China Popular Itineraries |
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The prehistoric culture is also termed as "the primitive culture", indicat-ing the culture of the primitive society in which no written language emerged. According to the materials unearthed for archaeological studies, for example, stone artifacts and fire remnants left 1,700,000 years ago and unearthed in Yuanmou, Yunnan Province in 1965, the earliest known ancients in China were Yuanmouensis. The fossil remains of Sinanthropus Lantianensis, Sinan-thropus Pekinensis, Dingcun Man and Upper Cave Man constitute the com-plete developing sequences of China' s ancient culture. About ten thousand years ago, the ancient Chinese culture departed from the Paleolithic era and entered the Neolithic Age, the ruined sites of which, seven thousand or so in all, have been found so far. They are the evidences of Hongshan culture in northeast China, Dawenkou-Longshan culture in Shandong Province, Yang-shao culture in Central Plains of China, Majiayao-Qijia culture in the north-west of China and Hemudu-Majiabang culture in the lower reaches of the Yangtze River.
The emergence of worship that was practised in the primitive religion is one of the spiritual gains of the ancient Chinese culture. The earliest primitive religion evolved from nature and ancestors, which, in turn, was derived from ancient Chinese population's awe and reverence for nature. These were demonstrated in a kind of polytheism, namely, various natural things were taken as deities and homage was paid to them. Worship of ancestors is a kind of worship of reproduction. In matrilineal society, the ancient Chinese conse-crated mainly the female ancestors, while in patriarchal society, the male an-cestors. Through this consecration, the ancient Chinese sang high praise of their ancestor's creation of life. On the other hand, the worship of totem, the mixed worship of nature and ancestors, is a form of higher religious manifesta-tion. The primitive men held the belief that their clan originated from some natural things; therefore, they considered these things as their clan's sacred symbols -- a worship of totem. China's traditional auspicious articles, such as dragon and phoenix were the totems of ancient China's clans.
In the Neolithic Age, with the development of ancient society, the three dynasties of Western Xia, Eastern Yi and Miaoman Man gradually took shape as three groups of consanguinity and religion. They created their characteristic regional culture, each having its own features. The Western Xia Dynasty origin nated in loess plateau in the west part of China. Its chief representative figures are Yandi and Huangdi, who were the leaders of the first two groups of set-tlers in the middle reaches of the Yellow River. The Eastern Yi originally moved about in the region of present Shandong Province and the northern part of Jiangsu Province. The leading figures are Taihao, Shaohao and Zheyou. The Miaos lived in the mid-reaches of the Yangtze River, having earlier con-tacts with the people of mid-reaches of the Yellow River. At the end of the primitive society, the Eastern Yi Dynasty moved westward along the Yellow River. They encountered conflicts with Dangxia nationality and were defeat-ed. From then on, the Western Xia Dynasty had conflicts and peace alterna-tively with the Eastern Yi. In a long process, it gradually became mixed up with the Eastern Yi, thus becoming the predecessor of ancient China. The cultural collision and assimilation between the Eastern Yi and the Western Xia laid a foundation for the formation of China' s ancient civilization. After the Yi and Xia dynasties moved southward and conquered the Miao Dynasty, the em-bryonic form of the Chinese nation was formed. In honour of this, they held a memorial ceremony for the establishment of their distant ancestors, Yandi and Huangdi. Thus, the Chinese nation claims to be the descendants of Yandi and Huangdi.
The major achievement of prehistoric culture could be seen in the emer-gence of the primitive agriculture. In the north, Yangshao culture was mainly represented by the dry land agriculture, of which foxtail millet was the chief product; Hemudu culture in the south was represented by rice agriculture on wet land, of which rice was the chief product. China is among the earliest countries in the world where foxtail millet and rice were grown. In the era of Longshan culture, the initial primitive characters came into being. The primi-tive graphic characters, carved on pots, have been found, for instance, in the Dinggong site in Boxing, Shandong Province, the Lingyang site in Ju county and Qianzhai site in Zhucheng. These kinds of primitive characters were in-vented 800 years earlier than the inscriptions on bones or tortoise shells un-earthed in Yin Ruins. Pottery -- painted pottery and black pottery (of the late Neolithic culture) -- is a kind of great invention. In the prehistoric cul-ture, the painted pottery of Yangshao culture and the black pottery of Long-shan culture were models of handicraft. The technique of manufacturing pot-tery with wheels as tools was also applied to the production of the painted pot-tery. The temperature in the sintering process reached between 950¡æ and 1,050¡æ . The utensils painted on the surface in black, brown or red, or in a mixture of two colours, were a combination for both practical and artistic us-es. The black pottery represented the most advanced level of handicraft indus-try in the prehistoric culture. This technique applied in making clay mould with a swift wheel was then adopted in the production of a variety of the black pottery in beautiful shapes. The pottery of eggshell, with its surface brightly pitch-black and the roughcast only 0.1 to 0.2 centimeter thick, is regarded as the most exquisite artistic products of that time. |
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