Dahe News Yu video reporter Li Shaomeng correspondent Li Yuan
Double subways, elevated interchanges, expressways and high-speed "networking"... The longitudinal transportation network outlines the glorious revitalization of the ancient capital of Luoyang.
China's earliest urban trunk road network, the earliest two-wheeler relics... 30 minutes east along the Ancient City Expressway, at the Erlitou Xiadu Ruins Museum, you will travel through 3800 years to explore the earliest Chinese "urban model".
More than 60 years of scientific excavations, the "treasures" in Erlitou are numerous, pile by pile, piece by piece, are the imprint of retaining the inheritance of historical roots.
▲Turquoise dragon-shaped vessel
Turquoise Dragon: One of the earliest dragon figures on the mainland
An archaeological excavation that spans three generations over 63 years
"The past three generations of residences are between Heluo." In the summer of 1959, Xu Xusheng, a famous Chinese ancient historian, discovered the Erlitou site during his investigation in western Henan, followed by a 63-year archaeological excavation that lasted three generations.
As a key archaeological relic for studying the beginning of Chinese civilization, the Erlitou site unveils the mystery of the "earliest China".
On April 11, the reporter came to the Erlitou Xiadu Ruins Museum, overlooking Erlitou, the copper building presented the beauty of ancient silence, walked into the museum, the huge rammed earth wall outlined the cultural symbols of Erlitou, the combination of copper and rammed earth, like the continuation of historical sites and civilization, a second to cross back to the earliest bronze dynasty.
The "Super National Treasure" Turquoise Dragon Shaped Instrument appeared
Looking down on the entire museum from the air, it looks like an "ancient key", symbolizing that the Erlitou culture is the key to opening the Chinese civilization, so the overall shape of the Erlitou Xiadu Site Museum is like a circling dragon, which is related to the treasure of the Erlitou Xiadu Site Museum - turquoise dragon-shaped ware.
In 2002, the archaeological team found a group of noble tombs in the courtyard of the site of No. 3, an early large building in the palace district, and in the middle of the tomb were placed in the inlaid turquoise dragon-shaped vessel known as the "Super National Treasure".
When cleaning up Tomb No. 3 and finding turquoise, the staff thought it was a 15 cm turquoise bronze plaque, but they did not expect that the longer they were exposed, the longer it was, and finally it was as long as 70 cm. Turquoise flakes are very small, extremely difficult to clean up, a little inattentive, and even blowing the surrounding soil chips with the mouth may make the turquoise flakes displaced, once there is a large displacement it is impossible to recover. In this case, the Academy of Social Sciences carried out a whole extraction, transported it back indoors, and then cleaned it up. This dragon-shaped instrument gradually "surfaced".
Known as "China's First Dragon"
The inlaid turquoise dragon shaper is composed of more than 2,000 turquoise pieces, each turquoise is only 0.2 to 0.9 cm long and short, and the thickness is only about 0.1 cm. The length of the dragon is 64.5 cm, and the widest part of the middle is 4 cm. Turquoise flakes were supposed to stick to some kind of organic matter, but the organic matter on which they were based had decayed, and only white gray marks were found in the local area. There is also a turquoise strip 3cm from the dragon's tail, connected by red lacquer marks in the middle, and the total length from the dragon's head to the strip is more than 70cm.
The dragon-shaped vessel is placed on the skeleton of the tomb owner, from the shoulder to the hip bone. The head and tail are likely to be placed obliquely above the right arm of the tomb owner in a hugging shape. The dragon head is placed on a trapezoidal support, the mouth is slightly prominent, the blue and white jade form the bridge of the nose, the turquoise nose is large and eye-catching, and the round cake-shaped white jade is the eye. The body of the dragon is wavy, staggered, colorful, and superb craftsmanship, and is known as "the first dragon in China".
The most direct and orthodox root of the Dragon Totem of the Chinese nation
So what is this turquoise dragon for? Some experts believe that this turquoise dragon is likely to be a dragon flag recorded in the history books, others believe that it is a dragon card, an instrument of honor used in sacrifices, and other scholars believe that it is a special scepter. However, regardless of these possibilities, the owner of the tomb is a priest who presides over the ritual of sacrifice is generally recognized by academics.
This turquoise dragon-shaped artifact is very rare in the early Chinese dragon image cultural relics and has high historical, artistic and scientific value. Its excavation also represents the oldest discovery of the image of the Chinese dragon in the "Central Kingdom" and "the first royal capital of China", which more powerfully proves that the sons and daughters of China will always be "the descendants of the dragon", and find the most direct and orthodox root for the dragon totem of the Chinese nation.
▲Milk nail pattern copper knight
One more point is fat, one less point is thin, milk nail pattern copper knight: the first lord of China
In ancient China, known as the "State of Etiquette", wine culture has a long history, wine vessel is an important carrier of wine culture and even the etiquette system behind it, this milk nail pattern bronze lord was found in Yanshi Erli in 1975. As a common drinking vessel, the Bronze Jue was popular during the Xia Shang period.
This breast-studded bronze lord has a long stream in front and a pointed tail at the back, a thin waist and a thin abdomen, three legs, and is decorated with ear-shaped chains on one side. The waist and abdomen are decorated with five horizontal rows of breast nails, so it is named the breast nail pattern copper knight. More expert evaluations: more points are fat, less points are thinner. It shows that the proportions of the body of this knight are very exquisitely made. In addition to the high value, the breast-studded bronze lord also has an "interesting soul", and there is a protruding ridge on its side called the "fan line", which proves that this knight is made by a very advanced composite fan process, marking the mainland's bronze manufacturing technology from the past can only make small and simple bronzes to make complex, cavity-style bronzes.
According to reports, the number of bronze knights found in the Erlitou site is extremely limited, and this one is even more precious, because it is the only one with two small columns, and the experts pass by
After study, it is believed that it may be used to fix the filter, because the ancient wine is turbid wine, there will be a lot of residue, in the position of the long stream fixed a filter, you can filter out the impurities.
This breast-nailed bronze jue is the earliest bronze knight found in the mainland so far, showing us the superb bronze smelting and casting technology and the ingenuity of the design during the Xia Dynasty, and the application of composite fan technology has also opened the precedent of the bronze age of the mainland, known as "the first lord of China".
▲Mesh pattern copper ding
"Heavy instrument of the country", grid pattern copper ding: the first ding in China
The collection of the Erlitou Xiadu Site Museum also has many rare treasures, and the grid-patterned copper ding, which is known as the "first ding in China", is one of them.
In 1987, the grid pattern copper Ding was excavated from the yanshi Erlitou site, using advanced composite fan technology casting, dignified and regular, simple ornamentation, although the appearance is slightly clumsy, but unique. It is the only bronze ding excavated from the Erlitou site, and it is also the earliest bronze ding with a clear excavation site in the mainland.
The mesh pattern copper is 20 cm high, the maximum diameter is 15.3 cm, the bottom diameter is 10 cm, the thickness is only 1.5 mm, the folded ears, the abdomen is flat, the bottom of the three feet is four-sided, and it is decorated with an irregular grid pattern on its waist and abdomen, which is also named after it.
Originally, dings were cookware used to cook and hold meat, equivalent to our current pots, and later became a ceremonial vessel for ceremonial occasions. As a representative of the mainland bronze culture, Ding is known as the "heavy weapon of the country". For thousands of years, as one of the carriers of ancient splendid civilization, Ding has been endowed with many mysterious colors, which have been condensed into an abstract cultural symbol and an important symbol of the Chinese nation. It is considered by later generations to be the most representative of supreme power among all bronzes. The grid pattern copper ding is a true portrayal of the beginning of the Huaxia country, and is known as the "first ding in China".
(Courtesy of Erlitou Xiadu Site Museum)
Source: Dahe Newspaper Yu Video Editor: Qu Ge