Understand Liangzhu culture

Brief introduction of Liangzhu culture:

Amazing achievement

1. The largest and most advanced urban flood control system in the world at the same time.

In the northwest of Liangzhu ancient city, ancestors built a 6.5-kilometer-long dam in the remaining vein of Tianmu Mountain for flood control. Yuhang, Zhejiang Province is the largest rainstorm center in Zhejiang Province, and floods often occur once in a hundred years. Liangzhu people built this dam to protect the ancient city of Liangzhu, the capital. Locals call it "Tangshan Tuyuan", which is at least 4 meters high and 30 meters wide on average except for the length of 6.5 kilometers. A flood storage reservoir has been formed around it, and it can still sail.

Seven kilometers to the west from Tangshan Tuyuan, there are two levees-Gong Peng Levee and Qiwushan Levee, one is five kilometers long and the other is six kilometers long. The dam of one of the mountain passes is as high as 20 meters, which is made of different levels of soil and is extremely strong. These two flood control systems have ensured 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 Indian city of the same period, Mohenjo's legal hero, known as "Gumanhatan", was destroyed seven times by floods and finally had to be abandoned. We should marvel at Liangzhu's powerful flood control ability.

2. The largest city and civil engineering in the world in 2500 BC.

5,000 years ago, the surrounding area of Liangzhu ancient city was still an inaccessible swamp. However, from 4900 years ago, a group of people suddenly came here to fill the marshland and build a large-scale city. Archaeologically speaking, these people are likely to come 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.

Probably after leaving Tianmu Mountain, they immediately started to build Liangzhu Ancient City. The first to be completed is the giant building foundation "Guding", also known as "Jiaomo Mountain" in archaeology-this giant building foundation is 8- 10 meters high, about 670 meters long from east to west and 450 meters wide from north to south, covering an area of more than 300,000 square meters. This 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 Jiao Mo. After that, anti-mountain and Huangling Mountain may be established in turn. As archaeological excavations have not been fully revealed, we can't guess how much earthwork these huge projects have consumed.

From about 2500 BC to 2300 BC, the "wall" of Liangzhu ancient city was built. The ancient city is slightly rectangular, with rounded corners and a north-south trend. Its east-west length is 1500- 1700 meters, and its north-south length is 1800- 1900 meters, covering an area of more than 2.9 million square meters. The bottom of the city wall is paved with stones, 40-60 meters wide. The foundation is piled with pure loess, and some areas still have walls more than 4 meters above the surface. * * * Found six sluices. The earthwork volume of the whole city wall is no less than that of the Egyptian pyramids. From the form of ancient cities in other areas of the Yangtze River basin, they all have a common feature-the city walls are gentle, and the inside is straight and the outside is inclined-and they attach great importance to flood control. 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 rose from the ground. For example, the ancient city of Liangzhu is surrounded by three layers of long earth walls, such as Meiren Dike and Bianjiashan, which constitute its "outer city". After archaeological excavations, these earthen walls were actually the communities where potters and lacquerers worked and lived at that time-of course, silk could also be made. These communities are connected by a large-scale artificial system of canals, and they are all equipped with their own docks. Through these water transport modes, the products of the ancient city will be transported to the whole Jiangsu and Zhejiang regions, forming a large-scale trade network centered on Liangzhu ancient city.

Liangzhu ancient city and its outer city, with a total scale of 30 square kilometers, were the largest cities in the world at that time.

3. Lacquerware, silk, jade, jewelry, unparalleled black pottery craft and the germination of characters.

The jade articles in Liangzhu culture are world-famous, especially the heavy objects such as Cong, Bi and Yue. Their carving and modeling have reached a superb level. There are relevant materials everywhere on the website, so I won't say much here. The lacquerware in Liangzhu period was also very developed, which could not only make colorful lacquerware, but also make complex 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, 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 commodity.

The world's earliest silkworm silk fabric was discovered at Qianshanyang site in the north of Liangzhu ancient city. The density of silk thread is equivalent to that of modern fine linen, which reflects the superb level of textile technology. Liangzhu people's pottery making technology is unparalleled in the world. It is not only elegant in shape and extraordinary in weather, but also complicated and magical. Bianjiashan once unearthed a piece of pottery, less than 20 square centimeters, engraved with 23 exquisite bird-shaped patterns. A wide-handled black pottery cup unearthed from Chuodun site has a unique shape and is covered with carefully designed sacred lines, which even contemporary artists are amazed.

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 high seas and catch deep-sea fish such as sharks. At that time, collecting shark teeth was a luxury fashion of Liangzhu nobles.

Wen Tao in Liangzhu people's cultural period is much more complicated than anywhere else in China at the same time, and the notes on some pottery can be connected into sentences. There is a collar of Liangzhu pottery in Harvard University Museum in the United States, which is engraved with rows of regular symbols 9- 12. The writing style is more beautiful than that of Oracle Bone Inscriptions. It can be said that during the Liangzhu period, China characters sprouted-of course, more similar archaeological discoveries are needed to confirm.

It is worth mentioning that in ancient China, Liangzhu people first adopted farming techniques and large-scale irrigation systems (see the site of Liangzhu rice field in Maoshan), which improved the grain yield qualitatively. This has also become the fundamental factor supporting the prosperity of Liangzhu society.

Second, the rise and fall of Liangzhu culture

In 3500 BC, the young Huaxia nationality sprang up in the middle reaches of the Yellow River. They first originated in Shaanxi-Gansu region in 6000 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 pushed the situation into Shaanxi, Gansu, eastern Henan, Hebei, western Liaoning and the Yangtze River basin, forming the most powerful nation in ancient times. However, in their heyday, they were bashed head-on by a mysterious nation. This mysterious nation comes from the far 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 live in harmony with powerful Chinese 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 3800 BC, there was a serious polarization in the society of Songze people. The excavation of Dongshan Village site shows that in the early period of Songze culture, two groups of nobles and civilians were formed. The nobles began to decorate their lives with jade articles and buried them after death.

But at that time, the best jade production base in China was Lingjiatan in Huaihe River area. Lingjiatan people's society also admired jade very much. 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 3600 BC, 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 belonging to Dongyi ethnic group were suppressed in a corner of Shandong Province, which is likely to unify the Yellow River. However, after the impact of Songze culture, the expansion of the Chinese nation began to decline. At that time, Songze people may be the alliance of Dongyi people-but in any case, this alliance soon ceased to exist. In 3300 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 it can be seen 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 had lived for generations. At Huating Site, archaeologists discovered the tombs of Liangzhu nobles and Dawenkou civilians at the same site, and also discovered the earliest martyrdom pit in China. Archaeological investigation shows that the number of settlements in northern Jiangsu has dropped sharply-Dongyi people were not only defeated by the invading Liangzhu people, but also migrated far away.

Now, the people of China have become allies of distant nations, and * * * is attacking the Dongyi people. However, the Dongyi people won a decisive victory in their expansion in the west, and successfully captured eastern and central Henan. Yangshao culture split, Huaxia Group had to return to Guanzhong.

Sunrise in the east and rain in the west, 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 jade articles around the Taihu Lake basin are distributed in Liangzhu Ancient City, which probably reflects a political relationship with clan characteristics. Liangzhu City is likely to lead a vast ancient country.

With the urbanization process of Liangzhu ancient city, there are several different "cities" in Taihu Lake basin-Fuquanshan site and Sidun site. Among them, Fuquanshan site covers an area of 1 square kilometer, with a large altar and a high-ranking aristocratic cemetery in the center. Sidun site is about the same area as Fuquan Mountain site. It has not only a central altar, but also 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, within the distribution range of 60,000 square kilometers of Liangzhu culture, the prominent position of Liangzhu ancient city has never been shaken. The territory of Liangzhu ancient country starts from northern Jiangsu in the north, central Zhejiang in the south, Anhui in the west (this is only an estimate, and its western boundary has not yet been determined), and the sea in the east. Its jade ritual vessels are spread far and wide in 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 2600 BC, the Longshan culture in the Central Plains has risen. One of them is the "legislative platform culture". From 2400 BC, they gradually expanded to the southeast. Liangzhu society has been greatly influenced, and Liangzhu culture has also been transformed into pre-Shanyang culture. However, during this period, the construction of Liangzhu ancient city continued, which seems to indicate that they still maintained their political independence.

Around 2200 BC, the expansion of Legalists to Liangzhu became more and more intense, 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 Taihu aborigines.

By 2000 BC, the political situation in most parts of China was in chaos. The once prosperous ancient city of Taosi in the Central Plains was destroyed and slaughtered (see "Big Disturbance Pit" in Taosi); People in Ordos area have penetrated into most parts of the Central Plains. The Longshan culture in Shandong declined on a large scale, eggshell pottery and jade-making skills 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.

That is, in the same period, a savage nation from southern Zhejiang once again plundered Taihu Lake and drove legislators 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 aristocratic lifestyles are abandoned. Taihu Lake area has returned to simple rural life and primitive hierarchical order. The once prosperous Liangzhu ancient country was forgotten forever. It was not until the 20th century, through the efforts of archaeologists, that the great achievements of our ancestors were re-known by our descendants.