Editor's note:

What is Early China? Based on the similarity of pottery in different regions, the famous Chinese archaeologist Zhang Guangzhi proposed that around 6,000 years ago, prehistoric cultures in different regions of China formed an 'interaction circle' due to close connections. This circle extended from the Liaohe River Basin in the north to Taiwan and the Pearl River Delta in the south, from the coast in the east to Gansu, Qinghai and Sichuan in the west. This prehistoric circle formed the geographical core of China in history. Moreover, all the regional cultures within this circle contributed to the great unity of China ever since the Qin and Han dynasties. This is "Early China."

At the beginning of the 21st century, the project to trace the origins of Chinese civilization was launched. This national-level project is an important part of the research on the origins and formation of the Chinese civilization.

The Taosi site in the southern basin of Shanxi Province is considered to be the ancient civilization code of "China in earliest times." The city walls, a palace enclosure, large religious ceremonial buildings, royal cemeteries, craft production districts, an exclusive storage area, and a commoners' dwelling area, indicate that this site, dating back over 4,000 years, is a "prototype of a nation."

Based on long-term archaeological excavations and research, a picture of early Chinese civilization is presented that more than 4,300 years ago in southern Shanxi Province, there was a vast expansion of fertile land between the spectacular Yellow River and Taihang Mountains. A glorious capital city was born in the process of communications between the Central Plains, the Hetao region, the Haidai region, the Jianghan region, the Gansu-Qinghai region, and the Jiangsu-Zhejiang region. At Taosi, governed with the rites, the ancestors built the city and palace, delivered respect to the seasons, skirted the fields with crisscross paths, and formed good neighborliness, resulting in the formation of an early monarchy and state.

Being inclusive

Archaeological findings prove that the Taosi Culture integrated a large number of typical cultural factors of the surrounding areas farther afield, characterized by inclusiveness.

At the Taosi site, archaeologists unearthed jade bi (disk-shaped jade ,"玉璧" in Chinese) and jade cong (tube-shaped jade ,"玉琮"in Chinese), which were typical artifacts of the Liangzhu Culture in the lower reaches of the Yangtze River. The jade yue (axe-shaped jade, "钺" in Chinese) with two holes in Taosi Culture had the characteristics of the Dawenkou-Longshan Culture in the Haidai region in lower Yellow river and Huai river basin areas. What was even rarer was that from a tomb at Taosi an "elongated rectangular shape" jade yue was excavated, which displayed elements of Liangzhu or Dawenkou-Longshan cultures.

In the Taosi Culture, items such as a wooden drum covered with alligator skin (an item used in rituals), a painted pottery jar with spiral patterns, and the custom of burying pig mandibles were found. These were not local traditions but probably originated from the Dawenkou-Longshan Culture in the East. In addition, important luxury items unearthed from the Taosi tombs, such as turquoise-inlaid wrist ornaments and turquoise inlay techniques, probably traced their origins back to the Dawenkou and Longshan Cultures of the Haidai region.

In the Taosi Culture, artifacts such as pottery gu (wine-drinking vessel, "觚" in Chinese), jade monster masks, and jade hairpins unearthed were remarkably similar to those found in the Shijiahe and Xiaojiawuji Cultures of the Jianghan Plain along the Yangtze River. These similar artifacts reflect the interaction of the southern cultures during the same period.

Among the exquisite painted pottery excavated from the Taosi site, a notable amount featured geometric patterns resembling those commonly found in the Xiaoheyan Culture of the West Liaohe basin in the northeast China, albeit slightly earlier in age. It was worth noting that in some tombs of the early period of the Taosi Culture, jade rings with a peach-shaped or pear-shaped holes in the center were found buried. This unique characteristic was similar to the jade rings associated with the Hongshan Culture of the West Liaohe basin.

The Shimao Culture of the Jinshaan Plateau in northwest China and the Taosi Culture, two prominent settlements along the Yellow River, coexisted for at least three hundred years as the "twin powers of the Yellow River." Archaeologists shared the consensus that between the two cultures, there had been a wide range of exchanges and interactions in pottery, jade, copper, and the rammed-earth construction techniques. Even in rare prehistoric musical instruments like the mouth reed, bronze dentate bracelets, and the tomb niche construction similarities were found between the two cultures.

The large two-handled jar of the Taosi site was believed to be one of the typical artifacts of the Qijia Culture in the Gansu-Qinghai region. So far, seven copper vessels have been found at the Taosi site, and it is generally believed that copper smelting and casting originated in Gansu-Qinghai and farther northwestern regions, extending to Central and West Asia.

Preserving and changing

The Taosi Culture and society, represented by the Taosi site, entered the early stage of a state and civilized society.

To date, all prehistoric regional cultures in China, including the Taosi Culture, absorbed a diverse range of civilizational factors outside the region and eventually integrated with the cultures of other regions.

The Taosi Culture assimilated advanced elements from other cultures and creatively used the mould-casting technique in the production of bronze artifacts such as copper bells, bronze dentate bracelets. This pioneering approach laid the foundation for the brilliant bronze casting technology of the Xia, Shang and Zhou dynasties (c.21st century–256 BC).

There were also traces of modification in the daily use of utensils of the Taosi Culture, and some very important artifacts, such as jade, didn't preserve the same cultural characteristics as their places of origin. Liangzhu Culture factors were found in the Longshan Culture in the Central Plains, including Taosi Culture, such as jade cong, jade bi, and jade yue. These jade artifacts were generally small in shape and simple in decoration, mostly plain, and there were no patterns like the jade cong incised with humanoid-deity and animal combined masks. The simplified Taosi jade bi and jade cong no longer seemed to serve a religious or ritual purpose, but signified wealth and social status, playing a decorative role.

In particular, some jade yue featured multiple holes, with an upper hole and a lower one. In some instances, lower holes were decorated with inlaid jade or turquoise discs. Some jade yue had scattered holes, possibly used for attaching necklaces, showcasing grandeur and enhancing ceremonial significance—a distinct innovation of the Taosi Culture.

Sun worship took on particular significance in prehistoric cultures, and people observed the motions of the sun and correlated the length of the sun's shadow with seasonal changes, and ultimately developed primitive astronomical calendars. Drawing from astronomical knowledge and accumulated observations, the ancestors of Taosi Culture built the "Observatory" in the southeastern part of the Taosi site by combining the natural landscape of the Ta'er Mountain and the rammed-earth structures within the eastern segment of the Taosi site.

At the Taosi Observatory, twenty solar terms including winter solstice, summer solstice, spring equinox, and autumn equinox could be observed, serving as an important source for the twenty-four solar terms closely related to agricultural production. The Taosi Observatory stands out as the most significant technological innovation of the Taosi civilization, representing a form of "cutting-edge technology" and "core technology" over 4,000 years ago.

Enduring civilization

Chinese civilization is a unique civilization that went through the stages of origin, formation, and continuous development, mainly characterized by the conscious transmission and development of their civilizational genes between successive cultures.

Artifacts were the vehicle of rituals, and ritual wares had been used for a long time. Some exquisite artifacts of Hongshan Culture and Liangzhu Culture, such as jade wares, were identified as important ceremonial items in rituals to offer sacrifices to heaven. Some painted pottery wares and exquisite wine-drinking vessels of the Dawenkou-Longshan Culture were also the objects used at ritual ceremonies for sacrificial offerings.

The Taosi society had strict rules or regulations on the burial of ceremonial instruments in large tombs. Various types of ritual instruments were excavated in Taosi tombs, such as painted pottery, lacquerware, jade artifacts. Instruments like the wooden drum covered with alligator skin, stone chimes, and ceramic drums were consistently buried in fixed numbers, arrangements, and positions within the large tombs.

Several large tombs were buried at least a hundred years apart, but these burial practices remained unchanged. The medium-sized tombs of the Taosi society could be divided into three burial spaces: the coffin, the area outside the coffin, and the second-level platform, each serving different functions and rituals. The exterior of the coffin presented scenes of "food," "cooking," "living furnishings," and more. The presence of pig mandibles buried in the second-level platform reflected the solemnity of the burial rituals. It could be seen that the Taosi society had established an initial ritual system, which formed an important part of their state's political structure. During the Erlitou Culture period in Henan Province, the ritual system underwent further developed and wider dissemination. The jade yazhang blade ("玉牙璋" in Chinese), for instance, spread to various regions across China.

The planning layout and concept of a capital city site could, to a certain extent, reflect the inheritance and development of previous cultures. The Taosi city site was carefully planned and could be divided into palaces and palace enclosure, a storage area, a cemetery, an observatory and an altar of the sun and heaven, craft production districts, and dwelling areas for commoners, among others. The Erlitou site also had a primary center and ordinary areas, including a palace enclosure, sacrificial area, cemetery, executive craft manufacturing zones and other functional districts. Of the two sites, the micro-settlement patterns and the arrangement of functional zones were quite similar, reflecting a continuity of cultural practices and organization.

In particular, there was a process of development for the palace enclosure to be the core area of the layout of the capital city. The highest-standard cluster of large buildings and houses with the nature of a capital city were discovered at the Shuanghuaishu site in Henan Province, the Qujialing site in Hebei Province, and the Liangzhu site. The palace enclosure of the Taosi site was fortified with a moat and then sealed with a rammed clay wall, which was followed by the capital city of the Erlitou site and the Yanshi Shangcheng site in Henan Province.

In the process of forming the image of Chinese dragon, the Taosi site has also left a valuable legacy for future generations. The painted ceramic plate featuring the dragon image was only discovered in large tombs at the Taosi site. The dragon image on these plates incorporated various animal features and was combined with royal authority, evolving the worship of the dragon into a symbol of the community or the state. During the period of Xinzhai and Erlitou Cultures in Henan Province, in addition to various dragon-shaped turquoise-inlaid plaques, pottery items adorned with dragon imagery became common, leading to the increasing popularity of dragon image. Between Taosi and Erlitou, there was an inheritance relationship in the image of the dragon.

From the late Longshan period to the Erlitou Culture period, the animal or humanoid-deity masks including the dragon image had the feature of a broad face, concentric circles symbolizing the eyes and a short raised band with rounded ends for the nose. Similar images could also be found in animal or humanoid-deity masks in regions like Jinnan, Jianghan, Haidai, and the circum-Songshan area. Whether through replication or imitation, these cultural interactions led to a mutual recognition of such animal or humanoid-deity images across regions.

It can be said that four or five thousand years ago, the Taosi society underwent cultural exchanges and interactions, fostering integration, innovation, and the transmission of its cultural heritage to future generations.

The author is Gao Jiangtao, Institute of Archaeology at the Chinese Academy of History.

Liu Xian /Editor    Chen Yutang /Translator

Yang Xinhua /Chief Editor    Liu Xian /Coordination Editor

Liu Li /Reviewer

Zhang Weiwei /Copyeditor    Tan Yujie /Image Editor

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