Brief introduction to the history of ancient automobile invention in China.

On the Native Origin of Oxcart and Carriage in China

Wang xingguang

Automobile is an important means of transportation in ancient times, and it was also the main equipment in ancient wars, which had a great influence on the history of human civilization. The invention of automobile and the utilization of its traction power have gone through a long development process, and China has also made important contributions in this respect.

First, cars in China originated from the mainland.

Cars are the earliest land vehicles with wheels. According to the current archaeological data, cars appeared earlier in the two river basins of West Asia and Central and Eastern Europe. The hieroglyphic car found on the clay tablets of Uruk culture in Mesopotamia has a history of about 5500 years. In this area, two-wheeled vehicles and clay models painted on painted pottery bowls have also been found, both of which can be traced back to about 5000 years ago. The earliest physical remains of cars excavated by science also appeared in the lower reaches of the Euphrates River. The age of four-wheeled vehicles unearthed in the tombs such as King Kish's Tomb is estimated to be 4600-4500 years ago [1].

Compared with the two river basins in West Asia, the age of ancient automobile remains discovered in China is later than that in Xia Dynasty. Therefore, western scholars have long believed that China's ancient cars originated in West Asia. Some domestic scholars agree with this view [2]. However, this view has also been questioned by many domestic scholars. From the differences between China and the West in shape, system, harness combination and form, it is proved that the carriages in Shang Dynasty in China are quite different from those in West Asia and should come from different carriage systems. In the marginal and peripheral areas of the two river basins, the appearance of automobiles was obviously later than that of the two river basins, and the appearance of automobiles was also later than that of China in the Yin and Shang Dynasties. Therefore, it is a reason to refute the "West" of ancient cars in China [3]. However, there is still a lack of concrete and profound proof of the local origin of ox carts and carriages in China.

The author agrees that cars in China are made in China. To this end, it can be further demonstrated from the following aspects.

First of all, although there are no traces of cars before the Xia Dynasty in China, there are many legends about the invention of cars during the Yellow Emperor's period, which was at the end of Yangshao culture more than 5,000 years ago. The data of this era is just similar to that of cars in West Asia. There are endless legends about making cars. Besides the Yellow Emperor, there are Fu, Yao, Xi Zhong, Ji Guang, Wang Hai, etc. Only in cars, there are so many famous people to test, which is extremely rare in the history of automobile invention in the world. On the one hand, it embodies China's independent invention of the car system, which the ancients believed deeply; On the other hand, it also reflects the changing process of automobile's continuous progress.

In ancient literature, the records about the Yellow Emperor's car-making mainly include:

I ching copula: "Huangdi, Yao and Shun, hang down their clothes and rule the world, take all the Gansu and Kun." "Petunia rides a horse, attracting attention from afar, benefiting the world and covering Sui." Here, Niu Mala's car belongs to Huangdi and Yao Shun. The Book of Changes was written by Confucius, which shows that Confucius also advocated that the automobile was invented in the era of the Yellow Emperor.

Geography of Hanshu: "I once sailed in the Yellow Emperor, but I couldn't help traveling around the world." Historian Ban Gu also advocated that the Yellow Emperor built cars.

"Ancient History Test": "The Yellow Emperor built a car, at least Hao began to drive cattle." Qiao Zhou of the Eastern Han Dynasty also agreed with Huangdi to build cars.

"Collection of Arts and Literature": "The Yellow Emperor made cars, which attracted much attention. When it is a calf, when I am a horse, Xi Zhong is a horse. " "Taiping Magnolia": "The Yellow Emperor built a car, hence the name Xuanyuan." This shows that the literature in the Tang and Song Dynasties inherited the viewpoint that Huangdi made cars.

Song Shi: "The Yellow Emperor and Chiyou fought in the field of Zhuolu, Chiyou was foggy, and the sergeant didn't know where to go, so the emperor became the guide."

A Textual Research on the Integration of Ancient and Modern Books in the Qing Dynasty said: "The Yellow Emperor sees the canopy, and the bear family makes cars."

As can be seen from the above ancient documents, from the pre-Qin Dynasty to the Qing Dynasty, there were endless records about Huangdi's car-making in history books. Although there are also records of Xi Zhonghe and others making cars. For example, "Zuo Zhuan Ding AD": "The ancestor of Xizhong Emperor Xue lived in Xue and thought that the summer car was right." In this regard, Bi Yuan, a textual research scientist in the Qing Dynasty, explained: "In Zuo Zhuan, Xi Zhong was the official of the car, but he didn't build a car. In Yaodian, the car has a long history, and the cover began in the Yellow Emperor. " [4] This shows that the legend of the Yellow Emperor making cars is unshakable. But the reasonable explanation may be that Huangdi was the inventor of the car, and the driving force of traction at that time may be manpower. Xizhong and others are automobile improvement engineers or managers. From the perspective of technological evolution, the invention of automobile should be based on the development of rotating instruments to some extent. A large number of stone spinning wheels and pottery spinning wheels unearthed from Neolithic cultural sites in China, especially the wheel-shaped objects made by cutting, should be the direct or indirect pioneers of automobiles. The era of the Yellow Emperor is similar to that of Yangshao culture. Combined with the description of the Yellow Emperor making cars in ancient literature, it is reasonable that cars appeared in the era of the Yellow Emperor about 5000 years ago. This is also close to the era of early cars in West Asia.

Secondly, contrary to the statement that Che "came from the west", both the literature records of early Che and the physical remains of Che found in archaeology appeared in the middle and lower reaches of the Yellow River in the middle and east of China, not in the western region, and it was not "possible" to be introduced into the northern region of China. This is in sharp contrast to the communication route of China's "talking from the west" from the perspective of communication.

As mentioned above, there are records of Huangdi and Xizhong making cars in ancient literature. Of course, there are also records that Xiangtu and Wang Hai, ancestors of Ji Guang, the son of Xi Zhong, built cars and merchants rode horses to serve cows. According to documents and historical legends, the main areas of the Yellow Emperor's activities are in Henan, Shaanxi, Shanxi, Hebei, Shandong and other places today. Among them, the records and legends of activities in Henan are more abundant. Historical Records of the Five Emperors says: "The Yellow Emperor is a bear." Sima Biao of the Western Jin Dynasty "County Records and National Records": "Xinzheng County, Yinan, southern Henan Province, was the capital of the Yellow Emperor in ancient times." The History of Taoism in the Song Dynasty said: "The Yellow Emperor founded the country with Xiong, and now Zheng is Xinzheng." It can be seen that its activity center is in the middle of Henan Province today. Xizhong is said to be the same age as Xue, who lives in the southeast of Tengzhou, Shandong. Move to Pi, that is, northwest of Weishan, Shandong. Xiangtu and Wang Hai, pioneers of Shang Dynasty, lived in Shangqiu today. This edition of bamboo chronicles contains "the prince lived in Shangqiu" and "the emperor ascended the throne to live in business in the first year of the 1898 Movement". Ranked after Qi and Zhao Ming, he is a third-generation businessman. Wang Hai, the seventh eldest male merchant, should also be active in Shangqiu area. This is obviously in the central and eastern regions far from the west and north.

Due to the limitation of preservation conditions, the car remains before Xia Dynasty have not been found. The remains of horses and chariots were found at Erlitou site in Yanshi, representing Xia culture. The bronze bell found in Erlitou site was inferred by archaeologists as a bell; And round vessels, round bubble vessels, brand ornaments, shells and so on. It may be an ornament for horses and chariots [5]. Recently, archaeologists found two roughly parallel rut marks between the early road soil on the south side of the palace area of Erlitou site in Yanshi, Henan Province. The rut is more than 5 meters long and extends to the east and west. The frog ditch is groove-shaped, which can be seen as concave, showing layered accumulation of road soil and lime soil. The distance between two ruts is about 1 m [6]. This is the earliest car relic found in China at present, which can be mutually confirmed with the ornaments such as chariots, horses, bells, round utensils, round bubble utensils, brand ornaments and seashells found in Erlitou site of Yanshi, indicating that two-wheeled vehicles have indeed begun to be used in Xia Dynasty. The wreckage of the car was also found in the northeast corner of the ruins of Yanshi Mall. On the bottom pavement near the city wall in the late period of the second generation Shang culture, two rutting remains parallel to the city wall in the east-west direction were found. The rut length is 14m, and the rut gauge is about1.2m. Archaeologists infer that this is the rut trace of two-wheeled vehicles in the early Shang Dynasty, and it is the witness of the early use of vehicles in China [7]. This can be mutually confirmed with the bronze statue found in Yanshi Mall. Fan Tao was also found in Zhengzhou Mall [8], indicating that the production of the car parts has been mass-produced. Archaeologists who participated in the excavation of Yanshi Mall determined the age of the rut remains of Yanshi Mall in Erligang period of Zhengzhou in the early Shang Dynasty. If this is true, the rutting age of Yanshi Mall was about 3,500 years ago. Erlitou culture dates from 3900 to 3500 years ago. Linking the rut and the remains of chariots and horses in Erlitou culture with the record that "the west is the right car" in ancient literature can prove that cars were already used in Xia Dynasty. Although the automobile archaeological documents of Xia Dynasty are not very early, they are similar to the automobile remains unearthed in neighboring countries of China. Five tombs of chariots and horses were found in the Sinda Snow Pagoda at the southern foot of the Urals Mountain in Russia, dating from 2000 BC to 65438 BC+0600 BC. The age of the two-wheeled carriage unearthed from the Xiewan Lake tomb in the former Soviet Union is BC 1900. Another 15 vehicle was found in La Shaheen, Armenia, the former Soviet Union, and its age was around 1300 BC. According to the above materials, some scholars believe that after accepting the "Western-style carriage" from the two river basins and Europe, the nomadic people in Central Asia gradually improved it into a two-wheeled carriage, and spread eastward along the Eurasian grassland, eventually reaching the Central Plains, and thus think that "China's carriage should be directly developed from Western Central Asia" [9]. In fact, from the perspective of chronological comparison, the automobile age of Central Asia is roughly the same as that of China Xia Dynasty (2046-65438 BC+0600 BC). That is to say, at the same time that horse-drawn carriages appeared in Central Asia, automobiles also appeared and used in the Central Plains of China. It is difficult to explain clearly the process of introducing Central Asian cars into China.

Oracle Bone Inscriptions and Chemakeng unearthed in Anyang Yin Ruins provide direct evidence for the study of early cars in China.

In Oracle Bone Inscriptions, there are many forms of sub-cars. It can be seen that the Yin car has been composed of shaft, wheel, single shaft, balance and double yoke. There are abundant oracles about chariot wars, hunting of Shang kings, chariot sacrifices and horse training. The use of horse-drawn carriages has been found in Oracle Bone Inscriptions, which belongs to the first phase of Yin Ruins Culture in Wuding period. For example:

"In the Sino-Japanese War, Thoreau drove him away, and the little minister lifted the car and rode the king's car, and Ziyang fell." ("Jing" I, I)

"Ding Mao, Wang Jiankai, (Yongxiong) chariots and horses ... are in the car, and Bi Ma is also ..." ("Yi" 98 o)

Since the excavation of the Yin Ruins, * * * has discovered 18 chariots and horses pit, including 20 vehicles of the Yin Dynasty. After careful cleaning by archaeologists, we have a clear understanding of the car structure in the late Shang Dynasty: these cars can be divided into transportation vehicles and combat vehicles. A car is mainly composed of two wheels, an axle, an iron axle and a balance. A rectangular parking lot is placed between the shaft and the iron well, and there is an upper and lower door behind the parking lot. Some scales are decorated with bronze animal faces and yokes are placed on both sides to serve horses. Most of the horses driving are two, and some are four. A large number of bronze car ornaments and horse ornaments are often found in the chariot pit, which are very beautiful and gorgeous [10]. The structure of these cars is very complicated, showing superb manufacturing technology. This shows that the automobile in China has a long history, experienced a long period of development, and reached a relatively mature level in the Yin period.

In a word, from the ancient literature of China and the legend of the invention of automobiles in the era of the Yellow Emperor, we can know that China has a history of using automobiles for more than 5,000 years. This is not far from the era when cars appeared in the two river basins. Moreover, these legends are rich and vivid and can be handed down from generation to generation. In China, the areas where early automobiles were found were mostly concentrated in the Central Plains and the middle and lower reaches of the Yellow River. These areas are far from the speculation that cars may first spread to the border areas of northwest and north China, and there are many unexplained contradictions and gaps. So cars in China should be local.

2. Businessmen were the earliest ancestors in China who mastered the driving skills of ox carts and horse-drawn carriages.

The car is a means of transportation that attracts people's attention to the future. In order to attract attention and achieve a long-term goal, we must solve the problem of automobile power, otherwise it will be difficult to promote the use of automobiles. Shang nationality is a nation that is good at migration. "Pan Geng, the Book of History" records: "My late king had clothes, but he kept his destiny, so he was still not at peace. Not often lost, in the current five States. " Zhang Heng's "Xijing Fu" said: "Yin people moved repeatedly, and the first eight were followed by five." In other words, businessmen often migrate. Moved the capital eight times before the founding of the People's Republic of China and five times after the founding of the People's Republic of China. Businessmen are also a nation that is good at doing business, and they should continue to trade in places far away from their homeland. In a word, transportation is indispensable whether it is the large-scale migration of Lisu people or going to various places for business. Otherwise, the migration of the whole tribe, men, women and children, is vast, and all kinds of materials and daily necessities are piled up like mountains. Without a considerable number of vehicles, it is difficult to carry out such a large-scale migration by hand. The trade activities of commodity exchange in the distance are also inseparable from vehicles. However, the records of the ancestors of merchants riding horses and tending cattle in ancient literature are related to the manufacture and improvement of vehicles and the application of livestock cart-pulling technology.

Vehicle is an important condition and tool to meet these needs. To this end, merchants have long paid attention to taming and selecting livestock to drive away. It is not difficult to imagine that at the beginning, all kinds of animals should be driving, because businessmen have a very high ability to tame animals. Lu Chunqiu Ancient Music: "Business clothes are like abusing foreigners." Even a giant elephant can be tamed, which shows the superb skills of businessmen in taming animals. In fact, elephants also have the ability to drag heavy objects. Wan Zhen's "Elephant Praise": "Elephants are beasts, and their shapes are very strange. The body is full of cattle, the eyes should not be too thin, the nose is oral and the head looks like a tail. Practice your handwriting, you will kneel, your teeth will be clean and you will be beautiful. The service is far-reaching and shaped like a mound. " [1 1] In the poem, the elephant's function of "serving the future" is recognized. In addition to cattle and horses, there are deer, dogs and sheep recorded in later generations. It can be seen that choosing animals suitable for driving has gone through a long practical process. Taming cattle and horses and finally determining that these two kinds of livestock are the most suitable animals for towing vehicles and carrying heavy objects are as important as inventing vehicles in the history of human civilization and transportation.

In ancient legends and documents, the technology driven by horses and oxen was attributed to the grandfathers of merchants, Xiangtu and Wang Hai.

"Shiben Zuopian": "Xiangtu rides a horse."

This edition of bamboo annals contains: "The Shang Dynasty moved to Shangqiu after taking soil as a horse."

"Xunzi Jiemao": "Take Du as a horse, Zao Fu is good at defending." Yang Shu of the Tang Dynasty explained: "The book of the world says,' Xiangtu rides a horse'." Du and Tu are the same. Ride one horse and four horses. There are four horses driving, and Zhao is here, so he is riding a horse. Take it as the method of riding a horse, so it is called riding Du. "Visible, Yang Qi think can also be called by du. Now it seems that it is reasonable to interpret Du Fu as dirt, but the explanation of the word "multiply" is somewhat far-fetched. Wang Xianqian, a scholar in Qing Dynasty, pointed out: "Xiang, Sang and Gu are at the same time, so Sang is called Xiang. The word "Sang" in official script is similar to the word "Cheng", followed by the word "Qi", which is mistaken for "Sang" [12]. From this point of view, Chengdu is not an alias of Xiangtu, but a mistake made by predecessors. The degree of inventing horse-driving technology mentioned in Xunzi should be "mulberry soil", which is actually Xiangtu.

The ancients attributed the invention of the technology of serving cattle and driving to Wang Hai, a former generation of Shang Zhouwang.

"Shiben Zuopian": "Only serve cows." This is the sea.

The ancient version of the Annals of Bamboo Books says: "Wang Haituo is especially suitable, and Hebo is a cow." In other words, Wang Hai gave his domesticated cattle to King Yi and Guo Guo. This also shows that Wang Hai is a master of cattle domestication, and the scale is quite large. Otherwise, the domesticated cattle will not be taken care of by two tribal leaders.

Lu Chunqiu Don't Bow: "Wang Yi is a servant." The word Wang Yi should be mistaken, because it is similar to the shape of the sea, and Wang Yi is Wang Hai. [ 13]

"Shan Hai Jing Ye Dong Jing" also said: "Wang Hai entrusts you you and Hebo to serve the cows. Kill Wang Hai and take the servant Niu Yi. " This story has been repeatedly recorded in the Book of Changes, Dazhuang, Chu Ci Tian Wen and other documents, which shows that the story of Wang Hai's herding cattle in the pre-Qin period is still widely circulated.

In the eyes of businessmen, Wang Hai was a very high-ranking ancestor, and as many as 50 Niu Yi animals were sacrificed to Wang Hai. Mr. Wang Guowei pointed out that for Wang Hai in Oracle Bone Inscriptions, "he is the most prosperous person in the ceremony". It is believed that "however, Wang Hai's sacrificial ceremony flourished as a saint of production, not as an ancestor" [14]. In other words, because Wang Hai is the founder of the cattle cart, he is particularly respected.

In fact, before Wang Hai, there was a businessman's late husband, Yu Cao, who was also related to animal husbandry. He is the fifth grandson of Qi, the ancestor of a merchant, and Cao is the trough for feeding livestock. The original intention of Xi is to keep horses in captivity. "Zuo Zhuan" Zhao Gong seven years: "The horse has a shovel, and the cow has a shepherd." Du Pre-note: "It is better to raise horses." "Shuo Wen Jie Zi" explains: "Say: You are the one who leads the horse." Raising horses is said to be related to captive horses, and Yu Cao's name should also be related to his experience of raising horses or his activities of raising livestock in the trough prison [15]. Yu Cao should also be a man with considerable achievements in animal husbandry.

Among the ancestors of Shang clan, from Xiangtu, Yu Cao to Wang Hai, there are three related to animal husbandry and "serving cattle and riding horses", which not only reflects the prosperity and long tradition of animal husbandry in the pre-Shang period, but also shows that the contributions of several generations of Shang clan in the driving and utilization of ox carts and carriages are not groundless, but are based on historical facts. In this regard, "Guan Zi Guang E" concluded: "The king of Yin people set up a soap prison and served cattle and horses, thinking that the people would benefit the world." The "king of Yin people" here should be the king of Yin before the establishment of Shang Tang, which should refer to Xiangtu, Yu Cao and Wang Hai. In fact, they are only representatives of merchant families, which shows that merchants should be the earliest ancestors who mastered and used ox-cart-carriage technology in China.

The above literature can be further demonstrated from the following aspects.

First of all, from the archaeological remains, it is credible that there was a relatively developed animal husbandry in the pre-Shang period. Animal husbandry is based on primitive hunting activities. When hunting, people will keep the captured healthy or unharmed animals in captivity, so that they can gradually adapt to the domestic environment. Generally, they will go through three stages: domestication in captivity, stocking in the wild, and finally settling down for grazing. This gradually formed the early animal husbandry [16]. Two rectangular animal pens, 6m ~10m in length and1.8m ~ 2.6m in width, were found in Yangshao Cultural Site in Xi Banpo, Shaanxi Province, in the middle reaches of the Yellow River ... There were dense column holes around them, indicating that there were fences for raising livestock [17]. In the Neolithic site in Jiangzhai, Lintong, two slightly circular pens with a diameter of about 4 meters were also found, and there were animal feces 20-30 meters thick in the pens, which proved that they belonged to animal pens [18]. In Yangshao Cultural Site in Dahe Village, Zhengzhou, Henan Province, there are also pens dedicated to raising livestock, and the remains of cattle and horses have also been found in Neolithic sites. For example, two horse teeth and a phalanx unearthed from the Banpo site mentioned above. The remains of horses have been unearthed in the sites equivalent to Longshan culture, such as Chengyiya in Licheng, Shandong, Baiyinbaiying in Tangyin, Henan, and majiawan in Yongjing, Gansu. This can prove that horses were generally domesticated in northern China during the Longshan Culture period [19] about 4500 years ago. More remains of cattle were found in Neolithic sites. In the early Neolithic cultural sites such as Peiligang in Xinzheng, Henan Province, Cishan in Wu 'an, Hebei Province and Beixin in tengxian, Shandong Province, many cattle remains were found. Although it is still uncertain whether it is a domestic cow, the possibility of raising cattle at home cannot be ruled out. After entering Yangshao culture in the middle of Neolithic Age, a large number of cattle bones were unearthed, such as cattle teeth unearthed from Yangshao cultural site in Anbanpo, Xi 'an. Cattle bones have been unearthed in Dongxiafeng Site in Xia County, Shanxi Province, Longshan Town in Licheng, Shandong Province and Goujian in Handan, Hebei Province. In addition, a large number of bovine bones have also been found in Neolithic sites such as Dahe Village in Zhengzhou, Hougang in Anyang and Xiawanggang in Zhechuan, Henan [20]. Combined with the remains of these cattle bones and the animal pen sites in Banpo and other places mentioned above, it can be seen that cattle have been domesticated for more than 6000 years. Zuqi, a businessman, helped Dayu control water, and should be a figure in the late Longshan culture. Accordingly, the activities of Xiangtu and Wang Hai should enter the calendar year of Xia Dynasty. Therefore, the remains of animal husbandry in the middle and late Neolithic period discovered by archaeology further illustrate the authenticity and credibility of the prosperity of animal husbandry in the pre-Shang period.

Secondly, the eastern part of Henan Province, where the literature and legends of merchant ancestors live, is suitable for animal husbandry activities. Among the six earliest kinds of livestock raised by human beings, cattle and horses belong to large herbivorous livestock. Although there were stables for raising cattle and horses in Neolithic Age, the main way of raising cattle and horses should be grazing. Grazing activities need open fields or gentle slopes, and rich and lush weeds associated with them. The central area of Shang ancestors' activities in literature and legend is in Shangqiu area today. "Zuo Zhuan" Xiang Gong said for nine years: "The fire of Tang Tao's family lives in Shangqiu and worships the fire, but the fire discipline is uncertain. Because of Xiangtu, the business owner is on fire. " This is an earlier reliable material about Shangqiu businessmen. The Chronicle of Bamboo Books also records: "The Shang Dynasty took soil as a horse and moved to Shangqiu later." Chinese-American archaeologist Professor Zhang Guangzhi and other scholars inherited the early academic speculation of modern scholars Wang Guowei and Dong Zuobin, and delineated the activity area of merchants in the pre-Shang period in Shangqiu area, and carried out fruitful archaeological work here [2 1]. It can be seen that Shangqiu, the hometown of pre-business, has far-reaching influence. This view combined with the ecological environment in Shangqiu area is very reasonable. Shangqiu area is located in Huang-Huai alluvial plain, where the terrain is flat and endless, rivers crisscross, and water resources are abundant. It belongs to the continental monsoon climate of warm temperate zone, with rich vegetation and numerous animals, which is suitable for grazing cattle and horses on a large scale. Especially in the pre-Shang period, agricultural reclamation activities were relatively slow. There was a lot of idle land in those years, which should be a natural pasture for the development of animal husbandry. In addition, the flat and open land is also a good place to tame cattle and horses and practice driving. Therefore, Shang ancestors, Wang Hai and others all regarded this place as an ideal place to develop animal husbandry, manufacture vehicles and teach people to drive horses and chariots. While developing animal husbandry, agriculture in the pre-Shang period also developed rapidly. It is precisely because of the solid foundation of agriculture and animal husbandry, long-term accumulation, and the developed technology of manufacturing vehicles and serving cattle and riding horses that merchant families can gradually become stronger, and then "cattle and carts serve Jia far away" [22] appeared, which promoted the rise and development of commercial trade.

Thirdly, the results of prehistoric archaeology in Shangqiu area make the history of the pre-Shang period gradually clear, which provides evidence for the activities of Shangqiu merchants' ancestors. The exploration of the origin of Shang civilization in Shangqiu area began in 1930s. In the 25th year of the Republic of China (1936), Mr. Li Jingyong, then the Institute of History and Linguistics of Academia Sinica, went to Shangqiu for archaeological investigation, and found the ruins of Legislative Platform and Heigudui in Yongcheng County, unearthed pottery, stone tools, bone mussels and other relics, and thought that the nature of the site belonged to Longshan culture [23]. After that, important archaeological work began in the 1970s after the founding of the People's Republic of China. From 1976 to 1977, the Institute of Archaeology of Chinese Academy of Social Sciences and the Cultural Relics Management Committee of Shangqiu District conducted archaeological investigations in various counties in Shangqiu area for three times, and found 17 sites of Longshan culture, 15 sites of Yin culture and Zhou culture, and 14 sites of other times. Among them, Yongcheng Wangyoufang, Tuocheng Mengzhuang and Suixian Zhoulonggang are more important sites. In the report of Wangyoufang site in Yongcheng, the digger pointed out: "Looking at the whole cultural landscape, it can be said that Shangqiu area in eastern Henan is still the distribution area of Longshan culture in Henan." [24] This view that the Neolithic culture in Shangqiu area is Longshan culture is consistent with Mr. Li Jingyong's opinion. Longshan culture is directly connected with Erlitou culture, which represents Xia culture. Xia nationality originally existed with Shang nationality, so the pre-Shang culture should also find its source from Longshan culture. 198 1 year, when archaeologists published a comprehensive report on archaeology in eastern Henan, they realized that the culture of Yin Shang was accumulated in the upper layer of Longshan culture from the overlapping relationship of cultural layers of Suixian ruins such as Zhou Longgang, and found that there was a significant difference between Shangqiu Longshan culture and western Henan, which should be called "Wangyoufang type". In addition, according to the Erlitou cultural remains found only in Wuqiang site in Shangqiu county, it is inferred that Shangqiu area should be the edge of Erlitou culture's eastward distribution [25]. Mengzhuang site is a large-scale early Shang cultural relic found in Shangqiu area. The absolute ages of carbon 14 are 1555 130 BC, 1790 130 BC and1795 BC, which are the same as those in Erligang, Zhengzhou. These discoveries laid the foundation for exploring the pre-Shang civilization.

Starting from 1990, the Sino-American joint archaeological team led by Mr. Zhang Guangzhi and the Chinese team leader began archaeological investigation and excavation of the pre-Shang and early Shang cultures in Shangqiu area. They used advanced means and methods to investigate and study the Holocene ecological environment in Shangqiu area. More importantly, since 1994, the ruins of Panmiao in Shangqiu County, Mazhuang in Yucheng County and Shantaimiao in Zhecheng County have been excavated successively, and rich remains of Yangshao culture, Longshan culture, Yueshi culture, Yinshang culture, Eastern Zhou culture and Han culture have been unearthed. Among them, the Longshan cultural site of Shantai Temple is of great significance for exploring the pre-Shang civilization. What we found here connects five houses. About 30 meters south of this row of houses, there is a slightly circular sacrificial pit, in which 9 whole cows and a deer head are buried. In this regard, Mr. Zhang Changshou and Mr. Zhang Guangzhi think: "This bull pit makes the Longshan culture of Shantaimiao closely contact with the civilization of Yin and Shang Dynasties." Shi Ben Zuo pian, He (Hai) is the slave of cattle ... The ancestors of the Yin Dynasty had such a close relationship with domestic cattle that they did not have in other dynasties. There are often remains of offering sacrifices to cattle in archaeological sites of Yin and Shang Dynasties. Cows are prisons, and there are nine cows in a sacrifice pit, which shows the importance of sacrifice, and the status of the worshippers is extraordinary. This discovery has no precedent in Longshan cultural site. It may indicate that a branch of Longshan culture, parallel to the development of Longshan culture to Yueshi culture in other places, developed a special late Longshan or Yueshi culture in eastern Henan, which may be represented by Shantai Temple. It is the predecessor of Yin Shang civilization. They also pointed out: "We should conduct extensive and in-depth research on Longshan culture and Yueshi culture in Shangqiu area. They may be in the early and early Shang Dynasty, or they may be their close relatives and ancestors. " [27] They linked it with Wang Hai, the ancestor of Shang Dynasty who invented cattle driving technology, and then inferred the close relationship between Shangqiu area and pre-Shang civilization. Although there are still some gaps in the current archaeological materials, some scholars still have doubts about the cultural nature of prehistoric archaeology in Shangqiu area. However, if we combine the documentary records with the archaeological achievements in Shangqiu area, the inferences of the two Mr. Zhang should be very reasonable.

Third, the conclusion

Automobile is the main means of transportation and military equipment in ancient times, and it is also one of the important symbols of ancient civilization. The ancient records of automobile invention in China have a long history and are rich and colorful. Archaeology also provides strong evidence to support it. So, the cars in China are local.

Businessmen have a cultural tradition of being good at migration and willing to do business. Xiangtu, Yu Cao, Wang Hai and others, ancestors of the Shang clan, made great contributions in making automobiles and driving automobiles with horses and cattle. At the same time, it also shows that Shang tribe is the first tribe to master the driving technology of ox-cart and carriage and popularize it.

Shangqiu area is one of the important birthplaces of Shang nationality, and it is also an ideal area to explore the pre-Shang civilization. The vast Huanghuai Plain where Shangqiu is located provides a unique and broad space for grazing and domestication of cattle, horses and other livestock and people's driving training. It should also be one of the origins of carriage and ox cart in China. The development of the technology of "herding cattle" and "riding horses" has created important conditions for the rapid rise of the Shang clan and the wide spread of Shang civilization.

Of course, the question of whether China cars originated in China or were imported from abroad is far from being solved. Even in the previous works about the local origin of ox carts and wagons in China, the invention and application of ox carts have nothing to do with the specific social activities of early human beings, and the lack of special demonstration on the use and promotion areas of ox carts has also affected people's understanding of the reliability of this argument. This paper tries to make up for these shortcomings, pointing out that merchants made outstanding contributions to the utilization and popularization of ox carts in the pre-Shang period, and Dongping, a broad principle of merchant activities, may be the first central area to utilize and popularize ox carts. Of course, this only provides a new way of thinking for the study of this problem, and the final solution of the problem remains to be found in the earlier and richer automobile remains in archaeology.

A Study of Agricultural History and Environmental History in China.