China News Service, Beijing, February 22, Wire title: Sixty-two years of archaeology in Erlitou unveiled the mystery of "Xia Du"
Author Guo Chaokai
The story of Dayu's water management is well-known in China.
According to historical records, Dayu, a man of meritorious and respected water management, became the leader of the tribe and established the Xia Dynasty.
But this long-lasting national memory has become slightly blurred due to the passage of time.
Fortunately, the discovery of the Erlitou site in Yanshi, Henan has unveiled the mystery of the ancient "Xia Capital". Now the Erlitou site is the remains of the Xia Dynasty capital city and has gradually become a consensus among academics.
What is so special about this site?
How did it help to prove the existence of the Xia Dynasty, and why was it recognized as the capital of the Xia Dynasty?
Does the Xia Dynasty really exist?
The Xia Dynasty was the first hereditary dynasty recorded in Chinese historical documents.
Many pre-Qin classics such as "The Book of Songs", "Zuo Zhuan" and "Shangshu" all mention the Xia Dynasty.
Sima Qian also clearly recorded the history of the change of the Xia, Shang and Wednesday dynasties in "Historical Records".
However, at the beginning of the 20th century, a group of intellectuals who were influenced by modern Western scholarship methods stirred up a stagnant pool of Chinese academic circles with "belief in the ancient" as the mainstream.
Stories such as "Da Yu governing the water" are classified as legends by the ancient history discriminating school in this "suspicious trend of thought".
In order to confirm the existence of the Xia Dynasty, in 1959, the 71-year-old historian Xu Xusheng set off from Beijing to find the "Xiaxu" in Henan and Shanxi.
After a month of intensive investigations in western Henan, Xu Xusheng's team discovered more than 20 sites. Among them, the most important discovery was the site in Erlitou Village, Yanshi.
With the advancement of archaeological excavations, the ruins of the capital city that has been sleeping for more than 3,000 years have brought endless surprises to the outside world and become a "wordless book" to uncover ancient civilizations.
Today, it has become a general consensus in the academic circles that the Erlitou site is the earliest dynasty in China—the capital remains in the middle and late Xia Dynasty.
However, the dispute over whether the Xia Dynasty really existed has not stopped, and the evidence that can directly prove the existence of ancient civilization is written records.
At the beginning of the 20th century, the Republic of China master Wang Guowei successfully interpreted the oracle bone inscriptions, proving that the Shang Dynasty deeds recorded in the "Historical Records: Yin Benji" is a letter of history; Academically established the Yin and Shang civilization.
The outside world believes that if the Xia Dynasty wants to "self-certify" its existence, he would have to rely on direct written materials such as oracle bone inscriptions as supporting evidence.
Why is Erlitou's surname "Xia"?
Although the existence of the Xia Dynasty is still controversial, this does not affect the reputation of the Erlitou site in Chinese archaeology.
What is special about this village?
Is Erlitou's last name "Xia" or "Shang"?
Zhao Haitao, the team leader of the Erlitou Institute of Archaeology, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, said in an interview with China News Agency: “In the first 20 years since the discovery of the Erlitou site, the academic community generally recognized it as the city of commerce. Until the late 1970s, Zou Heng of Peking University After the professor proposed that the Erlitou site is the capital of summer, it took nearly 30 to 40 years to gradually reach a consensus."
Zhao Haitao introduced that the reason why the Erlitou site was judged to be the capital of Xia was mainly based on three scientific considerations.
The first is to determine the relative age of Erlitou through archeological stratigraphy and typology, which is between the Longshan culture and the Shang culture.
Secondly, by the carbon-14 dating method, the Erlitou site has been measured between 3800 and 3,500 years ago. The date is more consistent with the middle and late Xia Dynasty recorded in historical records.
In addition, the Erlitou site is located in the western part of Henan Province, which also conforms to the main activity area of the Xia Dynasty recorded in historical books.
With the development of the Chinese Civilization Discovery Project and the "Xia, Shang and Zhou Dating Project", through comprehensive research on carbon-14 dating, documentation, archaeological stratigraphy, etc., the main part of the Erlitou culture is Xia culture and has been recognized by most people. accept.
After 62 years of archaeological excavations, people were surprised to find that this seemingly identical small village was a "key" to open the door to the history of the Xia Dynasty.
"Chinese Dragon" stunningly unearthed
Among the many cultural relics at the Erlitou site, the most exciting in recent years is undoubtedly the turquoise dragon-shaped artifact unearthed in 2002.
In the early spring of that year, the Erlitou team was working step by step. The staff found many scattered turquoise fragments around a bronze bell, and they showed a certain regularity.
In order to preserve the original appearance, the archaeological team decided to pick up the entire set of turquoise tools and transport them back to the archaeological laboratory in Beijing.
After months of meticulous cleaning and extraction, a lifelike "Jiaolong" came into view.
This is a dragon-shaped device nearly 70 cm long and composed of more than 2000 pieces of turquoise.
The dragon's body is curvy and the nose and eyes are vivid and vivid, which can be called the most direct and orthodox root of the dragon totem of the Chinese nation.
The discovery of this "super national treasure" surprised experts and scholars, and everyone agreed to name it "Chinese Dragon".
"When the turquoise dragon-shaped ware was shipped back to Beijing in 2002 and cleaned up in 2004, I often went to the laboratory to check it out. At that time, the complete photos of the turquoise dragon-shaped ware that were first published in the public report were taken by me. "Recalling the archaeological process of the year, Zhao Haitao's joy is beyond words.
He told reporters that the turquoise flakes should have been glued to some kind of organic matter, but the organic matter it relies on has decayed.
In order to better protect the cultural relics, the turquoise dragon-shaped ware is still preserved in the Institute of Archaeology, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, and will meet with the public one day.
The unearth of the "Chinese Dragon" is just the tip of the iceberg at the Erlitou site.
The earliest "Forbidden City" in China, the earliest rut in China, the earliest group of bronze ritual objects in China... In 62 years of archaeological excavations, the Erlitou site has been constantly refreshed as "the best in China."
"Wordless Book of Heaven" still to be explored
From "China's First Dragon" to China's earliest "Forbidden City", the archaeological achievements of the Erlitou site astounded the world.
In the past 62 years, three generations of archaeologists, represented by the first team leader Zhao Zhiquan, the second team leader Zheng Guang, and the current team leader Xu Hong, have persisted and excavated in Erlitou, allowing the ruins of Xiaducheng, which has been sleeping for more than 3,000 years, to be seen again.
Over the past 62 years, hundreds of people have directly participated in excavation and research work, and Zhao Haitao is one of them.
Since working at the Erlitou site in 2002, Zhao Haitao has been cultivating here for nearly 19 years.
Three generations of archaeologists traveled back and forth between Beijing and Luoyang like migratory birds, dedicating the beauty to this land.
In fact, the conditions of field archaeology are difficult, the cycle is long, and the tasks are heavy. It is not easy to concentrate on taking root.
Zhao Haitao said frankly: “Archaeology is more interesting to the outside world, but this work needs to settle down.” It is the persistence of generations of archaeologists that have allowed the world to witness the mysterious face of “the earliest dynasty of China”.
At present, the survey area of the Erlitou site is about 3 million square meters, and the three generations of archaeologists only excavated 1.6% in 62 years.
For archaeologists, the "Wordless Book of Heaven" at Erlitou Site has just been opened, and the journey of exploring the "earliest dynasty in China" is unfinished... (End)