The main achievements and enlightenment of the research on the origin of Chinese civilization
Wang Wei
On May 27, 2022, the Political Bureau of the 19th Central Committee conducted the 39th collective study on deepening the project of exploring the origin of Chinese civilization. When presiding over the study, General Secretary Xi Jinping emphasized that in the long historical process, the Chinese nation has gone through a development process different from that of other civilizations in the world with the determination and will of self-improvement. The Chinese Civilization Origin Project has a clearer understanding of the origin, formation and development of the Chinese civilization, the formation and development of the Chinese civilization’s diverse and integrated pattern, and the characteristics and causes of the Chinese civilization.
The Chinese civilization is one of the four major civilizations in the world. It is the only one that has continued to this day and has not been interrupted. It occupies a unique and important position in the history of human civilization. As General Secretary Xi Jinping said, the origin of Chinese civilization is not only a major topic for Chinese scholars to study with great concentration, but also a research topic that the international academic community continues to pay attention to.
In the spring of 2002, the state launched the project to explore the origin of Chinese civilization. The project was established by the Ministry of Science and Technology as a major national scientific research project during the “Tenth Five-Year Plan” to “Fiveteenth Five-Year Plan” period, involving more than 20 disciplines including archaeology, history and natural science, and more than 400 experts and scholars from more than 60 units directly Participate in the project, and by May 2022, the project has been in progress for a full 20 years. The research on the origin of Chinese civilization is guided by Marxism, and the four urban sites of Liangzhu in Zhejiang, Taosi in Shanxi, Shimao in Shaanxi and Erlitou in Henan, which can best reflect the social development status and the degree of power strengthening between 5500 and 3500 years ago, and The central sites of the Yellow River, Yangtze River and Liaohe River Basin are the focus of work, from which large-scale archaeological excavations and settlement distribution surveys in surrounding areas are carried out to obtain information in all aspects, and to provide a multidisciplinary, multi-angle, multi-level and comprehensive understanding of the origin, formation and early stages of Chinese civilization. development research.
The research on the origin of Chinese civilization needs to solve several key questions: First, when did Chinese civilization form? How old is it? Second, how did Chinese civilization originate, form and develop, and how did the integrated trend of Chinese civilization from multiple origins to the Central Plains dynasty take shape? The third is why the Chinese civilization has embarked on a multi-integrated, long-standing and uninterrupted path? Fourth, what are the characteristics of the path and mechanism of the origin, formation and development of Chinese civilization? Fifth, what is the status of Chinese civilization in the history of world civilization?
After 20 years of work, the Chinese Civilization Origin Project has achieved remarkable results.
Propose a Chinese plan to define civilization and identify the criteria for entering a civilized society
General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out that the Chinese Civilization Origin Project proposes the definition of civilization and the identification of China’s plan to enter a civilized society, which has made original contributions to the research on the origin of world civilization.
Propose a Chinese proposal for the definition of civilization.Regarding the definition of civilization and related concepts, there are many differences between domestic and foreign academic circles. The research on the origin of Chinese civilization adheres to historical materialism and proposes that civilization is an advanced stage of human cultural and social development. At this stage, on the basis of the development of productive forces, social division of labor and social differentiation emerged, and classes, kingship and state were formed.
The picture shows the typical artifacts unearthed from the second burial tomb in the north area of the Gangshang site in Tengzhou, Shandong. The Gangshang site in Tengzhou, Shandong was selected as one of the top ten archaeological discoveries in the country in 2021.Photo courtesy of the State Administration of Cultural Heritage issued by Xinhua News Agency
The research on the origin of Chinese civilization believes that the origin of civilization and the formation of civilization have both connections and differences. The two are different stages of the gestation and emergence of a civilized society. First, there is the accumulation of civilizational factors, and then there are changes in the quality of society. Specifically, the “origin of civilization” refers to the great development of productive forces in prehistoric times, the gradual enrichment of material and spiritual life, the division of labor between mental and physical labor, the differentiation between the rich and the poor, and the beginning of civilization factors.
“Civilization formation” refers to the stage in which material, spiritual and institutional culture have all made significant progress. Social differentiation intensified, forming classes; social hierarchies were institutionalized, people’s social behaviors were standardized, and ritual systems were formed; there appeared the supreme ruler, the king, who combined military command and religious sacrificial power, as well as coercive, Public power with social management as its main function – the state. The emergence of the state is a sign of the formation of civilization.
Propose the criteria for entering into a civilized society.Based on the characteristics of the Mesopotamia civilization and the ancient Egyptian civilization, the international academic circles have summed up the standards of writing, metallurgy and cities as the standards of a civilized society, which they call the “three elements of civilization”. According to this standard, Chinese civilization is only 3,300 years old.
Through the study of other primitive civilizations in the world, we can see that not all of the major primitive civilizations in the world conform to the “three elements”. For example, the Mayan civilization in Central America did not have metallurgy, the Inca civilization in South America did not use writing, and the Harappa in the Indus Valley did not use words. The patterns on the seal of civilization are also not recognized as words. With the progress of archaeological discoveries and research around the world, the international academic community generally believes that there can be standards for the formation of civilizations that conform to the characteristics of their own ancient societies.
my country’s academic circles are guided by Marxism, with historical documents and ancient legends as reference, and more importantly, the extremely rich archaeological materials obtained by archaeology over the past century reveal that the Chinese civilization has a profound historical and cultural accumulation, and has a unique development. Road, my country’s academic circles should put forward corresponding civilization standards. According to Engels’ view on “the state is the generalization of civilized society”, the research on the origin of Chinese civilization puts forward the criteria for entering a civilized society: first, production development, population increase, and the emergence of cities; second, social division of labor, class differentiation, and the emergence of classes; third, the emergence of Kingship and state.
Around 5,000 years ago, with the development of agriculture in various regions of China, the population increased, and the regional centers gradually developed into large-scale cities. The production of high-tech handicrafts such as jade, turquoise, fine pottery, and lacquer was specialized and controlled by the ruling class. In all regions, there have been strata that are separated from labor and specialize in managing social affairs. There has been a serious division between the rich and the poor, and different classes have been formed. There have been kings who hold military and religious power, and kings who are controlled by the king and rely on social norms and violence. Governing regime – early state. In the city, there are high-level buildings such as palaces where the king lives, high-level tombs where the king and the ruling class are buried, and ritual vessels and ritual systems that show the status of the ruling class. Slavery occurred, and some were buried for nobles or used to lay the foundations of palaces.
These discoveries of Chinese archaeology are enough to prove that the materialization form of China’s entry into civilized society has its own characteristics. The development level of social productive forces reflected by these materialized forms can prove that the surplus labor at that time can support the public power organs, so that some people can be separated from production to specialize in management and spiritual beliefs.
The above civilization standards also apply to other native civilizations. Although different civilizations have their own characteristics in terms of material civilization and spiritual civilization, they are common in the emergence of the system civilization of kingship and state, but the way of manifesting kingship and state form varies from place to place. In China, such as exquisite jade rituals, bronze rituals, huge civil palaces, tombs imitating the buildings on the ground, etc.; in the Mesopotamia and ancient Egypt, gold, precious stones, magnificent stone temples, Pyramids and large tombs to express.
It clarifies the process of the origin, formation and early development of Chinese civilization, and proves the history of Chinese civilization for more than 5,000 years.
General Secretary Xi Jinping emphasized that after the continuous efforts of several generations of scholars, the research results of major projects such as the Chinese Civilization Origin Project have demonstrated my country’s million-year human history, 10,000 years of cultural history, and more than 5,000 years of civilization history.
The research on the origin of Chinese civilization has reached the following understandings on the origin and early development process of Chinese civilization, as well as the related background and reasons: the foundation was laid 10,000 years ago, the origin was 8,000 years ago, the acceleration was accelerated in 6,000 years, and the entry was more than 5,000 years ago ( Civilized society), the rise of the Central Plains in 4,300 years, the establishment of a dynasty in 4,000 years, the consolidation of royal power in 3,000 years, and the formation of a unified multi-ethnic state in 2,200 years.
“Foundation of Ten Thousand Years”:Around 11,000 years ago, global warming prompted agriculture in East Asia and West Asia. Millet and millet were domesticated in North China 10,000 years ago, and rice cultivation began in the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River. Cultivated rice, pottery and stone tools were unearthed at the Shangshan site on the Pujiang River in Zhejiang. The ancestors of North China and the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River began to grind stone tools and make pottery. The emergence of agriculture led to the emergence of small settled villages in various places, laying the foundation for the emergence of civilization.
“The Origin of Eight Thousand Years”:8000-6000 years ago was a global warming period. Paleoenvironmental research shows that the climate of the Yellow River Basin at that time was similar to that of the Yangtze River Basin today, and the climate of the Yangtze River Basin was similar to that of South China today. Due to the warm and humid climate, rice farming spread northward to the lower reaches of the Huai River, and millet farming was popularized in the middle and lower reaches of the Yellow River and the north and south of Yanshan. The stone shovels and bone shovels unearthed in the site indicate that slash-and-burn farming has developed into philanthropy. Agriculture during this period contributed to population growth, village growth, handicraft development and social progress. The ancestors of the Jiahu site in Wuyang, Henan, on the upper reaches of the Huai River planted rice, raised domestic pigs, made wine, made turquoise tools, and invented the seven-hole bone flute that can play music. In Jiahu, Xinglongwa and other sites, there are very few large-scale tombs with jade or turquoise artifacts, indicating that the society has diverged and the process of the origin of civilization has begun.
“Six Thousand Years Acceleration”:Around 6,000 years ago, the rhythm of the origin of Chinese civilization accelerated. The cultivation techniques of millet and millet in the Yellow River basin spread to the Yangtze River basin, and the rice farming techniques also spread northward to the Han River basin and the middle and lower reaches of the Yellow River. Handicrafts everywhere also made significant progress, with the emergence of fine pottery with a solid texture and smooth surface. Four stone-carved silkworm chrysalis more than 6,000 years ago were unearthed at the early site of Yangshao Culture in Shicun, Xia County, Shanxi Province. People’s spiritual life has gradually enriched. In an early Yangshao culture tomb at the Xishuipo site in Puyang, Henan, there are a large number of dragons and tigers shaped by piles of mussel shells on the east and west sides of the tomb owner. The art of painted pottery is popular in the central and eastern regions of my country, and great progress has also been made in carving jade, painting lacquer and building technology.
During this period, a series of important changes took place in society. First, the population has increased significantly. The number of settlements has increased significantly. In the middle and lower reaches of the Yellow River and the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River, settlement groups consisting of dozens of villages have appeared. The second is the emergence of central settlements. Several large settlements with a scale of 1 million square meters have appeared in the Lingbao Zhudingyuan site group in Henan. The third is war. Some large and medium-sized settlements are surrounded by trenches more than ten meters wide and several meters deep, apparently for military defense. Some male tombs were buried with stone weapons – tomahawks. Fourth, social differentiation has intensified, and a ruling class has begun to emerge. However, this stage is still in the stage of accelerating the origin of civilization, and has not yet formed a country or entered a civilization.
“Five thousand years into”:5500-5000 years ago is a very important period in the history of Chinese civilization. The middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River and other regions have successively entered the stage of civilization.
In the lower reaches of the Yangtze River, ploughing and large-scale rice fields appeared around 5,300 years ago. The ridges and irrigation ditches were regular, and the rice farming technology was quite mature. The large-scale water conservancy system around the ancient city of Liangzhu, and the 200,000 kilograms of rice piles unearthed on the south side of Mojiao Mountain, the core of the ancient city, show that the development of farming and the mastery of warehouses are important national events in Liangzhu. In recent years, in the Shi’ao and Linping Maoshan ruins in Zhejiang Province, the Liangzhu period has been found with broad ridges stacked with branches, bamboo strips and abandoned canoes, criss-crossed; river channels, irrigation holes, and drainage channels are well-planned. The prehistoric rice fields and farming systems far away from the national capital of Liangzhu show the unimaginable scale of rice farming in the early Liangzhu state and the economic power it possessed. Such discoveries tell us that the early state of Liangzhu was built on the basis of comprehensive development of religion, politics, economy, and military.
High-tech handicrafts such as fine jade, pottery, lacquer and turquoise ornaments appeared throughout this period. The jade cong of Liangzhu culture is engraved with exquisite animal face patterns, and the lower reaches of the Yellow River can produce “egg shell pottery” with a wall thickness of less than 1 mm. The craftsmanship of these products is complex, indicating that a family of artisans with specialized skills already emerged at that time. The specialization of high-tech handicrafts is an important manifestation of social division of labor.
Another sign of social development during this period was the appearance of ritual vessels and the initial formation of ritual systems. Jade ware, lacquer ware, exquisite pottery wine ware, etc. are all sourced from top tombs all over the country. Among the top ten archaeological discoveries in the country in 2021, the Huangshan site in Nanyang, Henan, has several large tombs of the early Qujialing culture around 5,300 years ago. Most of the male tomb owners are rich in burial objects. Jade figures, jade dragons, jade owls, and jade turtles are buried in Niuheliang, Jianping, Liaoning, and Lingjiatan tombs in Hanshan, Anhui. There are more than 300 burial objects in Lingjiatan tombs. There are also hundreds of high-grade burial objects such as jade cong and jade bi in the Liangzhu Culture Tomb. Selected as one of the top ten archaeological discoveries in the country in 2021, the Gangshang site in Tengzhou, Shandong. The large tombs in the middle Dawenkou culture have unique features such as painted red bone plates, antler hoes, antler fork-shaped sticks, crocodile bone plates, pottery drums, tortoise shells, etc. The “ritual vessel” characteristic of the Haidai area, the stick-shaped vessel is a simplified version of the Liangzhu culture ivory scepter. The above findings show that the ruling classes in various places mastered the production and distribution of valuables, and formed a hierarchical system that uses some high-tech precious objects as ritual vessels, and at the same time reflects the status of the tomb owner by the size of the tomb—the ritual system.
Around 5300 years ago, in the middle and lower reaches of the Yellow River, the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River and the West Liaohe River Basin, central cities and primitive religious holy places with an area of more than 1 million square meters appeared. Liangzhu Ancient City, a super-large capital city in the lower reaches of the Yangtze River, with an inner city area of nearly 3 million square meters and an outer city of 6.3 million square meters, was the largest city in the world at that time. In order to prevent flash floods, a high dam and a low dam with a length of more than 10 kilometers were built in the north of the ancient city. This is the largest water conservancy regulation system in the world at the same time, reflecting the ability of the Liangzhu King Power Organization to carry out large-scale public construction.
At the same time as the emergence of high-class early cities, class divisions accelerated. Large-scale high-grade buildings with an area of hundreds or even thousands of square meters, and large tombs with hundreds or even hundreds of delicate objects are very different from the small houses and small tombs of ordinary members of the society, indicating that the ruling class has a large amount of social wealth.
The picture shows the archaeological excavation site of Huangchengtai at the Shimao site in Shenmu, Shaanxi (file photo).Xinhua News Agency
Large tombs in almost all regions began to bury a delicate weapon – jade tomahawk. The tombs of Fanshan and Yaoshan in Liangzhu are buried with jade tombs with wooden handles, which are obviously scepters that symbolize military power. Among the newly discovered tombs at the Gangshang site, the highest-ranking male nobles generally bury one large and one small two jade tombs. The tomb owners who buried the jade tombs should be kings with military command. During this period, the phenomenon of war and violence increased, and the skeletons of people who were dumped in garbage pits, buried in the foundations of large buildings as foundations, or used as martyrs in large tombs appeared in various places, indicating that some people had begun to enslave others. .
“The Rise of the Central Plains in 4300 Years”:Around 4,300 years ago, the process of civilization in various parts of China underwent transformation, and its important feature was the rise of the Central Plains. From 4300 to 4100 years ago, the climate has undergone great changes, with abnormal temperature, uneven rainfall, frequent floods, and the process of civilization in various regions has been greatly affected. During this period, the civilization in the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River declined, and the civilization process in the middle and lower reaches of the Yellow River accelerated. 4,300 years ago, the power groups in the middle reaches of the Yellow River gradually gained the upper hand in the power comparison with other surrounding groups. Two giant capitals, Taosi in Shanxi and Shimao in Shaanxi appeared one after another.
The age of Taosi city site is about 4300-4000 years ago. The city site area is 2.8 million square meters. There is a rammed earth platform with an area of 8,000 square meters in the high-grade building area in the city. The building uses terracotta tiles, and the walls are painted and decorated. The earliest palace city in the middle reaches of the Yellow River appeared in Taosi. Nearly 100 funerary objects were unearthed from the tomb, including drums, stone chimes, jade tombs, and large pottery plates with painted dragon patterns. A semi-circular altar-shaped relic was found at the Taosi site. Astronomers believe that it was an observatory for observing the celestial phenomena at that time and determining the agricultural seasons such as the spring equinox, autumn equinox, summer solstice, and winter solstice. ” is consistent with the records. The age, location, scale and grade of the Taosi city site are more consistent with the Yao capital Pingyang recorded in the literature.
Shimao City is a mountain city built with stone blocks discovered 10 years ago, dating from 4100-3900 years ago, with an area of 4 million square meters. Shimao City consists of an outer city, an inner city and an imperial city, with various defense facilities. The imperial city platform at the core of the city has a total height of tens of meters. The top of the platform has a large palace building with an area of several thousand square meters. A number of pottery eagles with a height of more than 50 centimeters to 1 meter were also found in Huangchengtai, which should be related to certain beliefs and worship. Shimao City has a strong military defense color, and many sacrifice pits with the skulls of young women buried in the city were also found, which shows that on the eve of the establishment of the Xia Dynasty, the class division in northern Shaanxi was quite serious, and there were strong military forces. Kingship country.
“The Four Thousand Years Dynasty Established”:Around 4000 years ago, the Xia Dynasty was established. In the area centered on the southern foot of Songshan Mountain, more than 10 large city sites appeared. Among them, the magnificent inner and outer cities of the same size were discovered in Wangchenggang Dengfeng, which has been called “Yangcheng” since the Warring States Period. At the Wadian site in Yuzhou at the same period, there are remains of sacrifices, sacrifices and other sacrifices on the large rammed earth platform. These discoveries all indicate that Chinese civilization has entered a new stage centered on the Central Plains. The “Jiuzhou” in “Shangshu·Yugong” basically covers North China, Central China and East China, indicating that at the beginning of the establishment of the Xia Dynasty, the vision of the power groups in the middle reaches of the Yellow River has expanded to the middle and lower reaches of the Yellow River and the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River, forming a wide range of world view. After about 200 years of development, in the late Xia Dynasty, the strength of the Xia Dynasty continued to increase, the leading position of the Central Plains was gradually formed, and the scope of influence was unprecedentedly broad. These can be reflected from the Erlitou site in Yanshi, Henan.
The Erlitou site covers an area of more than 3 million square meters and dates from 3800 to 3500 years ago. It is the largest urban site in China during the same period. The Yiluo River basin where the Erlitou site is located is the central area of the Xia Dynasty recorded in the literature. The heyday of the Erlitou culture was from the late Xia Dynasty to the eve of the establishment of the Shang Dynasty. The ritual utensils and etiquette system created by the Erlitou culture, represented by the jade yazhang, radiated to the surrounding areas, and the scope of influence was unprecedented. A complete set of bronze and jade ritual vessels from the Erlitou culture was fully inherited by the later Shang Dynasty.
On the eve of the establishment of the Shang Dynasty, in the Songshan area where the Erlitou culture was distributed, the Xia Dynasty was the only powerful political entity, and there was no other power group with such influence. Therefore, there is every reason to believe that Erlitou is very likely to be the capital of the late Xia Dynasty. The existence of the Xia Dynasty is not only richly recorded in the documents since the pre-Qin period, but also proved by archaeology.
The Shang Dynasty inherited the ritual system initiated by the Xia Dynasty, and further developed politics, economy, culture and society, and formed a mature writing system represented by oracle bone inscriptions. Metallurgy and ritual system had an impact on a wider area. The records of the oracle bone inscriptions show that the king of Shang was the supreme ruler of the country, and there was a relatively complete administrative organization under the king of Shang, with a direct control area centered on Wang Ji and an indirect control of the country. The political power and cultural influence of the Shang Dynasty extended to the sea in the east, Longshan in the west, Jianghan in the south, and Yanshan in the north. The bronze ritual vessels of the Shang system were unearthed in a wide area, indicating that the Shang Dynasty played a stronger leading role in the evolution of Chinese civilization and promoted the development of culture and society in various places.
“Three Thousand Years of Consolidation of Kingship”:In the early years of the Western Zhou Dynasty, the king of Zhou passed the “feudal state and founding of the state”, canonizing his close relatives and heroic officials to establish vassal states in various places, and realized the stable rule of the dynasty over the vast areas outside Wangji. On the basis of inheriting the ritual system of the Xia and Shang Dynasty, the Zhou Dynasty perfected the ritual system and formed a ritual system for utensils composed of differences in the type and quantity of bronze wares, so as to clarify the grades. This kind of difference in the level of utensils was continuously strengthened in the Western Zhou Dynasty and gradually expanded to all aspects of clothing, food, housing and transportation, so that there were institutional differences in the type and number of combinations of clothing colors, clothing styles, jades, carriages, and bells and instruments. The Western Zhou Dynasty is a very critical period in the process of Chinese civilization. The civilization form characterized by the feudal system, the patriarchal system, the ritual and music system, and the state structure with the emperor of Zhou as the core, further strengthened the centralized system since the Xia and Shang Dynasty. , which laid a solid foundation for the formation of the unified multi-ethnic state of the Qin and Han Dynasties.
“The formation of a unified multi-ethnic state in 2200 years”:It refers to the unification of China by Qin Shi Huang in 221 BC. Chinese civilization has entered the civilization stage of a unified state, opening a new stage of the formation and development of a unified multi-ethnic state.
The historical enlightenment of the development of Chinese civilization
General Secretary Xi Jinping emphasized that the Chinese civilization has a long history, is extensive and profound, and is the unique spiritual identity of the Chinese nation, the foundation of contemporary Chinese culture, the spiritual bond that maintains the Chinese around the world, and the treasure of Chinese cultural innovation. The development of Chinese civilization has brought us a lot of historical inspiration.
Diversity and integration are the source of the endless life of Chinese civilization.Throughout the evolution of the early Chinese civilization, we can see that the civilizations of various regions in China are splendid. Among them, the middle reaches of the Yellow River absorbed various cultural factors with an open mind, and finally integrated the civilizations of other regions. History shows that civilizations in all regions have made positive contributions to the formation of Chinese civilization. It is precisely because of the convergence and integration of various civilizations that the Chinese civilization is full of vitality and sustainable development.
Openness, inclusiveness, exchanges and mutual learning are the driving forces for the development of civilizations.Chinese civilization actively absorbs the achievements of other civilizations and develops innovations. Even in prehistoric times, exchanges have been ubiquitous, and continuous cross-regional and cross-ethnic exchanges have recorded the course of cultural mutual learning and promoted the development of civilizations. Exchanges and mutual learning are the key to the lasting prosperity of Chinese civilization and the eternal support for the charm of Chinese civilization. Only by being open, inclusive, and inclusive, can the tree of civilization be evergreen and the Chinese civilization be kept alive forever.
Cultural soft power is the guarantee for enhancing the creativity and influence of Chinese civilization.The civilizations of Xia, Shang and Zhou continued to condense advanced concepts and created mainstream values with “rituality” as an important content. This thought with rich connotations influenced the surrounding areas, leading and promoting the development of civilization in these areas. After the Qin and Han dynasties, “ritual” was inherited and carried forward, given new connotations, and became a core value concept of Chinese civilization. It was spread to surrounding countries and regions through exchanges and mutual learning, and became an important concept of oriental civilization.
The origin, formation and early development of the Chinese civilization are basically synchronized with the other three major civilizations in the world, and the brilliant achievements of civilization are not inferior.The origin of agriculture in China 10,000 years ago and the formation of civilization more than 5,000 years ago were roughly the same time as the two river basins and ancient Egypt. More than 3,000 years ago, the Zhou Dynasty established the largest political system at that time through the feudal system. The contention of a hundred schools of thought in the Spring and Autumn Period around 2,600 years ago is the awakening of the humanistic spirit of the “Axial Age” that occurred at the same time as ancient Greece and ancient India. Millet and rice farming, jade and silk production, etc., not only reflect the wisdom and creativity of Chinese ancestors, but also make important contributions to human civilization. During the formation of Chinese civilization, various hardships such as abnormal climate and social turmoil occurred. Such civilization development history and achievements are the source of our cultural self-confidence today. No matter the past, present or future, Chinese civilization stands tall in the world.
National unity is the foundation of the people’s aspirations and prosperity.In the process of the development of Chinese civilization, there are wars, there are many states, and there are feudal rulers, but under the guidance of the unified core, the productive forces develop, the society progresses, and the unified state of Qin and Han has been established. Since then, the concept of “unification, seeking great harmony” and national political practice have infiltrated the Chinese nation with a strong appeal, united the Chinese nation, guided the identity of the Chinese nation, and created the unique character of Chinese civilization. History has shown that national unity is not only the essential attribute of Chinese civilization, but also the fundamental guarantee for the continuity of Chinese civilization. National unity, national unity, and social tranquility will surely make Chinese civilization more brilliant and splendid.
The Chinese civilization has experienced a unique development path and formed a unique civilization gene. Each civilization should be beautiful.The cradle that nurtured Chinese civilization is vast and diverse, and Chinese civilization has therefore experienced a unique process of diverse origins, collisions, exchanges, and integration. Such a grand process gave birth to the family-state system of “under the whole world, is it possible to be a king of land” and the political ideal of world harmony, and formed a core-led, pluralistic and integrated civilization development trend. Therefore, the process of formation and development of Chinese civilization is the process of formation and development of a multi-ethnic unified country. Such a process has made the Chinese civilization endless and the Chinese national community unbreakable. After the formation of a unified multi-ethnic state, “great unification” has become the highest value and ideal pursued by the Chinese nation. Chinese civilization has formed a unique economic, political and cultural system, which is based on agriculture, maintains social organization with the patriarchal system, maintains social hierarchy with ritual system, regulates human relations with morality, and coordinates human and nature with the concept of harmony between man and nature. Relationship. It can be seen that civilizations can have different paths. Civilizations should have their own beauty, the beauty of the beauties, and the beauty of each other. This is the source of our confidence in the road.
General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out that the exploration of the origin and formation of civilization is a complex and lengthy systematic project. The Chinese civilization exploration project has achieved remarkable results, but there is still a long way to go, and it must continue to be advanced and deepened. We must deeply understand the development history of Chinese civilization for more than 5,000 years, lead the research on the history of Chinese civilization in depth, promote the whole party and the whole society to enhance historical consciousness, strengthen cultural self-confidence, and unswervingly follow the path of socialism with Chinese characteristics, so as to build socialism in an all-round way. To modernize the country and realize the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation, we will work together in unity.
Author: Member of the Faculty of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, Director of the Department of History, Specially Invited Researcher of Xi Jinping Thought Research Center for Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era, Chief Expert of the First to Fourth Phases of the Chinese Civilization Origin Project