China News Agency, Anyang, Henan, November 1st: How does Yinxu archaeology explore the roots of Chinese civilization?
——Interview with He Yuling, Deputy Director of Anyang Workstation, Institute of Archaeology, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences
Author Kan Li Li Chaoqing
In 1928, archaeologists shoveled loess in Xiaotun Village, Anyang City, Henan Province, uncovering the mystery of the Yin-Shang Dynasty, a splendid dynasty more than 3,000 years ago.
Since then, the archaeological excavations of the Yin Ruins have not been interrupted, and the palaces, royal tombs, oracle bone inscriptions, bronze wares and other shocking discoveries have confirmed that the Yin Ruins were the capital of Shang Wang Pangeng after he moved to Yin. .
He Yuling, a researcher at the Institute of Archaeology of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences and deputy head of the Anyang Workstation, recently accepted an exclusive interview with China News Agency's "East and West Questions", explaining how to explore the roots of Chinese civilization through the archaeology of Yin Ruins.
The following is a summary of the interview transcript:
China News Service reporter: What impact does Yinxu archaeology have on the history of archaeology in China and the world?
He Yuling:
Sun Qingwei, vice president of Peking University, once pointed out that "without the Yin Ruins, there would be no Chinese archaeology".
The archaeology of Yin Ruins is a major event in the history of archaeology in China and even in the world.
There are three core manifestations: the first is the experimental field of Chinese archaeological theories and methods, the second is the base for the training of early Chinese archaeological talents, and the third is an important part of world archaeology.
In the 1920s and 1930s, the theories and methods of world archaeology were also in the exploratory stage.
How to apply the Western archaeological theories and methods to the practice of Chinese archaeology and carry out Sinicization is a common problem faced by Chinese archaeologists such as Li Ji, Liang Siyong and Wu Jinding when they study Western anthropology and archaeology.
In 1928, the oracle bone scientist and ancient historian Dong Zuobin, who was the first to excavate the Yin Ruins, paid attention to other relics accompanying the oracle bones, but the oracle bones were still the primary goal, and the method of excavation was not essential; in 1929, he had an anthropological background. In 1931, when Liang Siyong presided over the excavation of the Hougang site at the Yin Ruins, he discovered the famous "Hougang" in the history of Chinese archaeology. Gangsan Layers", that is, the three layers of Yangshao cultural layer, Longshan cultural layer and Shang cultural layer from bottom to top, irrefutably proves that Chinese civilization has been in the same line from prehistoric to historical period, and effectively responds to the "Western arrival of Chinese culture". Say".
The excavation site of Yin Ruins, photographed in 1930.
Source: Visual China
At the time, this was also considered a landmark event for Chinese cultural scholars to rebuild their self-confidence.
Since then, modern Chinese archaeology has begun to mature.
The great achievements made in the early excavations of Yin Ruins are inseparable from the continuous exploration and pursuit of science by the above-mentioned archaeologists.
Therefore, Yin Ruins became an experimental field for early archaeological theories and methods, and initially formed a Chinese-style archaeology.
Up to now, the archaeologists of Yin Ruins still adhere to this pioneering and innovative concept.
The process of gradually maturing theories and methods of excavation at Yin Ruins is not only a process of groping and learning by senior archaeologists such as Dong Zuobin, Li Ji, Liang Siyong, and Guo Baojun, but also a process of rapid growth of younger generations represented by the "Ten Archaeological Brothers".
Due to the needs of excavation work and talent training, a group of young people entered the Yin Ruins, such as Shi Zhangru, Liu Yao (Yin Da), Hu Houxuan and so on.
From newborn calves to academic masters, Yin Ruins not only made them personal, but also made archaeology.
From the development of these people, the talent echelon and team of Chinese archaeology are gradually established.
Yin Ruins can be described as the training base for Chinese archaeological talents.
Aerial photography of a corner of Yin Ruins today.
Kan Lishe
Yin Ruins also had a profound impact on the history of world archaeology.
Early archaeological excavations at the Yin Ruins uncovered royal palaces and a large number of bronze wares unearthed at the same time as oracle bone inscriptions, which aroused great attention from Western scholars.
In 1932, due to the important value of Yin Ruins, the then Institute of History and Philology of the Academia Sinica won the French Rulian Award, known as the "Nobel Prize in Sinology", which shows the achievements of Chinese archaeologists represented by Li Ji. It has been recognized by the Paris international academic community of the "Western Sinology Center".
In 1934, Herrlee Glessner Creel, who was studying in Beijing and later became the director of the Department of Oriental Languages at the University of Chicago and the president of the American Oriental Society, visited Yinxu many times to study and study.
The influence of Yin Ruins at that time can be seen from this.
From the 1950s to the 1980s, scholars and students from the Soviet Union, Vietnam, Japan and other countries came to visit, exchange and study at Yinxu.
After the reform and opening up, the interaction between Yin Ruins and the world became more frequent. More European and American scholars and students came to Yin Ruins to exchange and study, and some cutting-edge scientific researches of international cooperation were also carried out in Yin Ruins.
In 2006, Yin Ruins were included in the "World Heritage List" as a world cultural heritage, which is the best proof that the value of Yin Ruins has been recognized by the world and stands in the world's archaeological forest.
In 2018, Yin Ruins celebrated the 90th anniversary of its scientific excavation.
Representatives of archaeological experts and scholars at home and abroad visited and inspected the tomb of Fuhao, a well-preserved tomb of members of the Shang Dynasty royal family in Yin Ruins.
Photo by Sun Zifa
China News Agency reporter: In the past 90 years, especially since it was included in the "World Heritage List", what major new archaeological discoveries have been made in Yin Ruins?
He Yuling:
The total area of Yin Ruins is about 36 square kilometers. Since 1928, the excavation area is still less than 5% of the total area.
The Shang Dynasty lasted for about 550 years, the early capital was in Zhengzhou for about 200 years, the late capital was in Yinxu for about 250 years, and the middle 100 years was called the Zhongshang period by the archaeological community.
In 1999, a new city site, Huanbei Shopping Mall, was discovered next to the ruins of the Yinxu Wang Mausoleum.
After research, this is the capital of the mid-Shang Dynasty.
This discovery fills the gap in the archaeological framework of the Shang Dynasty, and also fills the gap in the history of the capital city in the mid-Shang Dynasty.
Anyang Huanbei archaeological site unearthed the foundation site of the main building of the palace, which is more than 500 meters long from north to south and more than 300 meters wide from east to west.
Take it carefully
Since 2015, we have continued to conduct archaeological excavations in Huanbei Mall, mainly excavating handicraft workshop areas such as copper casting, bone making, and pottery making, and gradually clarifying the appearance of the capital in the mid-Shang Dynasty.
The archaeological excavation of Huanbei Shangcheng can be said to be one of the most important works of Yin Ruins archaeology in the past 20 years.
The layout is the core of the archaeology of the capital, and the road is the latitude and longitude of the city.
Using roads as clues to explore the layout of the capital of Yin Ruins and connecting different functional divisions has been the focus of the archaeological work of Yin Ruins in the past 20 years.
In front of the palace area, there are two main roads with a width of more than 10 meters, a road network composed of several roads in the north of Huanhe River, and blocks formed by intersecting roads.
Handicraft archaeology, with handicraft workshops as the main research object, has been in the ascendant in Yinxu in the past 20 years.
At present, there are at least 5 bronze casting workshops in Yin Ruins, among which there are more than 70,000 pottery models in the bronze casting workshop of Xiaomintun Village, and 3.4 tons of lead ingots for casting bronze ware were unearthed in the storage pit in the north of Liujiazhuang; 3 bone tools were cast. It is estimated that there are as many as 10 million pieces of bone utensils such as bone shawls produced in the workshop, of which the iron three road bone-making workshop alone has as many as 36 tons of bone waste.
These are only the tip of the iceberg of handicraft production at that time.
From 2016 to 2020, we discovered and excavated the Xindian copper casting workshop, with an area of nearly one million square meters.
These archaeological discoveries and excavations have greatly promoted the research on many related issues such as handicraft production resources, production technology, product circulation, organization and management, and practitioners in the late Shang Dynasty, and achieved fruitful results.
Shang Dynasty pottery and other exhibits displayed in Yinxu Museum.
Photo by Han Zhangyun
In recent years, new archaeological discoveries outside the Yinxu Reserve have also attracted much attention.
Especially the super-large Xindian copper casting workshop found in the northeast of Yin Ruins, and new discoveries in the west, south and east of Yin Ruins such as high-grade buildings, copper casting workshops, cemeteries, etc. The exact meaning of "Yi Shang" challenged many issues such as the ruling mode of the dynasty, military defense, production and distribution of bronze ritual vessels.
In addition, in the past 20 years, scientific and technological archaeology such as human bones, animals, plants, metallurgy, environment, ancient DNA technology, dating, surveying and mapping have been commonly used in Yinxu. Environment, resources and technology, etc., the vivid, three-dimensional and vivid appearance of the capital city is gradually presented.
The Liujiazhuang Beidi Ruins of Yinxu in Anyang was listed among the 6 major archaeological discoveries in the country in 2008 announced by the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.
Photo by Wang Chen
China News Service reporter: What evidence does Yin Ruins provide for exploring the roots of Chinese civilization?
He Yuling:
Yin Ruins is the starting point and cornerstone of the exploration of the origin of Chinese civilization.
If Chinese civilization is described as a tree with deep roots and luxuriant leaves, then in the process of exploring the origin of Chinese civilization, Yin Ruins is the backbone. From this extension, expansion, and retrospect, the core elements of Chinese civilization are gradually sorted out, and a Chinese plan for sorting out the process of civilization is provided.
The discovery of many ruins has an inherent logical relationship with the discovery and research of the capital of Yin Ruins.
It is precisely based on in-depth research on the capital of Yin Ruins that archaeologists have discovered the ruins of the Shang Dynasty in Zhengzhou in the early Shang Dynasty, the ruins of the capital city of Erlitou in the Xia Dynasty, and even the ruins of the two weeks after the Yin Ruins.
On the basis of absorbing and learning from Western metallurgical technology, the unique technology of casting bronze ware with clay model block model method has been formed since the Xia Dynasty. This technology was most developed during the Yinxu period. The kilogram of Simuwu Ding can therefore be cast.
Yin Ruins reached the peak of the Chinese Bronze Age.
Simuwu Ding is the treasure of the National Museum of China.
Photo by Liu Huaiyu
Many Western scholars regard writing as an important indicator for judging civilization, and the oracle bone inscriptions at the Yin Ruins have thus become irrefutable evidence of Chinese civilization.
So far, more than 160,000 oracle bones have been unearthed from the Yin Ruins, and about 4,500 single characters have been found and about 1,500 characters have been interpreted.
Different from the characters of other civilizations, Chinese characters based on oracle bone inscriptions are still used by 1.4 billion Chinese sons and daughters. They are living characters, the carrier of the continuous inheritance of Chinese civilization, and the common gene and bond of Chinese sons and daughters.
Yin Ruins oracle bone inscriptions and bone fragments pile pit.
Source: Visual China
China News Agency reporter: How do you view the relationship between Yin Ruins and Oracle bone inscriptions?
He Yuling:
Before 1899, Yin Ruins only appeared sporadically in the literature, and it was not yet possible to connect with the Yin Ruins in Xiaotun Village, Anyang.
It is precisely because of the discovery of oracle bone inscriptions that it gradually confirmed that Yin Ruins was the capital of the late Shang Dynasty.
From this perspective, the discovery of oracle bone inscriptions prompted the Yin Ruins to be re-known to the world after being buried for more than 3,000 years.
From a cultural point of view, oracle bone inscriptions are an important part of Yinxu culture.
However, Yinxu culture also includes cities, handicrafts, animal husbandry and other aspects, and oracle bone inscriptions are only one of the core elements.
An inscription bone on display at the Yinxu Museum.
Photo by Han Zhangyun
Measured by the aforementioned elements of civilization, such as metallurgy, cities, and writing, recognized in the West, oracle bone inscriptions are at least one of the three elements.
Measured by the current civilization standards, the scope is even wider. It should be more accurate to understand oracle bone inscriptions as the core elements of Yinxu culture in agriculture, animal husbandry, cottage industry, ethnic groups, and crowds.
Then, what is the relationship between Yinxu and Oracle bone inscriptions? I think it is the mutual achievement relationship of "you have me, and I have you".
(Finish)
Interviewee Profile:
He Yuling, deputy head of the Anyang Workstation of the Institute of Archaeology, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.
Kan Lishe
He Yuling is a researcher at the Institute of Archaeology of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, a professor at the University of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, the deputy head of the Anyang Workstation, and the chief expert of major projects of the Chinese Social Science Foundation.
He is mainly engaged in archaeological excavation and research in the Xia, Shang and Zhou dynasties, and has been at the front line of archaeological excavations in Yinxu for many years.
The palace area and handicraft area of the capital city in the mid-Shang Dynasty were systematically excavated, filling the gap in the archaeology of the capital city in the mid-Shang Dynasty.
Long-term commitment to the Yinxu capital layout and handicraft production research.
After the tomb of Fuhao, the well-preserved tomb of high-level nobles in Yin Ruins: Yachang Tomb was excavated, and it was the first time to reveal the special population of Yin Ruins: the family cemetery of oracle bone divination wizards.
He has published more than 80 articles (departments) of various types of archaeological reports, papers, catalogues and essays.
It mainly focuses on a number of academic frontier topics such as the capital layout, handicraft production, social ritual system, tomb system and the Yin Ruins abandonment process during the Yin Ruins period.
The research work has been funded by many domestic and foreign funds, and has presided over and participated in the research of many major projects and general projects of the National Social Science Fund.