China News Agency, Shenyang, December 21st, title: Why is the "Chahai Giant Dragon" the spiritual symbol of the thousands of years of cultural history of the Chinese nation?

  ——Interview with Mou Dai, vice president and researcher of Liaoning Academy of Social Sciences

  Author Meng Lingzhuo

  In the 1980s, the stone pile "Chahai Dragon" and other cultural relics unearthed in Chahai Village, Fuxin Mongolian Autonomous County, Fuxin City, Liaoning Province caused a sensation in the archaeological circles at home and abroad, and laid the foundation stone for the 5,000-year Chinese civilization in the Liaohe River Basin in the north.

What is the historical origin between the spiritual symbol of the dragon totem of the Chinese nation and "Chahai Culture"?

Why is the "Chahai Ruins" that has been covered in dust for nearly half a century urgently needed to be activated?

Mou Dai, deputy dean and researcher of the Liaoning Academy of Social Sciences, recently accepted an exclusive interview with China News Agency's "Dongxiwen" to explain this.

The interview transcript is summarized as follows:

China News Agency reporter: How do you understand that the type of culture of the "Chahai Site" provides the possibility to prove the cultural history of the Chinese nation for thousands of years?

Mou Dai:

The "Chahai Site" type culture excavated in 1986 is the early Neolithic human settlement site, with an area of ​​more than 30,000 square meters, of which the main site has an existing area of ​​more than 12,500 square meters.

In addition, the "Chahai site" type culture also includes "Tachixigou site", "Chengjialiang site" and "Jiajiagou site" and other cultural sites, forming an independent type culture.

Archaeological discoveries show that the relics unearthed from the site, such as "China's No. 1 Dragon", "World's No. 1 Jade", and stone statues of gods and men, have demonstrated distinctive national cultural connotations and civilization levels.

Surface pottery at the Jiajiagou site.

Photo provided by the interviewee

  In recent years, ancient human cultural sites dating back from 10,000 to 8,000 years ago have been discovered in many places in China, but most of them were discovered later than the "Chahai Site", and their historical and cultural influences are far less than that of the "Chahai Site". It cannot replace the unique ten-thousand-year cultural history status of the "Chahai Site" in the whole country and even in Northeast Asia.

So far, the "Chahai site" is the oldest and largest early Neolithic site in Liaoning Province and domestic archaeological discoveries, and it has obvious symbols of Chinese culture (dragon symbols and jade culture).

Archeology has proved that the "Chahai Ruins" type culture with a history of about 10,000-7,000 years ago provides the possibility to prove the cultural history of the Chinese nation for thousands of years.

Broken pottery fragments are scattered at the Chengjialiang ruins.

Photo provided by the interviewee

China News Agency reporter: We say that the Chinese nation is the descendant of the dragon. What do you think of the giant dragon unearthed at the "Chahai Site" as a spiritual symbol of the Chinese nation's thousands of years of cultural history?

Mou Dai:

The dragon is a symbol of the ancient civilization of the Chinese nation. Its origin is closely related to the formation of the history and culture of the Chinese nation and the gestation and development of ancient civilization.

At present, relics or relics of the prehistoric dragon worship of the Chinese nation have been discovered in the Yangtze River Basin, Yellow River Basin, Liaohe River Basin and other places, and some large-scale dragons with representative symbols of the Chinese nation and iconic symbols of Chinese civilization have been unearthed.

These giant dragons are mainly used for religious worship and sacrifices of ancient Chinese ancestors, including the "Chahai Site" in Chahai Village, Fuxin Mongolian Autonomous County, Fuxin City, Liaoning Province (roughly equivalent to the Xinglongwa Culture Period 10,000-7,000 years ago, However, it is different from the Xinglongwa culture) "Chahai dragon" made of stones was excavated. The total length of the Chahai stone pile dragon is 19.7 meters, the dragon body is 1.8-2 meters wide, and the head is 5 meters wide; Xishui, Puyang City, Henan Province Polonghu shell-shaped plastic dragon (6500-6000 years ago in the Yangshao culture period), the shell dragon is 1.78 meters long and 0.67 meters high; the "Jiaodun Site" in Zhangcheng Village, Baihu Township, Huangmei County, Hubei Province (6000-5000 years ago The cobblestone pendulum sculpture "Jiaodunlong" unearthed in 2009) is 7 meters long, with a trunk length of 4.46 meters and a height of 2.26 meters.

  Among them, the Chahai Shidui plastic dragon in Fuxin, Liaoning is a giant dragon that appeared in the civilization of Liaohe River Basin in China, and can be called the first dragon in Liaohe River; One dragon; Jiaodun cobblestone plastic dragon in Huangmei County, Hubei Province is a giant dragon unearthed in the Yangtze River Basin, and is known as the first dragon in the Yangtze River.

Among these known images of giant dragons, the image of "Chahai Dragon" found in the "Chahai Site" in the Liaohe River Basin is the earliest and the largest, about 10,000 to 7,000 years ago.

  Therefore, "Zhahailong" is the earliest image of a giant dragon discovered by Chinese archaeologists so far, and is known as "the first dragon in China".

The cultural area of ​​the "Chahai Site" type is also the earliest place where Chinese archaeological excavations can prove the profound dragon culture of the Chinese nation.

Therefore, the "Chahai Ruins" type culture is currently the most unique historical culture in China with the unique spirit of the Chinese nation.

  In addition to the discovery of "Chahai Dragon" in the "Chahai Ruins" type culture, two pottery reliefs with scaled dragons were also found, which is nearly 2000-3000 years earlier than the jade pig dragon discovered in the Hongshan Culture (about 6000 years ago). In 1999, it was the embryonic form of a more primitive dragon, and it can be called "the first dragon in China".

Mr. Su Bingqi, a famous archaeologist, believes that "Zha Hailong" proves that dragon worship originated in the matrilineal era. In the patrilineal era, the function of the dragon has undergone a transformation process from the protection god of the agricultural clan society to the protection god of the tribal alliance.

For this reason, he wrote an inscription for the culture of the "Chahai Site" in Liaoning: "The hometown of Yulong, the beginning of civilization".

It also shows that the Chinese nation has a history of taking the dragon as a unique national belief for at least about 10,000 to 7,000 years.

Fuxin Chahai Ruins.

Photo provided by the interviewee

China News Agency reporter: In tracing the origin of Chinese civilization in the Liaohe River Basin, we often hear about the Hongshan culture. How does the "Chahai Site" type culture fully demonstrate the 5,000-year civilization history of the Chinese nation?

Where is its origin with "Hongshan Culture" reflected?

Mou Dai:

In the past, it was generally said that the Chinese civilization was five thousand years old, and the "Liangzhu Site" in Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province confirmed the five thousand year history of Chinese civilization; the discovery of the "Niuheliang Site" (Hongshan Culture Period) in Chaoyang City, Liaoning Province, The Chinese civilization was advanced by 1,000 years; and the discovery of the "Chahai Site" advanced the exploration of the origin of Chinese civilization by another 2,000-3,000 years on the basis of the Hongshan culture.

In terms of content, the culture of the "Chahai Site" has distinct characteristics of the Chinese nation, especially the dragons (Shiduilong and dragon-patterned pottery pieces), jadeware, villages, The earliest basic characters ("Zhi" pattern on pottery), the primitive religion headed by dragons, etc.

These provide a new basis for the study of the origin of prehistoric civilization and culture of the Chinese nation.

  The research on the type culture of "Chahai Site" belongs to the research on the roots of Chinese civilization from ten thousand years to seven thousand years old.

As early as 1985, Mr. Su Bingqi believed that the relics unearthed from the "Chahai Site" proved that the culture of the "Chahai Site" should be one of the main sources and predecessors of the Hongshan Culture.

Reporter from China News Agency: What is the significance of the urgent need for excavation and in-depth research of the "Chahai Site" type of culture?

Mou Dai:

The report of the Twentieth National Congress of the Communist Party of China pointed out that "stick to the position of Chinese culture, refine and display the spiritual symbol and cultural essence of Chinese civilization", which puts forward a new task for the construction of a culturally powerful country.

At the same time, General Secretary Xi Jinping emphasized during the 39th group study session of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee that through the continuous efforts of several generations of scholars, the research results of major projects such as the Chinese Civilization Exploration Project have demonstrated the millions of years of human history in our country, the Thousands of years of cultural history, five thousand years of civilization history.

The Chinese Civilization Exploration Project has made remarkable achievements, but there is still a long way to go, and it must continue to be promoted and deepened.

  The "Chahai Ruins" type culture is one of the source cultures of Chinese civilization that has a history of about 10,000-7,000 years ago and needs to be continuously deepened.

The excavation, research and development of the "Chahai Site" type culture is conducive to exploring the "roots" of civilization that are endless; it is conducive to filling the gap in the research work on the roots of the five thousand years of Chinese civilization inheritance from northern China; it is helpful to demonstrate the ten thousand years of China Cultural history; it is more helpful to consolidate the foundation of research on cultural self-confidence construction.

Initiating the cultural excavation and research work of the "Chahai Site" type and incorporating it into a part of the Chinese Civilization Exploration Project is of great significance to the Chinese Civilization Exploration Project, and has a profound impact on protecting the spiritual homeland and telling Chinese stories.

Liaoning Provincial Museum, a stone hoe unearthed from the Chahai site in Fuxin.

Photo courtesy of Visual China

Reporter from China News Agency: What suggestions do you have for restarting cultural research on the "Chahai Site"?

Mou Dai:

First, it is recommended that the relevant state departments restart the excavation work of the "Chahai site" type culture, and set up a special cultural archaeological project of the "Chahai site" type in combination with the actual Chinese civilization resources in the Liaoning area.

  Second, establish a spiritual home base to realize the Chinese dream of the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation.

  The report of the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China pointed out that it is necessary to "enhance cultural self-confidence" and "enhance the spiritual power to realize the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation".

The "Chahai Site" type culture is conducive to enhancing the national pride of Chinese descendants around the world.

Based on the similar site culture of the "Chahai Site" which has "a representative symbol of the Chinese nation and an iconic symbol of Chinese civilization", a group of spiritual home bases and museums with world-class standards will be established to create the national beliefs of Chinese people around the world. Archaeological and cultural attractions with national sentiments for Chinese people all over the world to return to their hometowns and ancestors, forming a global consensus on national spiritual beliefs and national cohesion.

  Third, strengthen the publicity of the "Chahai Site" type of culture, and enhance the civilizational and historical elements of cultural self-confidence.

  It is recommended to vigorously promote the physical evidence such as "China's first dragon", "China's first village" and "world's first jade" in the type culture of "Chahai Site" that can fully explain the origin of Chinese civilization for thousands of years. It is a splendid achievement of Chinese civilization and a major contribution to human civilization.

  Fourth, increase the protection and investment in the existing "Chahai Site" cultural group.

  From the perspective of protecting the safety of Chinese civilization and national culture, attach importance to the protection of the cultural sites of the "Chahai site" type that has been discovered and excavated, and break the restrictions on the protection level of cultural relics; To maintain a high level of safety, invest more maintenance costs and resources to preserve the existing ruins.

In addition, formulate an archaeological excavation and protection plan including the former Hongshan and Hongshan culture, place it under the overall guidance of the Chinese Civilization Exploration Project, and conduct scientific excavation and research.

(use up)

Respondent profile:

  Mou Dai, vice president of Liaoning Academy of Social Sciences, second-level researcher, doctoral supervisor, the first batch of experts selected by the national "Ten Thousand Talents Program", an expert with special allowances from the State Council, a leading talent in national philosophy and social sciences, and a national "four batches" of talents, The first batch of cultural masters in the country.

   He graduated from Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology (RMIT) with a Ph.D. He has published 4 academic monographs and co-published 11 academic monographs.

Main research fields: philosophy and culture, international politics in Northeast Asia, think tank research, etc.

More than 50 research results have been approved and adopted by the state, and more than 70 items have been approved by the provincial and ministerial levels.