2023 NPC Lectures #6: Archaeology and Chinese Civilization Origins Research, Political Purposes

This is the sixth in a series of seven lectures given to the 170 members of the PRC National People’s Congress Standing Committee. The Standing Committee is the standing legislative body of China; the full 3000-member NPC meets for two weeks every March.

Translations in this series:

• 2023 NPC Lectures: #1 PRC Constitutional System and Practice
• 2023 NPC Lectures: #2 NPC Standing Committee Organization and Procedures
• 2023 NPC Lectures: #3 Improving the Socialist Legal System with Chinese Characteristics
• 2023 NPC Lectures: #4 Xi on the People’s Congress System
• 2023 NPC Lectures: #5 NPC Budget and State Asset Supervision
• 2023 NPC Lectures #6: Archaeology and Chinese Civilization Origins Research, Political Purposes
• 2023 Lecture to NPC #7: Xi Jinping Thought and Building China’s New Energy System

An introduction to the current state of archaeological research in China, how Chinese archaeologists have revised their view on the origins of Chinese civilization and the political purposes behind it — building national self-confidence, promoting national unity and patriotism, as well as the Chinese Communist Party’s current view of the significance of this research in the light of Marxism and historical materialism as understand in the New Era of General Secretary Xi Jinping.

The ‘cultural gene‘ idea which is fairly popular in China and is also used by General Secretary Xi Jinping [search: 文化基因 習近平] gets mentions.

The ideology between the political and ideological spin on archaeological discoveries that you may notice in the lecture translated below is criticized in Chinese historian and Tongji University Professor  Zhu Dake 朱大可’s 2013 article “The Fragmented Ancient Chinese God System” translated in 2022: Archaeology, Civilization and Historical Materialism

See also:

• 2020: Xi Jinping to Politburo Collective Study Session on Chinese Archaeology
• 2022: Archaeology, Civilization and Historical Materialism

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Sixth Lecture on Special Topics of the Standing Committee of the Fourteenth National People’s Congress

A Comprehensive Study of the Origins and Early Development of Chinese Civilization

十四届全国人大常委会专题讲座第六讲

中华文明起源与早期发展综合研究

By Wang Wei 王巍 , member of the Academic Council of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences and Director of the Department of History, and composer of songs about archaeological work)

Source: China National People’s Congress 

September 01, 2023

The Chairperson, the Vice-Chairpersons, the Secretary-General and the members of the Committee:

Chinese civilization is one of the four major civilizations in the world, which has continued uninterrupted to this day and occupies a unique and important position in the history of human civilization. Chinese civilization is an important topic in the study of Chinese history and world civilization. The excellent genes of Chinese civilization have been integrated into the bloodline of the Chinese nation and have shaped the ideological qualities and values of the Chinese people. As General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out, “China has firm road confidence, theoretical confidence, and institutional confidence, the essence of which is cultural confidence based on the inheritance of more than 5,000 years of civilization.” Studying the historical lineage of the origin, formation and development of Chinese civilization, and highlighting the achievements of Chinese civilization and its great contributions to human civilization, is of great significance to enhancing the nation’s historical and cultural self-confidence.

There are several key issues in the study of the origins of Chinese civilization:

1. When was the Chinese civilization formed? How long has it been in existence?
2. How did the Chinese civilization originate, form and develop, and how did the trend of integration of Chinese civilization from its multiple origins to that led by the Central Plains Dynasty take shape?
3. Why has Chinese civilization emerged from a path of unity in diversity and origin that has lasted for a long time?
4. What are the characteristics of the path and mechanism of the origin, formation and development of Chinese civilization?
5. What is the position of Chinese civilization in the history of world civilization?

Due to the lack of documentary records on the origin and formation of Chinese civilization, the answer to these questions can only rely on first-hand information obtained through archaeology. Over the past one hundred years, archaeologists have demonstrated to the world the great role of archaeology in the study of ancient civilization through their hard work and rich archaeological discoveries. In the 1970s and 1980s, important archaeological discoveries at Liangzhu in Zhejiang Province, Niheliang in Liaoning Province, Taoji in Shanxi Province, and Erlitou in Henan Province provided brand-new information for the study of the origin, formation and development of Chinese civilization. As a result, Mr. Xia Nai published The Origin of Chinese Civilization ,《中国文明的起源》 arguing that the formation of Chinese civilization can be traced back to prehistoric times. Mr. Su Bingqi, on the basis of archaeological discoveries in various parts of the country, put forward the theory of the origin of civilization, such as the “starry sky theory”  [ “regional systems and cultural types” (区系类型) model of Chinese Neolithic cultural development ], which promoted the study of Chinese civilization.

The study of the background, causes and mechanisms of the origin, formation and development of Chinese civilization also involves the environment, economy, resources, beliefs, etc., and requires a multidisciplinary joint effort based on archaeology. For this reason, in the spring of 2002, the National Science and Technology Research Project – “Comprehensive Research on the Origin and Early Development of Chinese Civilization” “中华文明起源与早期发展综合研究” (hereinafter referred to as the “Source Probing Project” or the “Source Probing Study”) was launched. (hereinafter referred to as the “research on the origin”) started preparatory research, and was officially launched in the spring of 2004. As a major national scientific research project from the “Tenth Five-Year Plan” to the “Fourteenth Five-Year Plan”, the project involved more than 400 experts and scholars from more than 20 disciplines and dozens of organizations, and it took 20 years from the pre-study of the project to May of last year.

The research is guided by Marxism 【馬克思主義】  and focuses on the capital city sites in various regions that best reflect the social development and the degree of power enhancement during the period of 5,500-3,500 years from the present day, in order to obtain key information, analyze the social division and power enhancement at that time, and conduct a multidisciplinary, multi-angle, multi-level, and all-encompassing research on the origins and the formation of Chinese civilization as well as the early development of the Chinese civilization.

I. Main results of the provenance study

After more than 20 years of work, the provenance study has achieved remarkable results.

(i) Proposed a definition of civilization and a Chinese proposal for identifying the criteria for entering a civilized society.

With regard to the definition of civilization and related concepts, there are many disagreements in domestic and foreign academic circles. Research on the origins of Chinese civilization adheres to historical materialism 探源研究坚持历史唯物主义 [Translator’s note: Here link is to Google Translate of Chinese language Wiki article on historical materialism which includes a discussion of historical materialism in China]  and proposes that civilization is an advanced stage in the development of human culture and society. This stage is based on the development of productive forces, the emergence of social division of labor and social differentiation, and the formation of classes, kingship and the state.

The study on the origin of civilization believes that the origin of civilization 文明起源 and the formation of civilization 文明形成 are both related and different, and that the two are different stages in the conception and emergence of a civilized society, with the quantitative accumulation of civilizational factors followed by qualitative changes in the society.

Specifically, “the origin of civilization” 文明起源  refers to the prehistoric period, when the productive forces achieved great development, material and spiritual life became rich, and the division of labour between mental and physical work, between the rich and the poor, and between the noble and the poor, began to emerge in society, and civilization began to be nurtured.

“Formation of civilization” 文明形成 refers to a stage in which significant progress has been made in material, spiritual and institutional culture. Social division intensified and classes were formed; social hierarchies were institutionalized, people’s social behaviors were standardized, and a system of rituals was formed; the king, the supreme ruler who combined military command and religious ritual power, and the state, a mandatory public authority whose main function was social management, appeared. -the state. The emergence of the state was a sign of the formation of civilization.

The study of origins has proposed criteria for determining entry into a civilized society. Based on the characteristics of ancient  Mesopotamian civilization and the ancient Egyptian civilization, international academics have outlined writing, metallurgy and cities as the criteria for a civilized society, which they call the “three fundamental elements of civilization”.[bolded in original]  If such criteria were applied, Chinese civilization would have a history of only 3,300 years.

It is clear from the study of other indigenous civilizations of the world that not all of the world’s major indigenous civilizations met these “three fundamental elements of civilization”, such as the Mayan civilization of Central America, which did not have metallurgy, the Inca civilization of South America, which did not use writing, and the Harappan civilization of the Indus Valley, which did not have designs on its seals that were recognized as writing. With the progress made in archaeological discoveries and research around the world, it is generally accepted in the international academic community that there can be criteria for the formation of civilizations around the world that are consistent with the characteristics of the development of their own ancient societies.

Our academics have Marxism 【馬克思主義】as their guide, historical documents and ancient historical legends as their reference, and, more importantly, the extremely rich archaeological materials obtained from a century of archaeology reveal that Chinese civilization has a profound history and cultural deposits and a unique path of development, and that our academics should put forward the corresponding criteria for civilization. According to Engels’ point of view that “the state is the generalization of civilized society“, the research on the origin of the proposed criteria for entering a civilized society: 

1. The development of production, the increase of population and the emergence of cities; 
2. The division of labor in society, the stratification of classes and the emergence of classes; and 
3. The emergence of kingship and the state. 

The China Civilization Origins Research study believes that in the absence of written records at the time, archaeological remains can be used to recognize that the local area had already entered a civilized society at that time. The main features are: 

• capital city, 
• palace or temple, 
• large tomb, 
• ritual objects, 
• war and violence. 

The presence of these features indicates that kingship and the State had already emerged and that a civilized society had already been established.

Around 5,000 years ago, agriculture in various regions of China developed, the population increased, and regional centers gradually developed into large-scale capitals. Handicrafts with high technological content, such as the production of jade, turquoise ware, exquisite pottery and lacquer ware, were specialized and controlled by the powerful aristocracy. In each region, a class of people who were detached from labor and specialized in the management of social affairs emerged, and there was a serious division of society between the rich and the poor, with the formation of different classes, the emergence of the king, who held military and religious power, and the Early State, which was a system of government controlled by the king and governed by social norms and violence. 

In the capital city, there were high-class buildings such as palaces where the king lived, high-class tombs where the king and the powerful and noble classes were buried, and ceremonial objects and rituals that demonstrated the status of the powerful and noble classes. There was slavery occurred, and some people were killed to be buried with deceased nobles or used in the foundations of palaces. [一部分人为贵族殉葬或被用于宫殿奠基。]

These discoveries in Chinese archaeology are sufficient to prove that the material forms of China’s entry into civilized society had their own characteristics. The level of development of social productive forces embodied in these materialized forms can prove that the surplus labour of the time was able to feed the public authorities and enable some people to detach themselves from production to specialize in administrative and spiritual matters.

The above criteria for civilization also apply to other indigenous civilizations. Although different civilizations have their own characteristics in terms of material and spiritual civilization, they share the emergence of kingship and the State as an institutional civilization, only that the ways of manifesting kingship and the form of the State varied from place to place. In China, it was manifested in such ways as exquisite jade ritual objects, bronze ritual objects, massive earthen and wood palaces, and tombs that mimicked above-ground architecture; in the Two River Valley and ancient Egypt, it was manifested in gold, precious stones, magnificent stone temples, pyramids and large burial chambers.

II.   Clarify the origin, formation and early development of Chinese civilization, and prove that China has over 5,000 years of civilization

China civilization origins studies examine the process of the formation and development of the origins of Chinese civilization, as well as the related background and causes, have led to this understanding of the process of the growth of Chinese civilization: 

• 10,000 years ago, the foundation was laid, 
• 8,000 years ago, 
• 6,000 years ago, the acceleration of the process, 
• 5,000 years ago, the entry into a civilized society, 
• 4,300 years ago, the transformation of Chinese civilization , 
• 4,000 years ago, the establishment of the dynasty, 
• 3,000 years ago, the consolidation of kingship, and 
• 2,200 years ago the formation of a unified multi-ethnic state.

“10,000 Years since the  Foundation”: Around 11,000 years ago, global warming prompted the creation of agriculture in East and West Asia. Ten thousand years ago, corn and millet were domesticated in northern China, and rice began to be cultivated in the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River. Cultivated rice, pottery and stone tools have been unearthed at the Shangshan site in Pujiang, Zhejiang Province. The ancestors in North China and the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River began to grind stone tools and make pottery. The emergence of agriculture led to the emergence of small sedentary villages everywhere, laying the foundation for the emergence of civilization.

“8,000 Years Ago”: 8,000-6,000 years ago was a period of great warming on a global scale. Paleoenvironmental studies show that the climate of the Yellow River basin at that time was similar to that of the present-day Yangtze River basin, and the climate of the Yangtze River basin was similar to that of today’s South China. Because of the warm and humid climate, rice farming spread northward to the lower Huaihe River area, and corn farming was popularized in the middle and lower reaches of the Yellow River and north and south of the Yanshan Mountains. Stone shovels and bone shovels unearthed at the site indicate that slash-and-burn agriculture had developed into plough-and-plow agriculture. 

Agriculture in this period contributed to population growth, the increase of villages, the development of handicrafts and social progress. The ancestors at the Jiahu Site in Maoyang, Henan Province, on the upper reaches of the Huaihe River, cultivated rice, raised domestic pigs, brewed wine, made turquoise ware, and invented the seven-hole bone flute that could play musical tunes. On tortoise shells unearthed from some tombs, there are square engraved symbols similar to oracle bone inscriptions. At the Xinglongwa site in Chifeng, Inner Mongolia, a few burials unearthed exquisitely crafted jade earrings and jade pendants, indicating that people had mastered the technology of jade cutting. In Zhejiang, an eight-meter-long canoe was unearthed at the site of the Cross Lake Bridge, indicating that people at that time already had a certain ability to navigate offshore. The beautifully crafted white ceramics of the Gaomiao culture in Hunan Province have carved images of gods and god birds, reflecting the spiritual world of the people at that time.

At sites such as Jiahu and Xinglongwa, a very small number of large-scale burials with jade or turquoise objects appeared, suggesting that the society was already differentiated and the process of the origin of civilization had begun.

“Six Thousand Years of Acceleration Began”: Around 6,000 years ago, the rhythm of the origins of Chinese civilization accelerated. Millet cultivation techniques from the Yellow River basin spread to the Yangtze River basin, and rice farming techniques were spread northward to the Han River basin and the middle and lower reaches of the Yellow River. Handicrafts in various regions also made remarkable progress, with the emergence of exquisite pottery of solid texture and smooth surface. Four stone-carved silkworm pupae were unearthed at the early Yangshao culture site in Xiaxian County, Shanxi Province, more than 6,000 years ago, and the excavators believed that sericulture and reeling had already been invented at that time. People’s spiritual life is gradually enriched, Henan Puyang Xishuipo site of an early Yangshao culture tombs, the tomb owner of the east and west sides of a large number of mussel shells, respectively, stacked molded out of the dragon and tiger, which with the Warring States to the Han Dynasty’s idea of the four gods of the East Qinglong, the west of the white tiger’s orientation is consistent. The art of colored pottery became popular in the central and eastern parts of China, and great progress was made in jade cutting, lacquer painting and construction techniques.

A number of important changes took place in society during this period:

1. Population has increased significantly. There has been a marked increase in the number of settlements, with clusters of dozens of villages appearing in regions such as the middle and lower reaches of the Yellow River and the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River.
2. Emergence of centralized settlements. Several large settlements of 1 million square meters in size have appeared in the Lingbao Casting Plains site group in Henan Province, which are completely different from the previous small villages of tens of thousands to more than 100,000 square meters.
3. Warfare. Some large and medium-sized settlements were surrounded by trenches more than ten meters wide and several meters deep, apparently for military defense. In the Yellow, Yangtze and Liao River basins, some male burials were accompanied by a stone weapon, the battle-ax.
4. Social differentiation intensified and a powerful class began to emerge. The west slope site of the Casting Plains site group has a square in the middle, surrounded by super-large house sites that are well-made and cover an area of 500 square meters. In the 5,800-year-old cemetery at the Dongshan Village site in Zhangjiagang, Jiangsu Province, numerous small tombs were buried with three or five pieces of pottery, and large tombs were buried with many jade battle-axes, jade ornaments, and dozens of fine pottery. However, this stage is still in the accelerated stage of the origin of civilization, and has not yet formed a state or entered civilization.

“Five thousand years Ago”: 5,500-5,000 years ago is a very important period in the history of Chinese civilization, the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River and other regions have entered the civilization stage one after another.

In the lower reaches of the Yangtze River, around 5300 years ago, plowing and large-scale rice paddies emerged. The embankments and irrigation channels were well-organized, and rice farming techniques had become quite mature. The large-scale hydraulic systems around the Liangzhu ancient city, along with the discovery of 200,000 kilograms of rice deposits on the south side of the core Mojiang Mountain, indicate that the development of agriculture and mastery of granaries were major concerns for Liangzhu. In recent years, discoveries at sites such as Shi’ao in Yuyao, Zhejiang, and Maoshan in Linping have revealed extensive fields from the Liangzhu period, with wide embankments constructed using tree branches, bamboo strips, and abandoned dugout canoes, intricately arranged in a crisscross pattern. The river channels, irrigation holes, and drainage ditches were well-planned. The rice fields in Shi’ao have been confirmed to cover 80,000 square meters. The preliminary restoration of these ancient rice fields suggests they may date back even further to around 7000 years ago, during the Hemudu culture period. Prehistoric rice fields and farming systems, distant from the national capital of Liangzhu, reveal an unimaginable scale of rice agriculture and the economic power associated with it during the early stages of the Liangzhu state. Such discoveries indicate that the early Liangzhu state was built upon comprehensive development in religion, politics, economy, and military affairs.

Highly technical handicrafts, such as fine jade, pottery, lacquerware and turquoise decorations, appeared everywhere during this period. The jade square tube (cong) of the Liangzhu culture has a fine animal face pattern engraved on its surface, with five to six engraved lines within a millimeter’s width. The lower reaches of the Yellow River can produce “eggshell pottery” with a wall thickness of less than one millimeter. These products are technically complex, something no ordinary craftsmen can master, indicating that there was already a family of craftsmen with specialized skills. The specialization of high-tech handicrafts is an important manifestation of the social division of labour.

Another sign of social development in this period was the appearance of ritual objects and the initial formation of the ritual system. Jade ware, lacquer ware, and exquisite pottery wine vessels all came from top-class tombs around the world. 

At the Huangshan site in Nanyang, Henan Province, selected as one of the nation’s top 10 archaeological discoveries in 2021, there are several large tombs of the early Qujialing culture dating back to around 5,300 years ago, and most of the male tomb owners were richly entombed. One tomb was buried with a long bow with an ivory handle, two bags of stone arrowheads, two jade battle-axes, and more than 400 pieces of pig mandibles piled up at the feet of the tomb owner. 

Jade men, jade dragons, jade owls, and jade turtles were buried in the large tombs of Niuheliang in Jianping, Liaoning, and Lingjiatan in Hanshan, Anhui, and the Lingjiatan Tomb had more than 300 pieces of burial goods. 

The Liangzhu Culture tombs also both have hundreds of high-grade burial objects, including jade cong and jade jade jade pith. Also in Shandong Tengzhou Gangshang site selected as one of the top ten archaeological discoveries of 2021, the Da Wenkou culture in the middle of the large tombs in the Zhu Zhu bone plate, antler hoe, antler forked staff, crocodile bone plate ware, ceramic drums, tortoise shell ware and other unique Haidai region characteristics of the “ceremonial ware”. The scepter is a simplified version of the ivory scepter of Liangzhu culture. The large tomb of four people buried together in this cemetery is also very special, and the tomb is densely arranged with pottery, including 300 pieces of exquisite pottery wine vessels. The above discoveries show that the powerful and noble classes in various places mastered the production and distribution of valuables, and formed a hierarchical system, the ritual system, in which certain highly technical and precious objects were used as ceremonial vessels, while the size of the tomb reflected the status of the owner.

Around 5300 years ago, in the middle and lower reaches of the Yellow River, the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River and the Xiliao River basin, central cities and primitive religious shrines with an area of more than 1 million square meters appeared. Liangzhu Ancient City, a super-large capital city in the lower reaches of the Yangtze River, with an inner city of 3 million square meters and an outer city of 6.3 million square meters (equivalent to the area of four and eight Forbidden City in Beijing, respectively), was the largest capital city in the world at that time. In order to prevent flash floods, a high dam and a low dam more than 10 kilometers long were built north of the ancient city, which was the largest water regulation system in the world at the same time. The construction of the ancient city and the giant dam took decades, assuming that 10,000 people were mobilized, reflecting the ability of the Liangzhu kingship to organize and carry out large-scale public construction.

The emergence of high-grade early cities was accompanied by accelerated class differentiation. Large high-class buildings measuring hundreds or even thousands of square meters, and large tombs of the powerful and wealthy buried with hundreds or even hundreds of exquisite objects, differed greatly from the small houses and small tombs of the general members of society, indicating that the powerful and wealthy held a great deal of social wealth.2021 In Hunan, a large building from the Qujialing period, with a total surface area of 630 square meters, was discovered at the site of the Jixiaoling City in Li County, Hunan Province. Due to the humid burial environment, the wooden foundation of the building was well preserved, and the spectacular scale and chiseled and mottled rough timber made those who were present at the site feel as if they were seeing a towering temple, and they were all shocked by it.

Large tombs in almost all regions began to be buried with delicate weapons, jade battle-axes. The large tombs at Anti-san and Yao-san in the Liangzhu site were buried with jade battle-axes with wooden handles, apparently a scepter symbolizing military power. In the newly discovered tombs at the Gangshang site, it is common for the highest-ranking male nobles to be buried with two jade battle-axes, one large and one small. The tomb owners of these buried jade battle-axes should be the kings with military commanding power, and the powerful class of nobles continued to enhance their authority due to military power, and changed from the chiefs of clans and tribes to the kings with the power of life and death.

War and violence increased during this period, and human skeletons were being thrown in garbage pits, buried in the foundations of large buildings to serve as foundations, or in large tombs to serve as martyrs, and one part of the population had begun to enslave the other part of the population.

“4,300 years ago: transition“: around 4,300 years ago, there was a transition in the civilization process across China, which was significantly characterized by the rise of the Middle Kingdom.

Between 4300 and 4100 years ago, the climate changed considerably, with abnormal temperatures, uneven rainfall, frequent floods, and the progress of civilization in all regions was greatly affected.

During this period, the civilization of the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River declined and the civilization process in the middle reaches of the Yellow River accelerated. About 4,300 years ago, the power group in the middle reaches of the Yellow River gradually gained the upper hand in the power comparison with other groups in the surrounding area, and two giant capitals, the Tao Temple in Shanxi and the Stone Mount in Shaanxi, appeared one after another.

The Taosi city site dates from about 4,300-4,000 years ago. The site is 1,800 meters long and 1,500 meters wide, with an area of 2.8 million square meters. There are 8,000 square meters of rammed earth platforms in the high-grade building area of the city, and the buildings use ceramic tiles, and the walls are painted and decorated with engravings. The earliest palace city in the middle reaches of the Yellow River appeared in Taosi. Nearly 100 burial objects were unearthed from the large tomb, including alligator drums, stone chimes, jade battle-axes, and large ceramic plates with painted dragon motifs. A semi-circular altar-shaped remains were found at the Taosi site, which astronomers believe was an observatory for observing celestial phenomena and determining agricultural seasons such as the spring equinox, autumn equinox, summer solstice, and winter solstice, which is in line with the record of Yao “observing and granting time” in the book of “Book of Documents – Chapter One: Yao Dian”. Taosi city site also unearthed China’s earliest copper bell and copper container fragments. Two characters were found on a ceramic pot, which may have been written at that time. The age, location, scale and grade of the Tao Temple City site are all more consistent with the documented Yao capital Pingyang.

The Stone Mountain City is a mountain city made of stone blocks discovered 10 years ago, 4,100-3,900 years ago, covering an area of 4 million square meters. The stone mount city consists of an outer city, an inner city and an imperial city with a variety of defense facilities. The Imperial City Terrace at the core of the city was built in several layers, with a total height of tens of meters, with a large palace building covering thousands of square meters on top of the terrace, and a wide plaza, a gatehouse and a road leading into the city underneath the terrace. On the foundation of the palace, there are stone bars and stone pillars carved with animal faces and various animal images, and many pieces of ceramic eagles with a height of more than 50 centimeters to 1 meter were found on the Royal City Terrace, which should be related to some kind of beliefs and worship. Stone mount city has a strong military defense color, in the city also found a number of buried young women’s skulls of the sacrificial pits, which shows that on the eve of the establishment of the Xia dynasty, the class division in northern Shaanxi has been quite serious, the emergence of a strong military power of the king’s state.

“4,000 Years of Founding the First Dynasties“: About 4,000 years ago, the Xia Dynasty was established. In the area centered on the southeastern foothills of Songshan Mountain, more than 10 large city sites appeared. 

Among them, a magnificent inner and outer city of matching sizes was discovered at Wangchenggang in Dengfeng, which has been known as “Yangcheng” since the Warring States period. 

At the Wadian site in Yuzhou during the same period, large rammed-earth platforms were covered with human sacrifices, martyrdom and other ritual remains. These discoveries indicate that Chinese civilization entered a new stage centered on the Central Plains. 

The “nine states” in the Shangshu-Yugong basically covered northern, central and eastern China, indicating that at the beginning of the Xia Dynasty, the power groups in the middle reaches of the Yellow River had already expanded their horizons to include the middle and lower reaches of the Yellow River and the Yangtze River, and had formed a wide-ranging view of the world. After about 200 years of development, in the late Xia Dynasty, the strength of the Xia Dynasty continued to grow, and the leading position of the Central Plains was gradually formed, with an unprecedentedly wide range of influence. These can be reflected from the Erlitou site in Yanshi, Henan Province.

Covering an area of more than 3 million square meters and dating from 3,800 to 3,500 years ago, the Erlitou site is the largest metropolitan site of its kind in China. In the central part of the site there is a 100,000-square-meter palace city, which is the earliest selective neutral palace in Chinese history. To the south of the palace city was a workshop area controlled by the royal authority for the production of high-grade products such as bronze and turquoise wares, and the earliest bronze ceremonial vessels such as jars, jia, fiancées and tripods were unearthed. In one of the tombs, a 64-centimeter-long dragon decoration inlaid with more than 2,000 pieces of turquoise was unearthed.

The Erlitou site is located in the Yiluo River basin, which was the center of the Xia Dynasty as documented in the literature, and the heyday of the Erlitou culture was from the late Xia Dynasty to the eve of the establishment of the Shang Dynasty. The Erlitou site is the largest site of the same period. The ritual tools and ceremonial system created by the Erlitou culture, represented by jade tooth-shaped ornaments 玉牙璋 , radiated to the surrounding areas, with an unprecedented scope of influence. The entire set of bronze and jade ritual objects of the Erlitou culture was fully inherited by the later Shang dynasty.

On the eve of the establishment of the Shang dynasty, in the Songshan area where the Erlitou culture was distributed, the Xia dynasty was the only powerful political entity, and no other power group with such influence existed. Therefore, there is every reason to think that Erlitou is very likely to be the capital of the Xia Dynasty in the late period. The existence of the Xia Dynasty is not only richly documented in the literature since the pre-Qin Dynasty, but also proved by archaeology.

The Shang dynasty inherited the ritual system pioneered by the Xia dynasty, and further developed politically, economically, culturally, and socially, resulting in a mature writing system represented by the oracle bone inscriptions, metallurgy, and a ritual system that had an impact on a much wider region. Records on oracle bones show that the Shang king was the supreme ruler of the country, and that there was a relatively well-developed administrative structure under the Shang king, with a direct control area centered on the king’s gi and indirectly controlled square states. The political power and cultural influence of the Shang dynasty reached the sea in the east, the Longshan Mountains in the west, across the Jianghan River in the south, and to the Yanshan Mountains in the north. Bronze ritual objects of the Shang system were unearthed in a wide area, indicating that the Shang dynasty played a stronger leading role in the evolution of Chinese civilization and promoted the development of culture and society everywhere.

“Three thousand years ago: consolidation“: In the early years of the Western Zhou Dynasty, the king of the Zhou Dynasty established vassal states in various regions through the feudalization of states by appointing his closest relatives and meritorious ministers, thus realizing the firm rule of the Central Plains Dynasty over the vast areas beyond the king’s boundaries that the Shang Dynasty had failed to achieve. Inheriting the ritual system of Xia and Shang, the Zhou Dynasty perfected the ritual system and formed a ritual system of utensils composed of differences in the types and quantities of bronzes, so as to clarify the hierarchy. This kind of difference in the hierarchy of tools was continuously strengthened during the Western Zhou period, and gradually extended to all aspects of clothing, food, housing and transportation, so much so that there were systematic differences in the color of clothes, style of clothing, wearing jade, driving carriages, and the type and number of bells and musical instruments, and even in the funerary activities, the number of layers of wooden coffins and the size of the tombs were developed into a relatively complete and rigorous system and a complete concept. 

The Western Zhou was a very crucial period in the process of Chinese civilization. The civilization form characterized by the feudal system, patriarchal system, and ritual and music system, and the state structure of the world’s co-owner with the Son of Zhou as the core, further strengthened the centralized system of power since the Xia and Shang dynasties, and laid a solid foundation for the formation of the unified multi-ethnic states of Qin and Han.

“Two thousand two hundred years of great unification”: refers to the unification of China by Emperor Qin Shi Huang in 221 B.C., when “all within the seas were divided into counties and decrees were uniform throughout” “海内为郡县，法令由一统” . Chinese civilization entered the stage of civilization from a kingdom civilization to a great unitary state, opening up a new stage in the formation and development of a unified multi-ethnic state.

III.  Showing the formation and development of the pattern of the unity of Chinese civilization in all its diversity.

One of the distinctive features of Chinese civilization is its unity in diversity. At its origin, Chinese civilization revealed a number of common cultural elements, showing a trend towards integration.

1. The birth of the early Chinese cultural sphere

The different environments of the geographic units within the Chinese land have led to the formation of different economic forms and cultural landscapes, and the civilization process in each region has its own distinctive characteristics, thus presenting a diversified and colorful pattern of Chinese civilization. Archaeological discoveries have confirmed that the prehistoric cultures of various regions were in close contact, exchanged with each other, and gradually merged, forming common cultural genes, which constituted the “Early Chinese Cultural Circle”. These common genes manifested themselves differently at different times.

Around 8,000 years ago, the concept of jade as beauty was formed in various places one after another. At the Xiaonanshan site in Raohe, Heilongjiang, the earliest known jade artifacts – jade penannular jade ring, jade pendant and jade beads – were unearthed. Similar jade artifacts were also unearthed at the Xinglongwa site in Inner Mongolia, the Cross Lake Bridge site in Xiaoshan, Zhejiang Province, and the Hemudu site in Yuyao. Jade became one of the most important cultural factors in prehistoric eastern China. Thereafter, jade artifacts such as penannular jade pieces appeared widely in the prehistoric cultures of the Yellow River and Yangtze River Basin, and were used until the Xia, Shang and Zhou periods.

Around 6000 years ago, images of dragons appeared in different areas. In the Yangshao Culture tombs at the Xishuipo site, images of dragons and tigers were piled up with mussel shells on the east and west sides of the bones of the male tomb owner. Liaoning Kazuo Niheliang Hongshan culture tomb of 5500-5300 years ago and Anhui Hanshan Lingjiatan tomb, were buried with C-shaped jade dragon. It can be seen that the “dragon” became popular in the region from the western part of the Northeast to the lower reaches of the Yangtze River, and later developed into a spiritual symbol that united the Chinese nation as a community.

From 5,500 years ago onwards, the commonality of cultural and social development in the Chinese lands has increased.

The concept of jade as precious was gradually established. As class differentiation became more and more obvious everywhere, jade began to change from a decorative object to a ceremonial object. The jade men, jade dragons, jade birds, and jade tortoises in the Niheliang and Lingjiatan tombs, the jade annulus and jade battle-axes in the Liangzhu tombs, and the jade heads and jade phoenixes in the Shijiahe tombs of the powerful and noble people in Tianmen, Hubei, show that the concept of jade as a precious object and as a ceremonial object became popular in the various regions of the Chinese Cultural Sphere. Jade cong [jade tube with round hole and rectangular sides] and jade annulus first appeared in the large tombs of the early Liangzhu culture, and thereafter spread to the surrounding areas and were passed on to future generations, and were also found in the large tombs of the Xia and Shang periods. During the Shang period, the jade cong and jade bi also spread to the ancient Shu civilization area where the Samsungdui and Jinsha sites are located.

The battle-ax became a symbol of kingship and military power. About 6,000 years ago, social division intensified, the authority of military chiefs increased and gradually transformed into a king who overrode society. Large tombs around the world were buried with exquisitely crafted jade battle-axes, which became a symbol of military command power. In the large tombs at the Gangshang site, the highest-ranking male aristocrats were buried with two jade battle-axes, one large and one small. During the Shang and Zhou Dynasties, the battle-axe was a symbol of kingship. There is a bronze battle-axe in the tomb of Wuhao, the wife of King Wuding of Shang Dynasty, and there are two “Yashou” battle-axes in the tomb of the king of Su Butun of Qingzhou, Shandong Province, all of which show the majesty of the king. It is recorded in “Book of Documents- Chapter: Mu Oath” that when King Wu invaded Zhou, “the king had a yellow battle-axe on his left staff” to command the army. The word “king” in the oracle bone inscriptions — and the word “king” in the gold inscriptions — are derived from the image of the battle-axe.

Around 5,500 years ago, colored pottery became a splendid symbol of integration in various regions. In the middle and late Yangshao culture in the middle reaches of the Yellow River, motifs of flowers and birds simplified into dots and curved triangles were common in the upper and lower reaches of the Yellow River, the upper and lower reaches of the Yangtze River, and the Xiliao River basin, the first time that the prehistoric culture of the middle reaches of the Yellow River exerted a strong influence on other regions. This extensive and strong influence of Yangshao culture colored pottery in the Central Plains on the surrounding areas may be related to the rise of the Yellow Emperor and the Yan Di [Shennong] group and the expansion of their sphere of influence in ancient history.

In summary, around 5,000 years ago, regional civilizations were like “stars in the sky“, shining brightly on the Chinese lands. Regional civilizations intermingled with each other and gradually formed the “Early Chinese Cultural Sphere” with shared [cultural?] genes.

2. Reasons why the Central Plains became the core area of Chinese civilization

About 4,300-4,000 years ago, when the civilizations of the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River and the lower reaches of the Yellow River declined one after another, the civilization process in the Central Plains did not suffer a setback, but rather maintained its development from Yao, Shun and Yu to the Xia and Shang dynasties. Why was this so? Research on the origins of Chinese civilization has yielded the following insights:

First, agricultural development and stability. Paleoenvironmental studies have shown that around 4,200 years ago there was a global climate anomaly, and civilization declined in the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River, while civilization in the Central Plains region reached a new level of development. The multidisciplinary analysis of research on the origin of the Central Plains found that the diverse topography of the Central Plains region, the corn, millet, rice, wheat, soybeans constitute a multi-species planting system, pigs, dogs, cows, sheep and other diversified livestock breeding, so that the Central Plains has a strong resistance to natural disasters. The consolidation of agriculture,  civilization and the continued development of society, lay the foundation for the establishment of the Xia and Shang dynasties.

Secondly,  open and tolerant, adopting a wide range of cultural elements. In the Taosi and Wangchenggang and other sites, you can see the convergence of cultural factors from other regions to the Central Plains, such as the pottery wine vessels and wooden coffins of the prehistoric culture in the lower reaches of the Yellow River, the jade cong and jade jewellery of the Liangzhu culture in the lower reaches of the Yangtze River, the metallurgy imported through the north-western region, and so on, were absorbed by the Central Plains. The Central Plains blended cultural factors from all over the world and gave birth to the Xia and Shang dynasties.

Thirdly, extensive alliances formed to create synergies. According to ancient historical legends, the Central Plains Group has emphasized alliances since the time of the Yellow Emperor. Faced with the challenge of surrounding forces expanding into the Central Plains, the Central Plains Group used alliances to build up its strength, with Yao, Shun and Yu becoming successive allies. At the site of Yuhui Village at the foot of Mount Tu in Bengbu, Anhui Province, a special relic from the eve of the Xia Dynasty was found: a square earthen platform in the center, in front of which there are 30 small rectangular pits arranged in a single line, surrounded by ceramic wine containers characteristic of each region. The seventh year of Ai Gong recorded in the Zuo Zhuan (左传∙哀公七年) says: “[The great officers] replied, “When Yu assembled the States on mount Tu, there were 10,000 States whose princes bore their symbols of jade and offerings of silk.” This archaeological phenomenon may reflect a certain historical shadow of the documentary legend.

Fourth, the creation of a ritual system to consolidate the power of the king. In order to maintain social stability and strengthen the power of the group, the Taosi culture created a ritual and music system in the form of drums, chimes, bells, jade battle-axes, sets of containers, etc., which was inherited and developed by the Xia and Shang dynasties, and the system of rituals became the core content of Chinese civilization.

For these reasons, the civilization of the Central Plains continued to develop and eventually became the core of Chinese civilization.

3. From convergence to radiation

In the late Xia Dynasty, there was an important shift in the relationship between the Central Plains and the surrounding areas. The Xia dynasty, inheriting earlier innovations absorbing from the east of jade tooth-shaped jade ritual instrument, white pottery, primitive ceramics and hard ceramics, etc., regulated ceremonial rituals as a manifestation of the king’s power and to  show respect for the ceremonial apparatus. At this time, the bronze ritual objects, embedded turquoise dragon bronze plaques, bronze bells, stone chimes, and jade ritual objects composed of tooth jang, battle-axe, knife, and ga, etc., contain the value of ritual. These artifacts and the concepts contained in them spread to the surrounding areas, affecting as far as Haidai  海岱 [aka Shandong]  in the east, Gansu and Qinghai in the west, Chifeng in Inner Mongolia in the north, and Southern China in the south. The Xia Dynasty thus became the core leader of Chinese civilization.

With the establishment of the Xia Dynasty, Chinese civilization entered the stage of dynastic civilization, and a new process of integration led by the Central Plains Dynasty began. During the Shang and Zhou Dynasties, the bronze and jade ritual objects and metallurgical technologies of the Central Plains had a strong influence on the surrounding areas. During the Late Shang Dynasty, bronze ritual objects such as zun and earthenware appeared in the ancient Shu civilization capital of Sanxingdui. After the establishment of the Western Zhou Dynasty, the hierarchical structure from the center to the local level was established in terms of patriarchal blood relations, and the rule of the Central Plains Dynasty over the surrounding areas became more solid, and the culture and technology radiated outward from the capital of the king was rapidly popularized and spread in the area ruled by the dynasty, and the integration of cultures was strengthened in various places, thus laying a solid foundation for the formation of the united multi-ethnic state of the Qin and Han dynasties.

In the integration process of Chinese civilization, there are many common civilization genes that have been nurtured since 8,000 years ago. Throughout the long process of the origin of civilization, these common genes have appeared and disappeared, but they have always persisted and become the underlining color of Chinese civilization.

4.  Showing the role of exchange and mutual understanding in the formation of Chinese civilization

General Secretary Xi Jinping has pointed out that “civilizations exchange because of diversity, learn from each other because of exchange, and develop because of mutual learning“. Exchange and mutual learning have always been an important driving force for the progress of human civilization. The formation and prosperity of Chinese civilization is inextricably linked to exchanges and mutual learning among regional civilizations and with external civilizations.

Research on the origins of Chinese civilization has has learned through DNA and other technologies that 5,000-4,500 years ago, wheat, cattle, sheep and metallurgy native to West Asia were introduced to the northwest region of China, and were in turn later absorbed by the Central Plains region about 4,300 years ago, thus becoming an integral part of the Central Plains civilization. The combination of West Asian metallurgy and the technology of smelting at a high temperature of 1,000 degrees in the Central Plains led to the emergence of the pottery casting method, which ultimately developed into the highly developed bronze vessel casting technology of the Xia, Shang and Zhou periods, which was second to none in the world. The bronze smelting technology of the Erlitou Culture clearly exceeded the primitive stage, and began to produce bronze vessels with certain alloy ratios. As the center of bronze production in China at that time, Erlitou creatively cast wine vessels and cooking vessels in bronze, making them the most important items in the ancestral rituals, thus strengthening the legitimacy of the ruling class.

Along with absorption of innovations brought in from elsewhere, the inventions of Chinese civilization have also made outstanding contributions to human civilization. For example, the millet farming technology invented by the prehistoric ancestors in the north spread southward one after another 6,500 years ago, through China’s Fujian and Taiwan Provinces to Southeast Asia. Rice cultivation technology was similarly spread eastward to Taiwan Province via Fujian and Zhejiang Provinces at a slightly later date, and then widely spread to the southwest region of the Pacific Ocean. With the spread of agriculture, the population growth in Southeast Asia and the island regions objectively brought about the expansion of Austronesian-speaking peoples into the Pacific. Farming and silk production techniques also spread from the Shandong and Liaodong Peninsulas to the Korean Peninsula and the Japanese islands, and from the Eurasian steppe to West Asia and Europe.

In addition to crop species and cultivation techniques, the bronze vessel casting techniques of the Xia, Shang and Zhou civilizations spread to the Korean Peninsula and the Japanese archipelago, giving rise to the Bronze Age in Northeast Asia. Tooth-shaped jade and jade annulus, which reflect the ritual system of Chinese civilization, spread to Southeast Asia via Sanxingdui and Jinsha in Southwest China and South China during the Xia and Shang Dynasties.

The research on the origin of Chinese civilization has received attention from the international academic community. Colin Lord Renfrew, an authoritative international scholar and professor at the University of Cambridge, highly evaluated the research results and affirmed that at the Liangzhu stage it had already become a civilized society. At the first World Archaeology (Shanghai) Forum held in 2013, the research on the origin of Chinese civilization was selected as a world significant research result by the evaluation committee composed of 40 international top experts from more than 20 countries. In July 2019, Liangzhu site was successfully entered into the list of the World Cultural Heritage on the grounds that “Liangzhu Ancient City Site demonstrates the existence of an ancient city of the late Neolithic period, a rice plantation, and a civilized society in China“. Late Neolithic, with rice agriculture as the economic support, and the existence of social differentiation and unified belief system of the early regional state form, confirming the Yangtze River Valley’s outstanding contribution to the origin of Chinese civilization.” As General Secretary Xi Jinping commented, “Liangzhu Site is a holy place that confirms the 5,000-year history of Chinese civilization.”

5.  Revelations about the development of Chinese civilization

1. Pluralistic integration is the source of the vitality of Chinese civilization. An overview of the early evolution of Chinese civilization shows that the civilizations of the various regions of the Chinese land were diverse. Among them, the middle reaches of the Yellow River absorbed various civilizational factors with an open mind and eventually integrated the civilizations of other regions. History has shown that the civilizations of all regions have made positive contributions to the formation of Chinese civilization. It is the convergence and integration of various civilizations that has made Chinese civilization dynamic and sustainable.

2. Openness, tolerance, exchange and mutual learning are the driving forces of civilization. Chinese civilization has actively absorbed the achievements of other civilizations and developed and innovated them. Even in prehistoric times, exchanges were commonplace, and ongoing cross-regional and cross-ethnic exchanges have documented the course of cultural mutual understanding and promoted the development of civilization. Exchange and mutual understanding is the key to the enduring prosperity of Chinese civilization and the support for its eternal charm. Only by being open and tolerant, and by accepting all rivers from all parts of the world, can the tree of civilization grow evergreen and Chinese civilization remain dynamic.

3. Cultural soft power is a guarantee for enhancing the creativity and influence of Chinese civilization. The civilization of the Xia, Shang and Zhou dynasties continued to consolidate advanced concepts, resulting in the mainstream values represented by the “rites”, a richly connoted idea that influenced the surrounding regions and led and promoted the development of civilization in those regions. After the Qin and Han Dynasties, “rites” were inherited and carried forward, given new connotations, and became the core concept of Chinese civilization, which spread to the surrounding countries and regions through exchanges and mutual understanding, and became the core value of Eastern civilization.

4. The origins, formation and early development of Chinese civilization were basically synchronized with the other three major native civilizations of the world, and their brilliant civilizational achievements were no less impressive. China’s agricultural origins 10,000 years ago and the formation of its civilization more than 5,000 years ago were roughly contemporaneous with those of ancient Mesopotamia and Ancient Egypt. More than 3,000 years ago, the Zhou Dynasty constructed the largest polity of its time through the feudal system. The Hundred Schools of Thought in the Spring and Autumn Period around 2600 years ago was the awakening of the humanistic spirit during the “Axial Age“, which coincided with Ancient Greece and Ancient India. Corn and rice farming, jade and silk making, etc., reflect the wisdom and creativity of our Chinese ancestors and are important contributions to human civilization. In the process of the formation of Chinese civilization, there were various trials and tribulations, such as climate anomalies and social upheavals. The early Chinese, however, were self-reliant and courageous in overcoming the difficulties and obstacles, and finally accomplished the creation of our great Chinese civilization, which is ranked as one of the four major civilizations. Such a civilization’s development and achievements are the source of our cultural self-confidence today. Now and in the future, Chinese civilization will stand out.

5. The unification of the country is what the people yearn for and the foundation of its strength and prosperity. During the development of Chinese civilization, there were wars, the establishment of various states, and the division of the country into feudal lords, but under the leadership of the core of unity, the development of productive forces and the progress of society led to the establishment of the Qin-Han unitary state. Since then, the concept and national political practice of “seeking unity and commonwealth” has infused the minds of the Chinese people with a powerful appeal, united the hearts of the Chinese people, and guided the identity of the Chinese people, and has become the core ideological system of the Chinese civilization that has lasted through the ages, forging the unique character of the Chinese civilization.

History has shown that national unity is both an essential attribute of Chinese civilization and a fundamental guarantee of its continuity. National unity, national unity and social tranquility will surely lead to even more brilliant achievements for Chinese civilization.

6. Chinese civilization has gone down a unique path of development and formed its own unique civilizational genes. Each civilization should be seen as beautiful, each in their own way. The cradle of Chinese civilization was a vast and diverse place, and as a result, Chinese civilization has undergone a unique process of multiple origins, collision and exchange, and integration. Such a grand process gave birth to the family-state system of “under Heaven, there is nowhere that is not the king’s land” 普天之下，莫非王土 and the political ideal of the Great Unity of the whole world 世界大同, and formed the development trend of civilization that is led by the core, and is characterized by pluralism and unity. Therefore, the process of the formation and development of Chinese civilization is the process of the formation and development of a multi-ethnic unified nation. Such a process has made Chinese civilization sustainable and the Chinese national community unbreakable. After the formation of the unified multi-ethnic state, “Great Uniformity” 大一统 became the highest value and ideal pursued by the Chinese nation zhonghua minzu.

Chinese civilization has developed a unique economic, political and cultural system based on agriculture, a patriarchal system to sustain social organization, a system of rituals to maintain social hierarchical order, promoting virtues to guide ethical relations among people, and the concept of the uniting heaven and humanity to harmonize the relationship between human beings and nature. Clearly, civilizations can take different paths. Every civilization should be beautiful in its own way. Our Chinese self-confidence is rooted in this. 

Since the 18th National Congress of the CPC, General Secretary Xi Jinping has 

• Profoundly grasped the laws of historical development, 
• Scientifically summed up and interpreted the historical experience of the development of Chinese civilization for more than 5,000 years, 
• Vigorously advocated openness and inclusiveness, and 
• Actively absorbed advanced civilizational factors from all over the world for our own use on the basis of inheriting and carrying forward the outstanding traditional Chinese culture. 
• Vigorously advocated the inheritance and promotion of the outstanding traditional Chinese culture to enhance the nation’s cultural self-confidence and historical self-confidence and to enhance the international influence of Chinese civilization; 
• Vigorously advocated the concept of a community of human destiny to safeguard world peace and development; and
• Resolutely safeguarded national unity and national solidarity to enhance the cohesion of the Chinese nation. 

This series of strategically important initiatives to enrich the people and strengthen the country has resulted in great achievements that have attracted worldwide attention. It has been proved that Xi Jinping’s theory of socialism with Chinese characteristics for the new era, which has been fully nourished by the excellent traditional Chinese culture, is a powerful ideological weapon and guide to action that leads the Chinese nation, which has a history of more than 5,000 years of civilization, to achieve a great renaissance.

II. Suggestions for the next step in deepening the research on Origins of Chinese Civilization

1. Expanding research time and space. The study of the origins of Chinese civilization has provided a framework understanding of the origins, formation and stages of development of civilization in regions other than the Yangtze, Yellow and Xiliao River basins, but it still needs to be expanded in both time and space.

In terms of time, the research on the origins of Chinese civilization has found that a number of civilization factors were already emerging 8,000 years ago, and we need to explore how these civilization factors originated and developed. Therefore, the upper time limit of the research on the origin of Chinese civilization should be moved backwards from 5,500 years ago to 8,000 years ago. At the same time, there is still an urgent need to study the governmental system, management and operation mechanism, and the inheritance and development of the cultural genes of the Shang and Western Zhou dynasties, which were 3,500 years ago. Therefore, it is suggested that the lower limit of the age of the source research should be placed at the end of the Western Zhou period, i.e. 2800 years before present.

In terms of space, it is still unclear how the northeastern, northwestern, southwestern and southern regions of China were integrated into the Chinese civilization in a “snowball” fashion, as well as the process of integration and key time points. The frontier regions from ancient times have been an inseparable part of China’s united multi-ethnic state, and need to be studied more intensively.

2. Expand the field of research. According to archaeological discoveries, ancient Chinese literature and ancient historical legends contain rich historical and cultural information, and not all ancient historical legends are myths, but may bear the marks of historical development. Therefore, the research on exploring sources needs to strengthen the integration of archaeology and history, and analyze the historical information in the literature and ancient history legends. In addition, there is an urgent need for research on the relationship between the rich prehistoric inscribed symbols and writing in various regions, the spiritual world, belief system and cosmology of the prehistoric ancestors, and the process of forming China’s cultural genes.

3. Conduct comparative research. In the past, our scholars’ research focused mainly on Chinese civilization itself, with little comparative research on Chinese civilization and other civilizations of the world, not to mention the lack of original research on other civilizations of the world. However, it is only through in-depth comparative studies that we can better understand the characteristics of Chinese civilization itself, the position of Chinese civilization in the world civilization, and the commonalities and laws of the evolution of the world civilization. It is also only through comparative research that Chinese civilization can become an important field of study for world civilizations.

4. Strengthen the transformation, dissemination and exchange of results. The research on the exploration of sources has been carried out for 20 years and has achieved fruitful results, but most of these results remain at the level of academic research, of which the public knows little or even nothing at all. The transformation and dissemination of the research results should become an important task. At the same time, foreign scholars are not too concerned about the research results of Chinese scholars, the results of the source of research failed to get more understanding and recognition in the international academic community. It is a long way to strengthen the communication and interaction with the international academic community and to promote the internationalization of academic achievements.

Editor: Xia Hongzhen

Editor: Yu Hao

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十四届全国人大常委会专题讲座第六讲

中华文明起源与早期发展综合研究

王 巍

来源： 中国人大网  浏览字号： 大 中 小2023年09月01日 15:52

委员长、各位副委员长、秘书长、各位委员：

中华文明是世界四大文明之一，延绵至今未曾中断，在人类文明史上占有独特而重要的地位。中华文明是中国历史研究、也是世界文明研究的重要课题。中华文明的优秀基因融入了中华民族的血脉，塑造了中华民族的思想品质和价值观。正如习近平总书记指出的：“中国有坚定的道路自信、理论自信、制度自信，其本质是建立在5000多年文明传承基础上的文化自信。”研究中华文明起源、形成和发展的历史脉络，彰显中华文明的成就和对人类文明作出的伟大贡献，对于增强民族历史自信和文化自信具有极为重要的意义。

中华文明探源研究有几大关键问题：

一是中华文明是何时形成的？有多久的历史？

二是中华文明是如何起源、形成和发展的，中华文明从多元起源到中原王朝为引领的一体化趋势是如何形成的？

三是中华文明为何会走出一条多元一体、源远流长、延绵不绝的道路？

四是中华文明起源、形成、发展的道路和机制有何特点？

五是中华文明在世界文明史中的地位如何？

由于缺乏中华文明起源和形成时期的文献记载，回答这些问题只能依靠考古学获取的第一手资料。一百年来，考古工作者通过艰苦工作，以丰富的考古发现向世人展示出考古学对于研究古代文明的巨大作用。上世纪七八十年代，浙江良渚、辽宁牛河梁、山西陶寺、河南二里头等遗址的重要考古发现为研究中华文明起源、形成与发展提供了全新的资料。夏鼐先生因此发表了《中国文明的起源》，认为中华文明的形成可以上溯至史前时代。苏秉琦先生根据全国各地的考古发现，提出文明起源“满天星斗”等学说，推动了中华文明的研究。

研究中华文明起源、形成、发展的背景、原因、机制等，还涉及环境、经济、资源、信仰等方面，需要以考古学为基础开展多学科联合攻关。为此，2002年春，国家科技攻关项目——“中华文明起源与早期发展综合研究”（以下简称“探源工程”或“探源研究”）启动预备性研究，并于2004年春正式启动。该项目作为国家“十五”到“十四五”重大科研项目，共有20多个学科、数十个单位的400多位专家学者参加，从工程预研究算起，到去年5月整整20年。

探源研究以马克思主义为指导，以各地距今5500-3500年间最能反映社会发展状况和权力强化程度的都邑性遗址作为工作重点，从中获取关键信息，分析当时的社会分化与权力强化，对中华文明起源、形成与早期发展进行多学科、多角度、多层次、全方位的研究。

一、探源研究的主要成果

经过20多年的工作，探源研究取得了显著成果。

（一）提出了文明定义和认定进入文明社会标准的中国方案

关于文明的定义及相关概念，国内外学术界存在诸多分歧。探源研究坚持历史唯物主义，提出文明是人类文化和社会发展的高级阶段。这一阶段在生产力发展的基础上，出现了社会分工和社会分化，形成了阶级、王权和国家。

探源研究认为，文明起源与文明形成既有联系又有区别，两者是文明社会孕育和产生的不同阶段，先有文明因素量的积累，后有社会质的变化。

具体而言，“文明起源”是指史前时期生产力取得较大发展，物质和精神生活逐渐丰富，社会开始出现脑力劳动与体力劳动的分工、贵贱与贫富的分化，文明因素开始孕育。

“文明形成”是指物质、精神和制度文化都取得了显著进步的阶段。社会分化加剧，形成了阶级；社会等级制度化，人们的社会行为规范化，形成了礼制；出现了集军事指挥权与宗教祭祀权于一身的最高统治者——王，以及强制性的、以社会管理为主要职能的公共权力——国家。国家的出现是文明形成的标志。

探源研究提出了判断进入文明社会的标准。国际学术界曾依据两河流域文明和古埃及文明的特征，概括出文字、冶金术和城市为文明社会的标准，称之为“文明三要素”。如果依据这样的标准，中华文明只有3300年的历史。

通过对世界其他原生文明的研究可知，世界几大原生文明并非都符合这“三要素”，如中美洲的玛雅文明没有冶金术，南美洲的印加文明未使用文字，印度河流域的哈拉帕文明印章上的图案也未被认可为文字。随着世界各地考古发现和研究取得的进展，国际学术界普遍认为，世界各地可以有符合自己古代社会发展特色的文明形成标准。

我国学术界有马克思主义为指导，有历史文献和古史传说为参考，更重要的是，百年考古获得的极为丰富的考古材料，揭示出中华文明有深厚的历史和文化积淀，有独特的发展道路，我国学术界理应提出相应的文明标准。根据恩格斯关于“国家是文明社会的概括”的观点，探源研究提出进入文明社会标准：一是生产发展，人口增加，出现城市；二是社会分工，阶层分化，出现阶级；三是出现王权和国家。探源研究认为，在没有当时文字记载的情况下，可以通过考古遗存辨识当时当地已经进入文明社会。主要特征有以下几个方面：都城、宫殿或神庙、大墓、礼器、战争和暴力。具备了上述特征，说明当时已经出现了王权和国家，已经进入了文明社会。

在距今五千多年前后，中国各区域的农业发展，人口增加，区域中心逐步发展为规模宏大的都邑。制作玉器、绿松石器、精致陶器、漆器等具有高技术含量的手工业专业化，并为权贵阶层控制。各地区都出现了脱离劳动、专门管理社会事务的阶层，社会出现严重的贫富贵贱分化，形成了不同的阶级，出现了掌握军事与宗教权力的王，及由王控制、依靠社会规范和暴力进行管理的政体——早期国家。都邑内有王居住的宫殿等高级建筑、埋葬王和权贵阶层的高等级墓葬，彰显权贵阶层身份的礼器和礼制。出现了奴役现象，一部分人为贵族殉葬或被用于宫殿奠基。

中国考古学的这些发现，足以证明中国进入文明社会的物化形态有自身的特点。这些物化形态所体现的社会生产力发展水平，可以证明当时的剩余劳动能够供养公共权力机关，使一部分人脱离生产专门从事管理和精神信仰方面的事务。

上述文明标准也适合其他原生文明。不同文明虽然在物质文明和精神文明方面各有特色，但在出现王权和国家这一制度文明方面是共同的，只是各地彰显王权的方式和国家形态各不相同。在中国，彰显方式如精美的玉礼器、青铜礼器、规模巨大的土木宫殿、模仿地上建筑的墓葬等；在两河流域和古埃及，则用黄金、宝石、宏伟的石砌神庙、金字塔和大型墓室来表现。

（二）明确了中华文明起源、形成和早期发展的过程，实证了中华五千多年文明

探源研究就中华文明起源形成与发展过程，以及相关的背景和原因，得出了以下认识：距今万年奠基，八千年起步，六千年加速，五千多年进入（文明社会），四千三百年转型，四千年王朝建立，三千年王权巩固，两千两百年统一多民族国家形成。

“万年奠基”：在距今11000年前后，全球气候变暖，促使东亚和西亚的农业产生。距今一万年前，华北驯化了粟和黍，长江中下游地区开始种植稻。浙江浦江上山遗址出土了栽培稻和陶器、石器。华北和长江中下游的先民们开始磨制石器和制作陶器。农业的产生使各地出现了小型的定居村落，为文明的产生奠定了基础。

“八千年起步”：距今8000-6000年为全球范围的气候大暖期。古环境研究表明，当时黄河流域的气候类似现今的长江流域，长江流域的气候类似今日的华南。因气候温暖湿润，稻作农业向北传播到了淮河下游地区，粟作农业在黄河中下游及燕山南北得到普及。遗址中出土的石铲和骨铲，表明刀耕火种已发展为耜耕农业。这个时期的农业促使人口增长、村落增加、手工业发展和社会进步。淮河上游河南舞阳贾湖遗址的先民种植水稻、饲养家猪、酿酒、制作绿松石器，还发明了可以演奏乐曲的七孔骨笛。在一些墓葬出土的龟甲上，有与甲骨文相似的方块刻画符号。在内蒙古赤峰兴隆洼遗址，少数墓葬出土了制作精致的玉耳环和玉吊坠，表明人们已掌握了琢玉技术。浙江跨湖桥遗址出土了长达八米的独木舟，说明当时的人们已经具有一定的近海航行能力。湖南高庙文化制作精美的白陶上有刻画的神像和神鸟，反映出当时人们的精神世界。

在贾湖、兴隆洼等遗址，出现极少数规模较大、随葬玉器或绿松石器的墓葬，说明社会已经出现分化，开启了文明起源的进程。

“六千年加速”：距今6000年前后，中华文明起源的节奏加速。黄河流域的粟黍栽培技术向长江流域传播，水稻耕作技术也向北传到了汉水流域和黄河中下游地区。各地的手工业也取得了显著进步，出现了质地坚实、表面光滑的精致陶器。山西夏县师村仰韶文化早期遗址出土了距今6000多年前的4件石刻蚕蛹，发掘者认为当时已发明了养蚕缫丝。人们的精神生活逐渐丰富，河南濮阳西水坡遗址的一座仰韶文化早期墓葬中，墓主的东西两侧分别有大量蚌壳堆塑出的龙和虎，这与战国到汉代的四神思想的东青龙、西白虎的方位一致。彩陶艺术在我国中东部地区流行，琢玉、髹漆和建筑技术也取得了长足进步。

这一时期社会发生了一系列重要变化：

一是人口显著增加。聚落明显增多，在黄河中下游、长江中下游等区域，出现了由数十个村落构成的聚落群。

二是出现中心性聚落。在河南灵宝铸鼎原遗址群出现了数个规模达100万平方米的大型聚落，与此前数万到十几万平方米的小村落完全不同。

三是出现了战争。一些大中型聚落有宽十几米、深数米的壕沟环绕，显然是为了军事防卫。在黄河、长江和辽河流域，一些男性的墓葬都随葬石质武器——钺。

四是社会分化加剧，开始出现权贵阶层。铸鼎原遗址群的西坡遗址，中部为广场，周围有制作考究、面积达500平方米的超大型房址。在江苏张家港东山村遗址距今5800年的墓地中，众多小型墓随葬三五件陶器，大型墓随葬多件玉石钺、玉装饰品以及数十件精美陶器。但这一阶段还处于文明起源加速阶段，尚未形成国家，也没进入文明。

“五千多年进入”：距今5500-5000年是中华文明史上一个非常重要的时期，长江中下游等地区相继进入了文明阶段。

长江下游地区，在距今5300年前后出现了犁耕和大规模的稻田。田埂和灌溉沟渠规整，稻作农业技术已相当成熟。良渚古城周边大规模的水利系统、古城核心莫角山南侧出土的20万公斤稻谷堆积等，表明发展农耕、掌握仓廪是良渚的国之大事。近年在浙江的余姚施岙、临平茅山遗址发现良渚时期的以树枝、竹条和废弃独木舟堆砌的宽大田埂，纵横交错；河道、灌水孔、排水槽，规划有致。施岙的稻田已确认有8万平方米。这些古稻田的初步修整，甚至可以早到距今7000年前后的河姆渡文化时期。远离良渚国家都邑的史前稻田和耕作系统，显示出良渚早期国家超乎想象的稻作农业规模、以及由此拥有的经济力量。这样的发现告诉我们，良渚早期国家建立在宗教、政治、经济、军事等全面发展的基础之上。

这一时期各地都出现了高技术含量的手工业制品，如精美的玉器、陶器、漆器和绿松石装饰品。良渚文化的玉琮表面刻有精美兽面纹，一毫米的宽度内就有五到六条刻线。黄河下游地区可以生产器壁厚不到一毫米的“蛋壳陶”。这些制品工艺技术复杂，绝非一般工匠能够掌握，说明当时已出现具有专门技能的工匠家族。高技术含量手工业的专业化是社会分工的重要表现。

这一时期社会发展的另一项标志是礼器的出现和礼制的初步形成。玉器、漆器、精致陶酒器等都出自各地的顶级墓葬。在入选2021年度全国十大考古发现的河南南阳黄山遗址，有数座距今5300年左右的屈家岭文化早期大墓，男性墓主大都随葬品丰富。有一座墓随葬一件象牙把手的长弓、两袋石镞、两柄玉钺，墓主脚下堆放400多件猪下颌骨。辽宁建平牛河梁和安徽含山凌家滩大墓中随葬玉人、玉龙、玉鸮、玉龟，凌家滩大墓的随葬品多达300余件。良渚文化大墓也都有玉琮、玉璧等上百件高等级随葬品。同样是在入选2021年度十大考古发现的山东滕州岗上遗址，大汶口文化中期的大墓中有涂朱骨版、鹿角锄、鹿角叉形杖、鳄鱼骨板器、陶鼓、龟甲器等独具海岱地区特征的“礼器”。其中的杖形器是良渚文化象牙权杖的简化版。该墓地的4人合葬大墓也很特殊，墓内密集摆放陶器，包括300件精致陶酒器。上述发现表明各地权贵阶层掌握了贵重物品的生产和分配，形成了以某些高技术含量的珍贵物品作为礼器、同时以墓葬规模体现墓主人地位的等级制度——礼制。

距今5300年前后，在黄河中下游、长江中下游及西辽河流域，都出现了面积达100多万平方米的中心城市和原始宗教圣地。长江下游超大型的都邑良渚古城，内城面积300万平方米，外城630万平方米（分别相当于4个和8个北京故宫的面积），是当时世界上规模最大的都邑。为了防止山洪，在古城以北修建了长10余公里的高坝和低坝，这是同时期世界上规模最大的水利调节系统。修建古城和巨型水坝，假设动员一万人也需要数十年，这反映出良渚王权组织开展大规模公共建设的能力。

在高等级早期城市出现的同时，阶级加速分化。面积数百乃至上千平方米的大型高等级建筑、随葬上百甚至数百件精致物品的权贵大墓，与一般社会成员的小型房子和小型墓葬相差悬殊，说明权贵阶层掌握了大量社会财富。2021年，在湖南澧县鸡叫城遗址发现了总面积达630平方米的屈家岭时期的大型建筑。因埋藏环境潮湿，建筑的木质基础保存完好，壮观的规模、凿痕斑驳的粗大木材，令身临现场者如见巍巍殿宇，无不为之震撼。

几乎所有地区的大墓都开始随葬精致的武器——玉石钺。良渚遗址的反山和瑶山的大墓随葬带木柄的玉钺，显然是象征军事权力的权杖。在岗上遗址新发现的墓葬中，最高等级的男性贵族普遍随葬一大一小两把玉钺。这些随葬玉石钺的墓主人应是具有军事指挥权的王者，权贵阶层因军权而不断增强权威，由氏族部落的首领变为具有生杀予夺大权的王者。

这一时期战争和暴力现象增多，各地出现被扔弃在垃圾坑中、埋在大型建筑的基础里作为奠基、或在大墓中作为殉人的人骨架，一部分人已开始奴役另一部分人。

“四千三百年转型”：距今4300年前后，中华各地的文明进程出现转型，其重要特征是中原崛起。

距今4300-4100年，气候发生较大变化，气温异常，降雨不均，洪水频发，各地区文明的进程受到较大影响。

这一时期长江中下游地区文明衰落，黄河中游地区文明进程加速发展。距今4300年前，黄河中游的势力集团在与周围其他集团的力量对比中逐渐占据优势，山西陶寺和陕西石峁两座巨型都邑相继出现。

陶寺城址的年代约距今4300-4000年。城址长1800米、宽1500米，面积280万平方米。城内高等级建筑区内有面积8000平方米的夯土台基，建筑使用陶瓦，墙壁涂彩并有刻划装饰。陶寺出现了黄河中游地区最早的宫城。大墓出土近百件随葬品，包括鼍鼓、石磬、玉石钺、彩绘龙纹的大型陶盘。在陶寺遗址发现一处半圆形的坛状遗迹，天文学家认为是当时观测天象，确定春分、秋分、夏至、冬至等农时节气的观象台，与《尚书·尧典》中尧“观象授时”的记载相符。陶寺城址还出土了我国最早的铜铃和铜容器残片。在一件陶壶上发现两个字，当时可能已出现文字。陶寺城址的年代、位置、规模、等级都与文献记载的尧都平阳较为吻合。

石峁城是10年前发现的用石块砌筑的山城，距今4100-3900年，面积400万平方米。石峁城由外城、内城和皇城构成，有多种防御设施。城内核心处的皇城台，分几层砌筑，总高度达数十米，台顶有面积数千平方米的大型宫殿建筑，台下有宽阔的广场、通向城内的门楼和道路。宫殿台基上有雕刻兽面及各种动物形象的石条和石柱，在皇城台还发现多件高50多厘米到1米的陶鹰，应与某种信仰和崇拜有关。石峁城有浓厚的军事防御色彩，在城内还发现多处埋有青年女性头骨的祭祀坑，这表明在夏王朝建立前夕，陕北地区的阶级分化已相当严重，出现了拥有强大军事力量的王权国家。

“四千年王朝建立”：距今约4000年前，夏王朝建立。在以嵩山东南麓为中心的区域，出现了10余座大型城址。其中，在登封王城岗发现了气势恢宏、大小相套的内外城，该地自战国以来一直被称为“阳城”。在同时期的禹州瓦店遗址，大型夯土台基上有人祭、殉牲等多种祭祀遗存。这些发现都昭示着中华文明进入了以中原为中心的新阶段。《尚书·禹贡》中的“九州”基本涵盖了华北、华中和华东地区，表明在夏王朝建立之初，黄河中游势力集团的眼界已经扩展至黄河中下游和长江中下游，形成了范围广泛的天下观。经过了约200年的发展，到了夏代后期，夏王朝的实力不断增强，中原的引领地位逐步形成，影响范围空前广阔。这些可以从河南偃师二里头遗址得到反映。

二里头遗址面积300多万平方米，年代为距今3800-3500年，是中国同时期规模最大的都邑性遗址。在遗址中部有面积10万平方米的宫城，这是中国历史上最早的择中立宫。宫城以南是王权控制的生产铜器和绿松石器等高等级产品的作坊区，出土了最早的爵、斝、盉、鼎等青铜礼器。在一座墓葬中，出土一件长64厘米、用两千多片绿松石镶嵌的龙形装饰。

二里头遗址所在的伊洛河流域是文献记载的夏王朝的中心区域，二里头文化的鼎盛期处在夏代后期至商王朝建立前夕。二里头遗址是同时期规模最大的遗址。二里头文化创造的以玉牙璋为代表的礼器和礼仪制度辐射到周边广大地区，影响范围之广前所未有。二里头文化的一整套青铜与玉礼器，被后来的商王朝全面继承。

在商王朝建立前夕，在二里头文化分布的嵩山地区，夏王朝是唯一的强大政治实体，不存在其他具有如此影响力的势力集团。因此完全有理由认为，二里头极有可能是夏王朝后期的都城。夏王朝的存在不仅在先秦以降的文献中有丰富的记录，也得到了考古学的证明。

商王朝继承了夏王朝开创的礼制，政治、经济、文化和社会进一步发展，形成了以甲骨文为代表的成熟的文字体系，冶金术和礼制对更为广阔的区域产生影响。甲骨文的记载显示，商王是国家的最高统治者，商王之下有相对完善的行政机构，有以王畿为中心的直接控制区和间接控制的方国。商朝的政治势力与文化影响东到大海，西及陇山，南跨江汉，北至燕山。商系统的青铜礼器在广阔区域出土，表明商王朝在中华文明演进过程中发挥了更强的引领作用，促进了各地文化与社会的发展。

“三千年巩固”：西周初年，周王通过“封邦建国”，册封自己的至亲和功臣到各地建立诸侯国，实现了商王朝未能实现的，中原王朝对王幾之外广大地区的稳固统治。在继承夏商礼制的基础上，周王朝完善了礼制体系，形成了以青铜器的种类和数量差别构成的器用礼制，以此明确等级。这种器用等级差异在西周时期被不断强化，逐渐扩展到衣食住行的各个方面，以至于穿着颜色、服装款式、佩戴玉器、驾乘马车、编钟乐器组合的种类与数量都有制度差别，甚至在丧葬活动中，木质棺椁的层数、墓葬的大小都发展成为相对完备、严密的制度和完整理念。西周是中华文明进程中十分关键的时期，以分封制、宗法制、礼乐制为特征的文明形态，以周天子为核心的天下共主的国家结构，进一步强化了夏商以来的中央集权制度，为秦汉统一多民族国家的形成奠定了坚实基础。

“两千两百年大一统”：是指公元前221年，秦始皇统一中国，“海内为郡县，法令由一统”。中华文明从王国文明进入到大一统国家的文明阶段，开启了统一多民族国家形成发展的新阶段。

（三）揭示了中华文明多元一体格局的形成和发展过程

中华文明的显著特征之一是多元一体。中华文明起源时就显现出一些共性的文化因素，呈现出迈向一体化的趋势。

1.早期中华文化圈的孕育

中华大地内部各地理单元环境不同，导致形成不同的经济形态、文化面貌，各地的文明化进程各具特色，中华文明呈现多元起源、丰富多彩的样态。考古发现证实，各区域的史前文化存在密切联系，相互交流，逐渐融合，形成了共同的文化基因，构成了“早期中华文化圈”。在不同时间段，这些共同基因的表现有所不同。

距今8000年前后，各地相继形成了以玉为美的观念。在黑龙江饶河小南山遗址出土了目前所知最早的玉器——玉玦、玉吊坠和玉珠。内蒙古兴隆洼、浙江萧山跨湖桥和余姚河姆渡遗址也都出土了同类玉器。玉器成为史前中国东部地区最重要文化因素之一。此后，玦等玉器在黄河和长江流域的史前文化中广泛出现，一直沿用至夏商周时期。

距今6000年前后，龙的形象在不同地区出现。西水坡遗址仰韶文化墓葬中，男性墓主人尸骨东西两侧用蚌壳堆出龙和虎的形象。距今5500-5300年的辽宁喀左牛河梁红山文化大墓和安徽含山凌家滩大墓中，都随葬体呈C型的玉龙。可见“龙”开始在从东北西部到长江下游的地区流行，并在后来发展成为凝聚中华民族共同体的精神标识。

从距今5500年以后，中华大地的文化与社会发展共性增强。

以玉为贵的理念逐步确立。随着各地的阶层分化日益明显，玉器开始从装饰品向礼器转变。牛河梁、凌家滩大墓中的玉人、玉龙、玉鸟、玉龟，良渚大墓中的玉璧、玉钺，湖北天门石家河权贵墓中的玉人头像、玉凤等，说明以玉为贵、以玉为礼的观念在中华文化圈的各地区流行。玉琮和玉璧最早出现于良渚文化早期的大墓，此后向周围地区传播并向后代传承，在夏商时期的大墓中也有踪迹。商时期，琮、璧还辗转传播到三星堆和金沙遗址所处的古蜀文明区。

钺成为王权和军权的象征。大约在距今6000多年前，社会分化加剧、军事首长权威增强并逐渐转变为凌驾于社会之上的王。各地的大墓随葬制作精致的玉石钺，钺成为军事指挥权的象征。岗上遗址的大墓中，最高等级的男性贵族都随葬一大一小两柄玉石钺。商周时期，钺更是王权的象征。在商王武丁妻子妇好的墓中有青铜大钺，山东青州苏埠屯薄姑氏王墓中有两件“亚醜”大钺，都显出王者的威严。《尚书·牧誓》记载，武王伐纣时“王左杖黄钺”，指挥军队。甲骨文的“王”——和金文的“王”——就是从钺的形象而来。

距今5500年前后，彩陶成为各地区一体化的灿烂符号。在黄河中游的仰韶文化中晚期，由花和鸟的主题简化成圆点和弧线三角的纹饰在黄河上中下游、长江上中下游和西辽河流域普遍出现，这是黄河中游的史前文化第一次对其他地区施加强烈影响。这次中原地区仰韶文化彩陶向周围地区广泛而强烈的影响可能与古史传说中黄帝、炎帝集团兴起和势力范围的扩展有关。

综上所述，距今5000年前后，各区域文明宛若“满天星斗”，在中华大地熠熠生辉。各区域文明相互交融，逐渐形成了具有共同基因的“早期中华文化圈”。

2.中原成为中华文明核心区的原因

距今4300-4000年，当长江中下游、黄河下游等区域的文明相继衰落时，中原地区的文明进程并未出现挫折，而是从尧舜禹到夏商王朝都保持了发展态势。为何会如此？探源研究得出以下认识：

一是农业发展，基础稳定。古环境研究表明，距今4200年前后全球范围气候异常，长江中下游地区文明衰落，而中原地区的文明发展达到新的高度。探源研究进行多学科分析后发现，中原地区多样的地形，粟、黍、稻、麦、大豆构成的多品种种植制度，猪、狗、牛、羊等多样化的家畜养殖，使中原具有较强的抵御自然灾害的能力，农业得以巩固，文明和社会持续发展，为夏商王朝的建立奠定了基础。

二是开放包容，博采众长。在陶寺和王城岗等遗址，可以看到其他地区的文化因素向中原汇聚的现象，如黄河下游史前文化的陶制酒器和木质棺椁、长江下游良渚文化的玉琮和玉璧、经西北地区传入的冶金术等，都被中原吸收。中原融汇各地文化因素，孕育了夏商王朝。

三是广泛结盟，形成合力。根据古史传说，中原集团从黄帝时期就注重结盟。面对周围势力向中原地区拓展的挑战，中原集团采用结盟的方式壮大力量，尧、舜、禹先后成为盟主。在安徽蚌埠涂山脚下的禹会村遗址，发现一处夏朝建立前夕的特殊遗迹：中央为一方形土台，前有一字排列的30个长方小坑，周围是具有各个地区特色的陶制酒器。《左传∙哀公七年》说：“禹会诸侯于涂山，执玉帛者万国。”这一考古现象或许反映了文献传说有一定的史影。

四是创建礼制，巩固王权。为了保持社会稳定，壮大集团力量，陶寺文化开创了以鼓、磬、铃、玉石钺、成套容器等为表现形式的礼乐制度，这为夏商王朝继承和发展，礼制成为中华文明的核心内容。

由于上述原因，中原的文明持续发展，最终成为中华文明的核心。

3.从汇聚到辐射

夏代晚期，中原与周围地区的关系出现重要转变。夏王朝在继承此前的发明创造的基础上，又吸收了来自东方的玉牙璋、白陶、原始瓷和硬陶等，加以规范和礼仪化后成为彰显王权、显示尊贵的礼器。此时的青铜礼器、嵌绿松石龙纹铜牌饰、铜铃、石磬，以及牙璋、钺、刀、戈等组成的玉礼器，蕴含着礼的价值观。这类器物及所含的观念向周围广大地区传播，影响所及东抵海岱，西至甘青，北达内蒙古赤峰，南到华南。夏王朝开始成为中华文明的核心引领者。

以夏王朝的建立为契机，中华文明进入王朝文明阶段，也开始了中原王朝引领的一体化新进程。商周时期，中原的青铜器、玉礼器以及冶金技术对周围地区产生了强烈影响。晚商时期，青铜尊和罍等礼器出现在了三星堆古蜀文明都城。西周王朝建立后，从宗法血缘关系上确立了从中央到地方的等级结构，中原王朝对周围广大地区的统治更加稳固，由王都向外辐射输出的文化与技术，在王朝统治区内迅速推广普及，各地文化一体化加强，为秦汉统一多民族国家的形成奠定了坚实基础。

在中华文明的一体化进程中，有许多共同的文明基因自距今八千年前就开始孕育。在漫长的文明起源历程中，这些共同基因若隐若现，但始终延绵不绝，成为中华文明的底色。

（四）展现了交流互鉴对中华文明形成的作用

习近平总书记指出“文明因多样而交流，因交流而互鉴，因互鉴而发展”。交流互鉴始终是推动人类文明进步的重要动力。中华文明的形成和长盛不衰，与各区域文明之间、与外部文明之间的交流互鉴密不可分。

探源研究通过DNA等技术得知，距今5000-4500年前，原产于西亚的小麦、黄牛、绵羊和冶金术传入我国西北地区，大约在4300年前被中原地区吸收，成为中原文明的组成部分。西亚冶金术与中原地区的1000度高温冶炼的技术结合后，出现了陶范铸造法，最终发展为夏商周时期高度发达、在全世界首屈一指的青铜容器铸造技术。二里头文化的青铜冶炼技术明显超出原始阶段，开始生产有一定合金配比的铜器。作为当时中国青铜器的生产中心，二里头创造性地用青铜铸造酒器和炊器，使之成为祖先祭祀仪式中最重要的物品，以此强化统治阶层的合法地位。

在吸收的同时，中华文明的发明创造也为人类文明作出了突出贡献。比如，北方史前先民们发明的粟作农耕技术，在距今6500年后陆续向南传播，经我国福建、台湾省传播到东南亚。水稻种植技术在稍晚的时候，同样经由闽浙两省向东传至台湾省，进而广泛传至太平洋的西南地区。随着农业的传播，东南亚与海岛地区的人口增长，客观上带来了南岛语族人向太平洋地区的扩张。农耕技术与丝织品生产技术，也从山东半岛、辽东半岛向朝鲜半岛和日本列岛传播，又从欧亚草原传播至西亚和欧洲。

除农作物物种和栽培技术外，夏商周文明的青铜容器铸造技术向朝鲜半岛和日本列岛传播，催生了东北亚地区的青铜时代。反映中华文明礼制的牙璋、玉璧等，在夏商时期经西南的三星堆、金沙和华南地区流传到东南亚。

中华文明探源研究受到国际学术界的关注。国际权威学者、剑桥大学教授伦福儒勋爵高度评价研究成果，肯定良渚阶段已进入文明社会。在2013年举办的首届世界考古（上海）论坛上，中华文明探源研究被来自20多个国家的40位国际顶级专家组成的评审委员会选为世界重大研究成果。2019年7月，良渚遗址成功进入世界文化遗产名录，入选理由是“良渚古城遗址展现了一个存在于中国新石器时代晚期的，以稻作农业为经济支撑、并存在社会分化和统一信仰体系的早期区域性国家形态，印证了长江流域对中国文明起源的杰出贡献。”正如习近平总书记所评价的那样：“良渚遗址是实证中华五千年文明史的圣地”。

（五）带来了中华文明发展历程的历史启示

1.多元融合是中华文明生生不息的源泉。纵观中华文明早期的演进，可以看出中华大地各区域的文明异彩纷呈。其中，黄河中游地区以开放的心态吸收各种文明因素，最终融合了其他区域的文明。历史表明，各区域的文明都对中华文明的形成做出了积极贡献。正是由于多种文明汇聚融合，才使中华文明充满活力、持续发展。

2.开放包容、交流互鉴是文明发展的动力。中华文明积极吸收借鉴其他文明的成果并发展创新。即使在史前时期，交流就已经普遍存在，持续的跨区域、跨族群的交流，记录了文化互鉴的历程，促进了文明的发展。交流互鉴是中华文明持久兴旺的关键，是中华文明魅力永恒的支撑。只有开放包容，海纳百川，才能使文明之树长青，使中华文明永葆活力。

3.文化软实力是增强中华文明创造力和影响力的保障。夏商周文明不断凝聚先进理念，造就了以“礼”为代表的主流价值观，这一内涵丰富的思想影响了周围广大地区，引领、推动了这些区域的文明发展。秦汉以后，“礼”被传承弘扬、赋予新的内涵，成为中华文明的核心理念，并通过交流互鉴传播到周围国家和地区，成为东方文明的核心价值观。

4.中华文明的起源、形成和早期发展，与世界其他三大原生文明基本同步，辉煌的文明成就毫不逊色。中国距今万年前后的农业起源、距今5000多年的文明形成与两河流域和古埃及大体同时。距今3000多年周王朝通过分封制，构建了当时最大规模的政体。距今2600年前后春秋时代的百家争鸣，是与古希腊、古印度同时发生的“轴心时代”人文精神的觉醒。粟作和稻作农业、玉器和丝绸制作等，既体现了中华先民的智慧和创造力，也是对人类文明的重要贡献。在中华文明形成过程中，发生过气候异常、社会动荡等各种磨难，中华先民自强不息，勇于战胜艰难险阻，终于完成我们伟大文明的创生，中华文明得以位列四大文明之一。这样的文明发展历程和成就，是今天我们文化自信的源泉。无论现在还是将来，中华文明都会卓然屹立于世界。

5.国家一统是民心所向、强盛之基。在中华文明发展进程中，有战争，有万邦林立，有诸侯割据，但在统一核心的引领下，生产力发展，社会进步，秦汉大一统国家得以建立。从此以后，“尚一统、求大同”的理念和国家政治实践，以强大的感召力浸润着中华民族的思想，凝聚着中华民族的人心，引导着中华民族的认同，成为中华文明历久弥新的核心思想体系，铸就了中华文明独特的品格。

历史表明，国家统一既是中华文明的本质属性，也是中华文明延绵不绝的根本保障。国家统一、民族团结、社会安宁，必定使中华文明有更加辉煌璀璨的成就。

6.中华文明经历了独特的发展道路，形成了独特的文明基因，文明应该各美其美。孕育中华文明的摇篮地域辽阔、环境多样，中华文明也因此经历了多元起源、碰撞交流、融合一体的独特进程。如此宏大的进程，孕育了“普天之下，莫非王土”的家国体系和世界大同的政治理想，形成了核心引领、多元一体的文明发展趋势。因此，中华文明的形成发展历程，就是多民族统一国家形成发展的历程。这样的历程使中华文明生生不息、中华民族共同体牢不可破。在统一的多民族国家形成后，“大一统”成为中华民族追求的最高价值和理想。

中华文明形成了独特的经济、政治和文化制度，以农业为基础，以宗法制度维系社会组织，以礼制维护社会等级秩序，以德规范人伦关系，以天人合一的观念协调人与自然的关系。可见，文明可以有不同的道路。文明应该各美其美，美人之美，美美与共。这是我们道路自信的根源。

党的十八大以来，习近平总书记深刻把握历史发展规律，科学总结和阐释中华文明五千多年发展的历史经验，大力倡导开放包容，在继承和发扬中华优秀传统文化的基础上，积极吸收世界各国先进的文明因素，为我所用；大力倡导继承和弘扬中华优秀传统文化，增强民族文化自信、历史自信，增强中华文明的国际影响力；大力倡导人类命运共同体理念，维护世界和平发展；坚决维护国家统一和民族团结，增强中华民族的凝聚力。这一系列具有战略意义的富民强国举措，取得了举世瞩目的伟大成就。事实证明，从中华优秀传统文化中充分汲取滋养所形成的习近平新时代中国特色社会主义理论，是引领具有五千多年文明史的中华民族实现伟大复兴的强大思想武器和行动指南。

二、下一步深化探源研究的建议

1.拓展研究时空。中华文明探源研究对长江、黄河和西辽河流域以外地区的文明起源、形成和发展阶段有了框架性的认识，但仍需要在时间和空间两方面拓展。

在时间方面，中华文明探源研究发现，距今8000年前若干文明因素已经初露端倪，我们需要探讨这些文明因素是如何起源发展的。因此，应当把探源研究的时间上限从距今5500年前提早至距今8000年。同时，对于距今3500年的商代和西周时期国家的政体、管理与运行机制、文明基因的传承与发展等，还亟待研究。因此，建议把探源研究的年代下限放在西周末期，即距今2800年。

在空间方面，对于我国东北、西北、西南和华南地区如何以“滚雪球”的方式融入中华文明，以及融入的过程和关键时间节点等，都还不明晰。上古时期的边疆地区，是我国统一多民族国家不可分割的部分，需要加大研究力度。

2.拓展研究领域。根据考古发现，中国古代文献和古史传说中蕴含着丰富的历史文化信息，古史传说并非皆为神话，而可能有历史发展的印痕。因此，探源研究需要加强考古学与历史学的融合，分析文献和古史传说中的历史信息。此外，各地丰富的史前时期的刻画符号与文字的关系，史前先民的精神世界、信仰体系、宇宙观，文明基因的形成过程等，这些方面的研究也亟待开展。

3.开展比较研究。既往我国学者的研究主要集中在中华文明自身，几乎没有涉及中华文明与世界其他文明的比较研究，更缺乏对世界其他文明的原创性研究。但只有通过深入的比较研究，我们才可能更好地认识中华文明自身的特点，了解中华文明在世界文明中的地位，把握世界文明演进的共性和规律。也只有开展比较研究，中华文明才能成为世界文明研究的重要领域。

4.加强成果转化、传播与交流。探源研究已经进行了20年，取得了丰硕的成果，但这些成果大多还停留在学术研究的层面，公众对此所知甚少，甚至完全不了解。探源研究成果的转化、传播应当成为重要任务。同时，国外学者对于我国学者的研究成果不太关注，探源研究的成果未能在国际学术界得到更多了解与认可。加强与国际学术界的交流、互动，推动学术成果的国际化任重道远。

（主讲人系中国社会科学院学部委员、历史学部主任）

编 辑： 夏红真

责 编： 于　浩