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The Xia Dynasty Travel Episode XI The Wadian Site Where the Story of Abolishing Abdication System Happened
Source：dahe.cn
Published：2021-09-30 18:59
The Xia Dynasty Travel Episode XI
The Wadian Site Where the Story of Abolishing Abdication System Happened
追寻夏的轨迹⑪ | 瓦店遗址：探秘夏启“钧台之享”
We drove along the highway from Yuzhou (a county-level city of Henan province) to Wadian village, until we could see a stone tablet inscribed with "The Wadian Site", which was our destination. But all we could see was a vast farmland instead of the Wadian Site.
从禹州市城区驱车到瓦店村大概十几公里的路程，顺着公路一直往村北走，看到一块黑色石碑上书“瓦店遗址”四个大字时，以为到达目的地随即下车，但目之所及之处却是一望无际的农田。
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"Are you looking for the Wadian Site? Go back a little bit and turn to a small road near the stone tablet inscribed with 'The First Capital of China'..." A local villager riding a motorcycle enthusiastically showed us the way.
“你们是在找瓦店遗址工地吗？走多啦，得往回走一点，从‘华夏第一都’的牌坊旁边的小路拐进去不远就到了……”一位骑着摩托车路过的村民大姐地给我们当起了“向导”，不愧是“王都”的村民，淳朴而又热情。
Sacrificial architecture with a symmetrical layout
东西对称祭祀建筑格局的发现
Upon arrival, it was already 10:30 am. In the bright and scorching sun, some human bones scattered in the trial trenches immediately attracted our attention.
抵达瓦店遗址发掘现场时，已是上午十点半。在大太阳的照耀下，探方内零星分布的“人骨”格外刺眼，瞬间吸引了我们注意力。
The Wadian Site. [Photo provided to Henan Daily App]
"How did they die? How old and how tall were they?" At the site, Fang Yanming, a researcher from the Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology of Henan Province, was analyzing the human bones with several young archaeologists.
“你认为这些人是怎么死的？年龄大概有多大？身高有多少……”发掘现场，省文物考古研究院研究员方燕明领着几位年轻的考古人员，围着刚揭露出来的一具人骨进行记录和分析。
Every time standing at the Wadian Site, Fang is filled with mixed emotions. In 1979, he, a member of the archaeological team, discovered the Wadian Site. Since then, Fang has devoted his whole life to this site, hoping to uncover all the secrets buried in this land one day. As a former team leader, he had participated in the excavations of the Xia (2070 BC-1600 BC)-Shang (1600 BC-1046 BC)-Zhou (1046 BC-256 BC) Chronology Project and the Project for Tracing Chinese Civilization Origins for several times since the 1990s. Now, he is also a participant of the key project (2020-2024) themed the study of the Xia Dynasty approved by the State Administration of Cultural Heritage.
每每站在瓦店遗址这片土地，方燕明都无限感触。1979年，他作为省里考古调查队的一员发现了瓦店遗址，自此便开始了扯不断的缘分。方燕明倾尽毕生精力和心血于此，他希望有一天能揭开这片土地埋藏的所有“文明密码”。他作为瓦店遗址发掘原领队，从上世纪90年代中期以来先后开展“夏商周断代工程”、“中华文明探源工程”期间的数次发掘，再到这次的“考古中国•夏文化研究”重大课题重启发掘，每一次他都是参与者、见证者。
"Covering an area of more than 1 million square meters, the Wadian Site is hard to be thoroughly unearthed because its two thirds are buried under the village. At the Donggaogang area excavated this year, the remains of houses, tombs, urn-burial tombs, etc., have been discovered. Some tombs are of oriental customs." Fang said that what to do next is to see if they can find anything like the circular sacrificial remains found earlier.
“瓦店遗址面积有100多万平方米，但是有三分之二都埋在村子地下，开展发掘工作很难。今年发掘的东高岗区域，目前发现有房址、墓葬、瓮棺葬等，部分墓葬表明出现东方习俗。”方燕明说，接下来看看是否能找到类似早年发现的圆形祭祀遗迹。
Bones used in sacrificial activities. [Photo provided to Henan Daily App]
At the tableland with a circular trench in the site's northwest part, large foundation for 2 rammed-earth buildings adjacent to each other was discovered in the east, while to their west the same foundation but for 3 independent rammed-earth buildings were unearthed. Besides, from these two large foundations many animal bones and beheaded human and animal remains were also unearthed which were used in the sacrificial activities. Judging from the remains at the two large foundations, such a symmetrical layout could reflect the pattern of the early sacrificial architecture.
此前，在遗址西北台地环壕范围内，发现东部为大型夯土建筑基址，由紧邻的两座夯土建筑组成，其对应的西部大型夯土建筑基址由三座独立的建筑基址组成，在这东西两处大型建筑基址上还发现多处用于奠基或祭祀的身首分离的人牲遗骸和动物骨骼。专家认为，从其形状、结构与包含物分析，这种对称布局的祭祀遗迹，很有可能反映出早期礼制建筑的格局。
The people at that time could not control their own destiny so they had to seek blessings from mysterious powers or their dead ancestors and ritual activities became indispensable for them. "The sacrificial remains discovered at the large rammed-earth building foundations are usually seen as a core component of a capital city in early China as well as a prominent feature of the capital cities of the early states and their power centers," said Fang.
古人无法把握自己的命运，凡事皆要求得神灵及逝去的祖先的保佑，祭祀活动成了他们日常生活中至关重要的内容。“所以，考古学上大型夯土建筑基址上的祭祀遗存，是中国早期都邑最核心的内涵之一，也是早期国家及其权力中心的都邑性城址特征的反映。”方燕明说。
Fine black color more than 4,000 years
四千多年前的“高级黑”
At Henan Museum, an exquisite Polished Black Pottery Gu (a ritual or drinking vessel) with a bell-shaped mouth, a long slender neck, a round swelling body, a high handle and a ringed foot discovered at the Wadian Site is still bright-colored and dazzling after more than 4,000 years.
喇叭口、竹节式细长颈、扁腹、高柄圈足……在河南博物院夏商展厅中，展出了一件出土于瓦店遗址的精美器物磨光黑陶觚，历经四千多年的沧海桑田，依旧“光亮照人”。
Polished Black Pottery Gu. [Photo provided to Henan Daily App]
Can you imagine that more than 4,000 years ago our forefathers had fostered such a high aesthetic taste? Why did they choose black? How was it made?
你能想象吗？四千多年前，我们的祖先就拥有这样高级的审美，他们为什么会选择黑色？又是怎么制作出来的？
According to Liang Fawei, deputy head of the Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology of Henan Province, who heads the excavation at the Wadian Site, featuring neat vessel shape, very thin base and hard texture, such cultural relics like Egg-shell Black Pottery Cup with High Handle and Polished Black Pottery Gu are all of the Longshan Culture (around 2500 BC-2000 BC), which were made by way of hand-wheel pottery making technique with dark and shiny surface. Besides, the high-grade exquisite cultural relics were also unearthed, such as white pottery wares and jade articles, which should be once owned by the privileged. These superb production techniques were likely to be monopolized in high-level settlements as well.
瓦店遗址项目负责人、省文物考古研究院副院长梁法伟说，蛋壳黑陶高柄杯、磨光黑陶觚都是龙山文化时期的典型特征性的器物，器形规整、器壁极薄，质地坚硬，是使用轮制制陶技术制作烧成的，整个器表漆黑发亮。另外，遗址还出土了白陶器、玉器等高规格的精美器物，应为特权阶层所拥有。这些高超的制作技术，很可能也垄断在高等级的聚落中。
It is worth noting that the invention of pottery-making techniques provided opportunities to the people to fully display their creativity and artistic talent. Apart from the Pottery Long-tailed Bird, Pottery Human Face and Bird-shaped Pottery Cover discovered at the site, many pottery wares are also decorated with various forms of patterns, fully reflecting the people's aesthetic consciousness at that time.
值得关注的是，制陶术的发明，使原始艺术得以充分施展。瓦店遗址发现的陶制艺术品不仅有陶塑长尾鸟、陶塑人面以及鸟形陶盖，许多陶器上还刻画有丰富的纹饰，如云雷纹、绳纹、篮纹、弦纹、方格纹、乳钉纹等，均反映了当时人们的审美意识。
The remains of bones and tortoise shells were also discovered at the Wadian Site. As important objects used in sacrificial rituals, they are usually related to sacrifice and religion, a prominent feature of the Xia, Shang and Zhou dynasties. Such discoveries demonstrated the existence of divination and sacrificial rituals, reflecting the high rank of the site with the characteristics of an early capital city.
此外，瓦店遗址还出土有卜骨、龟甲。甲骨作为占卜用品，通常与祭祀、宗教有关，是夏商周三代文明的重要特质，表明瓦店遗址存在占卜、祭祀活动，也充分显示了该遗址的高等级，具有早期都城的特征。
A livable environment in the past
物竞天选的“宜居环境”
The ancient people's lives were highly relied on nature; and where they go and where they stay were limited by the geography. To some extent, the origin of early civilization was determined by environment. The civilizations originated in the middle and lower reaches of the Yellow River, the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River, the Xiliao River and the upper reaches of the Yinghe River are far older than those originated in other regions.
古代，人类靠天吃饭、逐水而居，地理环境的好坏决定着人们的去留。从某种意义上说，早期文明在哪里起源，是由环境决定的，黄河中下游、长江中下游、西辽河及颍河上游地区的文明起源就远远早于其他地区。
The Wadian Site. [Photo provided to Henan Daily App]
According to Liang, during the latest excavation, to the site's northern part (near the Yinghe River) discovered the remains of ponds, lasting from the late Longshan Culture to the Qin (221 BC-206 BC) and Han (202 BC-220 AD) dynasties according to carbon-14 dating, with reed phytoliths tested from the samples from the ponds. It suggests that the Wadian Site in the late Longshan Culture was close to to the Yinghe River, enjoying a wetland environment. These findings provide valuable clues for the further study of the site's layout.
梁法伟介绍，在最新考古发掘中，在遗址北部临颍河一侧，发现有坑塘类遗迹，从测年数据来看，年代从龙山晚期延续至秦汉时期，从提取的样品中发现有芦苇植硅体样本。这或许说明，瓦店遗址龙山晚期聚落当时北部是紧邻颍河的湿地环境，这些发现为进一步研究瓦店遗址聚落布局提供了线索。
In the past excavations discovered rich remains of the carbonized seeds, including millet, glutinous millet, unhusked rice, wheat and soybeans, which conforms to the "five cereals" recorded in historical documents, indicating that this area was once favorable for multiple crops.
之前，瓦店遗址开展过系统的植物浮选，获得了丰富的炭化植物遗存，发现了粟、黍、稻、小麦和大豆五种农作物的植物种子，这与史料记载的“五谷”恰好一致，表明这个区域具有多重的生态适宜性。
Many historical documents, such as Shih Chi written by Sima Qian during the Western Han Dynasty (202 BC to 8 AD), record that Yu (who built the Xia Dynasty) and Qi (the second king of the Xia Dynasty) once lived in Yangzhai (today's Yuzhou city of Henan province). The story of Qi who called together the heads of the local states and held a grand sacrificial ritual to establish his chief position and abandon the abdication system also happened in Yuzhou. Since Yu and Qi, Yuzhou had become a main living area of the people of the Xia Dynasty.
古本《竹书纪年》载:“禹居阳城”，《史记·周本纪》曰:“夏居河南初在阳城，后在阳翟”。文献记载的夏禹、启居阳翟，夏启钧台之享的地望就在禹州，自禹、启以来，禹州地区即成为夏人的主要活动地域。
Undoubtedly the Wadian Site is closely related to the early Xia Dynasty. Judging from the cultural relics and the food remains, the site was a gathering place of people with diverse cultural backgrounds and a regional center settlement in the southeast of Songshan Mountain.
无疑，瓦店遗址与早期夏文化研究关系密切。而且瓦店遗址聚落无论从遗物还是人群的食性特征看都是一处多元文化背景的人群聚集之处，体现了这里多元文化融合和“商贸”因素的重要作用，是嵩山东南一处区域性中心聚落。
The new round of excavation was launched in 2020 with several crisscrossing trenches discovered, which can be divided into two types: the northwest-southeast trenches and the northeast-southwest ones. Their age and function need to be further confirmed. Road remains were also found in the middle of the site. If these trenches and roads can be traced back to as early as the late Longshan Culture, there will be a new understanding of the site's overall layout.
如今，令人期待的是，瓦店遗址自2020年重新启动发掘以来，发现有多条纵横交错的沟，分西北至东南走向和东北至西南走向两种，其年代和功能有待发掘确认。遗址中部还发现道路遗迹。这些沟和道路如能早到龙山晚期，则将突破以往对瓦店遗址整体聚落布局的认识。（中文来源/河南日报客户端 记者/温小娟 翻译/赵汉青 视频/实习生王君艺 审校/李文竞）
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Editor：Zhao Hanqing