It was an exciting era. From 3000 BC to 2000 BC, the whole land of China entered the era of states with thousands of states, castles and contests. Now, when we connect and change the world with the Internet as the symbol, the states and their alliances more than 4000 years ago also continued to integrate and reorganize with various civilizations and wars as the network ties, promoting the vigorous changes of society, and breeding a pluralistic civilization pattern. For example, the stars in the sky experienced ups and downs. At that time, the states standing side by side were in the process of developing from pluralism to pluralism. Today, we will attempt to unveil the mystery of that era through major archaeological discoveries in recent years, revive history, explore the mysteries that led to the sudden decline of several glorious local civilizations, and inquire about the deep reasons why the Central Plains region could continue to develop and gradually become the core of Chinese civilization.
Hubei Provincial Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology – Meng Huaping:
At present, we have excavated a nearly 500 square meter exploration site in this area and discovered a batch of platform foundation sites related to worship. A large amount of things have been destroyed.
This is an impending war, with a silent wilderness and a sharp eagle cry, allowing both sides to feel the piercing murderous aura from the condensed air. In the era of states, accompanied by countless wars and killings, it was related to the rise and fall of different civilizations.
In the winter of 1954, Tianmen and Jingshan counties in Hubei province carried out large-scale water conservancy construction. The accidental discovery of a pottery accidentally opened a door to ancient times. With the deepening of the excavation of the Shijiahe culture, a group of ruins with a scale of more than 50 gradually emerged. Through the study of unearthed cultural relics, archaeologists have found that this civilization, which dates back approximately 4600 to 4000 years, experienced an unknown sudden decline after experiencing its peak, becoming an eternal mystery.
Fang Qin, Director of Hubei Provincial Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology: It suddenly stops without a gradual process. Unlike some that have gradual slowness, it does not. It just suddenly stops. This is the western wall of Shijiahe Ancient City, which is 1200 meters long from north to south and 6 to 8 meters high. We can still clearly see this.
Backed by the remnants of Dahong Mountain and surrounded by rivers, the Shijiahe Central Settlement, with a scale of 1.2 million square meters, has obvious functional zones inside, including handicraft workshop area, residential living area, sacrificial area, and tomb area. Based on the population of settlements from the Neolithic to Bronze Age, the city is home to approximately 30000 to 50000 people. The vast settlements have created a highly developed Shijiahe culture, presenting a prosperous atmosphere.
The discovery of copper blocks and jade artifacts at the site, resembling engraved symbols and city sites, indicates that it has entered a civilized era. Based on the archaeological excavations around it, it can be inferred that during this period, the Shijiahe settlement had become the ruling center of the Jianghan Plain.
(Fang Qin: That is to say, there is a pattern unearthed in the Shijiahe area, where there is one holding the axe. The axe is a weapon, and generally speaking, we have always believed that it is a symbol of royal power. Therefore, at that time, at least in the Shijiahe area, there was one, which should be said to be a military leader or a person equivalent to a king.)
Wearing a crown hat, with curved decorations on both ears, fangs protruding from the mouth, square face, olive eyes, eagle hooked nose, and broad mouth, it is speculated that the jade human head unearthed from the Shijiahe site may reflect the image of a deity or wizard at that time. At that time, people had already chosen jade as a tool for communication with heaven. At that time, jade production techniques had already adopted cutting, carving, drilling, and polishing processes, which were quite complex.
The stunning jade human heads, jade tiger heads, jade eagles, and jade cicadas that have amazed the world are mostly unearthed from adult urns and coffins, indicating that the ancestors of Shijiahe had special primitive religious beliefs. However, strangely enough, after the middle period of the Shijiahe culture, the city of Shijiahe was almost completely abandoned, and even human traces were difficult to see in the future. In contrast, the later period of the Shijiahe culture took on a different appearance.
(Fang Qin: At that time, it can be seen that the cultural landscape of our Shijiahe has undergone significant changes compared to before. Its more distinctive features are equivalent to those of the Central Plains region. In simple archaeology, it is called implantable culture, which emerged. This culture is more similar to the Central Plains.)
During the turbulent era of the states, wars occurred frequently and tribal conflicts continued. This period was roughly equivalent to the later half of the legendary Five Emperors era, during the reigns of Zhuanxu, Emperor Ku, Yao, Shun, and Yu. According to records, Yao, Shun, and Yu’s conquest of the Three Miao tribes was a war conflict between the ancient Huaxia group and the Miao barbarian group, and its influence was no less than that of the Yan Huang War. About four or five thousand years ago, China has formed several tribal alliances, including Huaxia Group living in the middle reaches of the Yellow River and adjacent areas, Dongyi Group centered on Mount Taishan Mountain, and Miaoman Group centered on the middle reaches of the Yangtze River. The early exchange and collision between the Shijiahe culture and the Longshan culture in the Central Plains were mainly concentrated in the Jianghan Plain, southwestern Henan to southern Shanxi. Based on historical records, experts have speculated on the orientation of the three Miao ethnic groups in the south and the relationship between the Shijiahe human race.
(Fang Qin: There are also records in literature that Yu attacked the Three Miao, and generally speaking, the Three Miao refers to our region, which is the Yangtze River region. Perhaps because of the war at that time, this city site was abandoned.)
About four thousand years ago, it was said that Huan Dou, the leader of the Three Miao ethnic groups, was originally a minister of Yao. Later, the Three Miao people were dissatisfied and rebelled multiple times, which led to the repeated wars launched by Yao, Shun, and Yu against them. At that time, natural disasters continued 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.
According to “Taiping Yulan”, when the Three Miao tribes were about to be destroyed, an earthquake surged. Yao, Shun, and Yu seized this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity and marched south. In the final war, the Chinese army defeated the Miao army for 70 days, and from then on, the Miao barbarian group declined and gradually withdrew from the historical stage.
To the surprise of archaeologists, a northern ceremonial artifact 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 southward migration of the Central Plains culture ultimately led to the extinction of the Shijiahe culture. At the beginning of the ancient war, the parties involved became increasingly clear.
With the decline of the Southern Miao and barbarian groups, the Huaxia group located in the Central Plains became increasingly powerful. About 4300 years ago, a huge prehistoric ancient city rose on the banks of the Fen River in southern Shanxi. It was a capital city, a real and illusory city. In the magnificent palace of the city, there lived a king who admired literature and morality. The city walls were solid, the treasury was full, and tens of thousands of people gathered in one place. The palace area, aristocratic residential area, ordinary residential area, sacrificial area, storage area, handicraft workshop area, and so on were all available.
The excavation of the red copper bell marks the impending era of the Voice of Gold and Stone. The upper class aristocrats have a large amount of wealth, while the vast majority of ordinary residents are still impoverished. The significant social stratification has formed a pyramid like hierarchical structure.
At the western foot of Ta’er Mountain, south of Taosi Village in Xiangfen County, Shanxi Province, archaeologists discovered a broken mud gray pottery flat pot in an ash pit. Surprisingly, there were two vermilion symbols on the front and back of the pot, with the symbol on the front resembling the character “wen” in oracle bone inscriptions. Archaeologists interpreted the symbol on the back according to hieroglyphs, believing that it was a large city built on a loess plateau using rammed earth blocks, also known as the character “yao”. “Wen Yao” is a praise for Yao, and other scholars have interpreted it as “Ming, Yi, Yi,” etc., but they all believe it is a writing related to Tang Yao or Xia Yu.
According to ancient historical legends, the Linfen Basin, including Taosi, was the residence of Emperor Yao and the Tang family. The Taosi site existed as a capital for about 4400 to 4000 years ago, before the Xia Dynasty, which happened to belong to the Yao and Shun periods. People cannot help but associate it with the rumored capital of Yao and Shun.
The IIM22 cemetery excavated in 2002 has a grand scale, with the discovery of painted pottery Gui, painted large pottery basin, jade beast face, chef’s knife, as well as royal artifacts such as jade turtle, jade cong, jade wall, and painted pottery pot, once again indicating the existence of high-level tombs at the level of kings in the Taosi cemetery.
The site of Taosi City is quite large, covering an area of 2.8 million square meters. In a small town southeast of the large city in the middle period of Taosi City, a large astronomical building and an ancient observatory were unexpectedly discovered for phenomenon timing. Through restoration, archaeologists discovered that ancient people observed the upward and downward cuts of the sunrise on Mount Ta’er in the east direction through the 11 gaps between the columns, in order to determine the 20 seasonal calendars at that time. The discovery of the observatory site was nearly 500 years earlier than the globally recognized British Stonehenge Observatory.
(Leader of the Shanxi Archaeological Team at the Institute of Archaeology, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences: What everyone finds incredible is that such a calendar of 20 seasons was truly unique in the world over 4100 years ago, and currently, there is only one archaeological discovery of this.)
Near the ancient observatory, a large tomb of the middle period was also discovered. In this tomb, a sturdy wooden pole was found, painted with black, green, and red markings. In the niche next to it, jade objects with circular small holes were also placed: Qi, what are the functions of these objects, and why they became burial objects placed in the tomb, which has been a question that archaeologists have been thinking about. From 2005 to 2009, with breakthroughs in the study of measurement and balance during the period of the Taosi site, the role of these artifacts that were dormant in the tomb gradually became clear.
(He Nu: A standing watch is less important because it does not have a scale. For this ruler, having a scale on top is more important. The ruler is placed in the king’s tomb and controlled by the king, while the standing watch is buried in the astronomer’s tomb and controlled by the astronomer.)
Guibiao is an astronomical instrument used in ancient China to measure the length of shadows. It stands upright on a flat ground as a benchmark for measuring shadows, known as a table. A plate placed in the south due north direction to measure the length of shadows is called Guibiao. According to historical records, the most profound influence of Yao on later generations was the formulation of a calendar, the establishment of a seasonal division for a solar return year similar to today, and the organization and implementation of large-scale observation projects for the sun, moon, and stars. The discovery of the ancient observatory and Guibiao at the Taosi site once again indicates that the Taosi site is likely the location of the ancient capital of Emperor Yao. With the discovery of the Taosi Guibiao, He Nu also proposed a bolder speculation.
(He Nu: The discovery of this ruler, in addition to its astronomical and calendar significance, is more important in the marking of the standard in the earth. The purpose of marking the standard in the earth is to reflect the position of the capital city of a country in the earth, which is to monopolize the only channel for communication with heaven through the possession of the position in the earth, and to reflect the orthodox status and orthodox ideas of the divine right of monarchy.)
(He Nu, the leader of the Shanxi Archaeological Team at the Institute of Archaeology of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences: The capital was located in the middle of the earth, and his country was placed in the middle of the earth. Therefore, the capital of the earth and the country of the middle earth are the origin of the concept of China. The discovery of the Tao Temple as a set of Guibiao proves from archaeological objects that the initial concept of China was formed during the Tao Temple Culture period.)
According to historical records, there were already tens of thousands of states during the Yao, Shun, and Yu periods. As stated in the “Yao Dian” of the Book of Documents, Emperor Yao was able to coordinate with tens of thousands of states. The “Geographical Records” of the Book of Han states that during the Yao and Shun periods, there were tens of thousands of states and tens of thousands of words, which were extremely descriptive and varied. This concept coincides with the cultural distribution pattern of cities rising one after another in the Longshan period in archaeology, scattered throughout different regions and not belonging to each other.
In 1979, a grand stone city site was discovered on a hill north of Shimao Village in Shenmu County, Shaanxi Province, located northwest of the Taosi Site, in the northern part of the Loess Plateau with crisscrossing gullies. It unveiled the mysterious veil of the eve of Chinese civilization and was selected as one of the top ten archaeological discoveries in the world. Domestic experts directly described its unique archaeological value as a stone shattering shock. Through exploration, the Shimao Site was composed of the Imperial City Platform, the Inner City, and the Outer City, and discovered houses, ash pits, as well as earth pit tombs, stone coffins, and urn coffins. It is about 4000 years ago and covers an area of 4.25 million square meters, making it the largest prehistoric city in China. Address.
(Shao Jing, the captain of the Shimao Archaeological Team at the Shaanxi Provincial Institute of Archaeology: This mural was discovered in both 2012 and 2013. This mural was unearthed in both years, and many of its fragments were stacked together after being broken. Some of the murals had the color side facing upwards, while others had the color side facing downwards. Therefore, this is the one with the color side facing downwards, and only the adhesive surface behind it can be seen. This just provides us with another evidence. You can see that the grass veins behind it are very obvious, which is something we call grass mixed with mud. This indicates that it was originally a painted pattern adhered to the wall.)
In the excavation in 2012, archaeologists discovered the figures of murals at the east gate of the outer city. These murals were painted with geometric patterns in colors such as red, yellow, black, and orange on a white gray surface. This is the largest number of murals found in the Longshan period ruins, and the biggest difference from the usual earthen ruins built in other areas. The overall architecture of Shimao Ancient City is a stone built city site. It is estimated that this large city site surrounded by a 10 kilometer long, 2.5 meter wide, and several meter high stone city wall can fully accommodate the living and living of more than 40000 people.
Vice President of Shaanxi Archaeological Research Institute – Sun Zhouyong: So how much manpower is needed to build this? He needs to have the ability to control and mobilize such a large amount of social resources to build it for him. At this time, people already have the concept of this hierarchy, and wealth has also differentiated. So who will maintain him, the ruler of Shimao, and his survival resources? So, the work of archaeology in recent years shows that around 4000 years ago, the barren land we see now was actually a densely populated and highly developed human residential area.
From a worldwide perspective, Shimao City is located in the corridor of Eurasian grasslands. As a transportation hub, it is a must pass for communication between the east, west, north and south. Compared with the Stone City of Troy, Türkiye, which is nearly a thousand years later, Shimao Ancient City is more grand and neat. On the loess plateau in northern Shaanxi, how to build Shimao, an ancient stone city, has aroused great interest of Chinese and foreign experts in the origin of the site. At the end of 1975, when it was cold in the east and the twelfth month of the lunar month, the Chinese people were about to usher in the Spring Festival of the the Year of the Loong. In Shimao Village, the villagers had long been rumored that a large number of jade articles were hidden in the cracks of the stone walls of Shimao.
(Sun Zhouyong, Vice President of Shaanxi Provincial Institute of Archaeology: This is also an important evidence for us as the first encounter period of this Shimao City Wall.)
The discovery of this small jade figure with only one eye has excited experts. According to the “Classic of Mountains and Seas”, there are thirty-six countries overseas, including one Yimu country. This 45 centimeter high jade sculpture with a double-sided human head is engraved on both sides, with an olive shaped big eye, an eagle hooked nose, a slightly open mouth, a protruding ear at the back of the head, and an elliptical hairstyle on the top of the head. Experts are puzzled whether this jade carving shape truly records the legendary Yimu country person? If not, then who is it? Why is it so different from the people in the Central Plains region?
(Sun Zhouyong: We are conducting joint research, and we are conducting DNA analysis with scholars from Harvard University. Some scholars have also linked this group of stone carved human avatars to some contemporary cultures in the Altai region, Xinjiang region, and the Russian Far East region.)
From a geographical perspective, the Shimao Site in Shenmu, Shaanxi and the Taosi Site in Xiangfen, Shanxi are both located not far from the banks of the Jin Shaanxi Grand Canyon. The great correlation between these geographical locations provides reference coordinates for related research on the historical and cultural aspects of the two. Based on the chronological characteristics of the Shimao site, combined with geological relationships and unearthed relics, experts have preliminarily determined that the Shimao site and the Taosi site are almost in the same historical period, with a coexistence period of at least 300 years between the two. From the current archaeological reports on the excavation results of the Shimao site, although its site size is larger than the Taosi site, many artifacts with royal identity symbols such as the Taosi site have not been found. This indicates that the social status of the settlement or the state at that time may be slightly lower than that of the Taosi site. If the Taosi site is the capital of Emperor Yao, then the Shimao site, which is geographically close to it, should be the capital of anyone. Who’s the settlement? According to the records in “Records of the Grand Historian” and “Book of Han” about the tomb of the Yellow Emperor in the Zichang area of northern Shaanxi not far from Shimao, some scholars have proposed that the Yellow Emperor and his tribe were likely to have been active in this area before his death, and believe that the Shimao city site is likely the residence of the Yellow Emperor or his descendants.
(Shao Jing: For us archaeologists, evidence is important because comparing the characters in historical documents with archaeological culture requires multiple arguments and the strongest evidence to say so. Therefore, we currently have some reservations.)
It is puzzling that Shimao, which was in its heyday, was also facing a sudden decline. So, what kind of changes did the ancestors of Shimao experience in ancient times, and why did this stone city, which had a lifespan of over 300 years, become desolate and decline? Recently, preliminary environmental archaeological analysis has shown that the Shimao area experienced a cold and dry climate, which entered a cooling period around 2260 BC. The temperature dropped significantly, resulting in dryness and environmental disasters. This seriously affected the growth of grain at that time, with a significant reduction in grain production or even a complete failure to harvest. This is reflected in the sharp decline in the number of ancient cultural sites, a significant decrease in population, and large-scale migration in archaeology.
(Zhao Zhijun, Deputy Director of the Science and Technology Archaeology Center at the Institute of Archaeology, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences: An important issue to pay attention to is the location of the Shimao Site. It is located in what we now refer to as the agricultural pastoral transitional zone, and is more significantly and violently affected by environmental changes than other regions. Therefore, the decline of the Shimao Site should be directly related to local environmental changes.)
(Sun Zhouyong: The population of Shimao is most likely around 1800 BC. The northern population may have migrated southward, and there may have been a major migration of this population. It cannot be ruled out that Shimao and Taosi are two groups of people, just in the later stage, because there may have been a process of alternation and regime change.)
(Shao Jing: Like these two pieces, these are also representative artifacts of Shimao. These artifacts look very inconspicuous now, gray, and there are no unique choices. However, their materials are very special. They are made of flint, which has a higher hardness than glass, and cutting glass is not a problem. Shimao has a large number of arrows, which can be said to be everywhere on Shimao. In the next rain, you can find them everywhere on the field ridges. How powerful is it that it can shoot through a person’s spine?)
For the aristocrats of the Taosi capital, the millennium around 2000 BC did not bring good luck, but rather a major disaster at hand. The leading Taosi capital in the Central Plains region experienced foreign invasion and internal violent revolution. Chaotic times led to the destruction of palaces, scraping of city walls, and digging of ancestral graves. The original palace area was now occupied by ordinary artisans engaged in stone and bone processing. The rammed earth city wall that once towered on the ground was now abandoned, and in a large ditch dumping stone and bone waste, more than 30 people’s skulls overlapped in disorder, with young men being the majority, and many of their skulls being chopped off. Some only leave their faces and look like masks, while others have several segments of cervical vertebrae attached to their skulls. The scattered human bones consist of 40 to 50 individuals, mixed with animal bones, creating a terrifying scene.
(He Nu: Previously, we discovered this type of deep pot shaped cauldron, with an arc-shaped crotch. However, under this cauldron, there is a convex bottom, like a pointed bottom. Look at its differences. The feature with a convex bottom is the biggest feature of the stone mound cauldron, which is the biggest difference from our pottery cauldron in Taosi. The discovery of this cauldron is very meaningful, indicating who is destroying the palace city in the middle period of Taosi. These people are often likely to be the overthrowers and conquerors of the middle period of Taosi’s political power, and they are very likely to be them.)
All kinds of signs indicate that it is highly likely that this bloodbath driven by external factors within the ethnic group has destroyed the aristocratic order and elite culture of Taosi, ultimately leading to the decline of the Taosi city-state that has lasted for 300 years of civilization. The theory of grassroots revolution and foreign invasion has become a key to unraveling the mystery of Taosi for eternity.
Due to the drastic changes in climate, the people of Shimao, Shaanxi, located in the northwest of China, had to abandon their cities and migrate far away. Similar to their fate, there was also the flourishing Yuhang Liangzhu culture in the southeast. The difference was that one was due to the significant dry and cold climate, while the other was due to the rising temperature, which led to the arrival of another sudden natural disaster.
(Xu Hong: Let’s just say that in the past, during the period of the states, they were all colorful, competing for excellence, and had different ideas, ideologies, and ways of life. Liangzhu may have been a believer in witchcraft throughout the Yangtze River Basin, but during the Warring States period, they still valued witchcraft. Some witchcraft was very strong, emphasizing communication between gods and humans.)
The Liangzhu culture was first discovered in Liangzhu Town, north of Hangzhou in 1936, and existed from 5300 to 4300 years ago. According to the records in “The Crown Prince”, the country of the Chengjiu clan was strong in military power and invincible in the world. This means that the Liangzhu cultural group had strong military power and was invincible in the world. The pottery unearthed in Liangzhu is most distinctive of the mud gray ground black leather pottery, which uses a wheel system, regular shape, and is mostly decorated with hollow holes, bamboo joint patterns, and string patterns, as well as colorful paintings. Compared to pottery, the most stunning feature of the Liangzhu culture is the jade artifacts it unearthed, including walls, cong, huang, rings, beads, etc. Most of them were unearthed in tombs, with a large number of jade cong symbolizing divine power and jade yue symbolizing military power attracting the attention of archaeologists.
(Xu Hong: The Liangzhu culture can be compared with the civilization of Egypt and one of the two river civilizations.)
The craftsmanship of Liangzhu jade reached the peak of prehistoric Chinese culture, with many patterns only 0.1 millimeters wide, as thin as hair. How this craftsmanship was completed at the level of social productivity at that time is still a mystery. However, more than 4000 years ago, the prosperous kingdom of Liangzhu suddenly suffered a devastating disaster. Regarding the individual reasons for the disaster, many scholars believe that the excessive development of resources by Liangzhu culture, the excessive use of precious social wealth in the production of jade with no practical value, and the depletion of jade mines led to the decline of Liangzhu civilization, ultimately triggering social collapse. Some scholars also believe that it is largely influenced by the ecological environment and their own geographical location.
(Wang Ningyuan: But the Liangzhu Ruins Group and the area around the Taihu Lake Lake on the Yangtze River in our place are too low, only two or three meters high, like a saucer shaped depression. As long as the sea level changes slightly, the environment of this place is very fragile. The the Taihu Lake Lake basin is one of the most vulnerable areas in China.)
Almost all ethnic groups around the world have myths about ancient times when great floods occurred. The Sumerians recorded the myth of the great floods in Mesopotamia on cuneiform tablets, the Noah’s Ark in the Bible, the great floods in Greek mythology, and the great floods in Chinese mythology that occurred during the reign of Emperor Yao. Ancient human childhood had a common memory of floods. In the late Neolithic period, climate warming caused glaciers to melt and sea levels to rise, resulting in a large-scale sea immersion along the coast. Suddenly, floods or tsunamis submerged the thousand year old Liangzhu culture, causing the destruction of the country.
Today, we still generally find flood traces, mud, peat and marsh layers on the Liangzhu Cultural Relics. Maybe some Liangzhu Cultural Relics are still deeply buried at the bottom of the Taihu Lake Lake.
In the era of competing states, the land of China was undergoing a rapid and turbulent social transformation. Around two thousand years ago, the colorful surrounding cultures of the Central Plains, which had been flourishing for hundreds of years, gradually declined. For the first time in Chinese history, a core culture based on the Central Plains culture emerged, covering a wide range of regions. In a very short period of time, it absorbed the cultural factors of various regions and rapidly rose.
To the south is the Guluo River, to the north is the Mangshan Mountain, and to the back is the Yellow River. In the late 1950s, the villagers of Erlitou in Yanshi, Henan Province, did not know that their ancestors had lived in seemingly ordinary villages here for generations, yet they buried significant secrets of the Chinese nation. From the 19th century BC to the 16th century BC, this was the location of China’s first dynasty, staging a magnificent epic of summer prosperity and the succession of Xia, Shang, and Zhou dynasties.
(Xu Hong: If Liangzhu, Taosi, and Shimao are all countries, then they are definitely not the same concept as countries like Erlitou. This is widely recognized by most scholars. Therefore, regardless of their names, if the previous countries belong to the initial stage, then Erlitou is a type of wide area royal power country. I call it a wide area royal power country, a country with a relatively prosperous royal power that can control a large area, so I call it a country above the country.)
(Xu Hong: When we talk about the process of the Chinese nation transitioning from diversity to unity, if we use another vivid analogy, we can say that the magnificent era of the state was full of stars. However, due to the existence of a large political system, the stars in the sky transformed into bright and sparse moons. As a result, a bright moon emerged, making the surrounding stars dim, and this so-called bright moon is the Erlitou Site.)
The term “China” first appeared on a bronze artifact called He Zun in the early Western Zhou Dynasty. Its inscription referred to the Luoyang Plain, including Yanshi, as China, meaning that in the world, from a starry sky to a diverse unity, Chinese civilization began to move from diversity and disorder to a diverse unity through a hundred rivers returning to the sea. Although the exploration of the rise and fall of the country era is still far from complete, a China before China has gradually become clear. The vast universe and ancient relics blown by the wind in the yellow sand together tell our magnificent history and future.
90 Seconds in History – Dayu’s Flood Control:
In ancient times, rivers flooded and caused countless lives to suffer. Even if everyone worked together, the floods continued to ravage for a long time. He led the masses through wind and rain, fighting against the towering floods to the death. They dug mountains and stones, dredged rivers, and ultimately completed the great cause of water control, leaving behind a legendary story of passing through homes three times without entering. Therefore, after thousands of years of wind and rain, his story is still widely spread, and his spirit is the most brilliant pearl in the treasure trove of Chinese spiritual civilization. In today’s ten mile different customs of China, whether it is the ethnic minorities in the southwest or the Han people in the Central Plains, people from all over the country still commemorate this person in different forms for generations. The great ancestors of the Chinese nation, whether it is the methods of water management by Emperor Yu or the personal charm and cultural value reflected in his efforts to control floods, All have become an important component of our excellent traditional Chinese beliefs, deeply rooted in the spiritual world of every Chinese person.