中华文明认定标准与发展道路的考古学阐释

The Archaeological Interpretation of the Determining Criteria and Developmental Path of Chinese Civilization

中华文明探源工程的研究成果,实证了我国百万年的人类史、一万年的文化史、五千多年的文明史。都邑、都城是中华文明形成与发展过程中最具代表性的物化载体,是中国古代礼制的重要体现。与世界其他文明以金属器、文字、城市为文明起源的主要标志有所不同,考古发现的礼器、礼制建筑遗址等反映社会礼仪的物化载体,可以作为中华文明起源更为独特的认定标准。从中国古代都城选址、宫城位置,从“宫庙并列”到“左祖右社”的变化,都城由“双轴线”到“中轴线”的发展,等等,可以探索中华文明发展的文化基因。中华先民及其后人在历史发展中形成具有强大凝聚力和包容特质的祖先认同、家国一体、家国同构、国家认同传统,是中华文明“日用而不觉”的文化基因,也是中华文明延续五千多年不断裂的根本原因。

The project of tracing the origins of Chinese civilization substantiates China's million-year human history,ten-thousand-year cultural history,and more than fivethousand-year civilizational history.Cities and capitals are the foremost tangible embodiment throughout the development and formation of Chinese civilization and are significant manifestations of ancient Chinese ritual.While other civilizations usually consider metal ware,writing,and cities as key markers of their origins,unique archaeological findings can provide a reference frame for the origin of Chinese civilization in ritual vessels and architectural remains,which mirror the material manifestations of social ritual.By examining the sites of ancient Chinese capitals and palaces,noting the transition from"shrines side by side with palaces"to"the imperial ancestral shrine on the left and the altar to the gods of earth and grain on the right,"and observing the evolution from"dual-axis"to"central-axis"in city planning,we can delve into the cultural genes that have shaped the development of Chinese civilization.Throughout history,China's first inhabitants and their descendants have forged strong traditions of ancestral identification,the unity and commensurability of family and state,and identification with the state.Characterized by powerful cohesiveness and inclusiveness,these traditions form the subtly ingrained and daily practiced cultural genes of Chinese civilization.They are the fundamental reasons behind the enduring continuity of Chinese civilization for over five thousand years.