" Yunxian Ren " site unearthed No. 2 skull fossil
Stone tools unearthed from Jigongshan site in Jingzhou
Pottery unearthed from Qujialing site in Jingmen
Tianmen Shijiahe site unearthed from pottery
Jade figure unearthed from Shijiahe site in Tianmen
Shijiahe culture pottery cup unearthed from Fenghuangzui site in Xiangyang (The pictures in this edition are provided by Hubei Provincial Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology)
Da copper axe unearthed from the Panlongcheng ruins in Wuhan
Unearthed from the Panlongcheng ruins in Wuhan Dayuge
Yunmeng Shuihudi Qin Tomb " Heifu Mudou"
Hubei Daily All-Media Reporter Haibing Correspondent Neifeng
"Who are we?" "What path have we taken?" "Where are we going?" ...
On the shore of Mulan Lake in Huangpi, Wuhan, several generations of Hubei archaeologists have built a "Jingchu Cultural Gene Bank" with more than 200 archaeological relics unearthed from our province to try to answer these questions.
htmlOn April 24, Hubei Daily All-media reporters came to the Mulan Lake Archaeology Compilation Base of Hubei Provincial Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology to visit the pre-launched "Millennium Cultural Context- Yangtze River Civilization Archaeology Exhibition·Hubei", and listened to experts about how the long-standing Yangtze River Civilization was integrated into the profound Chinese civilization.
A "Jingchu Cultural Gene Bank"
Enter the exhibition hall, and the main exhibition mark of the "Millennium Cultural Context - Yangtze River Civilization Archaeology Exhibition·Hubei" that comes into view is a map of Hubei marked with important archaeological remains, involving Three Gorges archaeology, South-to-North Water Diversion archaeology, Danjiang reservoir area cultural relics survey, and many archaeological discoveries such as Jianshi , Yunxian people, Jigong Mountain, Qujialing , Shijiahe , Panlongcheng, Tonglu Mountain and many other archaeological discoveries.
Director of the Provincial Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology and Director of the Provincial Museum Fang Qin introduced that since the 1950s, Hubei archaeology has cooperated with major national projects and important infrastructure projects in our province, relying on the National Large Site Protection Project, Chinese Civilization Source Exploration Project , Archaeology China, Jingchu Great Site Inheritance and Development Project and other projects, and has achieved fruitful results: more than 20 discoveries were selected as the "Top Ten New Archaeological Discoveries in the Country" and the "New Archaeology of China" for the Archaeology Forum of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, 7 were selected as the "100 Archaeological Discoveries in the 20th Century", and 6 were selected as the "Top 100 Archaeological Discoveries in the Centennial Year" in China.
Fang Qin said that these remains spanning millions of years form a "Jingchu cultural gene bank" with a profound heritage, which is an archaeological evidence for understanding "what road we have taken". At the same time, it also intuitively explains my country's "million-year human history, ten thousand years of cultural history, and more than five thousand years of civilization history", providing important support for the construction of the Yangtze River National Cultural Park.
It is understood that the fully built Mulan Lake base will be built into a Hubei Archaeological Museum that spreads Jingchu culture and Yangtze River civilization, and share the results of heritage protection with the public.
From 2 million to 10,000 years
Ancient humans continue to spread in Hubei
"Hubei is one of the areas with the most ancient human fossils discovered in my country. The number of remains discovered is large and the span of the era makes Hubei an important area to explore the origin of human beings ." Wang Xianfu, deputy director of the Provincial Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology and deputy director of the Provincial Museum, introduced that from Jianshi people about 2 million years ago, to Yunxian people about one million years, to 200,000 years Changyang people, about 100,000 years Huanglong Cave people, 50,000 to 20,000 years Hanyang people, in this land of Hubei, ancient humans continue to spread.
It is understood that there are 8 Paleolithic sites where ancient human fossils have been unearthed in Hubei. Among them, two ancient human skull fossils that are about 1 million years old and are basically complete, filling the gap in the evolution and development of ancient humans in Asia, and providing precious physical evidence for the history of human development, which once caused a sensation in the ancient anthropology community in China and abroad. In addition to unearthing ancient human fossils at the Huanglong Cave site, the earliest fire-use remains in Hubei were also discovered. Paleoanthropology experts say that the enrichment and systematicness of this ancient human remains are only in the country and rare in the world, indicating that Hubei is an important area for the origin and evolution of ancient humans.
Wang Xianfu introduced that in addition to ancient human sites, a large number of Paleolithic sites have been found in the mountainous areas of northwestern Hubei and southwestern Hubei, with more than 200 sites. Among them, the Jigongshan site in Jingzhou cleared the area of human habitation with an area of about 500 square meters, and five circular stone circles and foot nest ruins surrounded by gravel were found. Some experts believe that the site fills the gap in the Paleolithic Plain residence in my country.
Prehistorical Yufeng and Chu people Chongfeng
Jingchu story starts from Shijiahe
"We dating cultural relics unearthed from the Qingjiang Matsuping site and found that it is about 10,000 years ago." Fang Qin introduced that the Qingjiang Matsuping site, the Jiangxi Xianren Cave Dangbaohuan site, the Hunan Yuchanyan site, etc. are the sites that entered the Neolithic Age earlier in the Yangtze River Basin.
Archaeology Names a combination of different relics and relics with the same cultural appearance in the same historical period as an archaeological culture. Fang Qin introduced that about 6400 years ago, the sacrificial rituals with the buckle as the placement featured by the sacrificial bowls and the emergence of the first city site in the middle reaches of the Yangtze River show that the social structure is becoming increasingly complex. By about 5,300 years ago, the Qujialing culture in Hubei unified the middle reaches of the Yangtze River and its surrounding areas for the first time, and with the subsequent Shijiahe Culture , it reached the peak of prehistoric culture in the middle reaches of the Yangtze River, and once influenced today's Hunan, Shaanxi, Henan and other places. It is understood that the Fenghuangzui site in Xiangyang, our province, which is still being excavated, and the Huangshan site in Nanyang, Henan, which was selected as the top ten new archaeological discoveries in the country in 2021, and the Jizhaocheng site in Li County, Hunan, have obvious cultural features. Fang Qin said that around 4200 to 4000 years ago, the formation of national civilization has entered a critical period. The Liangzhu civilization in the lower reaches of the Yangtze River has declined, and the emergence of large central settlements represented by the Shimao and Taosi cities in the middle reaches of the Yangtze River has pushed civilization to a new level. The Shijiahe site in Tianmen is about 5,900 to 4,000 years ago. It is the largest prehistoric urban settlement group discovered so far in the middle reaches of the Yangtze River. The ancient city of Shijiahe at its heyday had an area of 120 square meters, with a main area of about 8 square kilometers, and more than 40 ruins were distributed in the core area. Among them, large professional pottery workshops were found in Sanfangwan, sacrificial sites were found on the seal platform, and the earliest artificial smelting copper tools in the Yangtze River Basin were unearthed in Dengjiawan.
"Jingchu culture has a long history. As the most brilliant prehistoric culture in the middle reaches of the Yangtze River before Chu culture, Shijiahe culture has an influence on Chu culture." Fang Qin said that among the large number of exquisite jade artifacts unearthed from the Xiaojia Rouge and Luojia Boling site of the Shijiahe site, there is a jade phoenix known as the "No. 1 Phoenix in China", and its shape is amazing. The archaeologist Wang Jin, who participated in the excavation, once wrote an article to study the process of civilizationization of the jade artifacts in Shijiahe culture and the Jianghan . From Yufeng, she discussed the origin of the Chu people's respect for phoenixes. She attributed the creation of phoenix culture to the ancestors of Shijiahe.
Fang Qin also said on CCTV's "Archaeology Open Class" and other occasions that in pottery figurines unearthed from Shijiahe, there are fish holding and dancing postures, presenting a fisherman singing in the evening. He said, "The story of Jingchu starts from Shijiahe. Perhaps, the romantic and magnificent Chu culture starts here." He also said that the portrait of the unearthed jade in the Tanjialing site of Shijiahe ruins has vertical eyes and wide ears. The later Sanxingdui culture may have been influenced to a certain extent.
Exchange and collision
Yangtze River culture gradually integrated into the long history of Chinese civilization
. The middle reaches of the Yangtze River are closely linked to the surrounding areas. In the long-term exchange and collision, they are gradually integrated into the Central Plains cultural system and become an important part of the profound and profound Chinese civilization.
The exhibition is introduced through the exhibition board. The Daxi cultural period, which dates from 6,000 to 5,000 years ago, was the first peak of cultural development in the middle reaches of the Yangtze River. During this period, the middle reaches of the Yangtze River and surrounding areas had extensive connections through turquoise, jade, pottery, etc. By the Xiaojia Rouji Culture Period, which was about 4,000 years ago, the middle reaches of the Yangtze River were increasingly closely connected with the Central Plains, and the process of "integration into China" began, which was just verified with the legend of "Yu Zheng Sanmiao". After the summer of the Shang Dynasty, the merchants used Panlong City and other places as their bases to strengthen their control over the areas south of the Yangtze River.The Panlongcheng ruins site located in Huangpi, Wuhan, was discovered in large-scale city sites, palace areas, workshop areas, residential areas, tomb areas, etc., which are the center of Shang Dynasty in the south. After the destruction of the Shang Dynasty, the 2nd Zhou Dynasty established its rule over Hubei region by dividing states and establishing its country. Currently, the vassal states in Hubei that have been confirmed by archaeology include Chu, Zeng (Sui), Hubei, Deng, and the "Big Zi" states. As the Zhou Dynasty weakened its control over the middle reaches of the Yangtze River, the Chu State rose rapidly and gradually unified the middle reaches of the Yangtze River and the Huaihe River basins, laying the foundation for Qin to unify the country.
"After 278 BC, it was a critical period for the formation of a multi-ethnic unified country in China. The Yunmeng region became a strategic stronghold for the Qin Dynasty to unify the south. Many batches of important bamboo slips unearthed from the Qin Dynasty tomb in Yunmeng witnessed the historical storm of the Qin and Han Empires." Luo Yunbing, deputy director of the Provincial Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology and deputy director of the Provincial Museum, introduced that the stunning cultural relics "China's First Longest Literature Goblet" were unearthed in the Zhengjiahu Cemetery in Yunmeng, which records the story of strategists lobbying for soldiers to establish righteousness. In addition, a large number of bamboo slips that shocked China and the world were unearthed from Tomb No. 11, Yunmeng Shuihudi, with a total of 1,155 pieces, with extremely rich content. They are the most important and complete legal documents of the Qin Dynasty. They are witnesses of the unified history chapter of the Seven Heroes of the Warring States Period to to to . The "black husband wooden slip" unearthed from another Qin tomb in Sleeping Tiger Land is the first letter of family in China. This letter of family in the war period in the Qin Dynasty reproduces the family and country feelings of ordinary people under the background of Qin unification. By 223 BC, the entire territory of Hubei was unified in Qin.
Fang Qin said that in addition to displaying the thousand-year cultural heritage of Hubei through the unearthed cultural relics, what is more important is to show the glory of the Yangtze River civilization. A large number of archaeological achievements show that the Yangtze River Basin is the cradle of Chinese civilization, just like the Yellow River Basin, and they have jointly built a splendid Chinese civilization.
exhibition is hosted by the Provincial Department of Culture and Tourism (Provincial Cultural Relics Bureau), and hosted by the Provincial Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology, Hubei Provincial Museum , and Wuhan University Yangtze River Civilization Archaeology Institute. It will be officially opened to the public before "5.18 International Museum Day ".
Source: Jingchu.com
