Hookup + On October 17, 2021, the commemoration of the discovery of Yangshao culture and the 100th anniversary of the birth of modern Chinese archaeology opened in Sanmenxia, ​​Henan Province.

　　The Yangshao culture is about 7000 to 5000 years ago. It is an important cultural development stage in the Neolithic Age of China, and it is also the longest-lasting archaeological culture in China.

　　CCTV Network "Liancast+" takes you into the Yangshao culture and feel the ancient civilization of China.

△An Tesheng (second from left) took a photo during his first excavation in Yangshao Village (data photo).

　　In April 1921, the Swedish geologist Anderson went to Yangshao Village, Sanmenxia City, Henan Province to conduct an archaeological survey and collected some stone tools and pottery pieces. From this, he judged that it was a Neolithic site.

　　From October to December of this year, Antesheng and a number of Chinese workers conducted formal archaeological excavations in Yangshao Village and obtained a large number of precious cultural relics.

　　After archaeology in Yangshao Village, the archaeological team conducted investigations or excavations in Xizhuang Village, Buzhao Village, and Yanghe Village, Much County, Sanmenxia City, and Qinwang Village, Chigouzhai Village, Niukouyu Village in Xingyang City, and obtained a large number of cultural relics.

　　In October 1921, the excavation of the Yangshao Village site opened the prelude to modern Chinese archaeology.

The archaeological community thus began to understand and construct the Neolithic Age of China.

　　In the 1930s and 1940s, archaeologists discovered colored pottery, black pottery, and gray pottery in Hougang, Anyang, Henan. The Yangshao, Longshan, and Shang cultures they represented existed in a layered relationship.

The archaeological community discovered that the Yangshao Village site contains relics of the Longshan culture later, thus establishing the two major cultural systems of the Neolithic Age in China.

　　In the 1950s and 1960s, the Banpo site in Xi’an, Shaanxi and the Miaodigou site in Sanmenxia, ​​Henan were excavated. It was clear that the Yangshao culture had two types: Banpo and Miaodigou. In the site, it is confirmed that the Yangshao culture has developed into the Longshan culture.

　　From the 1970s to the 1990s, technological progress greatly promoted the development of archaeology.

The Yangshao culture has achieved important results in its research on the settlement pattern, production tools, pottery craftsmanship, tomb system, and human physique.

　　Entering the 21st century, a series of important discoveries have been made in the archaeology of Yangshao Culture that has been silent for many years.

△The ruins of Shuanghua Tree taken on August 27, 2019.

　　The Shuanghuaishu site in Gongyi City, Henan Province has an area of ​​over 1.17 million square meters and is the largest Yangshao cultural site ever discovered.

　　There are 4 ring trenches in the Qingtai site in Zhengzhou, and the residential area, tomb area, sacrificial area, and workshop area are clearly divided.

　　At the junction of Henan, Shaanxi, and Shanxi, many super large settlement sites with an area of ​​nearly one million square meters, large settlement sites of four to five million square meters, medium-sized settlement sites of about 200,000 square meters, and 100,000 square meters were discovered. The following small settlement sites show a multi-level regional settlement structure...

　　Over the past 100 years, the Chinese archaeological community has conducted field archaeological investigations and excavations many times and discovered thousands of Yangshao cultural sites, mainly distributed in Henan, Shaanxi, Shanxi, as far as Qinghai, Hubei, Hebei, Inner Mongolia and other places.

△The foundation of the Yangshao cultural building at the Dahe Village site in Zhengzhou, Henan Province, taken on December 11, 2018.

　　The Yangshao cultural relics are mainly distributed in the junction of Henan, Shaanxi, and Shanxi provinces, as well as the Weihe River Basin. At the same time, there are a large number of ancient historical legends about the Yellow Emperor and the Yan Emperor.

　　The archaeological community believes that the Central Plains culture with Yangshao culture as the main body laid an important foundation for the later cohesion of the Chinese national cultural community, and called Yangshao culture the cultural "early China".

　　A large number of multi-level settlement sites show that the Yangshao culture has differentiated social classes such as civilians, nobles, chiefs, or "kings", presenting a "pyramid"-shaped social structure and possessing the extraordinary style of an "ancient country".

　　The phenomenon of social complication appeared in the middle and late Yangshao culture, which opened the process of early Chinese civilization.

To uncover the veil of Yangshao culture more comprehensively, the archaeological community has a long way to go.

　　(CCTV Network of China Central Radio and Television)