Thick Sanjin soil·Journey to southern Shanxi·Linfen·The birthplace of Chinese civilization

Thick Sanjin soil·Journey to southern Shanxi·Linfen·The birthplace of Chinese civilization

Linfen, known as Pingyang in ancient times, is located in the south of Shanxi and the middle reaches of the Yellow River. It belongs to the Central Plains Cultural Circle of the Yellow River Basin the heartland. The Yellow River, the milk of Chinese civilization, flows through its west and south sides, and the Fen River, a huge tributary of the Yellow River, runs through it in the middle. The water of the Yellow River gave birth to ancient culture. As far back as the prehistoric period of Chinese civilization, this is where the ancestors of the Chinese nation lived. The profound and long-standing culture of the Three Jin Dynasties is most fully reflected here. The rich primitive cultural relics in southern Shanxi prove to people that southern Shanxi, including ancient Pingyang, is the birthplace of Chinese civilization and the cradle of the Chinese nation.

In the early Paleolithic Age, the southern Shanxi area was infiltrated by the Yellow River and Fenhe rivers, resulting in a warm climate, abundant rainfall, and rich vegetation. Primitive ancestors lived here and created the oldest civilization of mankind. The Xihoudu site in Ruicheng is the earliest Paleolithic cultural site, dating back 1.8 million years. The unearthed stone tools, fire-burned antlers, animal bones and other cultural relics show that the Xihoudu people were not only able to make chopping tools for cutting branches and large three-sided pointed stone tools for digging plant roots, but also had The use of fire began, which is the earliest known record of human use of fire in China. About a million years after the Xihoudu people arrived, our ancestors created the Nihe culture in the Nihe Village area south of Xihoudu and closer to the corner of the Yellow River. The small pointed tools among the stone tools were invented by the Nihe people. Hundreds of thousands of years ago, in Ding Village, Xiangfen County, in the lower reaches of the Fen River in southwestern Shanxi, the Ding Village people belonging to the Middle Paleolithic Age created the Ding Village Culture. More than 2,000 stone tools have been found at the Dingcun cultural site. The types of stone tools include thick triangular pointed tools, small pointed tools, scrapers, chopping tools, stone balls, etc. The large three-sided pointed utensil developed from the Xihoudu culture was made more perfect in the hands of Dingcun people, and is known as the "Dingcun pointed utensil". Dingcun culture spread widely in the Fenhe River Basin, extending from southern Shanxi to central Shanxi, and influenced the Xujiayao culture in northern Shanxi. The Xujiayao people learned their stone ball-making technology from the Dingcun people. More than 14,000 years ago, our ancestors created Xiachuan culture in the three counties of Yuanqu, Qinshui and Yangcheng in southern Shanxi.

About five or six thousand years ago, the Yangshao Culture of the Neolithic Age appeared in southern Shanxi. The Yangshao Culture later developed into the Longshan Culture. Its larger cultural relics include Ruicheng Dongzhuang Village, Xiwang Village, Dongxiafeng in Xia County, Taosi in Xiangfen County, etc. These cultural relics show that primitive agriculture existed in southern Shanxi at that time, and it transitioned from slash farming to farming. The earliest physical objects of wood were found at the Taosi Temple site in Xiangfen. Bone shovels, triangular plows and other relatively advanced agricultural tools of the time were also found in the Taosi ruins.

Emperor Yan, Emperor Huang, Yao, Shun, and Yu, who made immortal contributions in the creation and development of Chinese civilization, were all active in the Neolithic Age, and their central areas were all around southern Shanxi. Scholars have verified that the Zhuolu Battle between the Yellow Emperor and Chi You took place in Jiezhou Town, Yuncheng, southern Shanxi. Yao's capital was Pingyang, Shun's capital was Puban, and Yu's capital was Anyi. Houji taught people to farm crops in Jishan, and Leizu raised silkworms in Xia County. Legends and relics still exist to this day. In ancient times, there were Yao's mausoleum and Yao's temple in Pingyang, Hukou and Longmen had the footprints of Dayu's flood control, and there were Leizu hills in Xia County. The status of southern Shanxi in the history of Chinese civilization can be seen from this.

Pingyang Ancient City is a pearl in this fertile land of ancient culture and the oldest city in southern Shanxi. More than 4,000 years ago, the ancient emperor Yao established his capital here. The legend of King Yao visiting the wise and giving way to Shun also happened here. During the Xia, Shang and Zhou dynasties, Pingyang belonged to Jizhou; during the Spring and Autumn Period, it returned to the territory of Jin; after the three families of Han, Zhao and Wei were divided into Jin, Han also established its capital in Pingyang. In the eighth year of the reign of Emperor Zhengshi of the Three Kingdoms period (247), Hedong County was established and its administrative seat was Pingyang. During the Sixteen Kingdoms period, Liu Yuan proclaimed himself emperor and established Pingyang as his capital, which lasted fifteen years. In the third year of Emperor Kaihuang's reign in the Sui Dynasty (583), Pingyang was changed to Linfen County, Linfen County. In the 16th year of Chongzhen in the Ming Dynasty (1643), Li Zicheng led a rebel army to capture the ancient city.

In the history of civilization for thousands of years, Pingyang not only produced ancient wise emperors like Yao, but also produced many politicians, military strategists, and writers in later generations who are famous in history. Among them are the famous generals Wei Qing and Huo Qubing of the Western Han Dynasty, the politician Huo Guang of the Western Han Dynasty, and the eminent monk Faxian of the Eastern Jin Dynasty. Faxian was the first Chinese monk to go to India to learn Buddhist scriptures. He traveled westward for fourteen years and traveled to more than thirty countries. He brought back many Sanskrit Buddhist scriptures from India. After returning to China, he co-translated six parts of the Vinaya and twenty-four volumes of the Vinaya with Buddha Bhadra; He also recorded his travel experiences and compiled them into "Buddha Kingdom", which provided important information for studying the history of ancient Central and South Asian countries and Sino-foreign communications.