yangshao culture represented by Zaoyuan in Yicheng, Shanxi, and the early Yangshao culture represented by Banpo in Xi'an, roughly covering the adjacent areas of Henan, Shaanxi and Shanxi. The Central Plains region has undergone a gradual development process to become the core of Chinese civilization. Starting about 6,000 years ago, the Miaodigou culture in the middle reaches of the Yellow River represented by the Miaodigou site in Sanmenxia spread to the surrounding areas. Around 5,300 years ago, its influence reached the middle reaches of the Yangtze River in the south, the Hetao in the north, the lower reaches of the Yellow River in the east, and the upper reaches of the Yellow River in the west. For the first time, a cultural circle centered on the Central Plains region appeared, which can be called the embryonic form of early China in terms of culture. It was during this period that a large-scale settlement of more than one million square meters appeared in the area of ​​Zhudingyuan in Lingbao, Henan in the Central Plains. The time and region of this phenomenon coincided with the rise and scope of activities of the Huangdi and Yandi groups in ancient historical legends, which was no accident.

About 5800 to 5400 years ago, the Central Plains region saw a clear social differentiation, represented by the Zhudingyuan site group in Lingbao, Henan. Several super-large settlements with an area of ​​about one million square meters and a number of small and medium-sized settlements were discovered in the Zhudingyuan site group, reflecting the phenomenon of significant population growth and concentration at that time. There are several large sites with an area of ​​hundreds of thousands of square meters in the site group, surrounded by a 10-meter-wide moat. There is a large building site in the center of the site, which should be the place where the leader lived and held ceremonies. A public cemetery was discovered outside the moat. One of the tombs, based on the scale and burial objects, may be a military leader. More than 10 pieces of burial pottery were fired at low temperatures, which were obviously not practical objects, but funerary objects used exclusively for burial. This is the earliest funerary object found so far in the country. It is worth noting that although the scale of this tomb is higher than other tombs, the burial objects are not rich, which is in sharp contrast to the situation of nearly 100 funerary objects unearthed in large tombs in the lower reaches of the Yangtze River during the same period. We believe that in the process of civilization originating in the Central Plains, the size of the chief's residence and tomb was used to show his status, not to show his nobility by possessing or burying a large amount of wealth. Another possibility is that the social differentiation in the Central Plains was still in its early stages at that time, and the ruling class did not yet possess a large amount of social wealth.

Between 5500 and 5000 years ago, the Zhudingyuan site group in western Henan declined, and several large and medium-sized settlements such as Shuanghuaishu, Qingtai, and Wanggou appeared in Zhengzhou in central Henan, suggesting that the political center of the Central Plains region shifted from western Henan to central Henan during this period. The Shuanghuaishu site in Gongyi, discovered in recent years, is the largest and highest-level settlement in central Henan during this period, and should have been the political center of the Central Plains region at that time. The inner moat of the Shuanghuaishu site is 4.5-6 meters deep and 6-8 meters wide; the middle moat is 9.5 meters deep and 23 meters wide; the outer moat is 17.2 meters wide and 9.8 meters deep; the triple moat is very defensive, and a group of large buildings were found on the innermost side. Its layout shows the clues of the central axis concept, which is very different from the layout of the four large building foundations of the Zhudingyuan Xipo site around the square. The high-level building complex is located in the middle, and several buildings are distributed in the same direction, running through the central axis, and progressing from front to back. The two large building foundations in the front are centered on the central axis and are arranged side by side from east to west. They have initially shown the characteristics of the palace layout of ancient Chinese capitals. Some scholars believe that they are the origin of the palace system of later generations. The public cemetery discovered at the Shuanghuaishu site has the heads of the tomb owners facing the same direction and arranged in rows. The concentrated distribution of house sites and the existence of several public cemeteries show that the society at that time was still based on blood ties.

It is worth noting that the burial objects in these large-scale tombs are not rich, only a small number of ornaments. This is exactly the same as the situation of the Zhudingyuan site group, perhaps continuing the tradition of using the residence and the size of the tomb to show status. The beast skull shaped like a silkworm found in the site is very similar to the state of the silkworm when it is about to spin silk, indicating that people in the Central Plains at that time may have raised silkworms and reeled silk in addition to engaging in agriculture. The situation reflected by the Shuanghuaishu site shows that 5,300 years ago, the social differentiation in the Central Plains was more obvious.

About 5,000 years ago, social differentiation intensified, forming a king who combined military power and sacrificial power and his prominent family, an early state appeared, and a regional civilized society was entered. The process of civilization in the Central Plains entered a period of accelerated development, social differentiation intensified, and defensive city sites began to appear. The earliest city site in the Central Plains in the Yellow River Basin, the Xishan City Site, was discovered in Zhengzhou. The Xishan City Site is nearly circular in plan, covering millions of square meters. It is surrounded by moats outside the city, forming a triple defense system, dating back about 5,300 to 4,800 years. The ancient city of Xishan is in the transition stage from the traditional circular moated settlement to the square city site surrounded by city walls, and has a clear military defense color and a strong belief in infanticide.

The pattern of Chinese civilization's diversity and unity gradually took shape

The further development of super-large settlements is the early state. At the same time, the core settlements evolved into the political center of the state - the capital. According to the Marxist classic theory that "the state is the summary of civilized society", the birth of the early state means entering the door of civilization. After many excavations and studies, we believe that 5,000 to 4,000 years ago, various regions entered civilized society, and advanced cultural factors in surrounding areas converged to the Central Plains, and the pattern of pluralistic unity of Chinese civilization gradually took shape.

The evolution mechanism and process of the multi-integrated pattern of Chinese civilization can be divided into two stages. Before the establishment of the Xia Dynasty (about 4,000 years ago), various parts of the Central Plains entered the late Longshan period, with a general increase in population and an expansion of settlement scale. Several new regional centers were discovered, such as the Wangchenggang site in Dengfeng, the Wadian site in Yuzhou, the ancient city fortress site in Xinmi, the Haojiatai site in Yancheng, and the Pingliangtai site in Huaiyang, and the most concentrated city site group in the Central Plains appeared. At the same time, cultural exchanges and population migrations between regions became more frequent, new civilization elements continued to converge, and social development continued to accumulate strength. Around 3,800 years ago, the Erlitou site in Yanshi can be basically determined as the capital site of the late Xia Dynasty. From this period and some time before, the Central Plains region has definitely formed a more mature civilization form, and radiated cultural influence in all directions, becoming the core and leader of the overall process of Chinese civilization. The key sites of this period include Wangchenggang Site in Dengfeng, Wadian Site in Yuzhou, Erlitou Site in Yanshi, Dashigu Site in Zhengzhou, Shizhuang Site in Huaiyang, etc. Among them, Wangchenggang Site in Dengfeng is inferred by some scholars to be "Yudu Yangcheng". Wadian Site in Yuzhou is a large-scale capital site mainly in the late Longshan Culture period in Henan Province. The literature records that "Qi lived in Yangdi" and "Xia Qi had Juntai" in Yuzhou. Wadian Site may be related to this.

The Erlitou site is the largest capital site in the country at the same time. In the middle of the Erlitou site, a palace city with an area of ​​100,000 square meters was discovered. In the city, many palaces were found that embody the concept of the central axis and are symmetrically arranged on the left and right. To the south of the palace city, a handicraft workshop area that produced high-grade products such as bronze and turquoise was discovered, indicating that the royal power of this period had completely controlled the raw materials, production, and distribution of high-grade handicraft products, providing a material basis for the ritual and music system. The Erlitou culture is the period when the status of the civilization center of the Central Plains was established.

The Dual Contribution of Henan's Prehistoric Archaeological Culture and Archaeological Work

In the process of the formation of Chinese civilization, a large number of prehistoric archaeological cultures in Henan and archaeologists in Henan have made great contributions. It is of great significance to reveal the historical process of "pluralistic unity" of Chinese civilization and enhance the cohesion of the Chinese nation. On the basis of the above series of major archaeological discoveries, the "Chinese Civilization Origin Exploration Project" carried out multidisciplinary comprehensive research on the civilization process, environmental background, livelihood form, social differentiation, mutual exchange, the formation process, model and mechanism, path and characteristics of the pluralistic unity of Chinese civilization in various regions. Finally, it broke through the shackles of the Western "three elements of civilization" (metallurgy, writing and city), and based on Chinese materials and taking into account the characteristics of other ancient civilizations, it proposed the "Chinese solution" for judging the standard of entering a civilized society, namely: production development, population increase, and the emergence of cities; social division of labor and social differentiation continued to intensify, and classes appeared; power continued to strengthen, and royal power and the state appeared. The emergence of the state is regarded as a sign of entering a civilized society. According to this standard, the Origin Exploration Project proposes that between 5100 and 4300 years ago, early states emerged in some areas with rapid cultural and social development and entered the civilization stage; it also proposes that 5500 years ago, close exchanges were formed between the upper classes of society in the middle and lower reaches of the Yellow River, the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River, and the Liaohe River basin, which led to the worship of dragons, the concept of jade being precious, and the ritual system of using certain types of precious objects to demonstrate the noble status of the holders.

In addition to actively carrying out archaeological excavations and research, Henan has also actively participated in the transformation of scientific and technological achievements of the "China Civilization Origin Project". A number of archaeological sites parks or site museums that integrate the protection, display and utilization of large sites, such as Miaodigou Archaeological Site Park, Erlitou Archaeological Site Park, Dahe Village Site Museum, and Jiahu Site Museum, have been built and opened. Characteristic cultural landmarks that showcase the city's image, such as the Yellow River National Archaeological Site Park and the Yellow River National Museum, are also about to meet the public. This series of "cultural holy places" is an important platform for the promotion of the results of the "China Civilization Origin Project" and a major base for education and cultural tourism. It is also a "golden business card" that showcases Henan's splendid culture and glorious history, and shows Henan's responsibility to be a pioneer and a leader in the transformation of scientific and technological achievements of the "China Civilization Origin Project".

The history of Henan is half of the history of China. The archaeological discoveries and research in Henan have provided important materials and academic support for the smooth implementation of the "China Civilization Origin Exploration Project", showing the main roots and veins of the origin and development of Chinese civilization. As the backbone of the "China Civilization Origin Exploration Project", Henan has gradually established the chronological sequence of various archaeological cultures around the three stages of archaeological culture, namely Yangshao Culture, Henan Longshan Culture, and Erlitou Culture, and clarified the cultural positioning of various archaeological cultures in the origin of Chinese civilization. Based on this, Henan has taken on the important tasks of the "China Civilization Origin Exploration Project", continued to deepen the research on the origin of Chinese civilization, and proposed the Henan plan and contributed Henan's strength to the establishment of a discipline system, academic system, and discourse system for civilization research with Chinese characteristics, Chinese style, and Chinese style!

(Ma Juncai, researcher at Henan Provincial Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology)