我的考古日记：良渚古城——中华五千年文明史的实证

编者按：《我的考古日记》（Travel Back in Time with CGTN）是CGTN新媒体文化频道为庆祝中华人民共和国成立70周年特别策划的十集系列片。主持人李伊湄将通过探访考古现场的方式带领观众穿越时光隧道，介绍中国最珍贵的文化遗产。

今天我们来到了浙江省杭州市，和良渚博物院的周黎明院长一起探索中国五千年文明的证明——良渚古城。这里是目前在中国发现的保存最好、规模最大的古城址，它的面积加起来有八个故宫那么大。“良渚”意为“美丽的水中之洲”，那么，为什么说它是中华五千年文明的实证呢？

When I was studying abroad in college, we always had a joke saying that history is the hardest subject for Chinese students because China's history is more than 5,000 years old.

There were some controversies about the beginnings and the origins of Chinese civilization. However, once you see the archaeological evidence in Liangzhu Ancient City with your eyes, you would be in no doubt about this long history.

The ruins of what was once the thriving capital of Liangzhu were included on the World Heritage List at the 43rd session of the UNESCO World Heritage Committee in Azerbaijan, China's 55th site on the list.

An aerial view of parts of the Liangzhu Archaeological Site in Yuhang District of Hangzhou City, east China's Zhejiang Province. /CGTN Photo

周黎明院长带领我们来到了良渚遗址的水坝区。为了防洪，良渚人在北部的山前修筑了长堤，在西南方向修筑了平原低坝，还在西北方向修筑谷口高坝。除此之外，整个良渚古城还被6000多米的城墙包围着。周院长告诉我，古城建设和水利工程总共需要1000多万立方的土方量，比建造埃及胡夫金字塔所需土方量的三倍还多。如果一万个良渚人一起作业，也需要八年才可以完成。浩大的城市建设工程，强大的国家组织力量，恰恰证明了当时的良渚已经进入了社会文明建设阶段。

The Liangzhu Archaeological Site has been rebuilt as a tourist attraction, preserving the ruins as much as possible.

People once described the site as 'the 5,000-year civilization demonstrated by jades' because thousands of jade artifacts were unearthed from Fanshan Cemetery at the site. There are 11 tombs discovered in the cemetery.

When I arrived there, I saw the tomb pit with the duplicates of burial objects discovered in 1986. 

Looking at the artifacts, we could tell that tomb owners had different social statuses and identities.

The Jade Cong is displayed at the museum at the Liangzhu Archaeological Site in Yuhang District of Hangzhou City, Zhejiang, China. /CGTN Photo

Fanshan Cemetery is the highest-grade cemetery in Liangzhu City, given the high specification and perfect jade workmanship. So it can be inferred that this cemetery belonged to the royal family at that time.

The recent excavated hydrological system rewrote the history of early Chinese engineering. Since the city was located in the Yangtze River Basin, researchers have found out a system of high and low dams and levees that could among the world's oldest-known and largest hydrological system projects.

Such a huge national project indicates Liangzhu people's strong social organizing ability and socially productive forces.

古城水坝已是如此，城市中心又是一副怎样的图景呢？在周院长的引领下，我来到了良渚古城遗址公园莫角山宫殿区。虽然这里的面积很大，但当时只居住着不到一万人口。而且在五千年前，良渚人的食谱就已经非常丰富了：饲养家猪、种植天然农作物，平时还会打捞河鲜。

在满足衣食住行的基本生存条件之后，良渚人还不忘了追求精神享受。在良渚博物院中，我们可以看到大量装饰用的玉器：精美的玉串、玉管都是良渚人追求美的证明。

除了这些小的玉片，在反山王陵的墓葬区还出土了大型玉器。其中有一块玉琮尤为显眼，它就是传说中的玉琮王：品质最佳、体量最大、雕琢也最为精美。不过这块玉琮并不是配饰，而是当时祭祀用的礼器。那时的良渚人民有着共同的信仰，玉琮上面雕刻的图案就是先民信奉的神灵，是良渚社会的神徽。强大的国家组织、完善的城市建设、再加上如此高度一致的精神信仰，看着玉琮王上的神徽，我仿佛看到了五千年前良渚社会欣欣向荣的景象。

At the museum, I found more relics and traces of their daily use. They had a mature agricultural system and their dishes were actually rich nutritionally in parts, including domesticated rice, pork and fruits.

A miniature of the Mojiaoshan Palace Area at the Liangzhu Archaeological Site in Yuhang District of Hangzhou City, Zhejiang, China. /CGTN Photo

The facility represents the great achievement of the prehistoric rice-cultivating civilization of China over 5,000 years ago and is an outstanding example of early urban civilization.

The archaeological ruins of Liangzhu City reveal an early regional state with rice-cultivating agriculture as its economic base alongside a unified belief system, which existed in the late Neolithic period in China.

The excavated objects represented by the series of jade artifacts symbolize the belief system as well as its early age; the water conservancy project reveals their social organizing ability and social force in a national project. 

The bygone culture also shows the importance of the Yangtze River basin in the origin of Chinese civilization.

2019年7月6日，良渚古城遗址成功被列入了《世界遗产名录》，这标志着中华五千年文明史的实证被国际社会广泛认同。这次的良渚遗址之旅，我不仅看到了五千年前的国家文明，更是领略了良渚人民精神信仰的力量……除了赞叹惊讶先祖们的创造力，我更为这古老而辉煌的中华文明感到自豪。