Concerning Xia and Shang sites, there has long been controversy in academic circles. It involves the nature of the Erlitou site and the Shang city-sites in Zhengzhou and Yanshi, and especially the relationship between...Concerning Xia and Shang sites, there has long been controversy in academic circles. It involves the nature of the Erlitou site and the Shang city-sites in Zhengzhou and Yanshi, and especially the relationship between the two Shang cities. Debates have also been provoked on the questions of which of the two cities can be taken as the demarcation line between the Xia and Shang and where the Shang Tang capital of Bo was located. Based on the already obtained excavation and research achievements, the present paper elaborates a comparative study of the two Shang cities in the aspects of their rise and decline courses, architectural layout, cultural features and mutual relationship. It concludes that the Shang city in Yanshi, being smaller on scale and earlier in date, must have been the center in the region of the early Shang culture. Its construction can be taken to be the demarcation line between the Xia and Shang, and it was just the Shang Tang capital of Bo.展开更多
In academic circles, there appeared the theory taking the Shang city at Zhengzhou as Tang's capital Bo. Its precondition goes as follows: If the Yanshi Erlitou site was the city of Bo built by the Shang ruler Tang...In academic circles, there appeared the theory taking the Shang city at Zhengzhou as Tang's capital Bo. Its precondition goes as follows: If the Yanshi Erlitou site was the city of Bo built by the Shang ruler Tang in the pre-dynastic Shang period and continued to be his capital after he conquered the Xia Dynasty, then it would contradict related literal records. According to historical documents, Shang Tang's capital Bo was to the east of Xia Jie's capital and Tang launched his expedition against the Xia from Bo and then returned to Bo in triumph. Just with this precondition the arguers believe that, since Jie' s capital can be located at Yanshi, surely Tang' s capital must have not been at Yanshi and should be sought for to its east. Actually there is no documentary evidence of the idea that Shang Tang built only one capital and lived in the same capital before and after his conquering the Xia Dynasty. It is all wrong to negate the possibility that Tang may have built more than one capital, that he may have built a new capital near the Xia' s capital after his conquering the Xia and that Tang' s capital Xibo (Western Bo) may have been at Yanshi. Therefore, the hypothesis taking the Shang city at Zhengzhou as the Shang capital Bo is unacceptable for its inborn defects.展开更多
文摘Concerning Xia and Shang sites, there has long been controversy in academic circles. It involves the nature of the Erlitou site and the Shang city-sites in Zhengzhou and Yanshi, and especially the relationship between the two Shang cities. Debates have also been provoked on the questions of which of the two cities can be taken as the demarcation line between the Xia and Shang and where the Shang Tang capital of Bo was located. Based on the already obtained excavation and research achievements, the present paper elaborates a comparative study of the two Shang cities in the aspects of their rise and decline courses, architectural layout, cultural features and mutual relationship. It concludes that the Shang city in Yanshi, being smaller on scale and earlier in date, must have been the center in the region of the early Shang culture. Its construction can be taken to be the demarcation line between the Xia and Shang, and it was just the Shang Tang capital of Bo.
文摘In academic circles, there appeared the theory taking the Shang city at Zhengzhou as Tang's capital Bo. Its precondition goes as follows: If the Yanshi Erlitou site was the city of Bo built by the Shang ruler Tang in the pre-dynastic Shang period and continued to be his capital after he conquered the Xia Dynasty, then it would contradict related literal records. According to historical documents, Shang Tang's capital Bo was to the east of Xia Jie's capital and Tang launched his expedition against the Xia from Bo and then returned to Bo in triumph. Just with this precondition the arguers believe that, since Jie' s capital can be located at Yanshi, surely Tang' s capital must have not been at Yanshi and should be sought for to its east. Actually there is no documentary evidence of the idea that Shang Tang built only one capital and lived in the same capital before and after his conquering the Xia Dynasty. It is all wrong to negate the possibility that Tang may have built more than one capital, that he may have built a new capital near the Xia' s capital after his conquering the Xia and that Tang' s capital Xibo (Western Bo) may have been at Yanshi. Therefore, the hypothesis taking the Shang city at Zhengzhou as the Shang capital Bo is unacceptable for its inborn defects.
