China News Service, Beijing, March 13 (Reporter Sun Zifa) Why do you propose a sub-discipline of "handicraft archaeology" in the field of archaeology?

What are the contents of handicraft archaeological research?

How to promote relevant research?

What is unique about urban handicraft archaeology?

What role can handicraft archaeology play in the construction of archaeology with Chinese characteristics, Chinese style, and Chinese style?

  Bai Yunxiang, former deputy director of the Institute of Archaeology of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences and chair professor of Shandong University, took the lead in proposing the concept of handicraft archaeology in the Chinese archaeological community, and published a professional paper "The Essentials of Handicraft Archaeology" 10 years ago, establishing that handicraft archaeology is archaeological research. One of the basic contents of the book, which soon caused a positive response in the archaeological community.

He recently accepted an exclusive interview with a reporter from China News Agency in Beijing, explaining in detail the "past and present" and future development ideas of handicraft archaeology.

Why propose handicraft archaeology?

  Bai Yunxiang said that, as a general term for various traditional industries such as processing, manufacturing and mining before the modern industrial revolution, ancient handicrafts are also "industries in the pre-industrial period". Together with agriculture, they constitute the two major societies of the ancient society after the birth of mankind. production area.

  The research objects of archaeology usually include two categories: relics and relics, and most of the relics are products produced by handicrafts or items directly related to handicraft activities. Products) search and research as the origin.

Therefore, since its birth, modern archaeology has forged an indissoluble bond with the study of ancient handicrafts, especially handicraft products.

  Bai Yunxiang pointed out that in modern archaeology, research related to ancient handicrafts is an inherent subject of archaeology, but "handicraft archaeology" is a brand new proposition.

"Such a proposition and gradually become a branch of archaeology should be necessary for the continuous improvement of archaeology, the gradual realization of the ultimate goal of archaeology, and even the development of cultural heritage."

  He believes that the proposal of "handicraft archaeology" has a profound theoretical background and a background of the times.

The archaeological research and its achievements so far, more or less, directly or indirectly, consciously or unconsciously, have some connection with the ancient handicraft industry.

The reason for putting forward the proposition of "handicraft archaeology" and discussing its related theoretical and methodological issues is to hope to establish a system of handicraft archaeology, promote systematic archaeological research on ancient handicrafts, and further improve the discipline system, academic system and discourse of archaeology. system to promote the prosperity and development of archaeology.

What are the main categories of handicraft archaeology?

  Bai Yunxiang said that handicraft archaeology is first and foremost the archaeological study of various categories of ancient handicrafts, and ancient handicrafts are an industrial system with many categories.

  According to archaeological discoveries and document records, the handicraft industries from the prehistoric period to the Ming and Qing Dynasties in China can be roughly divided into stone tools, iron tools, wood tools, bone and clams, gold and silver tools, leather, clothing, oil, etc. Processing industry, ceramic firing industry, bronze smelting industry, coin casting industry and lacquerware, glass, gunpowder, stationery, vehicles and ships and other manufacturing industries, as well as textile industry, salt industry, brewing industry, sugar industry, tea industry, paper industry There are 25 major categories in the industry, printing industry, weaving industry, and mining industry. Some categories can be divided into several small categories, and different categories can also be divided according to the needs of research.

  Among them, the stone tool industry is the most important handicraft category in the prehistoric era, and stone handicraft industries such as jade processing, stone tool making and stone carving also belong to this category.

  The ceramic firing industry includes not only the firing of pottery in prehistoric times, the firing of primitive porcelain in the Shang and Zhou dynasties, but also the firing of pottery and porcelain in successive dynasties after the Han Dynasty; it includes the firing of daily-use ceramics, as well as the firing of architectural ceramics such as bricks and tiles. Firing of the material.

It is a long-lasting handicraft category in ancient Chinese society, especially the brick and tile firing industry after the Eastern Zhou Dynasty and the porcelain firing industry after the Wei and Jin Dynasties, and it is also a large-scale industry.

  Bai Yunxiang pointed out that the classification of handicraft production is not absolute, and there is a close relationship between various categories, such as bronze smelting, iron industry, etc., which are directly related to the mining industry, and the textile industry is directly related to the garment processing industry.

There are also close links between various handicraft industries and other industries, such as brewing, sugar, tea, and weaving, which are directly related to agricultural production, and the vehicle and ship manufacturing industry is closely related to transportation, coin casting and commerce.

  At the same time, there are many processing and manufacturing activities in ancient times, such as grain processing, food processing, tofu processing, printing and dyeing, etc., but they either exist as other industries or part of daily life, or do not form an independent handicraft industry, so they are not listed separately. A category of handicrafts.

In addition, the classification of handicrafts is often different due to different research perspectives, such as the classification of "weapon manufacturing", "farm tool manufacturing" and "non-staple food processing industry" based on different product uses.

What is the content of handicraft archaeological research?

  Bai Yunxiang said that the ancient handicraft industry is a complex industrial system, and handicraft archaeology is also a complex research system.

Handicraft archaeology is based on the research of various categories of ancient handicrafts, and there are many categories of ancient handicrafts, and there are many differences between the categories in terms of raw materials, production technology, production methods, products and their circulation and application.

  In general, handicraft archaeology mainly includes research on raw materials, research on production tools and production facilities, research on process technology and production process, research on products, research on product circulation and application, research on producers, research on production and operation methods, and research on industrial layout and industrial structure. , socio-economic research, socio-cultural research and other 10 aspects.

  Bai Yunxiang emphasized that as far as the research practice of handicraft archaeology is concerned, handicraft archaeology can be a research on a handicraft category, a certain era or a certain region, or a certain aspect of a handicraft industry, or even a certain workshop, A case study of a process, a product.

As far as the whole handicraft archaeology is concerned, it should be a systematic study of various aspects of handicraft industry, and even a very micro case study should have the systematic thinking and macroscopic vision of handicraft archaeology.

How is handicraft archaeological research carried out?

  Bai Yunxiang pointed out that there are many categories of ancient handicrafts, and the content of handicraft archaeological research is complex. Therefore, the most basic method of handicraft archaeology is undoubtedly the method of modern archaeology, but at the same time, it must be organically combined with other disciplines, especially multidisciplinary cooperation, and also Multiple fields of view are required.

  He specifically analyzed that as the basic research of archaeology in handicraft archaeology, on the one hand, it is to obtain relics, relics and other information about handicrafts through field archaeology, and on the other hand, it uses the basic methods of archaeological stratigraphy, typology, and cultural factor analysis. Methods to analyze, judge and interpret various physical data.

  As far as the field archaeology of handicraft archaeology is concerned, in addition to obtaining a large number of handicraft products from various cultural relics such as settlements, city sites, cellars and tombs, the most important thing is the investigation and excavation of various handicraft workshop sites (or workshop sites), Including the relevant handicraft relics in the city site and settlement site.

  Bai Yunxiang pointed out that handicraft archaeology has its unique disciplinary advantages, but due to the numerous categories of ancient handicrafts and the extensive research content of handicrafts, it not only involves the fields of natural science and technology such as raw materials and process technology, but also involves social and economic fields such as production and commodity exchange. It also involves the social organization structure, people's daily life and spiritual life and other fields, which requires handicraft archaeology to be based on archaeological excavation and research, and must be organically combined with related disciplines, including literature history, modern science and technology, science and technology. A combination of history, anthropology, and simulated experimental research.

  In addition, the research of handicraft archaeology involves many fields, and these fields are interrelated, which requires that in the practice of research to be based on archaeological research and strengthen multidisciplinary cooperation, there should also be ecological environment, history of science and technology, society Broad research horizons such as production, social economy, social civilization, and cultural exchange.

  He emphasized that handicraft archaeology should not be limited to handicraft production itself, but should be studied as a "social existence", an "industrial system" and a "cultural factor", and from this, a broader and more in-depth study should be conducted. Explore the relationship between handicrafts and people, handicrafts and natural environment, handicrafts and science and technology, handicrafts and social production and social economy, handicrafts and the evolution of social forms, handicrafts and ancient civilizations, and then explore the status and role of handicrafts in the historical development of human society. and its rules.

Why only mention urban handicraft archaeology?

  On the basis of proposing and establishing the archaeology branch of handicraft archaeology, Bai Yunxiang recently put forward the proposition of "urban handicraft archaeology" based on the current background of the times and the development trend of Chinese archaeology. Why?

  He said that any city is inseparable from economic life, and the economic life of ancient cities is mainly handicraft production and commercial activities, especially under the historical background of "emphasizing agriculture and suppressing commerce" in ancient China, handicrafts are more urban economic life. main constituent elements.

There is no doubt that handicraft archaeology is the proper meaning of urban archaeology, and has its unique status and function.

  Bai Yunxiang pointed out that urban handicraft archaeology refers to the archaeological excavation and research of handicraft remains inside and outside the scope of ancient city sites (including the city site itself and its suburbs). Judging from the practice of urban archaeology in various places, handicraft remains have been found in the archaeology of city sites in all dynasties. .

Handicraft industry is an organic part of social production and social life in ancient cities. The remains of handicraft industry are important material and cultural remains of ancient city sites. The archaeological excavation and research of handicraft remains are one of the basic tasks of urban archaeology.

  As far as the industrial layout of ancient Chinese handicrafts or the spatial distribution of handicrafts is concerned, although the distribution characteristics are different in different eras and industries, and workshop sites of the same handicraft category are often found in various places, two types of handicrafts are common. The concentrated distribution area is the "industrial agglomeration area": ​​one is a concentrated distribution area centered on the origin of raw materials, that is, an industrial agglomeration area formed by the origin of raw materials; the other is a concentrated distribution area centered on the city, that is The city is the carrier of industrial agglomeration.

Obviously, the city is an important industrial agglomeration of ancient handicrafts.

  More importantly, the handicrafts in ancient cities were not only diverse, but were often the agglomeration of high-tech industries at that time, as well as the production and production of high-end items.

For example, from the Spring and Autumn Period to the Qin and Han Dynasties, the iron ware industry was a high-tech industry and a pillar industry. In the capital cities of the Eastern Zhou Dynasty, the capital cities of Qin and Han Dynasties, and the county and county governments, iron factories were often found in a concentrated area; the coin casting industry, which is the lifeline of the national economy, It is even more concentrated inside and outside the capital city or in the county government.

Therefore, urban handicraft archaeology has an irreplaceable position and role in the study of the high-tech industry and high-end handicraft industry at that time.

  He said that the handicraft industry in ancient cities is not only diverse, but more importantly, it is the gathering place of high-tech industries and high-end handicraft industries. In a sense, urban handicraft industry is the representative and "miniature" of the development level of handicraft industry at that time, and the remains of urban handicraft industry The archaeological excavation and research of the ancient times is undoubtedly one of the key points of handicraft archaeology.

  Urban handicraft archaeology is not only a part of urban archaeology, but also one of the key points of handicraft archaeology. Its research objects are the handicraft industry in ancient cities, the industrial structure and its changes, the industrial layout and its relationship and changes with the urban layout structure, and the research on production and operation methods. That is, the nature and ownership of handicraft production, these are the main points of urban handicraft archaeology, and "supply chain" and "industry chain" are two important perspectives in urban handicraft archaeology.

  Bai Yunxiang concluded that urban handicraft archaeology, as a cross-research field of urban archaeology and handicraft archaeology, is not only the need to deepen urban archaeology, but also the need to promote handicraft archaeology.

Today, when China's urban archaeology has made great progress and handicraft archaeology is in the ascendant, the proposal and continuous advancement of urban handicraft archaeology are of positive significance both in theory and in practice. will play an important role and make due contributions.

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