More than 5000 years ago, human civilization began to enter a period of rapid development. The ancient Egyptians built magnificent pyramids, and the Sumerians in the two river basins created the world’s earliest writing. As the only ancient civilization in the world that has continued to this day, China has been shrouded in various prehistoric myths and legends for a long time. Today, when we dispel the thick fog, we are surprised to find that more than 5000 years ago, the dawn of civilization has already shone on this land of China.
This hilly area is located in Mianchi County, Henan Province. On a day in April 1921, a Swede first came to this land. He was Antesheng, an advisor to the Mining Department of the Ministry of Agriculture and Commerce of the Beiyang Government at that time. His purpose of coming here was not to search for minerals, but to discover prehistoric colored pottery pieces in a village called Yangshao Village.
Li Xinwei, Researcher at the Institute of Archaeology, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences:
At that time, there was no clue about what the prehistoric era of China was like, but now it has suddenly been discovered that there is a prehistoric colored pottery culture, which is also related to the colored pottery culture in Central Asia. This is a very attractive discovery, so Anteson decided to conduct an excavation.
This excavation began on October 27, 1921 and lasted for 36 days. A large number of ground stone tools, bone tools, and pottery were excavated, especially the exquisite colored pottery, which surprisingly did not leave a single word in any Chinese literature. What kind of history is this? What era is it in? So much so that we know nothing. After the first excavation, according to archaeological conventions, this culture was named the Yangshao Culture, which became the first officially named ancient cultural system in Chinese archaeological history, marking the birth of modern Chinese archaeology. However, its significance goes beyond that.
Institute of Archaeology, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences – Li Xinwei: In the early 20th century, the New Culture Movement began, and the Ancient History School was very prosperous. The Ancient History School completely overthrew the ancient history system of China. Gu Jiegang proposed that it was a follow-up by later generations. The previous systems of the Three Emperors and Five Emperors were all unreliable. So, what exactly is Chinese ancient history and what is the origin of Chinese culture? This has become a question.
But after all, Antesheng is a Western scholar. Seeing the similarities between the painted pottery culture of Yangshao culture and the painted pottery culture of Central Asia, he proposed a viewpoint. In terms of Chinese culture, he believed that Chinese painted pottery culture was passed down from the West, and this viewpoint surprisingly gained support from many people at that time. Is it true that China’s ancient civilization was passed down from the local area?
What unknown secrets are buried beneath this land? Through time and space, we look forward to a greater discovery. More than 5000 years ago, our ancestors who lived on this land had what kind of stories, what kind of people they were, and what brilliant civilizations they created? From drinking blood to drilling wood for fire, from collecting and hunting to cultivating crops, every small progress in human development history has gone through a long time, so the development of civilization is particularly important. Before the emergence of formal written records, there were many ancient Chinese legends, and the legend of the Three Emperors and Five Emperors has been passed down to this day.
This is the ancestor worship ceremony at the Huangdi Mausoleum in Xi’an, China. Every year during the Qingming Festival, a large number of overseas Chinese come to worship the Yellow Emperor, and this activity has been ongoing for thousands of years. After the establishment of the Republic of China in 1912, the concept that the Yellow Emperor was the common ancestor of the Chinese nation was widely recognized. According to ancient historical records, it is inferred that the era of the Yellow Emperor dates back about 5000 years, which is why the concept of 5000 years of Chinese civilization was proposed. However, in that era without written records, did these ancient historical legends really exist, and did a unique civilization named after China initially form over 5000 years ago?
In 3300 BC, in a large settlement of the Miaodigou culture in western Henan, an important figure stopped breathing. The place where the incident occurred was the Xipo Site on the edge of the Zhuding Plain in Yangping Town, Lingbao, Henan Province. His death must have been a major event more than 5000 years ago. In 2004, this large tomb was excavated, along with the giant building site, covering a total area of over 500 square meters. It was the largest single building at the time and also a place for public gatherings.
Institute of Archaeology, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences – Li Xinwei: At that time, all the house sites were cleaned up completely. After all the cleaning was completed, the impression of such a large house site left on me. I stood in the middle and traveled through my imagination for a while, and that feeling was really experienced. The person who could organize the construction of such a large building was indeed not an ordinary person. At that time, society had already developed to a considerable extent.
The Miaodigou culture belongs to the middle period of the Yangshao culture. Although it existed for a short time, it had a particularly significant cultural impact on the surrounding areas, especially the dissemination of its distinctive colored pottery, which sparked a very grand artistic wave in prehistoric China.
Li Xinwei: Every colored pottery is painted by craftsmen on top, and there are almost no identical colored pottery. Sometimes you may see that its overall style is the same. The composition elements include arcs, triangles, dots, and arcs, and there are many basic composition elements. Perhaps everyone looks at them coldly and thinks they are all similar, but in reality, almost none of the colored pottery is exactly the same. Each such painting is an artistic expression.
The spread of colored pottery was widespread at that time, and with the development of Chinese field archaeology, Antesheng’s Chinese culture gradually disintegrated to the west. His theory was based on the prehistoric culture foundation in western China that existed earlier than Yangshao. After archaeological discoveries, it was found that the culture of colored pottery in western China was passed down by Yangshao.
This is a local colored pottery workshop in Mianchi, Henan. It still uses the Yangshao period clay kiln to burn pottery. Although electric firing of pottery is faster and more stable now, they still prefer the method of clay kiln. After being baptized by fire, the color of the pottery is better controlled and the texture is stronger. This is the wisdom of our ancestors. However, our ancestors may not have expected it more than 5000 years ago. Today, people are still using their way, tools have changed, the environment has changed, but the bloodline of the nation has not changed, and the wisdom flowing in the bloodline has not changed.
This is Lingjiatan in Hanshan County, Anhui Province. Next to it is the Yuxi River, which is the only water system from Chaohu Lake to the Yangtze River. Transportation is very convenient. The soil mound across the river is a piece of farmland. However, what people never expected was that this place actually buried a disappeared ancient civilization.
Anhui Provincial Institute of Archaeology – Zhang Jingguo: The location we are standing at is the tomb of Lingjiatan. This tomb was officially excavated in 1987, and we have excavated it five times. Now, this location is the last excavation in 2007. When we excavated in 2007, it was numbered M23 in 2007, which is the largest tomb found at the Lingjiatan site.
The excavation in 2007 is still vivid in Zhang Jingguo’s memory, as he will retire in just one year. After more than 20 years of excavation in Lingjiatan, he vaguely feels that there will be a groundbreaking discovery here.
Zhang Jingguo: During the excavation process, a very small piece of jade material was exposed. At that time, the entire piece was not yet exposed, only a small part was exposed. When I saw such a beautiful jade seed material, I said how could there be such a jade seed material in Lingjiatan. I was also very surprised because I wanted to take it out. When I saw that it was too large, I couldn’t take it out. I said to slowly follow the strata and do it this way. After two days, the entire jade pig was exposed.
This is a seed material of jade, but there are obvious carving marks on the upper part, with two nostrils and mouth carved on it, which looks like the shape of a pig from the shape. This is currently the earliest, largest, and heaviest jade carved pig shaped artifact discovered in China’s archaeology, and larger discoveries are still to be made.
Zhang Jingguo: With the excavation of this jade pig, I thought it must be a very important tomb below. Sure enough, after cleaning up the ground of this jade pig, we found traces of a rectangular tomb pit.
In the subsequent excavation, a total of 330 burial objects were unearthed from this tomb, including more than 200 jade artifacts alone. Such a large number of burial objects were also rare in the Neolithic period of China. A large number of jade artifacts were used to cover the body in the tomb, which was the predecessor of jade burial in China and opened up the trend of burying with jade artifacts. The jade artifacts excavated from the Lingjiatan site have a high level of craftsmanship. In one of the tombs, three jade figures were excavated, which are the earliest jade figures in China. The carving level of jade figures is exquisite, and in some places, even modern people are skilled. Unable to reach.
Zhang Jingguo: For the 98M29, 15 jade figure, there is a tunnel hole like a bull’s nose behind this jade figure. There is a point inside this tunnel hole, which is left by a pipe drill. The diameter of this pipe drill is only 0.15 millimeters, which is something we cannot achieve with our current technology to drill this 0.15 millimeter aperture.
According to expert research, the Lingjiatan culture dates back more than 5600 years. In those days, without any metal or modern tools, our ancestors carved such exquisite jade objects. What kind of era was that? In one of the tombs, a jade plate was unearthed, with a circle carved in the middle of the plate, inside which was a square octagonal star pattern.
Zhang Jingguo: We call that jade plate the Primitive Bagua Diagram, which happens to be sandwiched between the upper and lower abdominal armor of this jade turtle. Therefore, the ancient literature recorded in the Hetu Luoshu also conforms to the evidence we excavated in our archaeology. Therefore, the Primitive Bagua Diagram in Lingjiatan should be the earliest primitive Bagua Diagram in China. King Wen of Zhou did the Bagua Diagram later on.
More than 5000 years ago in the Jianghuai region, the Lingjiatan people showcased their brilliant civilization with exquisite carving. There are early sacrificial rituals and primitive philosophical ideas from over 5000 years ago, which are deeply imprinted in the bloodline of our nation. Behind these civilizations is a powerful clan that dominates the Jianghuai region, and the owner of that large tomb is the leader of their tribe.
This is Niuheliang, located at the junction of Jianping County and Lingyuan City in Liaoning Province. In this hilly area, special shapes made of stones are often found on the soil hills and slopes, ranging from circular to square. Who built the stones here and what are their uses? The intervention of archaeologists has gradually made us realize this mysterious tribe that dates back more than 5000 years.
In 1983, archaeologists began excavating Niuheliang, a site that dates back more than 5000 years and is known as the Hongshan Culture. The shapes built by these stones are called Jishi Tombs, and a large number of tombs have been found inside the Jishi Tombs.
Liu Guoxiang, a researcher at the Institute of Archaeology of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences: Jishizhong is a place where special deceased people from the Hongshan Culture period were buried. What were these people before their lives? They may have been unclassified priests who were buried in the Jishizhong stone coffin tomb after their death. The reason why Jishizhong was built is not only for burial purposes, but also for the living to hold sacrificial activities and worship their ancestors. Therefore, he wants to bury these ancestors on the top of mountains or mounds, using the form of Jishizhong to bury them, mainly for sacrificial purposes.
With the deepening of archaeological excavations and the excavation of a large number of cultural relics, this mysterious prehistoric tribe has gradually emerged before us. A large number of jade artifacts were also unearthed in the tombs, one of which is the most common image, resembling a coiled dragon overall, and the head is designed to be in the shape of a pig, so it is called the Jade Pig Dragon. There is also a C-shaped Jade Dragon, with the dragon body processed into a large C-shaped shape and the body closer to the snake body, known as the first dragon in China. This is the first appearance of the dragon image in China and a symbol of ancestor totem worship. We often say that we are descendants of the dragon, and the root is here. Around the Jishi Tomb, some circular altars were also found, which were made of stacked stones and divided into three circles surrounding each other.
Liu Guoxiang from the Institute of Archaeology of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences: Some experts explain that this represents the earliest sky covering diagram in China, which can reflect the relationship between the spring equinox, summer solstice, autumn equinox, and winter solstice. The Temple of Heaven in Beijing during the Ming and Qing dynasties was also known as the Three Rings, which can be said to be in line with the Three Rings Stone Altar in Niuheliang. This is also an important evidence of the continuous development of our 5000 year Chinese civilization.
From this, we can imagine that over 5000 years ago in the Western Liao River Basin, the Hongshan people who had already mastered agricultural planting techniques began to vigorously develop the agricultural economy. With the continuous increase in population and abundant food, some people were able to break away from agricultural production and move towards specialized production, which promoted the division of labor in handicrafts and accelerated the development of cultural processes. The development of agriculture made the people of Hongshan increasingly dependent on the weather. In addition, the Hongshan area has always been relatively dry, so these jade dragons are likely to be used by ancient people to pray for rain during worship, which can be said to be in line with ancient China’s request for rain from the Dragon King. These stone mounds and altars are places used by the Hongshan people for worship, but after decades of archaeological excavations, no residential areas of the Hongshan people have been found.
Liu Guoxiang: The Niuheliang Site has a relatively large scale, with a main distribution area of 50 square kilometers. After years of archaeological work, we have not found any residential areas around the Niuheliang Site, which was the place where people lived at that time.
Where do these Hongshan people, who have a mysterious ritual custom, actually live? Why do they have to travel a long distance here to worship?
This is Xinglonggou in Aohan Banner, Inner Mongolia, more than 130 kilometers away from Niuheliang. Archaeologists have discovered a large number of Hongshan cultural settlements here. In 2012, a pottery figurine was discovered at a Hongshan Culture house in Xinglonggou. Its face was realistic, its lower body was freehand, it had a crown on its head, a hat on its forehead, and its eyes were bright and lively.
Liu Guoxiang: This pottery figure is currently the largest body shape of the Hongshan Culture whole body pottery figure we have discovered, and it is also the most realistic and highly realistic Hongshan Culture pottery figure with a highly realistic face. It is an important evidence of the worship of ancestors by the Hongshan ancestors.
From this, it can be seen that these Hongshan people living in Xinglonggou are the owners of the Niuheliang Altar. Niuheliang is its sacrificial and burial center, and the ceremonial center is far from the residential area. This is also a tradition that our nation has been continuing. The origin of Chinese sacrificial culture is similar to the Thirteen Tombs and Temple of Heaven in Beijing.
This soil slope is located in Lixian County, Hunan Province. It is situated on a low flat hill one to two meters higher than the surrounding plain. Local villagers call it Chengtou Mountain. Previously, it was a farmland surrounded by a river thirty to fifty meters wide. Surprisingly, this is the earliest city in China, and this soil slope is the oldest city wall.
Wang Zhenzhong, member of the academic department of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences: It is the earliest archaeological site with city walls discovered nationwide, dating back to 630 years ago, and belongs to the Daxi culture.
Due to the rarity of wars in the south, this ancient city has been well preserved, and even the river channels are the same as 630 years ago. In Chinese history, the history of southern cities is much earlier than that of the north, a whole thousand years earlier. After excavating the ancient city wall of Chengtou Mountain, we found that this ancient city has been in use for over a thousand years, spanning the two periods of Daxi Culture and Qujialing Culture.
Wang Zhenzhong: The current archaeological analysis of the Daxi culture dates back to 6300 to 5300 years ago, which is a thousand years ago. The Daxi culture is the Qujialing culture, which should have been 5300 to 4800 years ago at that time. In this way, it spans over a thousand years.
Due to the need to resist floods, the ancient city of Chengtou Mountain was not only built early but also used for a long time. With its superior geographical location, Chengtou Mountain stands out among the crowd on the Liyang Plain, clearly having a certain appeal and leading the way. From the large amount of cultural relics excavated, it can be seen how prosperous this place was back then, with a dense population, dense living spaces, and abundant goods.
This is Liangzhu Town in Yuhang District, Hangzhou City. This tall plateau is called Mojiao Mountain. In 1977, archaeologist Su Bingqi predicted that this was ancient Hangzhou. In the following twenty years, this prophecy was constantly confirmed, and Liangzhu became the most dazzling star in Chinese prehistoric archaeology. In 1986, the Anti Shan Liangzhu Culture Noble Cemetery was exposed, revealing eleven large tombs. In 1987, the Yaoshan Cemetery was exposed, revealing twelve large tombs. In 1991, four more Liangzhu Culture large tombs were discovered at the Huiguanshan Site. Thousands of exquisite jade artifacts were unearthed from these tombs, including King Cong, King Yue, divine figures, and animal faces, which caused a sensation in the academic community.
Wang Ningyuan, a researcher at the Zhejiang Provincial Institute of Archaeology: There is already a very obvious wealth gap in this Liangzhu stage, and this wealth gap is very, very obvious, very significant. For example, these tombs in the anti mountain area,
These tombs in Yaoshan, when you open them and look inside, are all white jade artifacts. The entire coffin was filled from top to bottom, so your ordinary ordinary ordinary ordinary people’s tomb may just be a small pendant, or even a small bead.
Jade has a very special position in the history of Chinese civilization. The Chinese tradition of Vegetarian gelatin and worshipping jade has been inherited from Hongshan culture, Lingjiatan, and then Liangzhu to this day.
Wang Ningyuan: Chinese people particularly admire jade, and even now most of us still like it very much. We think that this jade is a mineral element that is detached from ordinary elements. It may have many very sacred, but many very beautiful, because in all Chinese characters, as long as there is a jade side, everything is beautiful.
Wang Zhenzhong: Mr. Ji Xianlin once said that if one material represents Chinese culture, it is jade. It can be said that it has been an important witness and carrier of Chinese civilization for eight thousand years until today.
This is the most common type of jade artifact in the Liangzhu culture, called the jade cong. It has a round inside and an outer side, and some jade congs are also carved with patterns of gods, humans, and animals. This totem like image appears on many Liangzhu jade artifacts, carving fine patterns like threads on the hard jade artifacts. It is difficult to imagine how the Liangzhu people without metal tools did it. The jade cong, which can be seen everywhere in tombs, is an important ritual tool. It is a medium to communicate between heaven and earth. The outer side of the cong is like land acquisition, the inner circle symbolizes heaven, and the pillar pierced by the middle hole is like a pillar of heaven and earth, symbolizing the continuity between heaven and earth. In the Hongshan culture, there is a type of slanted barrel shaped vessel that plays the same role as the jade cong.
Liu Guoxiang: Sometimes it is placed horizontally behind the head of the tomb owner, but some are also placed on the chest of the tomb owner. I think it has a bottomless function of connecting up and down, and should be a religious sacrificial tool that plays a role in connecting heaven and earth.
Due to the lack of metal tools, the ancients had a very difficult time carving jade objects. From the unearthed jade objects, they had already mastered the method of wire cutting, using hemp rope, sand, and water to cut the jade objects. This can minimize the waste of raw materials, and the cut edges can be used for other purposes, but the biggest disadvantage is that it is too time-consuming and labor-intensive.
This is Xiyugou in Pianshantai Town, Xiuyan County, Liaoning Province. In early spring, the river water covered by ice and snow begins to slowly melt. The river grinding jade produced here is the raw material used by the Hongshan people to make the Jade Pig Dragon in the past. Today, Xiuyan County is the largest jade production area in China. Many people make a living by carving jade, using modern tools and exquisite carving techniques passed down from their ancestors. Xiuyan jade carving is popular throughout the country. However, even so, carving a beautiful jade artifact still requires many processes, from material selection, design, drawing, grinding, and polishing. The final completion of a jade artifact often takes six months, while prehistoric jade carving often takes six months. The energy required for humans to make a jade artifact without metal tools can be imagined.
Liu Guoxiang: Jade can continue the bloodline of civilization, and our Chinese nation can continue to this day. Therefore, jade has played a very important role as a material. Another point is that jade can gather national consensus. It can be said that our Chinese nation is a multi-ethnic unified country. Therefore, ancient ethnic groups in different regions may have some differences in customs, lifestyles, and even religious beliefs, but they have shown astonishing consistency in using jade. Like the Khitans and Mongolians, they have even developed the custom of using jade.
These stones have been lying quietly here for over 5000 years. It was only in 2007 that we first saw their true appearance, and this regular arrangement has extended far and wide, making it a great project of the Neolithic era in China.
Wang Ningyuan: At that time, we were speculating whether it might be this old riverbank, a riverbank on the west side of the bridge. So we followed this path and the stones below. As a result, after more than a year of searching, we found that it had already turned around, circling all around. Finally, we wrapped the large earthen platform of Mojiao Mountain in the middle, and we understood that it was a city.
This is the ancient city of Liangzhu, which is slightly rectangular in shape, about 1700 meters from east to west, and about 1900 meters from north to south, with a total area of about 3 million square meters. The foundation of the city wall is generally about 40 to 60 meters wide, and some parts can reach more than 100 meters. The highest point in existence is about 4 meters. The city wall is mainly made of rammed loess, with stones as the foundation at the bottom of the loess. A layer of about 20 centimeters of green cement is laid below the stone foundation. There are trenches inside and outside the city wall. Mojiao Mountain is located in a prominent position slightly north of the city center, which is clearly the center of gravity. Archaeologists speculate that the earthwork of the Liangzhu city wall is about 1.2 million cubic meters, and Mojiao Mountain is about 3.5 million cubic meters. Ten thousand cubic meters require approximately ten thousand people to work for four years.
Wang Ningyuan: Before we confirmed the Liangzhu Ancient City, based on this jade artifact, its altars, and the large-scale architecture of Mojiao Mountain, our statement at that time was that Liangzhu represented the dawn of Chinese civilization, which was equivalent to approaching this threshold before entering, just above this critical point. However, now that we have discovered the Liangzhu Ancient City, we believe that it has actually entered the era of civilization.
The ancient city of Liangzhu stands tall and towering, with a complex of buildings centered around the towering Mojiao Mountain. Its outer water network is dense, connecting villages and thousands of hectares of rice fields. Altars and cemeteries are scattered between them, and water conservancy facilities protect the periphery. With the overall planning and the efforts of thousands of people, and years of hard work, we have more sufficient reasons to believe that the tomb owner holding the axe and jade in the anti mountain tomb can guide the king who commands thousands of people. The Liangzhu ruins group is the capital of kings.
More than 5000 years ago, there was a rapid development of civilization in the Yellow River Basin, Yangtze River Basin, and Liaohe River Basin, presenting the dawn of civilization. The origin of Chinese civilization was full of stars, and after comparing the civilizations of these three regions, we found that they have many similarities.
Zhang Jingguo, Researcher at Anhui Provincial Institute of Archaeology: The Hongshan Culture and Lingjiatan Culture are both of similar ages, but their distance is too far, nearly over a thousand kilometers. However, among the artifacts unearthed from Lingjiatan, especially some jade artifacts, many of them have similar shapes to the jade artifacts unearthed from Hongshan Culture, especially the jade figurine. The king figurine unearthed from Hongshan is also placed on this chest, and the Lingjiatan jade figurine is also placed on this chest.
Liu Guoxiang: For example, in the Lingjiatan culture, the shapes of jade pigs, jade eagles, and jade turtles, as well as the typical oblique barrel shaped jade artifacts of the Hongshan culture, were also unearthed in the 23rd tomb of Lingjiatan. Three pieces were placed at the waist, and we feel that there is a connection between these two cultures.
Archaeological data provides conclusive evidence that in prehistoric China, there existed a network of communication among the upper echelons of society, and direct mutual visits from the upper echelons of society should be one of the important forms of communication. The tomb owners of Lingjiatan Grand Tomb and Niuheliang 16th Site Grand Tomb are likely to have traveled thousands of miles and conducted mutual visits. The newly emerging upper echelons of society represented by them in various regions have an unprecedented sense of ambition, vitality, creativity, and exploratory spirit. In order to obtain knowledge and goods beyond the ordinary local people, consolidate power, they can travel thousands of miles without fear of danger. Through such close and in-depth exchanges, different regions gradually form and share similar cultural essence. The circle of interaction in China gradually forms, and the diverse and integrated pattern of prehistoric Chinese culture emerges, with the initial emergence of the Chongguo spray.
Li Xinwei, Researcher at the Institute of Archaeology, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences: The origin of Chinese civilization, which means that our current Chinese civilization, as well as our multi-ethnic country, can be traced back to when we can see its original appearance, when we can have a cultural entity, and then we can call it China, or the original China. In fact, what we need to explore is this kind of question. Chinese civilization has two meanings. At that time, there was also China, and then society developed again. It can be called entering the stage of civilization. At this time, we can call the emergence of Chinese civilization.
As a unified multi-ethnic country, China has been constantly integrating and accepting towards progress. Whether it is the countless ethnic integrations in history or the prehistoric China interaction circle, the Chinese nation has always maintained strong vitality, which is also the reason why Chinese civilization has become the only ancient civilization that continues to this day in the world. The imprint of those civilizations has already flowed into the bloodline of our nation, and history has always stirred up waves unintentionally. After experiencing a balance of civilization in various regions, the pragmatic and secularized Huaxia Group stood out in the middle reaches of the Yellow River, and the first dynasty in Chinese history, the Xia Dynasty, rose strongly.
90 Seconds of History: The Era of Helping the Nation
About 4000 years ago, it was said that Huan Dou, the leader of the Three Miao people, was originally a minister of Yao. Later, the Three Miao people refused to accept him and caused multiple rebellions, which led to the repeated wars launched by Yao, Shun, and Yu against him. At that time, natural disasters were rampant in the Jianghan Plain. According to Mozi’s “Non Offensive”, a major earthquake occurred in the Jianghan area, causing heavy casualties and blood flowing into the river. The “Taiping Imperial View” recorded that when the Three Miao Islands were about to be destroyed, the earthquake surged. Yao, Shun, and Yu seized this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity and marched southward. In the final war, the Chinese army defeated the Miao army for 70 days. From then on, the Miao barbarian group gradually withdrew from the historical stage. To the surprise of archaeologists, the northern ceremonial vessels such as the Yazhang appeared in the jade excavated from the Shijiahe site, which is a symbol of the Xia ethnic group. From this, it can be concluded that the Central Plains culture went southward, ultimately leading to the extinction of the Shijiahe culture. At this time, the parties involved in the ancient war became even clearer.