发掘前的反山。
From City to State, How Liangzhu Civilization Was Internationally Recognized
The inscription of Archaeological Ruins of Liangzhu City onto the UNESCOs World Heritage List is owed to the fact that the nominated property meets the selection criteria iii and iv. it is the center of power and belief of an early regional state
The criteria for selection list ten benchmarks. The first six are for cultural heritage and the last four for natural heritage. Number 7 criterion applies to both. A property that meets any of the first six criteria qualifies for inscription onto the cultural heritage list. Archaeological Ruins of Liangzhu City meet number 3 and number 4 criteria.
Number three criterion reads: to bear a unique or at least exceptional testimony to a cultural tradition or to be a civilization which is living or which has disappeared.
瑶山遗址出土的玉牌饰。
A report of ICOMOS elaborates Liangzhus full compliance with criterion iii as follows:
As the center of power and belief of Liangzhu culture, Archaeological Ruins of Liangzhu City are characterized by the large-scale City Site built between 3,300 and 2,300 BC, the Peripheral Water Conservancy System with complex functions, the graded cemeteries (including altar) and a series of other related sites, as well as exhumed objects represented by a series of jade artifacts symbolizing the belief and system, which corroborate the existence of one early regional state sustained by rice farming with obvious social differentiation and unity of belief in the area around Taihu Lake in the lower reaches of the Yangtze River in late Neolithic China. Its early time of formation, great achievement and rich diversities show the outstanding contribution made by the Yangtze River Basin to “Diversity in Unity” feature of the origin of Chinese civilization. Archaeological Ruins of Liangzhu City also fill the blank of Neolithic city sites in East Asia in the World Heritage List, offering unique evidences for the 5,000-year history of Chinese civilization.
Number four criterion reads: to be an outstanding example of a type of building, architectural or technological ensemble or landscape which illustrates (a) significant stage(s) in human history.
2017年,來自全球的20多位国际考古大咖在良渚博物院观赏玉器。
In the same report, ICOMOS elaborates Liangzhus full compliance with criterion iv as follows:
The centripetal triple spatial pattern adopted by Archaeological Ruins of Liangzhu City, including the Palace Area, the Inner City and the Outer City, is a typical technique to establish the social class order and highlight the symbolism of power centers in ancient China, and also has revealed the planning characteristics created by the urban civilization of the early state in the Yangtze River Basin, which can be frequently seen in the capital planning of the ancient Chinese ritual society. The “water city” planning pattern and construction technology demonstrated by Archaeological Ruins of Liangzhu City reveal the characteristic landscape of city and architecture created by people in the wetland environment. Especially with the Peripheral Water Conservancy System as the urban water resources management project that represents outstanding scientific level rarely observed at that time across the world in terms of project scale, design and construction, it also reveals the great achievement of Chinese civilization as well as prehistoric rice-cultivating civilization developed in East Asia, which can be outstanding examples of early urban civilization in the history of human civilization.
Area of Yaoshan Site (01), Area of High-dam at the Mouth of the Valley (02), Area of Low-dam on the Plain-Causeway in Front of the Mountains (03), and Area of City Site (04), which are four key archaeological ruins of Liangzhu Culture, fully support Liangzhus compliance with the two criteria.
The archaeological projects since 1936 led to the step-by-step discovery of the city site, which is the very basis of the conclusion that the city is the center of power and belief of an early regional state.
The City Site
联合国教科文组织助理总干事班德林在良渚博物院参观。
In 1936, Shi Xingeng discovered black pottery in Liangzhu, which turned the first page of archaeological projects in Liangzhu. In 1959, archaeologist Xia Nai suggested the name Liangzhu Culture. In 1986, the aristocratic cemetery at Fanshan was discovered. I 1987, an altar and an aristocratic cemetery on the altar were discovered at Yaoshan. In 1992, the Mojiaoshan Site was uncovered and it was conjectured that it was the palaces for the supreme ruler. These discoveries, however, pointed to primitive settlements and were not necessarily evidence of a city. For a long time, the archaeological community was doubtful whether there existed a city within the zone of Liangzhu Site.
In 2006, the western city wall was discovered at Putaofan, Yuhang. In 2007, the southern city wall, northern city wall, and eastern city wall were excavated. Archaeologists knew for certain that there was a city in Liangzhu. More excavation projects revealed that the citys functions were located in different areas. In 2010, archaeologists concluded that there was an outer city. In 2015, archaeologists discovered a peripheral water conservancy system.
The design and construction of the gigantic city pointed to the existence of a state power. Liangzhu, it is convincingly concluded, is more than a city. It is a regional early state.
The Peripheral Water Conservancy System with Complex Functions
The Peripheral Water Conservancy System is an urban water resources management project with unified planning. It is composed of the High-dam at the Mouth of the Valley Low-dam on the Plain and the 11 artificial dam bodies and natural dam bodies as well as spillway at the Causeway in front of the Mountains, with a total earth volume of 2,880,000 m?. It is by far the earliest large-scale water conservancy project site discovered, and also one of the earliest dyke systems ever discovered in the world.
The Peripheral Water Conservancy System is strongly scientific in terms of dam site selection, foundation treatment, selection of dam materials, filling process and structural design, with multiple functions such as flood control and water storage, irrigation and transportation, as well as water adjustment. It is an outstanding example of peoples development and exploitation of wetland in East Asia in the early period.
Graded Cemeteries
2017年,科林·倫福儒二度参观良渚遗址。
Graded cemeteries are the main material evidence to obvious social differentiation of the Liangzhu Culture and are composed of 5 cemeteries distributed in different areas. According to the site selection characteristics, tomb arrangement pattern as well as the quantity and grade of burial objects, it can be divided into four or more grades, which indicate that there were at least four or more classes in the Liangzhu culture period.
Unearthed Objects with Jade Artifacts in the Majority
Unearthed objects of Archaeological Ruins of Liangzhu City include jade artifacts, lacquerwares, potteries, stone artifacts, bamboo and wooden artifacts, bone and horn artifacts, etc. These objects display various combinations of shapes and ornamentation motifs, different quantities, and preserve the information of production, thus bearing significant witness to the technology, culture and living of Liangzhu period. Jade artifacts made in Liangzhu were discovered in a big part of China, some places being more than 1,000 kilometers apart from Liangzhu. Bronze objects unearthed from sites of subsequent cultures reflect the characteristics of jade objects made in the Liangzhu. From this can be safely said that the Liangzhu Culture must have played an extraordinary and historic role in the history of the Chinese Civilization.