Social Sciences in China (Chinese Edition)

No. 6, 2023

The Archaeological Interpretation of the Determining Criteria and Developmental Path of Chinese Civilization

(Abstract)

Liu Qingzhu

The project of tracing the origins of Chinese civilization substantiates China’s million-year human history, ten-thousand-year cultural history, and more than five-thousand-year civilizational history. Cities and capitals are the foremost tangible embodiment throughout the development and formation of Chinese civilization and are significant manifestations of ancient Chinese ritual. While other civilizations usually consider metal ware, writing, and cities as key markers of their origins, unique archaeological findings can provide a reference frame for the origin of Chinese civilization in ritual vessels and architectural remains, which mirror the material manifestations of social ritual. By examining the sites of ancient Chinese capitals and palaces, noting the transition from “shrines side by side with palaces” to “the imperial ancestral shrine on the left and the altar to the gods of earth and grain on the right,” and observing the evolution from “dual-axis” to “central-axis” in city planning, we can delve into the cultural genes that have shaped the development of Chinese civilization. Throughout history, China’s first inhabitants and their descendants have forged strong traditions of ancestral identification, the unity and commensurability of family and state, and identification with the state. Characterized by powerful cohesiveness and inclusiveness, these traditions form the subtly ingrained and daily practiced cultural genes of Chinese civilization. They are the fundamental reasons behind the enduring continuity of Chinese civilization for over five thousand years.