Liangzhu Culture: Rewriting History

In the Stone Age, jade represented wealth because of its scarcity and the advanced techniques required to shape it. Among various kinds of recovered jade wares, ritual vessels were the most valuable and symbolized higher social status. Each kind had distinct purposes. Bi (disc), for example, were used in heaven worship rites. Cong (tube), with their taotie motifs, suggest a supreme religious authority. Yue (axe) symbolized military power.

Archaeologists have located nearly 100 new Liangzhu cites in recent years, including villages, cemeteries and altars. Bi, cong and yue jades were excavated in most cemeteries for nobility, but they vary in size and quantity. The M12 tomb at the highest point of the Fanshan site produced around 500 pieces of jade ritual vessels, including bi, cong and yue – representing a person with sovereign, religious and military power. But who occupied the M12 tomb? A clan leader? A high priest? A chief commander?

Most likely, it was a king.

Transcript

Liangzhu Culture: Rewriting History

Hello, my name is Wang Yan and I’m a reporter with NewsChina. With our weekly podcast, we aim to provide insight into the trends and happenings in modern China through a historical lens. 

In the previous podcast, we talked about Liangzhu jades, some of the earliest ever discovered in China. Today we discuss how discoveries of the earliest evidence of large-scale architecture, hydrology projects, rice farming and more from the Liangzhu culture are reshaping China’s origin story.

In the Stone Age, jade represented wealth because of its scarcity and the advanced techniques required to shape it. Among various kinds of recovered jade wares, ritual vessels were the most valuable and symbolized higher social status. Each kind had distinct purposes. Bi (disc), for example, were used in heaven worship rites. Cong (tube), with their taotie motifs, suggest a supreme religious authority. Yue (axe) symbolized military power.

Archaeologists have located nearly 100 new Liangzhu cites in recent years, including villages, cemeteries and altars. Bi, cong and yue jades were excavated in most cemeteries for nobility, but they vary in size and quantity. The M12 tomb at the highest point of the Fanshan site produced around 500 pieces of jade ritual vessels, including bi, cong and yue – representing a person with sovereign, religious and military power. But who occupied the M12 tomb? A clan leader? A high priest? A chief commander?

Most likely, it was a king.

This idea shook the archaeological community, which believed that prehistoric civilizations and primitive societies were not states, and bloodlines took precedent over bureaucracy. It was not until the spread of metallurgy and improved manufacturing of weapons and tools that the divisions of labor and social stratification that characterize the state took shape. At the top of that pyramid was the king. 

What also made Liangzhu culture stand out is that the king represented both high priest and chief commander, as reflected in the multi-functional jade cong. This is unique, as in many cultures around the world, a king is rarely both.

Traces of Liangzhu culture are found in settlements around Lake Tai, a large freshwater lake in the Yangtze River Delta, that suggest a hierarchical social structure and highly unified religious and ritual systems. This supported the academic consensus that Liangzhu society was not only civilized, but also a mature political entity that resembled an early state.

This is of particular significance to the historical concept of “China.” Over the years, there has been much debate among experts over the chronology of Chinese history. Most Western academics estimate 3,000 years of continuous history. The discovery of the Yinxu Ruins in 1899 provided evidence of the Shang Dynasty (1600-1046 BCE), which extends Chinese history to 3,500 years. Solid evidence of a Liangzhu Kingdom would bring that number nearly 1,000 years earlier than the Xia Dynasty (2070-1600 BCE), which many recognize as China’s earliest dynasty. However, the actual existence of this dynasty and culture are still debated among scholars worldwide.

Now, could such proof of Liangzhu culture rewrite Chinese history?

Quite likely. A series of archaeological discoveries during the 1990s gradually revealed what this early state was like. In 1994, an earthen building foundation covering 300,000 square meters was discovered. At its thickest point, it measures up to 10.2 meters. 

The Fanshan site where the jade cong was discovered was in fact a man-made earth mound five to six meters tall. The funerary mound was built in the belief that it would bring the deceased closer to heaven. The Fanshan site was considered by many as the royal cemetery in the ancient city of Liangzhu which served as the state’s capital.

Liangzhu has since been thoroughly surveyed. Different from other walled Chinese cities, Liangzhu’s design accommodated the surrounding mountains and rivers. Liangzhu is China’s largest prehistoric city site and is now a national heritage park. The site is divided into three areas: the palace, the inner city and outer city. It’s worth mentioning that the inner city occupies 3 million square meters, four times larger than the Forbidden City.

In the 21st century, major archaeological discoveries were unveiled on the outskirts of Liangzhu city site that captured public attention. To the north and west of the city was a magnificent system of 11 dams that served an estimated 100 square kilometer area. It is the largest of its kind in existence and also the earliest known flood-prevention project.

The project also served as a second, outer boundary to the ancient city of Liangzhu. The elite, artisans, and craftspeople lived within the inner wall, while farmers lived within the hydro-project’s perimeter.

Liangzhu civilization is not only known for its jade culture. It also claims the earliest known large-scale architecture, city complex, hydrological project, silk civilization, and rice farming. But despite this advanced and flourishing ancient civilization, one thing remained missing: written language. However, scholars consider the engravings on cong and other jade wares as a written language that has yet to be decoded.

Then, this highly developed prehistoric civilization, after over 1,300 years of evolution, vanished without a trace. 

Geographic evidence hints at what may have happened to Liangzhu culture. The Lake Tai plains were stricken by floods brought on by warmer climates, melting glaciers and rising sea levels. Today at the Liangzhu heritage site, the mud, peat and marsh layers reveal evidence of these floods. It is possible that more Liangzhu relics remain buried deep under Lake Tai. 

More archaeological discoveries in the mid-1980s and the publication of the book Origin of Chinese Civilization by renowned Chinese archaeologist Xia Nai （夏鼐）has sparked further interest in Liangzhu culture. 

Su Bingqi （苏秉琦）, a well-known archaeologist, challenged traditional views by suggesting that Chinese history was not a linear succession of dynasties, but a wide variety of coexisting civilizations that united, the most prominent of which was the Liangzhu civilization.

Archaeological ruins in Liangzhu were included on the UNESCO World Heritage List in 2019. Liangzhu culture is not only the very first civilization of ancient China, but also has profoundly influenced the development of civilization in the Longshan age, as well as the Xia and Shang dynasties.

That is end of our podcast. Thank you to our writer Song Yimin, translator Liu Junhuan, and copy editor James Tiscione. We hope you enjoyed it and thank you for listening. See you next week.