On June 12, the International Forum "The History and Future of Xinjiang, China" was held in Kashi, Xinjiang. Experts expressed their views on the topic of "The Archaeology of Xinjiang and 'Unity in Diversity' of Chinese Civilization."

The early Chinese cultural sphere, or the early Chinese cultural circle, referred to a relatively cohesive cultural community formed through the intermingling and connections of various regional cultures in most parts of China before the Qin and Han Dynasties. This cultural sphere originated more than 8,000 years ago and took shape around 6,000 years ago. Around 5,000 years ago, the Xinjiang region already has millet crops introduced from North China. About 4,000 years ago, people from the Machang type of the Majiayao culture in the upper Yellow River region, along with their painted pottery, began to enter eastern Xinjiang. By approximately 3,500 years ago, painted pottery cultures had spread throughout both the northern and southern Tianshan Mountains, marking Xinjiang's integration into the early Chinese culture. This laid the foundation for Xinjiang's later incorporation into the political entity of China.

Moreover, Xinjiang was one of the earliest regions in China to enter the Chalcolithic Age, Bronze Age, and early Iron Age. It served as a frontier for early cultural exchanges and mutual learning between the East and the West. Early cultural interactions, with Xinjiang as a key link, injected vitality into the formation and development of Eastern and Western civilizations.

——By Han Jianye,

professor in the Department of Archaeology and Museology at the School of History

and the Wu Yuzhang professor at Renmin University of China.

The Ruins of Mo'er Temple, located on an alluvial terrace in the northeastern desert of Kashi, Xinjiang, is one of the earliest Buddhist temples in China.

By research, it was preliminarily concluded that the ruins dated back to the early 3rd century and continued until the late 9th or early 10th century. This research clearly reveals the development and evolution of the temple.

The Mo'er ruins exhibit Indian and Central Asian traditions, local Kashi characteristics, and influences from Han Chinese Buddhism. The ruins represent the first deep integration of these three elements in the westernmost region of China and serve as a typical example of cultural exchange along the Silk Road, providing a great significance for the study of the evolution of religion in Xinjiang.

——By Xiao Xiaoyong,

professor at the School of Ethnology and Sociology at Minzu University of China,

and the Head of the Silk Road and Ethnic Archaeology Research Institute.

The inheritance and development of the Chinese nation have a long history. In the historical evolution that has lasted for more than five thousand years, the nation and the people have been in continuous integration, making development and progress, which ultimately formed today's unified multi-ethnic state.

The dynamics of ancient China and the Chinese nation had its unique environment and conditions, which shaped the Community for the Chinese Nation with ten factors: locality, geopolitics, polities, economy, regional civilization, bloodline, political territoriality, regional ethnicity, and power, the community with a shared future.

China, with its specific geography and historical and cultural conditions, has achieved continuous interactions and integrations among all Chinese ethnic groups for more than 5000 years. While the concept of community gets sounder and profounder, the diverse yet unified Chinese nation is duly formed.

——By Li Sheng,

chief expert at the Northwest University's Social Sciences Master Studio

and a research fellow at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences'(CASS) Institute of Chinese Borderland Studies.

The new archaeological excavations of the Mo'er Buddhist monasteries from historical Kashi, Xinjiang to freestanding monasteries above the rock-cut caves of Pingcheng (current Datong), Shanxi shed new light on the functions of religious space. The excavations provide new opportunities to re-examine the configurations of Buddhist monasteries in the process of development from west to east. This will help us understand the evolution of Buddhist dissemination along the Silk Road in the west and all the way to Pingcheng in the east in the context of Buddhist architecture and art.

——By Lidu YI,

Tenure Professor at Florida International University

and currently a visiting scholar at the University of Toronto.

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