At the same time (Banpo residents at that time), who were the ancient residents living in the Yangtze River Basin? What are the characteristics of life?

In the past, people just said that the Yellow River Basin was the cradle of the Chinese nation. In fact, the Yangtze River Basin is also the cradle of the Chinese nation. These two great rivers should be compared, just as the Euphrates River and Tigris River form the backbone of Babylonian culture, and the Indus River and Ganges River form the backbone of Indian culture. The backbone of China culture is the Yellow River Basin and the Yangtze River Basin, where dragons and phoenixes are auspicious and * * * is brilliant.

Archaeologists are constantly uncovering the source of life of residents in the Yangtze River basin. 1956 ~ 1957, a 10 stone ape tooth fossil was found in tertiary lignite in Xiaolongtan, Kaiyuan County, Yunnan Province. From 1975 to 1980, Lamarckian fossils were found in tertiary lignite of Shihuiba coal yard in Lufeng County, Yunnan Province. From the mandible found, we can know that Australopithecus had the transformation characteristics from ape to human 5 million years ago.

During the period of 1997, experts from vertebrate paleontology Institute of Paleoanthropology, Chinese Academy of Sciences excavated a large number of paleolithic tools 2 million years ago at Longgupo Site, damiao town, Wushan County, Sichuan Province. This major discovery was published in the world authoritative magazine Nature.

The American Science News put forward the argument that "human ancestors were in China". Based on this, a preliminary conclusion can be drawn: about 2 million years ago, human beings lived in the Yangtze River basin and began to create folk culture.

During the 6000 years from 1000 years ago to 4000 years ago, the Yangtze River basin experienced matriarchal clan society and paternal clan society, which was called Neolithic Age by textual research. The residential culture of matriarchal clan society has been found in Hemudu, Yuyao, Zhejiang, Majiabang, Jiaxing, Caoxieshan, Wuxian, Jiangsu and Songze, Shanghai (lower level) in the Yangtze River valley.

As for the folk culture of matriarchal clan, we can't see the written materials at that time, but we can learn from ethnology and explore the living fossils in minority areas. According to the book Primitive Social History by Mr. Lin and others, the Lahu people in Nuofu area of Lancang County, Yunnan Province still had a matriarchal clan before 1949. This big family lives in a bamboo building with a wooden and bamboo structure. This large bamboo building is 23m long and10m wide. People live above and livestock are raised below. The two sides of the house are divided into several small rooms, one for each spouse, and the fireplace is located in the middle aisle. The family has farm animals and production tools, and the harvest is owned by the family, stored centrally and enjoyed by the whole people. Every matriarchal family includes several small families. When a daughter gets married, she can start a family by herself. The largest family can include more than 10 small families, and the eldest daughter enjoys an important position in the family.

Regarding the folk culture of the clan, the Liangzhu site in Yuhang County, Zhejiang Province shows that it had settled down and engaged in farming at that time, and there were many kinds of stone tools and crops. A waterfront village was found in the ancient cultural site at Haimenkou, Jianchuan, Yunnan. The house is similar to a dry fence, with pottery and bronzes unearthed. Until the beginning of the 20th century, the Dulong people in Yunnan still retained the remnants of patriarchal clan society, with men as the head, public land and collective labor. Individual families have not formed social production units. According to the Survey Report on the Social History of Qideng People by the Institute of Ethnology, China Academy of Social Sciences, Qideng people in Zhawu area, southeast Tibet, have also preserved the patriarchal family commune for a long time, and their wives live in their husbands' long-term houses. Each wife and her children live in a small room with their own fireplace.

The folk culture of clan society is simple and natural. The houses in Hemudu are all decorated with art. Archaeological findings show that there are two birds in the morning carved with ivory, fish-shaped handles in wood carvings and heads of pottery figurines, which show people's concept of nature worship.

The folk culture of clan society pays attention to the choice of environment. Archaeological sites found in the Yangtze River basin are all in places with convenient transportation, rich water resources and rich products.

Many houses of clan society were found in the middle reaches of the Yangtze River. For example, 196 1, five houses were found in the Qinglongquan site in Yunxian County, Hubei Province. The foundation is round and there is a stone pillar foundation under the wall. The wall is made of bamboo and wood, covered with fine mud, and the ground is leveled with fine mud. A single-room and double-room building site was found at Zhujiatai site in Xunxian County, Hubei Province (now danjiangkou city). There was a column hole in the middle of the north and south rooms, which should have supported the roof truss. 1982, an apartment was found at the site of Guanmiao Mountain in Zhijiang, Hubei Province. It is speculated that the house has a four-slope roof and obvious walls. Archaeologists classify this site as Daxi culture. Mr. Gao Jiehua believes that there are seven characteristics in the construction of indigenous houses in Chu area in Neolithic age (see the first chapter of "Cities and Buildings in Chu" for details): First, the ground and platform buildings germinated from half holes. Secondly, the plane form has evolved from a single geometry to a non-single combined geometry. Thirdly, there are different building structural systems, including wooden frame with walking platform and masonry structure with load-bearing wall. Fourth, a variety of roofs are generally formed. Fifth, have a preliminary understanding of the performance of building materials. Sixth, the consciousness of waterproof, moistureproof, mechanics and building thermal engineering is budding. Seventh, aesthetic consciousness permeates the architectural decoration, which is finely polished, bright and beautiful.

The folk culture of clan society is peaceful, without class and war. People are simple in thought and morality and live in harmony. The book Li Yun, written more than 2,000 years ago, gives a beautiful description of this kind of social life: the trip to the Avenue is for the public, talents and abilities are chosen, and faith is cultivated, so people are not only close relatives, but also sons and sons. Give the elderly a sense of security. Men get points and women get rewards. If the goods are abandoned on the ground, there is no need to hide them on yourself; You don't have to do it for yourself. Therefore, it is called "Datong" to seek closure but not prosperity, and thieves do not do it, so leaving the house is not sealed.

This material is the reminiscence and yearning of Zhou literati for ancient social life. In the initial process, human society has experienced such an era of great harmony. People are selfless and care for each other. This is a chaotic state in the underdeveloped period of society. With the progress of productive forces, mankind has finally stepped into the threshold of civilization.

Second, within the threshold of civilization.

Civilization is a historical concept. It is generally believed that there are three main signs that determine civilization, one is metal tools, the other is writing, and the third is the disparity between the rich and the poor. With the rich and poor, there will be palaces and classes. The Chinese nation gradually stepped into the threshold of civilization in the era of the Yellow Emperor. When Dayu's son ascended the throne, the Chinese nation had a country-Xia. The remains of the Xia Dynasty have been found in many places in the Yellow River basin, but not many in the Yangtze River basin. Fortunately, there is a written record. However, the specific situation of residential buildings in the Yangtze River valley in the Xia Dynasty is not clear.

In Shang Dynasty, there were Oracle Bone Inscriptions, the bronzes were developed, the Wang clan system was basically clear, and the academic circles had a deeper understanding of Shang Dynasty. Shang dynasty sites have been discovered many times in the Yangtze river basin. Take Wuhan as an example. There is an earth slope on the road leading to Tianhe Airport, surrounded by water on three sides. Archaeologists discovered the ruins of Panlongcheng, a palace building in Shang Dynasty, with beautiful scenery. Shang Dynasty ruins were also found in Shamao Mountain, Hannan District, Wuhan City, which is close to the Yangtze River. But in these places, except for the base site of the city wall, the bricks and beams of these sites have not been seen. Looking through ancient books, I didn't see any records about these sites. Historians have always been puzzled: how did the palaces of the Shang Dynasty appear along the Yangtze River? Why did it suddenly disappear? This has always been a mystery.

Other areas in the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River have also found residential sites in the Shang Dynasty. For example, in 1957, the site of Huanggao Temple was discovered in Xuzhou, Jiangsu Province, including stone axes, stone sickles, pottery pots, pots, sacrificial places and Oracle Bone Inscriptions in the Shang Dynasty. It can be inferred that this used to be a residential area.

1973 ~ 1975, Shang tombs, including bronzes, pottery and stone models, were discovered in Wucheng, Qingjiang, Jiangxi.

From the Oracle Bone Inscriptions in Oracle Bone Inscriptions, there are already words about the Shang folk houses, such as the word "Xi" similar to "靗靗", like the traditional hard mountain and hanging mountain buildings; The word "Xiang" means that a window has been opened on the wall; The word "household" means that there is only one door in the house; The word "door" means there are two doors; "Palace" means that the house has compartments; "High" means balcony; "City" means the existence of a city.

From the archaeological sites of Shang dynasty, we can infer the situation in the south from the sites in the north. Houses in Shang dynasty pay attention to the orientation of houses, and the orientation can be determined by the shadow of the sun, that is, by instruments such as GUI and Biao. The foundation soil is dry and clean, and many houses are semi-caves. The foundation and wall of the semi-cave house are relatively stable, and it is warm in winter and cool in summer when living. All large buildings, such as palaces and ancestral temples, are very exquisite in design, based on stone or copper, with tall wooden frames erected on them. There is a harmonious ecological environment where people live together, with a lot of water and trees.

The Zhou Dynasty is divided into the Western Zhou Dynasty and the Eastern Zhou Dynasty, and the Eastern Zhou Dynasty is divided into the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period. If you want to understand the Zhou Dynasty, you must read two literary works, one is The Book of Songs and the other is Songs of the South. Both books have materials about folk houses, but The Book of Songs focuses on the Yellow River valley, and The Songs of Chu generally reflects Chu culture.

The folk culture in The Book of Songs is very rich, some based on the Yangtze River valley, and some based on the Yangtze River and the Yellow River. As recorded in Prescription, in 658 BC, Wei moved the capital to Chuqiu (now northeast of hua county, Henan Province), and later revived the country: "Prescription was written in the Chu Palace. Take it as the sky and make it in the Chu Palace. " ?

There is an article "Evocation of the Soul" in the Songs of Chu, which describes the houses in the State of Chu beautifully and says that the most suitable place to live is the Yangtze River valley. The east can't settle down, there are thousands of giants who specialize in searching for people's souls, and there are ten suns who come out to bask in stones and gold in turn; You can't live in the south, barbarians sacrifice human flesh, and poisonous snakes and foxes suddenly come into contact; Sha Qianli flows in the west, with red ants like elephants and mysterious bees like pots, which are seriously short of water; There are thousands of miles of snow and mountains of ice in the north. Chu is the best place, because: the high hall is spacious (the house is high and the courtyard is deep), the sill is high (the hall is surrounded by railings), the platform is tired (the platform and pavilion overlap), the mountain is near (near the mountain), the door has squares (painted red), the squares are connected), there are caves in winter and rooms in summer (warm houses in winter). Scholars seldom pay attention to the realistic side of evocation. If we put aside the fantasy side, this article is a precious historical material to study the folk houses in the middle reaches of the Yangtze River, so as to explore the ecological environment at that time, which is also beneficial.

Song of the South and Buju. Living does not mean living, but the method and attitude of living. In his article, Qu Yuan asked questions: Should a person be honest and clean, or should he flatter the world? Should we settle for farming, or should we swim around and talk about it in Kan Kan? Should we be outspoken or drag out an ignoble existence? These problems reflected the scholars' exploration of life norms at that time, and were actually the embodiment of life concepts.

In addition to literary works, archaeology also provides information about architecture and folk life in the Zhou Dynasty: during the Western Zhou Dynasty, some cultural remains were found in Jiangsu and Anhui along the Yangtze River, and archaeologists named a number of mature cultural sites in Jiangning Lake, which can basically be identified as the cultural remains of the Western Zhou Dynasty in the southeast.

Stone tools and pottery, as well as Oracle bones and Jiabu, were found in Suojin Village in Nanjing and Gecun Village in Dantu. During the 400 years from 689 BC to 278 AD, the Chu people established their capital in Jinan City, jiangling county, Hubei Province. It is true that it was once the most concentrated and prosperous city in the Yangtze River Basin. Since 1976, archaeologists have conducted a comprehensive investigation and partial excavation of Jinan City, and found five city gates and two water gates, with the palace area in the southeast and handicraft areas in the northeast and southwest.

From the Spring and Autumn Period to the Warring States Period, Wuxi has Wuhe Greentown, Suzhou has Wangwucheng, Shaoxing has Yuecheng, and Yangzhou has Hancheng, all of which are concentrated places of residence.

In the mountainous areas on the east and south banks of Taihu Lake, there are some sites called "bonfire wharf" by local people, such as Wufeng Mountain in Wuxian County, Jiangsu Province, Canshan Mountain in Wuxi, Cangshan Mountain in Xing Wu, Zhejiang Province, etc., all of which have found the cultural remains of the Eastern Zhou Dynasty.

The Qin Dynasty unified China and strengthened its control over the grass roots. Archaeologists discovered Qin Dynasty cultural relics in Shuihudi, the western suburb of Chengguan, Yunmeng County, Hubei Province. Some lacquerware is marked with names such as "XX City", "XX Pavilion", "XX Li" and "XX Township".

Archaeological sites of urban settlements in Han Dynasty spread all over the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River, including Yicheng, Jiangling and Ezhou in Hubei, Xiangyin and Ningyuan in Hunan, Xinjian and Duchang in Jiangxi, Suxian and Boxian in Anhui, Xuzhou and Xuyi in Jiangsu, indicating that these places are densely populated. During the period of 1957, a village site in the late Eastern Han Dynasty was excavated in Gaoyou, Jiangsu Province, including wells and pits.

From Xia, Shang and Zhou Dynasties to Qin and Han Dynasties, the data of residential buildings in the Yangtze River valley were less than those in the Yellow River valley, which brought difficulties to our research. At that time, the political, economic and cultural centers of China were all in the Yellow River valley, and people from wuyue and Chu were despised, ridiculed as uncivilized, or dismissed as Man Zi. In fact, the culture in the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River is not only exquisite, but also rich, with unique advantages in architecture, silk weaving, smelting, art and philosophy. Scholars of past dynasties took the Central Plains as orthodoxy and neglected the research on the culture of the Yangtze River basin, which made many people feel that the culture of the Yangtze River basin was backward in the three dynasties, Qin and Han dynasties, and this concept should be changed.

By the Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties, the culture of the Yangtze River basin had developed greatly on the original basis. On the one hand, it is the primitive cultural accumulation, on the other hand, it is the injection of Central Plains culture, which contributes to the diversity and vitality of culture. At this time, folk culture also reappeared an unprecedented scene.

According to the research of geographers and meteorologists, the cold climate and frequent disasters in the north during the Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties led nomadic people to advance from the north to the Central Plains, while the farming people in the Central Plains were forced to migrate to the Yangtze River basin. As early as 1934, Mr. Tan Qixiang published the article "Ethnic Migration after Yongjia Riot" in Yanjing Journal, pointing out that in the early years of Yongjia, refugees from Shandong and Shanxi crossed the Huaihe River and settled in the south. In the early years of the Eastern Jin Dynasty, northerners from Huainan moved south across the river, and many people from Shaanxi and Gansu moved south to Hanshui River Basin or Sichuan Basin. During the Liu and Song Dynasties, a large number of refugees moved south. Today, Jiangsu has accepted the most northern immigrants, and Anhui, Hubei and Sichuan have also accepted different numbers of immigrants.