A History of Un-fractured Chinese Civilization in Archaeological Interpretation

548 Pages·2023·35.098 MB·English

by  Qingzhu Liu

Qingzhu Liu
A History of
Un-fractured
Chinese Civilization
in Archaeological
Interpretation
Translated by Jing He
A History of Un-fractured Chinese Civilization
in Archaeological Interpretation
Qingzhu Liu
A History of Un-fractured
Chinese Civilization
in Archaeological
Interpretation
Qingzhu Liu
Institute of Archaeology
Chinese Academy of Social Sciences
Beijing, China
Translated by
Jing He
Beijing Foreign Studies University
Beijing, China
ISBN 978-981-19-3945-7 ISBN 978-981-19-3946-4 (eBook)
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-19-3946-4
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Preface
As the book, A History of Un-fractured Chinese Civilization in Archaeological Inter-
pretation, is put into print, I prepared this Preface in hope to set the scene for readers
to better understand my writing motif, sample selection and the research methods.
The book idea traces back to a discussion at a symposium at Stanford University in
2003 when I was a visiting scholar at the university. An American scholar put forward
a question to me: “There has been the Xia–Shang–Zhou Chronology Project since the
1990s. Does the project intend to set an earlier starting point of Chinese civilization?”
I replied, “Chronology is the foundation for historical studies. To further scientifically
segment the remote ages of China’s pre-Qin period, Chinese archaeologists and
historians analyzed archaeological discoveries with new technologies. New research
and discoveries allowed the advancement of chronological research of Xia, Shang
and Zhou dynasties, and brought up the level of scientific evidence for Chinese
historical studies. This is an inevitable step to develop Chinese historical studies.
The intension is not to set an earlier date for the onset of Chinese history”.
They then argued, “Why did Chinese scholars pronounce that China had the
longest history and earliest civilization in the world?” I replied, “Chinese scholars
do not hold such an opinion. Many people have read from the history textbooks that
the Tigris-Euphrates River system, Egypt, China, and the Indian subcontinent all have
a long span of history and are acknowledged as the world’s four ancient civilizations.
It is incorrect for anyone to consider ancient Chinese civilization as ‘the only’ ancient
civilization in the world. It should be one of the four earliest civilizations. Although
the advent of ancient Chinese civilization was later than the ones in ancient Egypt and
West Asia region within the Tigris-Euphrates River system, the distinctive nature of
the ancient Chinese civilization is its sustained, continuing development of Chinese
culture. When the other three civilizations were replaced by Islamic culture around
600 BC, China’s civilization flourished for five thousand years”. At the symposium,
this argument was not challenged and was even endorsed by some scholars from
other countries.
History should be remembered and respected. That is why we completed two
studies: the Xia–Shang–Zhou Chronology Project and the Project to Trace the Origins
v
vi Preface
of Chinese Civilization and now moved into the research of the five thousand year’s
un-fractured Chinese civilization.
This study was conducted under mixed methods across various disciplines and
collected data from archaeological evidence to match the Chinese historical docu-
ments. For example, one of the historical documents is “The Twenty-Four Histories”
(dynastic histories from remote antiquity till the Ming Dynasty), which recorded
China’s un-fractured civilization of five thousand years. The first book out of the
series is Records of the Grand Historian (Shi Ji), in which the author Sima Qian
documented the Chinese civilization from “Annals of the Five Emperors” in the first
chapter.
In the early 20th century, modern archaeological fieldwork was introduced into
China between the late 19th century and the beginning of 20th century. Since then,
archaeology and historical documents are combined as the two pillars for Chinese
historical research. The discoveries and the follow-on research of Yin Ruins and
the oracle bones, Ruins of Shang City of Zhengzhou and the Shang City of Yanshi,
the Erlitou Ruins of Xia Dynasty, Wangchenggang site at Henan Province as part of
Longshan Culture (Yangcheng, the capital of Yu), Xinzhai City site at Henan Province,
Taosi site at Southern Shanxi Province (Pingyang, the capital of Yao), as well as
ruins and sites at Zhengzhou and northeast Henan Province have provided matching
evidence to historical documents including “Annals of the Five Emperors”, “Annuals
of Xia” and “Annuals of Yin” within Shi Ji. The history of the mythological period of
ancient China has been concretized. The combination of archaeology and historical
research materialized a starting point of the sustained five-thousand-year Chinese
history, which forms a favorable condition for other relevant research activities.
The archaeological discoveries mainly refer to the burials, from which the cultural
objects are of high importance. Physical representations of a country are mainly
capital cities (including city walls, palaces, temples, sacrificial building complexes,
and city gates), capital-like mausoleums, and basic national elements like national
regime, state territory, and civilian traces. They are the physical evidence to probe
the cultural genes of China’s continuous civilization of five thousand years.
Previously, the archaeological studies, including the books of general history and
dynastic history, are often presented in a chronological order from the primitive,
slave to feudal societies. This book adopts a reverse order. In my view, learners gain
the world knowledge from the known to the unknown and from the most recent to the
oldest. The five-thousand-year Chinese culture is often demonstrated by the capital
city sites, imperial cities, palaces, ceremonial buildings, and city gates. With this
consideration, I began my introduction from a well-preserved site, the Forbidden
City built in the Ming and Qing dynasties. I then expanded into other capital cities
in a retrospective order, for example, from Dadu of Yuan Dynasty, Zhongdu of Jin
Dynasty, Dongjing of Song Dynasty, Luoyang of Tang Dynasty, Chang’an of Han
Dynasty, Xianyang of Qin Dynasty, Fenghao of Zhou Dynasty, Yin Ruins (also named
Yinxu) of Xia and Shang dynasties to the city sites of Shang Dynasty at Zhengzhou,
Yanshi, and Erlitou.
It is often said, “imperial tombs resemble capital cities”. For the research of
imperial tombs, I compared the structural and formation changes between different
Preface vii
dynasties in a retrospective order. It started from the sites of the most recent dynasty,
Qing Dynasty, with Three Tombs of Shengjing, Eastern Qing Tombs, and Western
Qing Tombs, then moved onto the imperial tombs in previous dynasties of Ming, Liao,
Jin and Western Xia, Song, Tang, Han, Qin (Mausoleum of the First Qin Emperor),
Zhou, and Shang. Such comparisons revealed how the developments were gained
based on the previous models, demonstrating a continuous progression along with
the same culture line dynasty by dynasty.
Compared with other countries globally, China is the only country with a
sustained, non-broken five-thousand-year national history. Although Chinese history
was periodized by the dynasties, China as a unified entity is a national consciousness
shared by various ethnic groups generation by generation, despite the power transi-
tions between dynasties. Such national consciousness has underpinned the cultural
and historical development in China. Chinese national identity has been acknowl-
edged throughout different dynasties established and reigned by various ethnic
groups. The physical representations of different dynasties are the ruins of capital
cities, imperial tombs, ceremonial objects, and texts discovered in archaeological
studies and projects.
Now I have explained what is meant by the sustained five-thousand-year Chinese
culture. This book answers the question of why the Chinese culture has been sustained
for this long. We as Chinese nationals can sustainably extend the distinctive Chinese
culture and traditions in the generations to come, only if we have an answer to this
question. The purpose of this book is to reveal such an answer.
This book discussed the core concepts of Chinese culture, “zhong” (centrality) and
“he” (harmony), and the evolved concept of “zhong he” (centrality and harmony),
which later on became an authority-endorsed political ideology, also interpretable as
the cultural gene of Chinese people. This culture gene has survived for five thousand
years because “family” is immanent in a “state” in the eyes of Chinese people.
This notion of “family-like state” and “integrated family and state” is deeply rooted
in Chinese people’s minds despite the ethnic groups, birthplace or locations, and
dynasties. Such an ideological foundation led to the sustained development of the
Chinese civilization.
As indicated by the title of this book, A History of Un-fractured Chinese Civi-
lization in Archaeological Interpretation, the book contains many academic and
theoretical materials. Still, I hope this archaeological book on Chinese civilizational
journey is clear and easy to understand for each reader. Bearing this in mind, I chose
reader-friendly wording to express complex ideas, as this book is meant for the
general public.
Finally, taking this opportunity, I would like to express my sincere gratitude to the
executive team and editor team of Sichuan People’s Publishing House, in particular,
Zhang Tao as the book planning editor, as well as Chen Xin and Zou Jin as editors in
charge, who have made tremendous efforts in topic selection, project approval, and
editing.
Taiyanggong, Xibahe, Beijing, China Qingzhu Liu
January 2020
Contents
1 Introduction: Interpreting “China’s Un-fractured Civilization
of 5000 Years” ................................................. 1
1.1 Interpretation of “wen ming” ................................. 1
1.2 Interpretation of “The Starting Point” .......................... 3
1.2.1 Historical Documentation ............................ 3
1.2.2 Archaeological Discoveries ........................... 6
1.3 The Interpretation of “Un-fractured” .......................... 9
1.3.1 Genetic Heritage .................................... 9
1.3.2 The Development of Chinese Family Names ............ 10
1.3.3 Worship Rituals of Huang Di ......................... 11
1.3.4 Societal Dominant Culture and National Culture ......... 15
1.3.5 The Continuance of the Chinese Characters ............. 15
1.4 The Interpretation of “The Carrier of Materialization” ........... 16
1.4.1 The Capital ........................................ 16
1.4.2 The Mausoleum .................................... 19
1.4.3 Ritual and Ceremonious Buildings and Sacrificial
Vessels ............................................ 19
1.4.4 Text—Chinese Characters ............................ 21
1.5 Core Philosophy—The Ideology of “zhong he” ................. 22
References ..................................................... 24
2 Archaeological Discoveries and Studies About the Ancient
Capitals ....................................................... 25
2.1 Synopsis .................................................. 25
2.1.1 The Symbiosis of the Capital City and Civilization ....... 25
2.1.2 Constituent Elements of a Capital City ................. 30
2.1.3 Track History of the Development of Ancient Capitals ... 42
2.2 From the Forbidden City in Beijing to Ancient Capital
of the Era of the Five Emperors ............................... 42
2.2.1 Beijing City of the Ming and Qing Dynasties ........... 43
2.2.2 The Capital of the Yuan Dynasty ...................... 57
ix
x Contents
2.2.3 Capital Cities of the Liao and Jin Dynasties ............. 65
2.2.4 Dongjing City of the Song Dynasty .................... 74
2.2.5 Luoyang City of the Sui and Tang Dynasties ............ 77
2.2.6 Daxing City of the Sui Dynasty ....................... 84
2.2.7 Chang’an City of the Tang Dynasty .................... 86
2.2.8 Ye and Jiankang Cities ............................... 114
2.2.9 Luoyang City of the Han and Wei Dynasties ............ 121
2.2.10 Chang’an City of the Han Dynasty .................... 136
2.2.11 Xianyang City of the Qin Dynasty ..................... 181
2.2.12 Capital Cities in the Eastern Zhou Dynasty ............. 195
2.2.13 Capital Cities in the Western Zhou Dynasty ............. 215
2.2.14 Capital Cities in the Shang Dynasty ................... 220
2.2.15 Capital Cities in the Xia Dynasty ...................... 237
2.2.16 Ancient Cities in the Era of the Five Emperors .......... 250
2.3 Core Philosophy: Evidence of “zhong” and “he” ................ 260
2.3.1 Philosophy of “zhong” ............................... 260
2.3.2 Philosophy of “he” .................................. 271
References ..................................................... 272
3 Archaeological Discovery and Research of Imperial
Mausoleums ................................................... 273
3.1 Synopsis .................................................. 273
3.1.1 Civilization through the Perspective of Ancient
Mausoleums ....................................... 273
3.1.2 Location Selection, Layout, and Arrangement
of Mausoleums ..................................... 274
3.1.3 Major Component Factors in Imperial Mausoleum ....... 280
3.2 Archaeological Findings in the Imperial Mausoleums ............ 326
3.2.1 Imperial Mausoleums of the Qing Dynasty ............. 326
3.2.2 Imperial Mausoleums of the Ming Dynasty ............. 344
3.2.3 Imperial Mausoleums of Liao, Jin and Western Xia
Dynasties .......................................... 360
3.2.4 Mausoleums of the Song Dynasty ..................... 369
3.2.5 Imperial Mausoleums of the Tang Dynasty
and the Five Dynasties ............................... 375
3.2.6 Imperial Mausoleums of the Wei-Jin Southern
and Northern Dynasties .............................. 403
3.2.7 Imperial Mausoleums of the Eastern Han Dynasty ....... 418
3.2.8 Imperial Mausoleums of the Western Han Dynasty ....... 422
3.2.9 Mausoleum of Emperor Qin Shi Huang ................ 435
3.2.10 Imperial Mausoleums in the Eastern Zhou Dynasty
(Spring and Autumn, Warring States Period) ............ 441
3.3 Explanation of “Building Mausoleums as Capital Cities” ......... 456
Contents xi
4 Ritual Architecture, Sacrificial Vessels, and Characters ............ 459
4.1 The Development and Continuation of Ceremonial Buildings ..... 459
4.1.1 Ancestral Temples and the State ....................... 459
4.1.2 Mingtang, Biyong, the Lingtai, and the Taixue .......... 464
4.1.3 Temple of Heaven and Temple of Earth ................ 468
4.1.4 Temple of Ancient Monarchs ......................... 471
4.2 Ceremonial Objects ......................................... 477
4.2.1 Bronze Sacrificial Vessels ............................ 477
4.2.2 Jade Sacrificial Vessels .............................. 504
4.3 Writing ................................................... 519
4.3.1 Writing and the Formation of Civilization .............. 519
4.3.2 The Inheritance of Chinese Characters for 5000 Years .... 520
4.3.3 The Inheritance of Historical Documents About
Chinese Characters .................................. 525
4.3.4 Chinese Characters Maintain the Contiguous
Development of a United Multiethnic Country
and China’s Un-fractured Civilization of 5000 Years ..... 528
References ..................................................... 528
5 The Concept of “zhong he” and National Identity ................. 529
5.1 Materialized Carrier of the “zhong he” Concept: Capital City
and Mausoleum ............................................ 530
5.2 Family-Country Unity and National Identity .................... 533
5.2.1 Family-Country Unity ............................... 533
5.2.2 National Identity .................................... 536
Reference ...................................................... 537
Epilog ........................................................... 539