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Dedicated to discovering China's landmarks
2019-09-18 
Li Boqian, a professor at Peking University, has witnessed great achievements gained by Chinese archaeology in the past decades. [Photo by Wang Kaihao/China Daily]

In 1957, 20-year-old Li Boqian, a sophomore undergraduate at the school of history at Peking University, had to choose a specific direction for his studies. Hearing that archaeologists have the chance to travel a lot, Li thought it would be fun to pick that subject.

Yet, he did not expect to be glued to it for a lifetime.

"It became my destiny," the 82-year-old tells China Daily. "Much emphasis was placed on archaeology even in those earliest years of New China when the country was still enduring tough times. Because of that, everyone (in archaeological circles) was eager to make a contribution using the knowledge they had gained at university."

New China's first archaeological excavation was done in Huixian county, Henan province in 1950. [Photo provided to China Daily]

Halted by the civil war, Chinese archaeology resumed shortly after the founding of New China in 1949. The first archaeological research institution of New China was founded in Beijing in 1950. It also organized the young country's first archaeological dig, which was took place in Huixian county, Central China's Henan province.

"It just took around 10 people — that was how everything got started," Li recalls. "We were so lucky to become the first group of professionally-trained archaeologists in New China."

In 1952, Peking University became the first Chinese educational institution to nurture archaeology majors.

Born in Henan province, long considered the cradle of early Chinese civilization, Li seemed to develop a natural ability and a special emotional attachment toward research. Nevertheless, even as a veteran archaeology professor at Peking University who lead numerous key excavations around the country over the decades, Li knows that fieldwork cannot rely solely on enthusiasm.

"Archaeology needs lasting devotion and the patience to work in tough conditions," he smiles. "If someone wants to make a fortune, they would be wise to choose another career."

Over the years, the team continued built up their experience — and muscles — as they tried to keep up pace with the country's rapid economic development.

Chen Xingcan, head of Institute of Archaeology of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, cites that majors in archaeology and cultural heritage conservation are now offered by over 100 Chinese universities. Currently, more than 60 institutions and 2,000 individuals in China hold licenses to lead up archaeological excavations.

"Large-scale urbanization and the construction of infrastructure from the 1990s presented new challenges in terms of the conservation of heritage sites," Chen says. "The need for archaeological research skyrocketed, and brought us many new opportunities."

China's cultural relic protection laws demand that archaeological investigation must be undertaken before construction can begin on any major new infrastructure project.

During the early 1980s, about 100 ongoing archaeological surveys were undertaken every year, and this number has risen to nearly 1,000 now, according to Wang Wei, director of the Society of Chinese Archaeology.

"In the past, archaeologists used to rely on luck to a certain extent," Li adds. "However, as a more comprehensive approach to archaeological research has developed in recent years, our aim now is to discover how China came into existence, and where the origins of our civilization lie."

Breaking stereotypes

In 1928, the discovery of the Yinxu Ruins, the remains of a capital city that existed during the latter part of the Shang Dynasty (c.16th century-11th century BC) in Henan, lifted a shroud that hung over domestic Chinese archaeology and also helped the Shang Dynasty to emerge from legend into actual history due to the abundant findings of "oracle bones" — historical records inscribed onto animal bones, and China's earliest known form of written characters.

"Unlike many other ancient civilizations, China had a particular tradition of keeping detailed records of history throughout ancient times," Li says.

Records of the Grand Historian, or Shi Ji, compiled by Western Han Dynasty (206 BC-AD 24) historian Sima Qian, remains a monumental reference work for archaeological studies.

For example, according to the book, the Xia Dynasty (c. 21st century-16th century BC), the first central kingdom with a vast land in China, once set its capital in an area around today's Luoyang, Henan province. Following this clue, archaeologists located the Erlitou relic site in Luoyang in 1959. As the biggest capital city ruins of its time in East Asia, it is widely considered in Chinese academia as the location of the Xia capital.

"However, old theories also once led people to form stereotypical views that the origins of Chinese civilization must lie in the Central China Plain," Li says. "For decades, archaeologists tended to stick labels based on established knowledge, and always looked to form connections between historical records and what the objects they had unearthed."

Nevertheless, a boom in the number of discoveries indicating early-stage civilizations over the following decades have gradually changed archaeologists' minds. Ranging from the western bank of Liaohe River in Northeast China, throughout Central China to the middle reaches of the Yangtze River, these findings appeared like stars on a clear night all across the country.

In June, an archaeologist checks animal bones, which were excavated from 5,300-year-old Liangzhu ruins in Hangzhou, Zhejiang province. [Photo by Wang Kaihao/China Daily]

Many brilliant discoveries unknown to history were revealed by the shovels of the archaeologists—from the 4,000-year-old Shimao relics site in Shaanxi province, the most extensive prehistoric city ruins ever found in China, to the 5,300-year-old ruins of Liangzhu city in Zhejiang province.

"We began to realize that Chinese civilization formed in unison, yet with diversity," Wang from the Society of Chinese Archaeology says. "About 5,000 years ago, as hierarchical societies and metropolises began to mushroom all over today's China, Central China rose in prominence as a hub for civilization about 4,500 years ago — absorbing different cultural elements, mixing them together and later influencing a much wider region."

Highlighted moments appear on those sites once being marginalized.

The archaeological ruins of Liangzhu city, famed for its gradual discovery of outstanding ceremonial jade pieces, the palatial city of a regional state, and a complex dam system — thought to be the world's earliest — became China's latest entries on the list of UNESCO World Heritage sites in July, signifying global recognition for the 5,000-year Chinese civilization, according to Liu Bin, director of the Zhejiang Provincial Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology.

"A creative approach helped to bear more fruit," Li adds. "And, of course, the country's rich history is an advantage to all of us Chinese archaeologists, rather than a burden."

In January, the Chinese history research institute under the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences was established to better coordinate historical and archaeological research through interdisciplinary studies.

"We archaeologists have a constant mission to help people better understand the history of our country and fill in the gaps through the discovery of artifacts. People can learn from the past to benefit the future."

Zhu Yanshi (center), a researcher with the Institute of Archaeology of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, leads a project studying ancient Silk Road through excavation in Mingtepa ancient city ruins in Uzbekistan in 2017. [Photo provided to China Daily]

Power of new technical methods

Archaeology is not only about understanding humanity's past. Radiocarbon dating, a technology used to measure the age of artifacts unearthed at archaeological digs — which, according to Li, has an accuracy deviation of no more than 5 percent — began to be widely used in China in the 1990s.

However, methods in natural science have since gone far beyond that.

"In recent years, research discoveries pertaining to plants, animals, the natural environment, climate change, and many other fields in the natural sciences, are widely employed by archaeologists," Song Xinchao, deputy director of the National Cultural Heritage Administration, says. "That means when you farm the same area of a field, your yield can greatly improve, and details can be scrutinized in a Hi-Tech lab, which has better conditions for conservation."

Chen explains that orthodox historical records from ancient China mostly cover dynastic politics, so the information gleaned by leveraging the natural sciences can help people today to more comprehensively understand society in the past.

"We used to focus on unearthed objects," he says. "But now we look at the bigger picture to evaluate human settlements."

In Liangzhu, for instance, Liu's team is researching unearthed plant seeds and animal bones in a lab in a bid to uncover the dietary habits of people in the area 5,000 years ago. He also wants to find out how such a brilliant civilization disappeared 4,300 years ago. Research focusing on soil and hydrological environment may unveil evidence of a prehistoric flood.

"What previous generations of archaeologists might have considered trash, now becomes treasure for us," Liu says. "It contains much information which we are able to decode in the lab."

Archaeologists work on shipwreck of Nanhai One, which was salvaged to be excavated in a musuem in Guangdong province. [Photo provided to China Daily]

Developments and techniques being used in land-based research on human settlements is being employed in other archaeological arenas in China, sometimes in a way which has never been seen elsewhere in the world. In 2007, a special water tank was used to salvage Nanhai One — a Southern Song Dynasty (1127-1279) shipwreck off the coast of Guangdong province — in order to move it to a museum laboratory for excavation from the mud and sand.

Research on the shipwreck also set in motion a voyage of Chinese underwater archaeology, which was, until that point, still uncharted waters for Chinese historians.

"Nowadays, archaeology students at Peking University have so much more to learn than us," Li smiles. "However, no matter how many Hi-Tech methods are used in labs, fieldwork remains the foundation. An archaeologist still has to start by learning how to use a spade."

Xia Nai (center), a founder of New China's archaeology, checks findings in Ding Mausoleum of Ming Dynasty on the outskirts of Beijing in 1958. [Photo provided to China Daily]

A developing world view

Modern archaeology was introduced into China in the 1920s by Johan Gunnar Andersson, a Swedish geologist and archaeologist. He discovered Yangshao Neolithic Culture in Henan province in 1921.

Some of the earliest Chinese archaeologists were later trained overseas. For example, Xia Nai, the founder of archaeology in New China, got his PhD in Egyptology from the University of London.

"They always had a dream to lead archaeological teams to better see the world," Chen recalls. "But they didn't have the chance, because our country couldn't support them. Our generation is much luckier."

Chen says that, following China's reform and opening-up in the 1980s, cross-border academic exchanges in the field of archaeology has been frequent, and the past decade has witnessed many Chinese archaeologists realizing their predecessors' dream conducting research on foreign land.

Chinese archaeologists are currently overseeing excavations in more than 30 countries around the world, ranging from nearby Central Asia, Russia and Mongolia, to Egypt and Mayan sites in Honduras.

"Some programs will help our own research back here in China, as we share the trade routes, like the Silk Road," Chen says. "From Ancient Egypt and Maya civilization, which seem less connected to us, we can still learn a great deal through comparative studies about early-stage civilizations.

In 2002, a nationwide academic project was launched involving the country's top-level archaeologists to explore the origins of Chinese civilization with intense research undertaken at sites nationwide.

"If we want to understand the unique features of Chinese civilization, we have to know what the characteristics of other, similar-era civilizations are," Chen adds.

In the 1920s, after Andersson excavated colorful pottery in Yangshao, he believed that Chinese civilization had come from the West, because his findings were similar to items unearthed in Eastern Europe. The theory was, understandably refuted by Chinese academics for quite some time.

"It was almost a taboo in the country to explore the concept of prehistoric communication between China, Western Asia and Europe for fear of the re-emergence of the theory," Chen explains.

Nevertheless, he says greater inclusiveness has been nurtured in recent years, as mutual learning about different civilizations is known to be essential for our modern world's understanding of the past.

Zhao Hui, a professor at Peking University, says that Chinese civilization absorbed influences from other civilizations during its early stages. Archaeological discoveries show wheat cultivation, breeding of livestock and bronze making technology in China originated in Western and Central Asia, but were later adopted in China and evolved to incorporate local characteristics.

"There is the booming scenario of ancient people and societies from across the Eurasian Continent learning from each other before written recordings existed," Chen says. "Going abroad to conduct research enables us to learn more about it."

Milestones in Chinese archaeological discovery since 1949

[Photo provided to China Daily]

1958 Dingling Mausoleum, Ming Dynasty (1368-1644), Beijing

The first mausoleum of a Chinese emperor to be excavated in the country under an initiative led by archaeologists.

[Photo provided to China Daily]

1959 Erlitou relic site, 1800-1500 BC, Yanshi, Henan province

The earliest discovery of the ruins of a Chinese capital city from a central kingdom.

[Photo by Wang Kaihao/China Daily]

1972 Mawangdui Tomb, Western Han Dynasty (206 BC-AD 24), Changsha, Hunan province

The tomb of a high-ranking official and his wife that offered up an abundance of funeral relics, including a T-shaped painting on silk, and the body of a mummified woman.

Terracotta Warriors [Photo/VCG]

1974 Terracotta Warriors, Qin Dynasty (221-206 BC), Xi'an, Shaanxi province

The "underground army" found in the mausoleum of Qinshihuang, the first Chinese emperor.

[Photo by Wang Kaihao/China Daily]

1976 Fuhao Tomb in the Yinxu Ruins, Shang Dynasty (c. 16th-11th century BC), Anyang, Henan province

The only tomb of a Shang Dynasty noble to be unearthed with the remains intact, the site also yielded a large number of bronze artifacts.

[Photo provided to China Daily]

1978 Tomb of Marquis Yi of the Zeng vassal state, Warring States Period (475-221 BC), Suizhou, Hubei province

Discovery of the Zeng state, proof of which had never been found in existing historical documents, where an entire rack of exquisite bronze chime bells were unearthed.

[Photo by Wang Kaihao/China Daily]

1986 Fanshan cemetery at the Liangzhu archaeological ruins, around 3000 BC, Hangzhou, Zhejiang province

Discovery of more than 1,000 jade ritual pieces, including the famous "King of Cong".

[Photo provided to China Daily]

1987 Shipwreck of Nanhai One, Southern Song Dynasty (1127-1279), Yangjiang, Guangdong province

The site where a heavily-loaded ancient merchant ship sank was the first major underwater archaeological discovery made within Chinese waters.

[Photo provided to China Daily]

1987 cellar of Famensi Buddhist Temple, Tang Dynasty (618-907), Baoji, Shaanxi province

Discovery of a treasure trove of Buddhist relics in the largest cellar of a Buddhist temple ever found in China.

[Photo by Wang Kaihao/China Daily]

2002 Liye bamboo slips, Qin Dynasty, Xiangxi, Hunan province

The discovery of 36,000 wood and bamboo slips, on which more than 200,000 Chinese characters recorded the governing state secrets of Qin Shihuang (259 – 210 BC).

[Photo provided to China Daily]

2012 Shimao relic site, around 2000 BC, Shenmu, Shaanxi province

The largest prehistoric city ruins ever found in China was discovered in Shenmu county and dates back to the end of the Longshan period.

[Photo provided to China Daily]

2015 Tomb of Marquis Haihun, Western Han Dynasty, Nanchang, Jiangxi province

A fruitful discovery of more than 10,000 cultural relics, including gold ingots, coins, documents, and handicrafts related to one of the shortest reigning monarchs in Chinese history.

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