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The Xia Dynasty Travel Episode III The Huadizui Site: 'The Songs of the Five Sons' Composed in Luorui
Source：dahe.cn
Published：2021-09-13 15:50
The Xia Dynasty Travel Episode III
The Huadizui Site: 'The Songs of the Five Sons' Composed in Luorui
追寻夏的轨迹③丨花地嘴遗址：《五子之歌》起洛汭
In recent years, the Shuanghuaishu Site in Gongyi of Zhengzhou, Central China's Henan province, has become a hit. However, what is less known is that to its west lies the Huadizui Site, which is much closer to Luorui (洛汭) where the Luohe River flows into the Yellow River. The Huadizui Site of the early Xia Dynasty (2070 BC-1600 BC) is believed to be the place where the 5 younger brothers of Taikang, the third king of the Xia Dynasty, composed the reputational poem Songs of the Five Sons after Taikang lost power and was driven out of the city by tribal leader Yi (around 1998 BC-1940 BC).
这几年位于巩义洛汭地区的双槐树遗址很火，而很多人不知道的是，双槐树遗址西边还有更加靠近洛汭之地的花地嘴遗址，花地嘴遗址是夏代早期的遗址，有学者研究认为，这里可能是“后羿代夏”之后，夏国君太康的五个弟弟困于洛汭作《五子之歌》的地方。
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On September 4, we went north from Shaochai village of Gongyi to the Huadizui Site. Can you imagine that there would be so many secrets under the seemingly ordinary field?
9月4日，记者一行从巩义稍柴村跟着导航一路向北，找到了花地嘴遗址，在这片看似平常的庄稼地下面竟然埋藏着那么多的秘密。
The Huadizui Site. [Photo provided to Henan Daily]
Archaeological site is usually named after the village in which they are located, but the Huadizui Site is an exception. Discovered in 1984, it was first called the Shuigou Site at that time, because its location belonged to Shuigou village. Now, the entry of the Shuigou Site can still be found in the book of An Atlas of Chinese Cultural Relics. However, the local villagers like to call this area Huadizui. To clearly show the exact place of the site, its original name has been replaced since 1992.
考古遗址一般以遗址所在的村庄命名，但是花地嘴遗址稍有例外。花地嘴遗址最早是在1984年发现的，当时它不叫花地嘴遗址，因它所处位置的土地归水沟村民所有，所以定名为“水沟遗址”，现《中国文物地图集》上仍登记为“水沟遗址”。由于当地村民都把这块地叫花地嘴，为了更确切的表示遗址位置，1992年以后，就把原来的“水沟遗址”更名为“花地嘴遗址”。
From 2001 to 2007, Zhengzhou Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology launched several investigations and excavations at the Huadizui Site and discovered many important cultural relics, including ring trenches, sacrificial pits, house ruins, ash pits and pottery-kiln remains. Besides, implements made of stones, bones and clamshells were also unearthed along with pottery wares, jade products, pottery wares painted with cinnabar, many animal bones and grains. The 4 ring trenches (with southeast gates) and sacrificial pits are of great significance. With rounded corners and square shape, the 3 inner trenches are quite close to each other, but have different width. The outer trench is far from the 3 inner ones with a distance of about 150 meters. With a depth of about 8 to 9 meters and a width of about 16 meters, this trench is basically trapezoidal in shape. There seems to be a northwest-southeast road linking the people within the 4 trenches with other places, since gaps have been found in the southeast part of all the trenches. These gaps should be the trenches' southeast gates. Due to severe damages, the ruins of city walls have not been discovered yet. Near the outer gate discovered multiple sacrificial pits which are irregular and nearly round in shape due to repeated usage, with a number of human bones, animal skeletons and various burial implements found.
2001年至2007年，郑州市文物考古研究院联合相关单位先后对花地嘴遗址进行多次调查与发掘，共发现重要遗迹有：环壕、祭祀坑、房址、灰坑及陶窑。出土有骨、石、蚌器、陶器、玉器、朱砂绘陶礼器、诸多动物骨骼及农作物颗粒。花地嘴的环壕和祭祀坑非常重要，共发现四条环壕和环壕东南大门，四条环壕中的内三条相距颇近，均为圆角方圆形，每条环壕的宽度也不一致；最外一条环壕距内三条环壕较远，距离为150米左右，此条环壕较宽，剖面为梯形，表面宽度约16米左右，深约8～9米。四条环壕与外界的连接通道均在东南部位，并且都在一条西北——东南方向的直线上，这里的缺口应该是东南大门，只是由于破坏严重，尚未发现确证的城墙迹象。大门附近有多个祭祀坑，主要为不规则的近圆形，系多次祭祀形成，发现其中有数具人骨、动物牺牲骨骼和各类器物。
The Huadizui Site, one of the projects aimed at tracing the origins of Chinese civilization, was listed as one of the fourth batch of provincial key cultural relics by the People's Government of Henan Province in 2006, one of the seventh batch of national key cultural relics by the State Council in May 2013.
2006年花地嘴遗址被河南省人民政府公布为第四批省级重点文物保护单位。2013年5月，被国务院核定公布为第七批全国重点文物保护单位，后被列为“中华文明探源工程”研究项目之一。
The two pottery wares painted with cinnabar discovered at the Huadizui Site. [Photo provided to Henan Daily]
Why is the Huadizui Site so eye-catching?
花地嘴为什么如此引人注目？
The importance of the Huadizui Site lies in its special historical background and location, according to Gu Wanfa, head of Zhengzhou Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology. Excavations at the Xinzhai Site in Xinmi of Zhengzhou found the cultural remains of the Xinzhai Phase (around 1870 BC-1720 BC), called the Xinzhai Culture (in other words, the early Xia Dynasty), which is between the Longshan Culture (around 2500 BC-2000 BC) and the Erlitou Culture (around 1735 BC-1530 BC). Some scholars once inferred that the stories of Taikang who lost power and Shaokang who restored Xia's governance happened during the Xinzhai Phase. So the discovery of the Huadizui Site well proved it. The remains of the Xinzhai Phase were previously found to the south of Songshan Mountain and Wan'an Mountain, while the Huadizui Site is located to the north of Songshan Mountain. Such a discovery has stimulated archaeologists to pay more attention to the northern areas of Songshan Mountain and Wan'an Mountain. Subsequently, more remains of the Xinzhai Phase were found there.
根据郑州市文物考古研究院院长顾万发的研究，花地嘴遗址的年代和位置特殊而重要。在河南龙山文化和偃师二里头文化之间，在嵩山周围存在着以新密新砦遗址为代表的新砦期遗存，也有人称之为新砦文化，也就是夏代早期文化。有学者认为，新砦期遗存是文献所记“后羿代夏”至“少康中兴”时期的夏文化，它的发现和被确认，证明“后羿代夏”是确实存在的历史真实。新砦期遗存以前发现的主要分布在嵩山、万安山以南，花地嘴遗址是在嵩山以北发现的第一个新砦期遗存，它的发现使学界对嵩山、万安山以北地区的新砦期遗存更加重视，后来果然在多个遗址内发现了新砦期遗存。
Among the large number of the cultural relics unearthed at the Huadizui Site, a teeth-shaped Zhang (a kind of blade used as ritual implement) made of black jade and two pottery wares painted with cinnabar are the most striking ones.
花地嘴遗址发现的文物数量众多，而其中最引人注目的是墨玉牙璋和朱砂绘陶瓮。
The teeth-shaped Zhang discovered at the Huadianzui Site. [Photo provided to Henan Daily]
The teeth-shaped Zhang discovered at the Huadianzui Site was recommended by Zhengzhou as a candidate for the selection of the greatest treasures of China's 10 ancient capitals. Unearthed in 2003, it was found tilted slightly to the southwest with two upward "teeth" and a human skeleton to the north in a burial pit intentionally filled with brown and white soil layer by layer. Previously, the oldest known teeth-shaped Zhang unearthed in Henan was believed to belong to the third stage of the Erlitou Culture (around 1635 BC-1565 BC). The later finding at the Huadizui Site can be traced back to the late Longshan Culture or the early Shimao Culture (around 4,000 years ago), which is believed to be the earliest phase when the teeth-shaped Zhang appeared. The well-preserved Zhang discovered at the Huadizui Site was produced skillfully with a unique style and is considered the oldest one in the Central Plains with a clear stratigraphic sequence.
花地嘴遗址出土的墨玉牙璋曾代表郑州市进入过“十大古都重宝”的评选。2003年考古发掘玉璋出土时首端向上，略向西南倾斜，其北侧有一人骨架。坑内数层填土褐、白相间，显然系有意而为。此玉璋出土以前，在河南所出的玉璋时代最早的为二里头文化三期，花地嘴玉璋的时期恰与龙山文化晚期及关中石峁文化早期时代相当，是学界诸多学者所认同的玉璋最早出现的时期。花地嘴玉璋器形完整、制作工艺娴熟，造型别致，从已发表的牙璋材料中，未见有造型与其一致者，是中原地区目前发现的具有明确出土层位的、时代最早的玉璋。
The pottery wares painted with cinnabar unearthed were in fragments scattered in two ash pits, one in the east while the other in the west, which are close to each other. In the pits, burn marks were discovered. Restoration shows obvious oriental cultural elements on the two pottery wares, including cinnabar-painted patterns on their caps and exaggerated divinity pictures painted with the same pigment on their bodies. Some experts pointed out that these pictures are the descriptions of the Master of the Big Dipper, which indicate some relations with the events in the early Xia Dynasty.
朱砂绘陶瓮出土时已是碎片，分别散落在相距很近的东西两个灰坑中，坑内有火烧迹象。经过复原，两个陶瓮都有器盖，器盖上也有朱砂绘图案，器身上朱砂绘变形的神像图案。朱砂绘陶瓮具有明显的东方文化元素，其上的神像有专家认为是“北斗神”，它在洛汭地区的出现有可能与早期夏史的有关事件有联系。
The findings of Gu Wanfa suggest that the Huadizui Site can best represent the Xinzhai Phase remains. The less than 100-year-long history from Taikang's lose of power and Shaokang's restoration of Xia's governance is just in line with the usage duration of the Huadizui Site. According to Shih Chi, the historical record written by Sima Qian during the Western Han Dynasty (206 BC-AD 24), after Taikang lost power, his 5 younger brothers composed the poem Songs of the Five Sons in Luorui. That is to say, after the tribal leader Yi seized power, the royal families of the Xia Dynasty might be driven out and temporarily settle in Luorui area. As one of the earliest poems in China, the poem by the 5 sons of Qi (the second king of the Xia Dynasty), also the grandchildren of the Great Yu who built the Xia Dynasty, expressed their sadness. After Zhongkang (the fourth king of the Xia Dynasty) ascended the throne, the capital was moved to Zhenxun (斟鄩). Today, most scholars believe that the capital of the middle and late Xia Dynasty was located around the Erlitou Site in Yanshi of Luoyang city.
顾万发的研究成果表明，花地嘴遗址是新砦期遗存的代表性遗址，新砦期遗存是“后羿代夏”时期的文化，“后羿代夏”至“少康中兴”所经年代不超过百年，这和花地嘴遗址的使用年代是相吻合的。根据历史记载，“后羿代夏”后，太康失国。《史记·夏本纪》中有“帝太康失国，昆弟五人，须于洛汭，作《五子之歌》”一说，也就是说，后羿代夏后，夏王室有可能避居到了洛汭一带。《尚书·夏书·五子之歌》是中国最早的一首诗歌，是禹的五位孙子、启的五位儿子就“太康失邦”而作的一组悲歌、悔歌、壮歌。中康继位后，都城迁移到斟鄩，目前大多数学者认为夏代中晚期都城在偃师二里头一带。（中文来源/河南日报客户端 记者/张体义 胡春娜 翻译/赵汉青 视频/实习生王君艺 审校/丁岚）
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Editor：Zhao Hanqing