Chapter 1538: Transfer of Discourse
Why large-scale ruins can be used as symbols of civilization is itself a "correction" of the earliest Western archaeological definition of civilization.
Metal, writing, and cities are indispensable. As a distinction between civilization and culture, it is too simple and crude.
For example, metals and writing, the most typical ones are a series of civilizations such as the Maya in South America. Almost no metal artifacts have been found yet, but their high-level construction technology, large-scale urban agglomerations, magnificent sculptures and pyramid altars , undisputedly shows its complex social structure, upper and lower classes, theocratic kingship, and highly developed productive forces.
Although it has no metal or text, its architectural structure can reveal their profound understanding of the universe, and this understanding also forms a system with its unique unknown pattern. If it is passed down on a large scale, can you say it is not civilization?
Since the Mayan civilization without metal and writing should be classified as civilization, then conversely, the definition of Western civilization marked by the three elements of metal, writing, and cities should be overturned or corrected.
Then we need to look at the essence through the phenomenon, and return to the plan that Zhou Zhi elaborated in the paper before, and replace the sign of metal with the height of human technological development that can be studied from the ruins; Yes, it can become a system, and the richness of knowledge passed down on a large scale can replace the symbol of writing;
Because metal is the characteristic of science and technology, and writing is the characteristic of communication; now we use the height of science and technology and the richness of inheritance. Replacing metal and words with degrees is nothing more than replacing phenomena with essence, which is completely reasonable.
Zhou Zhou agrees with the rest of the city's characteristics, and the definition of a city is also very clear: that is, the characteristics that can reflect complex social structures, upper and lower classes, theocratic kingship, and highly developed productive forces.
Urban functional divisions such as city walls, water supply and drainage systems, residential areas, commercial areas, handicraft areas, palace areas or sacrificial areas can fully prove these characteristics.
In other words, if a large-scale site has these characteristics and reaches a certain scale and can accommodate the production and living activities of more than 5,000 people, such a large-scale site can be defined as a city.
Such a city can naturally be called a "civilization" if its culture lasts long enough and its advanced technological features and knowledge inheritance features can reach certain standards.
Such a civilization is almost equivalent to the existence of a country.
Then the question returned to a strong inference from the domestic Shishi faction - it is unlikely to be found within the activities of the Xia and Shang tribes seen in ancient documents, that is, in the Central Plains area of the middle and lower reaches of the Yellow River. What a new archaeological culture. Therefore, the Xia culture in archeology must be included in the various stages of various cultural types that have been discovered in this space and at this time.
If Zhou Zhi's paper can be recognized by the academic community, then the theoretical weapon will be complete, and the remaining work is to find the "civilized" sites in the Central Plains region of the middle and lower reaches of the Yellow River. Just choose the one that has the greatest overlap with the Xia Kingdom in historical records.
This "Xia Ruins" can basically be identified as the Erlitou ruins.
In the summer of 1959, when Mr. Xu Xusheng, a famous Chinese archaeologist, led a team to conduct a survey of "Xia Ruins" in western Henan, they discovered the Erlitou ruins, which kicked off the exploration of Xia culture.
After dozens of archaeological excavations at the Erlitou site, archaeologists have made a series of significant gains.
In 1977, Mr. Xia Nai named this type of cultural relics "Erlitou Culture" based on new archaeological results.
From the 1960s to the present, the excavation and research of the site has gone through three stages:
The first stage: From the early 1960s to the late 1970s, archaeologists established the cultural framework sequence of phases 1 to 4, revealed the foundations of palaces 1 and 2, discovered bronze smelting sites, cleaned up tombs of different levels, and determined The urban nature of the site was revealed. The second stage: In the 1980s, archaeologists conducted a series of rescue excavations, including the remains of copper casting workshops; they discovered many architectural sites and tombs, and unearthed a large number of pottery, bronzes, jade, lacquerware, turquoise, etc. .
The third stage: In the 1990s, the work team carried out systematic drilling and key excavations in the palace area, discovering and cleaning up several large building foundations; The roads were traced and crisscrossing roads and rutted remains were discovered outside the palace area.
Through decades of continuous excavation and research, the Erlitou site has made the above-mentioned series of important discoveries. China's earliest main road network, the earliest palace inner city area, the earliest official handicraft workshop area, the earliest bronze ritual group, the earliest turquoise group and many other "best in China" have been discovered.
There is no doubt that this is a city. If replaced by the traditional expression in Chinese historical materials, this is the "city of China" written in "The Thousand Character Essay".
Up to now, the Erlitou site has been determined to be about two kilometers from east to west and 1.5 kilometers from north to south. At the same time, the population living in this city is as high as 20,000 to 30,000.
The cultural eras included in the site range from the Yangshao Culture and Longshan Culture about 5,000 years ago to the Eastern Zhou and Eastern Han Dynasties.
The period of its prosperity ranged from the 21st century BC to the 16th century BC, which basically coincides with the "Xia" recorded in historical data.
Using these districts to confirm the historical data and the civilization standards set by Zhou Zhi, there is no doubt that this is a large and highly developed city. From its prosperous age, system, technology, and social development level, they are all consistent with those in the literature. The "Xia Dynasty" is highly consistent.
After referring to other exclusive evidence and using new standards to consider it, the Erlitou Civilization Site is the Xiadu Site.
The latest archaeological results emerging from the Erlitou site have made it increasingly popular in the academic world. Zhou Zhi's paper promptly changed the logical relationship from "if you can't find cultural relics that confirm the existence of the Xia Dynasty, you cannot prove the existence of the Xia Dynasty" to became “We found the perfect match for Xia It is a civilization site with regional characteristics, scale characteristics, civilization height and chronological continuity characteristics, so if you don’t agree, please use the above four points to argue and overturn our conclusion and prove that we are wrong.”
Can it be overturned? Of course not. Since it cannot be done, then maintain the original logic.
This not only marks the victory of the science of rules and academics, but also involves the transfer of the right to speak.
Turning his mind to this point, Zhou Zhi basically understood why Minister Liu attached so much importance to his paper. It seems that the country is preparing to put forward its own ideas from this perspective and redefine the academic new world's archaeological circles. Standard.
Thinking of this, Zhou Zhi smiled and said: "The earliest standard itself was something that was tinkered with by a few Western scholars more than five years ago."
"According to their standards, they can't explain South American civilization, let alone Chinese civilization, and they can't even explain their own Easter Island. It should have been changed long ago."
Minister Liu's eyes suddenly lit up Okay, this guy is really smart. He knows exactly what he wants to ask with just one click.
(End of this chapter)