Cultural characteristics of Liangzhu culture

The pottery of Liangzhu culture is mainly gray-black pottery mixed with fine sand and mud-gray tire black pottery. Rotation system is more common. Generally, the wall of the device is thin, and the surface of the device is mostly polished, and a few have fine patterns and holes. Kitty and tripod are very popular. Representative vessel shapes include tripod with fins or T-shaped cross section, bean with bamboo handle, ear-piercing pot, large round-footed shallow belly plate, wide-handled flowing cup, etc. The quantity and technology of jade articles such as inkstone and jade are unprecedented in other cultures of the same period.

The stone tools in Liangzhu are beautifully polished, and there are some new shapes, such as triangular plow, inclined handle knife, "cultivator", half moon knife, sickle, stepped hairpin and so on.

Liangzhu jades include Bi, Cong, Yue, Huang, Guan, Trident jades, jade bracelets, jade tubes, jade beads, jade pendants, cylindrical jades, conical jades, jade belts, Yuhuan and so on, which are quite exquisite. Taihu Lake, where Liangzhu culture is located, is one of the earliest origins of rice cultivation in China. In many Liangzhu cultural sites, many stone farm tools, such as triangular stone plows and V-shaped soil crushers, are commonly found, indicating that agriculture in Liangzhu cultural period has developed from cultivated agriculture to cultivated agriculture, which is a great progress in ancient agricultural development. This led to the high development of productive forces at that time and promoted the development of handicraft industry. Therefore, handicraft departments such as pottery making, jade processing and textile were separated from agriculture, especially the exquisite jade processing technology, which showed the high development level of handicraft industry at that time. Others, such as lacquerware, silk and linen fabrics, ivory products, etc. , all show the advanced nature of productive forces at that time and its cultural connotation!

On the basis of the development of social productive forces, the social system of Liangzhu culture period has undergone drastic changes, and class differentiation has appeared in society, which is particularly prominent in the remains of tombs. Most of the aristocratic cemeteries in Zhejiang, such as Fanshan, Yaoshan and Guanhuishan, have large artificial tombs. Most of the noble tombs are large in scale, with exquisite funerary objects, especially a large number of exquisite jade ritual vessels. In contrast, small civilian tombs were found in Xubu Bridge, Qianjin Corner, Pingqiudun, Wujiabao and Qian Miao. They don't have a special cemetery, but they are scattered around the residence. The tombs are small in scale, and only simple pottery and small decorative jade ornaments are buried with them. It can be seen that Liangzhu society has shown hierarchical differences in fierce conflicts. The wealth accumulation contained in this difference is realized through some social power above the clan society. The construction of a large-scale tomb platform is huge, especially the large-scale foundation site like Jiaomoshan, which was not needed by people's material life at that time, so we have to admire people's construction ability during the Liangzhu culture period. Such a large-scale construction project needs a certain social order to ensure it, otherwise it would be unimaginable. The establishment of this social order is closely related to the generation of social class differences at that time. It can be said that during the Liangzhu culture period, there have been leaders with high authority among clans and tribes, and they have the social power to organize a large number of laborers to carry out such a large-scale construction project!

The existence of this social force is also fully manifested in the jade production in Liangzhu culture period. Jade processing is a complicated multi-process labor process, therefore, jade is the product of handicraft specialization. In Liangzhu culture, except for a few shapes such as jade beads (tubes), patterns and jade, most of the jade articles are carved with exquisite and dense patterns, which shows that each jade article embodies a lot of labor achievements. Producers must get rid of the daily working state for the purpose of obtaining means of subsistence and engage in single jade processing and production, and their means of subsistence need to be provided by the vast social groups. At the same time, the shape of jade is relatively standardized, and the carving of patterns and patterns is also relatively standardized, which reflects the trend of increasing mental labor components and being relatively independent of simple manual labor in the production process, and the division of labor between mental labor and manual labor has been formed. Another important aspect of the transformation of Liangzhu culture and social form is the emergence of ritual system with jade as the core. There are more than 20 kinds of jades unearthed in Liangzhu aristocratic tombs, mainly including valves, walls, cymbals, cones, tridents, crowns, yellow, spinning wheels, plate ornaments and so on. In the so-called small tombs scattered around the residence, only small pieces of jade were buried with them. These small pieces of jade only have tubes, beads and integrated cones, and no other jade articles have been found in noble tombs. These tombs can be regarded as civilian tombs. The differences in the types and combinations of jades in aristocratic tombs, aristocratic tombs and civilian tombs, as well as the differences in whether there are jades in civilian tombs, constitute the hierarchical differences in the use system of jades in Liangzhu culture. At the same time, it should be pointed out that some exquisitely made ceramic double-nose pots, ding and beans engraved with complex patterns such as flat clams or birds found in Liangzhu culture are all from aristocratic tombs, which may be regarded as the reflection of jade on pottery!

The core of etiquette system is to reflect the subordinate relationship between people, from top to bottom, from top to bottom, from humble to close. The jade use system of Liangzhu culture embodies such a relationship. Taking the jade system as the main feature, it shows the emergence of Liangzhu cultural etiquette system, which is undoubtedly the performance of social qualitative change. Liangzhu society has stepped into a civilized society from the early barbaric state! In the late Neolithic period, Liangzhu culture appeared in the lower reaches of the Yangtze River after Songze culture. This ancient culture was named after the excavation of Liangzhu Site in Yuhang County, Zhejiang Province in 1936. It is mainly distributed in Taihu Lake area, bounded by Qiantang River in the south and Changzhou in Jiangsu Province in the northwest, and its influence has reached Nantong area on the north bank of the Yangtze River. According to carbon 14, its age is about 3300 BC-2200 BC, and it has entered the beginning stage of Xia Dynasty's rule over the Central Plains, which is closely related to Xia Dynasty's ruling group. Important sites after excavation include Caoxie Mountain and Zhangling Mountain in Wuxian County, Jiangsu Province, Wujinmiao Wharf in Zhangjiagang City, Li Xian Wharf in Wuxi, Xujiawan and so on. Quemu Bridge in Jiaxing, Zhejiang, Paddy Field in Hangzhou, Qianshanyang in Xing Wu, Fanshan, Yaoshan, Guanhui Mountain in Yuhang, Jiaomo Mountain and Cihu Lake in Ningbo; Shanghai fuquanshan maqiao, qingpu, shanghai county. The rice, jade articles, black pottery carvings, bamboo woven objects, silk and linen fabrics unearthed from these sites show the economic development level of the Yangtze River Delta from the late Neolithic Age to the early Bronze Age.

The social and economic production in Liangzhu culture period is mainly reflected in agriculture and handicrafts. Rice planting was the most important agricultural production activity at that time, and rice and rice remains were found in Liangzhu cultural relics such as Xianlidun, Xujiawan, Qianshanyang, Shuitianfan and Hu Cheng in Wuxian County. After identification, these paddy belong to cultivated indica rice and japonica rice.

In addition to rice, various clans and tribes are also engaged in the cultivation of vegetables, melons and some oil crops. Relics such as gourd, peanut, sesame, broad bean, sweet melon seeds, water chestnut, peach pit and jujube pit were unearthed in Qianshanyang site. Some are the fruits of wild plants, and some may be planted artificially. At this time, the variety of crops was obviously more than Majiabang and Songze culture, and the scope of agricultural production was also expanded.

The agricultural production level of Liangzhu culture is more reflected in the invention and popularization of new farming methods and production technologies. Cultivated land is the main way of agricultural cultivation in Liangzhu culture. Stone plows used at that time have been found in many sites, and there are more than 100 stone plows unearthed in Qianshanyang site alone. There are two types of stone plows. One is a plane triangle with a blade at the waist and one or several holes in the middle, which are often arranged vertically. It can be installed on a wooden plow to plow the field. The other is similar to a triangle, with a lower blade and an inclined handle at the back end. It may be an advanced tool for ditching and digging canals, so it is also called "ditching plough". These two kinds of stone plows are new agricultural tools invented by Liangzhu people, which have played an important role in promoting the rapid development of agricultural production.

Compared with previous farming production, ploughing can not only save labor, improve work efficiency, better change soil structure and make full use of soil fertility, but also provide conditions for the emergence of drilling and intertillage weeding technology, and at the same time make wasteland develop into cultivated land in a larger area, and the level of agricultural production can be improved to a new stage. The development from cultivated agriculture to cultivated agriculture is a major change in the ancient agricultural history of China, which laid a solid foundation for agricultural development after summer.

Among a large number of stone tools in Liangzhu culture, there is another object with a special shape, which has swept wings and curved blades, and a tenon protrudes from the center of the back, and a round hole is often worn on the tenon. The shape is very similar to the iron cultivator used in this area later, and it is considered to be the earliest agricultural tool for weeding paddy fields in ancient times. The emergence of intertillage weeding technology is closely related to tillage, because tillage is carried out in a straight line and sowing is also carried out in a straight line, thus creating conditions for advanced drill sowing technology and providing convenience for intertillage weeding. In addition, a kind of wood with a handle shaped like a dustpan was found in Qianshanyang site. Its shape is the same as the wooden chopsticks used by farmers in this area in modern times, and it is a tool for taking river mud and fertilizing. The combination of intertillage weeding and fertilization will undoubtedly greatly increase the yield per unit area of crops.

Rice cultivation should be irrigated with water. Digging wells to repair canals and irrigating farmland is another important achievement of Liangzhu cultural tribe in developing agriculture after Hemudu, Majiabang and Songze cultures. Wells in this period were found in Huxing Lake in Wuxian, Taishidian Lake in Kunshan, Nanfang Spring in Wuxi, Xiagang in Jiangyin and Jiashan New Port. More than 100 wells have been discovered in Hucheng Lake. The wells in Taishidian Lake are also equipped with wooden wells; The shaft wall of Jiashan New Port is made of wood. At this time, the shaft lining construction technology obviously inherited the characteristics of Hemudu culture and Majiabang culture, and improved it to some extent. More importantly, the number of wells has increased dramatically, and its function is not only for drinking in daily life. Traces of ditches used for water diversion and drainage were found in Xujiawan site, and many ditching plows were unearthed, indicating that irrigated agriculture may have appeared in Liangzhu culture, which is the earliest agricultural production technology in Chinese mainland. Liangzhu cultural sites in the lower reaches of the Yangtze River are all located in relatively low-lying water network areas, and the main crop is rice. The growth of rice is not only afraid of drought, but also of waterlogging. Controlling suitable water quantity is the basic measure to ensure rice growth and harvest. The ancestors of Liangzhu culture accumulated 3,000 years' experience in rice planting and field management since Hemudu culture, and gradually explored and invented the irrigation technology in agricultural production, thus greatly enhancing the ability of drought resistance and drainage, making rice planting on a more stable basis, and making great contributions to the agricultural development in the vast areas of southern China. In the late Liangzhu culture, the Central Plains has entered the Xia Dynasty. Influenced by the bronze culture in the Yellow River basin, the embryonic form of the country has also appeared in the lower reaches of the Yangtze River, and the economic development of Liangzhu culture has laid the foundation for it.

The improvement of agricultural production level will inevitably bring about the further development of handicraft industry. Cultural relics unearthed in various places show that Liangzhu culture has a variety of handicrafts such as pottery, stone tools, wood, bamboo, silk and linen textiles, jade carvings, lacquerware, etc., all of which have reached a high level. Among them, pottery making and jade making are prominent, which played an important role in the late Neolithic period in China.

The rapid wheel molding method has been widely used in pottery of Liangzhu culture. All kinds of pottery are beautiful in shape, delicate in fetal quality, uniform in wall thickness and high in temperature. At that time, there were few painted pottery, and the surface of musical instruments was often decorated with carving skills. Generally, the protruding parts of utensils are carved with exquisite patterns, such as fish, birds, flowers, grass and other vivid animals and plants, as well as geometric patterns with slender lines and ingenious structures. The pottery ding of Liangzhu culture unearthed in Fuquan Mountain, Qingpu, Shanghai and Caoxie Mountain, Wuxian, Jiangsu, has a crescent-shaped foot and a round hole, and the cover, cover button and body are carved with round vortex patterns and flat patterns. Some ear-piercing pots with lids are only 1-2mm thick, and are also finely engraved with complex round vortex patterns, woven patterns, zigzag stripes, bird-shaped patterns and flat patterns. Some pottery handles are decorated with woven patterns, but they are actually made of clay strips as thin as silk threads, which shows that they are well-made. Many pottery wares of Liangzhu culture are not only exquisite, generous and practical daily utensils, but also exquisite and exquisite handicrafts.

The jade manufacturing industry in ancient China was quite developed during the Longshan culture period, and jade articles with beautiful shapes and exquisite craftsmanship were widely seen everywhere. When Zhongyuan entered the Xia Dynasty, the jade wares of Liangzhu culture became the first-class handicrafts in Chinese mainland and the source of ritual vessels in Shang and Zhou Dynasties.

Jade wares of Liangzhu culture are unearthed in many places and widely distributed, especially in Hangjiahu area. Jade jade and jade cong were found in more than 20 sites in 8 counties and cities including Xing Wu and Yuhang in Zhejiang. A total of 677 funerary objects, including more than 500 jade articles, were unearthed from seven tombs excavated in Fuquan Mountain, Qingpu. The anti-mountain clan cemetery in Yuhang County is a relic of Liangzhu culture in the middle period, about 3000 years ago. All kinds of jade articles in tombs account for more than 90% of all funerary objects. 1 1 A total of more than 3,200 tombs were unearthed, of which more than 500 were buried with one tomb.

The jade manufacturing industry of Liangzhu culture inherited the craft tradition of Majiabang culture and absorbed the experience of Dawenkou culture in the north and Xuejiagang culture in the east, which made the jade manufacturing technology reach the most advanced level at that time. Jade articles unearthed in the anti-mountain cemetery include jade, rings, cymbals, cymbals, bracelets, hooks, columns, conical ornaments, inlaid ornaments, round ornaments, various crown ornaments, rod end ornaments and so on. , as well as piercing ornaments composed of birds, fish, turtles, cicadas and various petal ornaments, including tubes, beads and petals.

It is worth noting that jades from the same tomb are often consistent in quality and color, especially in complete sets. Sometimes the same piece of jade is used to select materials. Nearly 100 pieces of jade unearthed in the anti-mountain cemetery are engraved with patterns, with various techniques, such as negative line engraving, relief relief, semi-circular carving and even through carving. The carving of patterns is very fine, and some patterns have four or five thin lines in grooves with the width of 1 mm, which shows that the carving knives used at that time were quite sharp and the craftsmen's skills were quite skilled. Everything from Bicong to Fozhu has been carefully carved, polished and polished, which shows the high level of jade manufacturing of ancestors of Liangzhu culture. The patterns of jade articles are often based on cirrus clouds, and the main decorative pattern is the animal face pattern of God and Man, which is rigorous, harmonious and full of mystery.

A large number of exquisite jade articles have also been unearthed in Yaoshan clan cemetery, which is 5 kilometers away from the anti-mountain clan cemetery. Most of the jades in this cemetery are similar to those in the mountains, but no jade walls have been unearthed in more than a dozen tombs, which shows the differences in customs between the two neighboring clans. Jade jade and jade spoon were unearthed in a tomb in Yaoshan, which is the first precious tableware seen in Liangzhu culture.

The quantity and quality of jade articles in Liangzhu culture are higher than those in other areas in the same period, which fully shows that jade production has become a highly specialized handicraft industry, reflecting from one side that the material production level in the Yangtze River Delta was relatively developed four or five thousand years ago, which prepared the conditions for the emergence of early countries in wuyue Economic Zone.

According to the unearthed jade articles, it can be seen that the stone-making technology at that time was equally superb. Craftsmen who make stone tools have completely mastered a set of techniques such as stone selection, stone cutting, blank cutting, drilling and polishing.

At the same time, the bamboo and wood manufacturing industry has also developed to a certain extent. Wood products and bamboo woven products have been found in many sites, and more than 200 pieces of bamboo products have been unearthed in Qianshanyang site, which shows that this handicraft industry has also become the productive labor of some clan members. A number of rare wooden products, such as cajanus cajan, wooden plate, wooden spear and arrow, have been unearthed from the temple site in Liangzhu town. Wooden poles, paddles, clogs, wooden handles made of branches and wooden drills with dental drills were also unearthed at the site of Cihu Lake in Ningbo, showing how rich bamboo and wood products were at that time. The division of labor in different handicraft industries appeared in the late Liangzhu culture.

The division of labor and the development of handicraft industry have developed the exchange of products. A large number of jade, stone tools, pottery, bamboo and wood products are obviously not the actual needs of producers or grave owners in some sites or tombs, but symbols of power and wealth. Many handicrafts already have the attributes of commodities. In the tomb of the anti-mountain cemetery, a large number of pottery and jade articles can only be obtained through various exchange methods. In addition, jade wares of Liangzhu culture have been unearthed in Shanxi Taosi in the Yellow River Valley and clan cemetery in Shi Xia, Guangdong Province, and pottery wares of Shandong Longshan culture have also been unearthed in Maqiao in Shanghai and Quemuqiao in Jiaxing, which may be the result of communication. This phenomenon shows that in the late Neolithic period in Zhixia, the exchange of handicraft products not only took place frequently within clans and tribal groups, but also became an increasingly important part of social and economic activities, just like production activities.

In the late Liangzhu culture, it has entered the reign of Xia Dynasty in the Central Plains. Influenced by the culture of the Central Plains, clans and tribes in the lower reaches of the Yangtze River have also undergone tremendous changes in the political, economic and military fields, and some relatively independent "kingdoms" may already exist. The large-scale architectural site of Yuhang Jiao Mo unearthed in 1992 is obviously related to the national ritual system. There is a certain basis for Yu Xia to convene world tribal leaders in Huiji, and "all nationalities" attended the meeting.