Understanding of Liangzhu Culture
An amazing achievement
1. The largest and most advanced urban flood control system in the same period in the world
In the northwest of Liangzhu Heritage Ancient City, the ancestors built a large dam with a length of 6.5 kilometers to prevent floods in the remaining veins of Tianmu Mountain. Yuhang, Zhejiang Province is the largest rainstorm center in Zhejiang Province, and once-in-a-century floods often occur. Liangzhu people built this dam to protect the ancient city of Liangzhu, the capital city. Locals call it "Tangshan Tuyuan", which is at least 4 meters high and 3 meters wide on average except for the length of 6.5 kilometers, forming a flood storage reservoir around it, and it has been able to sail so far.
Seven kilometers west of Tangshan Tuyuan, there are two dikes-Penggong Dike and Qiwushan Dike. One is 5 kilometers long, and the other is 6 kilometers long. One of the dikes is 2 meters high at the mountain pass, which is made of different layers of soil and is extremely strong. These two flood control systems ensure that Liangzhu ancient city has not been destroyed by floods for thousands of years. In the south of Liangzhu ancient city, aerial photography shows that there are also long earth walls, which are probably part of the flood control project. Compared with the ancient city of India in the same period, Mohengzo Darrow, known as "Ancient Manhattan", was destroyed by floods seven times and finally had to be abandoned. We should gasp in admiration at Liangzhu's strong flood control capability.
2. The largest city and civil works in the world in 25 BC
Before 5 years, the area around Liangzhu ancient city was still an inaccessible swamp. However, from 49 years ago, a group of people suddenly came here to fill in the marshes and build large-scale cities. Archaeologically speaking, these people probably came from the southern foot of Tianmu Mountain. They gathered in Yaoshan area before the establishment of the ancient city and built a large-scale Yaoshan altar.
It is likely that they started to build Liangzhu ancient city immediately after leaving Tianmu Mountain. The first building site to be completed was "Ancient Top", which is also called "Mojiao Mountain" in archaeology-this huge building platform is 8-1 meters high, about 67 meters long from east to west, 45 meters wide from north to south, and covers an area of more than 3, square meters. It was the largest civil engineering project in the world at that time. Later, Liangzhu people built a secondary platform with an area of several hundred thousand square meters around Mojiao Mountain. After that, anti-mountain and imperial tomb mountain may be established in turn. As the archaeological excavation has not been fully revealed, we can't guess how much earthwork these huge projects have consumed.
from about 25 BC to 23 BC, the "city wall" of Liangzhu ancient city was completed. The ancient city was slightly rectangular with rounded corners, facing north and south, with a length of 15-17 meters from east to west and 18-19 meters from north to south, covering an area of more than 2.9 million square meters. The bottom of the city wall is paved with stones as the foundation, with a width of 4-6 meters. Above the foundation, it is piled with pure loess, and there are still more than 4 meters high city walls above the surface in some areas. * * * Found six watergates. The earthwork volume of the whole city wall is no less than that of the Egyptian pyramids. Judging from the forms of ancient cities in other areas of the Yangtze River Basin, they all have the same features-the walls and walls are gentle, the inside is straight and the outside is inclined-and they attach great importance to flood control functions. Therefore, the "city wall" should be a water city wall, which is mainly used for flood control.
At the same time, on the periphery of the city wall, larger-scale civil engineering projects sprang up, such as Meirendi, Bianjiashan and other long earth walls, which surrounded the ancient city of Liangzhu with three floors outside and three floors outside, forming its "outer city". After archaeological excavation, these earth walls were actually the communities where potters and lacquerers worked and lived at that time-of course, silk might also be made. These communities are connected by a large-scale artificial canal network and are all equipped with their own docks. Through these waterway transportation modes, the products of the ancient city will be transported to the whole Jiangsu-Zhejiang region, forming a large-scale trade network centered on Liangzhu ancient city.
The total scale of Liangzhu Ancient City and its outer cities reached 3 square kilometers, making it the largest city in the world at that time.
3. Paint, silk, jade, jewelry, unparalleled black pottery craft and the germination of characters
Jade in Liangzhu culture is world-famous, especially heavy objects such as cong, bi and Yue, whose carving and modeling have reached a superb level. There are related materials everywhere on the website, so I won't say much here. The lacquerware in Liangzhu period was also extremely developed, which could not only produce colorful lacquerware, but also produce complicated lacquerware inlaid with jade. During Liangzhu period, the society was rich and the culture was prosperous, and lacquerware flowed from valuables into the homes of ordinary people. At that time, in the tombs of Liangzhu people, the coffins were painted. Even on the wooden parts of farm tools plows and the wooden poles of arrow clusters, lacquerware was not only a luxury at that time, but also a very common daily necessities.
At Qianshanyang site in the north of Liangzhu ancient city, the world's earliest silkworm silk fabrics were found. The density of silk thread is equivalent to that of modern fine linen, which reflects the superb level of textile technology. The pottery craft of Liangzhu people is unparalleled in the world. It is not only elegant in shape and extraordinary in weather, but also complicated and amazing. Bianjiashan once unearthed a piece of pottery, which was less than 2 square centimeters and was engraved with 23 delicate bird-shaped patterns. A black pottery cup with a wide handle unearthed at Chuodun site is unique in shape and full of carefully designed sacred patterns, which even contemporary artists are amazed at.
Liangzhu people also like precious artifacts such as agate and ivory, and make them into handicrafts. Among them, the ivory scepter was unearthed in Fuquan Mountain, and the carving process is complex, which can completely rival the animal face pattern of God and Man on Liangzhu Jade Cong. Liangzhu people's navigation ability is also quite strong. They can go deep into the open sea and catch deep-sea fish such as sharks. At that time, collecting shark teeth was a luxury fashion of Liangzhu nobles.
The Taowen in Liangzhu people's cultural period is much more complicated than that in any place in China at the same time, and the notes on some pottery can be connected into sentences. Harvard University Museum in the United States has a collar of Liangzhu pottery, which is engraved with 9-12 lines of regular characterization symbols, and its writing style is more beautiful than that of Oracle Bone Inscriptions. It can be said that during Liangzhu period, China characters sprouted-of course, more similar archaeological discoveries are needed to confirm it.
It is worth mentioning that in ancient China, Liangzhu people first adopted ploughing technology and large-scale irrigation system for farmland water conservancy (see the Liangzhu rice field site in Maoshan), which made the grain output qualitatively improved. This has also become the fundamental factor supporting the prosperity of Liangzhu society.
second, the rise and fall of Liangzhu culture
In 35 BC, the young Huaxia nationality suddenly rose in the middle reaches of the Yellow River. They first originated in the Shaanxi-Gansu area in 6 BC, and then expanded to the hinterland of the Central Plains, forming the world-famous Yangshao culture.
it must be said that this is an amazing nation-they defeated the Hougang culture of Dongyi nationality, and extended their influence into Shaanxi, Gansu, eastern Henan, Hebei, western Liaoning and the Yangtze River valley, forming the most powerful ethnic group in ancient times. However, in their heyday, they were hit head-on by a mysterious nation. This mysterious people came from the remote and humid south. They rampaged all the way to the south bank of the Yellow River, and then suddenly disappeared from the hinterland of the Central Plains.
This ethnic group came from Taihu Lake in the lower reaches of the Yangtze River, and was later called "Songze people" by archaeologists, that is, the ancestors of Liangzhu culture.
why did they attack the central plains thousands of miles away? Why do you want to be in harmony with the powerful Huaxia people? The reason may never be found out. But one thing is certain-the wealth in the north is attracting them to take military risks. As early as 38 BC, the society of Songze people was seriously polarized-the excavation of Dongshan Village site shows that in the early stage of Songze culture, two groups of nobles and civilians have been formed. The nobles began to decorate their lives with jade articles and buried them after death.
However, at that time, the best jade production base in China was Lingjiatan in the Huaihe River area. Lingjiatan people's society also admired jade very much, and their jade-making technology was developed, and their firing technology and construction technology were second to none at that time. Songze people obviously covet their wealth. In 36 BC, the Songze people seized the sovereignty of Lingjiatan by force, and then occupied the whole Huaihe River basin, which made their conflict with the Central Plains inevitable.
After the Central Plains defeated the Hougang people, Dawenkou people, who belong to Dongyi ethnic group, were suppressed in a corner of Shandong Province, which was likely to unify the Yellow River. However, after the impact of Songze culture, the expansion of Huaxia nationality began to decline. At that time, Songze people may be an ally of Dongyi people-but in any case, this alliance soon ceased to exist. In 33 BC, great changes took place in Taihu Lake area, and Liangzhu culture replaced Songze culture-how this great change happened is still unknown. But at least we can see that Liangzhu people soon turned against Dongyi people. They invaded northern Jiangsu and drove Dongyi people out of the central area of northern Jiangsu where they lived for generations. At the Huating site, archaeologists discovered the tombs of Liangzhu nobles and Dawenkou civilians at the same site, and also discovered the earliest human martyrdom pit in China. Archaeological investigation shows that the number of settlements in the whole northern Jiangsu has dropped sharply-Dongyi people were not only defeated by the invading Liangzhu people, but also moved far away.
Now, the Huaxia people have become allies of distant nations, and * * * are attacking the Dongyi people together. However, the expansion of Dongyi people in the west has won a decisive victory, and they have successfully captured eastern and central Henan. Yangshao culture was divided, and Huaxia Group had to return to Guanzhong.
Sunrise in the east and rain in the west, but for Liangzhu people, the period of peaceful development has begun. The ancient city of Liangzhu began to be established, and it gained control over the whole Taihu Lake. According to the analysis of the shape and production characteristics of jade articles, scholars can generally be sure that the whole jade articles around Taihu Lake basin are distributed by Liangzhu Ancient City, which probably reflects a political relationship with the characteristics of clan. Liangzhu City is likely to lead an ancient country with a vast territory.
With the urbanization of Liangzhu ancient city, several different "cities" have appeared in Taihu Lake Basin-Fuquanshan site and Sidun site. Among them, the site of Fuquan Mountain covers an area of 1 square kilometer, with a large altar and a high-grade aristocratic cemetery in the center. The site of Sidun is about the same size as the site of Fuquan Mountain. It not only has a central altar, but also has a double ring city outside the inner circle. With Sidun as the center, they also dug a cross-shaped canal project, but where it leads is still unknown.
in any case, the prominent position of Liangzhu ancient city has never been shaken within the distribution range of 6, square kilometers of Liangzhu culture. The territory of Liangzhu ancient country starts from northern Jiangsu, south to central Zhejiang, west to Anhui (this is only an estimate, and its western boundary has not yet been determined), and east to the sea, and its jade ritual vessels are spread as far as Guangxi and northern Shaanxi. It can be said that it has affected more than half of China.
however, before long, the external situation began to change. Since 26 BC, the Longshan culture in the Central Plains has risen. One of them is called "Lawmaking Platform Culture". Since 24 BC, they have gradually expanded to the southeast. Liangzhu society has been greatly influenced, and Liangzhu culture has also been transformed into Qianshanyang culture. However, during this period, the construction of Liangzhu ancient city continued, which seems to indicate that they still maintained political independence.
around 22 BC, the expansion of the law makers to Liangzhu area intensified, and a new cultural type-Guangfulin culture appeared in the area around Taihu Lake. At the same time, Liangzhu ancient city was abandoned. Liangzhu ancient country may have suffered the fate of national subjugation at this time. Even so, there is some evidence that the culture around Taihu Lake is still prosperous, and it seems that foreign rulers have not completely destroyed the life order of the aborigines in Taihu Lake.
by the year 2 BC, the political situation in most parts of China was in great turmoil. The ancient city of Taosi, which was once prosperous in the Central Plains, was destroyed and slaughtered (see the "big disturbance pit" of Taosi); People from Ordos area infiltrated into most parts of the Central Plains. Longshan culture in Shandong declined in a large scale, eggshell pottery and jade-making techniques were lost, and the population dropped sharply. The ancient city of Shijiahe in the middle reaches of the Yangtze River was destroyed, and a force from the Central Plains occupied the area. The ancient city of Baodun in Sichuan was abandoned and the urbanization process was suspended.
In the same period, a savage nation from southern Zhejiang once again looted Taihu Lake and drove the Lawmakers out of southern Jiangsu and northern Zhejiang. Since then, Taihu Lake region has fallen into a long period of cultural blank and decline-cities no longer exist, jade articles are no longer made, and the lifestyles of nobles are abandoned. Taihu Lake area has returned to simple rural life and primitive hierarchical order. The ancient Liangzhu country, which was once prosperous for a while, was permanently forgotten. It was not until the 2th century, through the efforts of archaeologists, that the great achievements of our ancestors were known to our descendants again.