The Yellow River Basin has a large number of ancient cultural sites. From far to near, they systematically show the long process of continuous development of ancient humans in my country, clearly depict the trajectory of human evolution, and record the growth of the Chinese nation. The historical process has proved that the Yellow River Basin is an important birthplace of the Chinese nation and Chinese culture.
The Yellow River Basin has natural conditions and geographical environment suitable for human reproduction and survival. In ancient times, the middle reaches of the Yellow River Basin and the Guanzhong Basin were subtropical, with a mild and humid climate, abundant rainfall, and four distinct seasons, which were conducive to the growth of crops and human health and longevity. The Loess Plateau, where the Yellow River flows, has fertile soil, providing excellent conditions for the development of primitive farming. Most of the areas in the basin are densely forested, and a wide variety of wild animals and human beings coexist on this land. People hunt wild animals, use the trophies as food, and use animal skins to sew clothes to protect themselves from the cold, and the texture is deep. The solid loess provides humans with the conditions to avoid wild beasts and dig caves to live.
Looking at history, the "Lantian Man" (Shaanxi) who lived in the Yellow River Basin 1 million to 1.5 million years ago is the oldest Homo erectus known in northern Asia so far. The early Homo sapiens discovered in the Yellow River Basin include the "Dali Man" (Shaanxi) who lived 200,000 to 300,000 years ago, and the "Dingcun Man" and "Xujiayao Man" (Shanxi) who lived about 100,000 years ago. ). The "Hetao Man" who lived in the upper reaches of the Wuding River, a tributary of the Yellow River between 30,000 and 50,000 years ago, was the transitional form from early Homo sapiens to late Homo sapiens. In the course of human history, the completeness and systematicness of ancient human fossils in the Yellow River Basin are unmatched by other regions in my country.
Corresponding to the complete trajectory of human development, the ancient cultural sites in the Yellow River Basin are second to none in our country both in terms of quantity and systematicness. First, cultural relics of my country’s Neolithic matrilineal society were discovered in Yangshao Village, Mianchi County, Henan Province, and were named “Yangshao Culture”. Later, archaeologists discovered more than 100 sites of the same nature in the basin, such as Banpo Village in Xi'an, Shaanxi, Majiayao in Lintao, Gansu, and Dawenkou in Teng County, Shandong. It can be said that the Yangshao Culture was the first prosperous period of the Yellow River Culture. Following the Yangshao culture was the Longshan culture. In 1928, a Neolithic Age site was discovered near Zhangqiu, Jinan, Shandong Province. Because Longshan Town is across the river from this site, the site was named "Longshan Culture". During the Longshan Culture period, the clan tribes in the Yellow River Basin began to transition from the matrilineal clan commune period to the patrilineal clan commune period. The Longshan Cultural relics are widely distributed in the middle and lower reaches of the Yellow River. The cultural relics of the same period in Henan, Shaanxi and Shanxi are called "Henan Longshan Culture", "Shaanxi Longshan Culture" and "Shanxi Longshan Culture" respectively. Production during the Longshan Culture period made greater progress than during the Yangshao Culture period. Primitive agriculture based on millet in the Yellow River Basin developed unprecedentedly, and the planting area and output increased greatly. The black pottery from Longshan Culture in Shandong is graceful and elegant in shape, as thin as an eggshell, and represents the highest level of pottery craftsmanship at that time.
The Chinese nation originated in the Yellow River Basin. According to research, about 4,000 years ago, many blood clans and tribes already lived in the Yellow River Basin. According to legend, the earliest tribes were the Yellow Emperor and the Yan Emperor. The Yellow Emperor was also known as the Xuanyuan clan. His clan originated in Jishui in northern Shaanxi and settled in the middle reaches of the Yellow River in what we today generally call the "Central Plains" area. In later generations, the residents of this area all respected the Yellow Emperor as their direct ancestor. Yao, Shun, and Yu were all descendants of the Huangdi clan, so the Yellow Emperor became the "first man" of the Chinese nation. Now, there is the "Mausoleum of the Yellow Emperor" in Huangling County, Shaanxi Province. The descendants of Yan and Huang all over the world regard this place as their roots.
Adjacent to Huangdi is the Yandi tribe. Emperor Yan's name was Shennong, and he was initially active in the Jiangshui River in the Wei River Basin in the middle reaches of the Yellow River. Legend has it that the Shennong family grew grains, made pottery, and tasted herbs. It can be concluded that the Yandi tribe was an agricultural tribe.
In the war between tribes for land and food, in the end, the Huangdi tribe to which Zhuanxu belonged defeated the Yandi tribe and seized the status of alliance leader. The Yan and Huang tribes gradually merged and settled in the Central Plains, joining forces with the Yi tribe in the east and the Li tribe in the south. The integration and influence of the Miao and the Yellow River Basin jointly developed the economy and culture of the Yellow River Basin, making this area the cradle of ancient Chinese culture.
According to legend, the ancestors of Xia, Shang and Zhou were also descendants of the Yellow Emperor. They called themselves "Zhuxia" or "Huaxia", also called "Hua" or "Xia". Because the Central Plains region is the birthplace of the Chinese people, and in ancient times, people believed that the Central Plains was the center of the four directions, so they called it "China". The Chinese are the predecessors of the Han, so the current Han people regard the Yellow Emperor as their ancestor, and call themselves "Yanhuang Shizhou" and "descendants of China". Later, "Zhonghua" became the synonym for the whole of China. The Yellow River Basin was regarded by future generations as the cradle of the Chinese nation, and the Yellow River was well deserved to be called the "Mother River."
Rivers are an important support system for human survival and development and the birthplace of human civilization. Historically, human civilization has been associated with rivers, and the development of any nation is related to rivers. Take the four major ancient civilizations in the world as examples. Each country has a river that is closely connected with its rise and fall. Ancient Egypt is the "gift of the Nile", ancient Babylon is the product of the Euphrates and Tigris civilizations, the Yellow River is the cradle of the Chinese nation, and the Indian civilization is also called the Ganges civilization. In the process of progress of civilization, every step of human progress is inseparable from the nourishment of rivers. Human beings have an innate closeness, awe and harmonious vision of rivers.
In the 5,000-year history of Chinese civilization, the Yellow River Basin has been the political, economic, and cultural center of our country for more than 3,000 years. As early as about 4,000 years ago, my country's first dynasty, Xia, established its capital in the Yellow River Basin. From the founding of the Xia Dynasty (21st century BC) to the Northern Song Dynasty, most of them established their capitals in the Yellow River Basin. Among my country's seven ancient capitals, Anyang, Xi'an, Luoyang, and Kaifeng are all located in the Yellow River basin or on both sides of the Yellow River. Xi'an has been the capital of 11 dynasties since the Western Zhou Dynasty, Qin and Han Dynasties, and even the Sui and Tang Dynasties, lasting as long as a thousand years. Since the Eastern Zhou Dynasty, the Eastern Han Dynasty, Cao Wei, Western Jin Dynasty, Northern Wei Dynasty, Sui Dynasty, Tang Dynasty, Hou Liang Dynasty and Hou Zhou Dynasty have all established their capitals in Luoyang. Luoyang is known as the "Ancient Capital of Nine Dynasties", which lasted for more than 900 years. Kaifeng began with King Hui of Wei moving his capital here during the Warring States Period. The Later Liang, Later Jin, Later Han, Later Zhou and Northern Song Dynasties during the Five Dynasties, as well as Kyoto in the late Jin Dynasty were all located here, which lasted for more than 200 years. There are also ethnic minorities such as Yuan and Xixia who successively established their capitals in Yinchuan.
For a long time, the economic development of the Yellow River Basin has been far ahead. During farmland farming, the working people not only continuously made and transformed farming tools and techniques, but also boldly explored farmland water conservancy and irrigation projects and developed water transportation. For example, the construction of Zhengguo Canal in Qin Dynasty, the construction of Bai Canal in Han Dynasty, etc. In the history of civilization for thousands of years, the Yellow River Basin has created magnetism, acoustics, mathematics, optics, mechanics, medicine, pharmacy, architecture and other disciplines, and has achieved great development. The "four great inventions" of ancient times that are praised by the world - papermaking, movable type printing, compass, and gunpowder were all produced in the Yellow River Basin.
Literature and art start from the Book of Songs, my country’s first collection of poems compiled by Confucius. Later, Han Fu, Tang poetry, Song lyrics, Yuan opera and novels, etc., such as the water of the Yellow River, have a long history. There are many famous writers on the Yellow River, and there are many masterpieces. The prose of Zhuangzi, Li Si, Sima Qian, and Liu Zongyuan, the poems of Li Bai, Du Fu, and Bai Juyi, the lyrics of Su Dongpo, Xin Qiji, and Li Yian, the dramas of Guan Hanqing, and the novels of Cao Xueqin are all leading the way and have been passed down through the ages. In addition, the art of calligraphy, painting and sculpture all over the Yellow River are also breathtaking. The Terracotta Warriors and Horses of the First Emperor of Qin in Lintong, the Yungang Grottoes in Datong and the Longmen Grottoes in Luoyang, these cultural miracles created by the working people in the Yellow River Basin are all regarded by future generations as miraculous workmanship and left behind by God. The music and dances of various ethnic groups are like the gorgeous flowers in a hundred gardens, competing for beauty.
The Yellow River is the symbol and flag of the Chinese nation.
In the long historical development, the Yellow River has gradually become the symbol and flag of the Chinese nation and the symbol and flag of Chinese culture. In the minds of Chinese people, the Yellow River has far exceeded the natural river in the general sense. The Yellow River and the Yellow River culture derived from it are like the backbone that maintains all Chinese civilization and have become the most basic reference coordinates for the psychological cognition of the Chinese nation.
We often refer to Chinese civilization as yellow civilization. Born with a Yellow River, the Yellow River, the Loess, the Yellow Emperor, and the Yellow people, what else can integrate the Chinese nation so naturally and harmoniously, and make this Chinese dragon so closely connected and soar. The Yellow River has become the symbol and flag of the Chinese nation, as natural, harmonious and inevitable as God's creation.
During the Anti-Japanese War, the song "Yellow River Cantata" made many Chinese people excited and resolutely plunged into the torrent of the Anti-Japanese War. The Yellow River is roaring, the Chinese nation is roaring, and the Chinese people are fighting. This is the battle cry issued by the Yellow River, and the battle cry issued by the Yellow River is the battle cry of the Chinese nation.
The Yellow River is the symbol and flag of the Chinese nation and Chinese civilization. The following two examples may deepen our knowledge and understanding of this issue.
In March 1948, Mao Zedong crossed the Yellow River eastward at Chuankou in northern Shaanxi. Standing on the swaying wooden boat, looking at the Yellow River water as thick as millet porridge in northern Shaanxi, looking at the foamy waves and whirlpools, I once wrote, "I am confident that in two hundred years of life, I will be like the water hitting three thousand miles." Mao Zedong sighed deeply, "You can despise everything, but you cannot despise the Yellow River. To despise the Yellow River is to despise our nation." In October 1952, Mao Zedong came to the Yellow River for his first inspection after arriving in Beijing. issued a great call to "do things well in the Yellow River".
In the 1990s, the Yellow River's drying up became more and more serious. At the beginning of 1998, 163 academicians from the Chinese Academy of Sciences and the Chinese Academy of Engineering jointly issued a solemn appeal to the descendants of Yan and Huang at home and abroad: "Take action to save the Yellow River." The "Appeal" wrote: "...Shockingly, today The Yellow River is facing another threat - drying up. Since 1972, it has been drying up almost every year, and it has become more and more serious every year. bed……". While facing the reality and lamenting the consequences, they put forward ideas for solving the problem and believed that "as long as every descendant of the Yan and Huang Dynasties takes action, when the red land turns into green mountains, it will be the day when the Yellow River becomes clear, and the great mother river ——The Yellow River will definitely regain its former glory; then, today’s descendants of Yan and Huang will be worthy of the times and future generations!”
At the same time, a Japanese media said: “The Yellow River will stop flowing. It means the decline of the Chinese nation."
It can be seen from this that the Yellow River is of great significance to the Chinese nation and the descendants of Yan and Huang. The Yellow River's drying-up affects not only industrial and agricultural production, urban and rural domestic water use, river ecosystems, and economic and social development. Its cultural significance and impact are also huge and difficult to estimate.
Because of this, since 1999, the country has adopted a series of measures such as unified regulation of the Yellow River water resources to ensure that the Yellow River continues to flow. In 2006, the State Council promulgated and implemented the Regulations on Water Volume Regulation of the Yellow River. This is the first time that my country has formulated regulations specifically for a river at the national level, which is a milestone. As of 2006, the Yellow River has flowed continuously for seven consecutive years