Historical Relics Unearthed In New China [antikvár]

FOREWORDCHINA IS a nation with a long history, its civilization being one of the earliest. The Chinese people are an industriousand intelligent people. As far back as several hundred thousand years ago the ancestors of the Chinese peoplelived, laboured and multiplied in this vast land, and have left us a rich historical cultural legacy.The Chinese people's great leader Chairman Mao points out: "Another oL our tasks is to study our historical heritage and use the Marxist method to sum it up critically. Our national history goes back several thousand years and has its own characteristics and innumerable treasures." Before the liberation, however, ancient Chinese cultural treasures suffered from the Kuomintang reactionaries' and imperialists' plunder and demolition. Since the founding of New China, the Party and government have laid great stress on the work of preserving antiquities and carrying out archaeological excavations, and have formulated principles and specific policies for this work. With full co-operation by China's workers, peasants and soldiers, archaeologists and museum workers of the entire country have greatly advanced the work of preserving cultural relics. Especially during the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution they have excavated many ancient sites and tombs and unearthed many historical objects. These are of important scientific value in the study and understanding of China's politics, economy, culture, military affairs and friendly exchanges with foreign countries in different periods, presenting as they do material evidence of the struggle for production, class struggle and scientific experiment by the Chinese labouring people through the ages.There have been two discoveries of skull and lower maxillary bone fragments of primitive man in China since the founding of the People's Republic. One is of these bones of the Lantien Ape-Man, discovered at Lantien, Shensi Province; and the other, the second discovery of skull and lower maxillary bones of Peking Man, at Choukoutien near Peking. Many remains and relics of Tingtsun Man and Tzuyang Man and other human beings of remote antiquity have also been unearthed. These finds are of immense significance to the study of the origin of man, further confirming the Marxist theory concerning the role of labour in the transition from monkey to man. They also add to our knowledge of historical development in the Palaeolithic Age. As for remains from the Neolithic Age, more than 5,000 sites have been discovered and about 200 excavated. The excavation at Panpo Village in Sian, Shensi Province, reveals the site of a village of primitive tribal society. Here have been preserved for 6,000 years foundations of dwellings, pottery kilns, ditches outside the living quarters and, beyond them, the tribe's public cemetery. Unearthed here also are many fine and beautiful painted potteries, stone implements and bone articles. Excavations and studies of Neolithic sites in different localities have provided a rough outline of primitive society in China 4,000 years ago, before there was a written language.After the disintegration of the primitive society, China entered the period of slave society the first class society in history. At Yin Hsu (Yin Dynasty ruins, present-day Anyang, Honan), capital of the late Shang Dynasty in the period of slave society, a number of Shang oracle bones were discovered. In Chengchow, Honan, among ruins from the early Shang Dynasty, were found sites where potteries, and bone and bronze articles were made, remains of dwellings and possibly of rammed earth from city walls. In western Honan were unearthed remains of a still earlier Shang culture, and some possibly belonging to the Hsia culture before Shang, at the beginning of slave society. In the period from the Shang Dynasty to the Spring and Autumn Period the making of bronzes with skilfully executed designs and artistic shapes flourished, demonstrating a developed culture during slave society in China, as well as the intelligence and creative ability of the slaves.1