Why is the Yellow River the cradle of China culture?

Water is the source of life, and living by water is the survival instinct of human beings. The origin of the Chinese nation is closely related to the Yellow River. In the poet's pen, the Yellow River with a long history is honored as the "mother river" of the Chinese nation; In the eyes of anthropologists, the Yellow River is "the cradle of the Chinese nation". Moreover, these two laudatory names have long been the knowledge of the Chinese nation and Chinese descendants.

1: There are many ancient cultural sites in the Yellow River Basin, which systematically show the long process of the continuous development of ancient humans in China, clearly describe the trajectory of human evolution, record the historical process of the growth of the Chinese nation, and prove that the Yellow River Basin is an important birthplace of the Chinese nation and culture.

The Yellow River Basin has natural conditions and geographical environment suitable for human beings to thrive. In ancient times, the middle reaches of the Yellow River Basin and Guanzhong Basin were subtropical, with mild and humid climate, abundant rainfall and distinct seasons, which was beneficial to the growth of crops and the health and longevity of people. The loess plateau where the Yellow River flows is fertile, which provides superior conditions for the development of primitive farming. Most areas of the basin are dense forests, and a wide variety of wild animals and humans live together in this land. People hunt wild animals, feed on trophies, sew dresses with animal skins to keep out the cold, and the loess with deep and solid texture provides people with the conditions to avoid wild animals and dig holes to live in caves.

Throughout history, Lantian people (Shaanxi), who lived in the Yellow River valley 6.5438+0.5 million years ago, are the oldest known Homo erectus in northern Asia. Early Homo sapiens found in the Yellow River valley include Dali people (Shaanxi) who lived 200,000 to 300,000 years ago, Dingcun people who lived about 654.38 million years ago and Xu Jiayao people (Shaanxi). Hetao people, who lived in the upper reaches of Wuding River, a tributary of the Yellow River, 30,000 to 50,000 years ago, are the transitional form from early Homo sapiens to late Homo sapiens. In the course of human history, the integrity and systematicness of ancient human fossils in the Yellow River basin are incomparable to those in other parts of China.

Corresponding to the complete track of human development, the ancient cultural sites in the Yellow River Basin are second to none in terms of quantity and system. First of all, the Neolithic matriarchal social and cultural site in China was discovered in Yangshao Village, Mianchi County, Henan Province, and was named "Yangshao Culture". Later, archaeologists discovered more than 65,438+000 sites of the same nature in the basin, such as banpo village in Xi 'an, Shaanxi, Majiayao in Lintao, Gansu and Dawenkou in tengxian, Shandong. It can be said that Yangshao culture is the first prosperous period of the Yellow River culture. Yangshao culture is followed by Longshan culture. 1928, a Neolithic site was discovered near Zhangqiu, Jinan, Shandong Province. Because Longshan Town faces this site across the river, the site was named "Longshan Culture". During the Longshan culture period, the clan tribes in the Yellow River valley began to enter the patriarchal clan commune period from the matriarchal clan commune period. Longshan cultural sites are widely distributed in the middle and lower reaches of the Yellow River, and the cultural sites existing in Henan, Shaanxi and Shanxi are called "Henan Longshan Culture", "Shaanxi Longshan Culture" and "Shanxi Longshan Culture" respectively. Compared with Yangshao culture period, the production in Longshan culture period has made great progress, and the primitive agriculture in the Yellow River basin, mainly millet, has developed unprecedentedly, and the planting area and output have been greatly improved. The black pottery of Longshan culture in Shandong Province is elegant and as thin as an eggshell, which represents the highest level of pottery-making technology at that time.

The Chinese nation originated in the Yellow River Basin. According to research, about 4000 years ago, there were many clans and tribes with close blood relations in the Yellow River Basin. According to legend, the earliest tribes were Huangdi and Yan Di. The Yellow Emperor, also known as Xuanyuan, was born in Jishui, northern Shaanxi, and settled in the middle reaches of the Yellow River, which is commonly known as the "Central Plains" today. The residents in this area in later generations all respect the Yellow Emperor as their direct ancestor, and Yao Shunyu is a descendant of the Yellow Emperor family, so the Yellow Emperor became the "first person" of the Chinese nation. Now, with the "Huangdi Mausoleum" in huangling county, Shaanxi Province, Chinese people all over the world regard it as their roots.

Adjacent to the Yellow Emperor is the Yan Di tribe. Shennong, Yan Di, was originally active in Jiang Shui of the Weishui River Basin in the middle reaches of the Yellow River. Legend has it that Shennong grows grain, makes pottery and tastes herbs, so it can be concluded that Yan Di tribe is an agricultural tribe. In the war between tribes for land and food, Zhuan Xu's Huangdi tribe finally defeated Yan Di tribe and seized the position of leader. The two ethnic groups, Yan and Huang, gradually merged and settled in the Central Plains, interacting with the Yi nationality in the east, the Li nationality and the Miao nationality in the south, and jointly developed the economy and culture of the Yellow River Basin, making this area the cradle of ancient culture in China.

According to legend, the ancestors of Xia, Shang and Zhou Dynasties were also descendants of the Yellow Emperor. They call themselves "Zhu Xia" or "Huaxia", also known as "Hua" or "Xia". Because the Central Plains is the birthplace of the Chinese nation, and in ancient times, people thought that the Central Plains was the center of the Quartet, so it was called "China". China people are the predecessors of the Han nationality, so now the Han people regard the Yellow Emperor as their ancestors and call themselves "descendants of China". Later, "China" became the name of China, the Yellow River basin was regarded as the cradle of the Chinese nation by later generations, and the Yellow River was well-deserved called "Mother River".

Rivers are an important support system for human survival and development and the birthplace of human civilization. Historically, human civilization has always been accompanied by rivers, and the development of any nation is related to rivers. Take the four ancient civilizations in the world as an example. Every country has a river closely related to its rise and fall. Ancient Egypt is the "gift of the Nile", ancient Babylon is the product of the civilizations of Euphrates and Tigris, the Yellow River is the cradle of the Chinese nation, and Indian civilization is also called Ganges civilization. In the progress of civilization, every step of human progress is inseparable from the feeding of rivers, and human beings have an innate vision of closeness, awe and harmonious coexistence to rivers.

The Yellow River Basin has long been the political, economic and cultural center of China.

In China's 5,000-year history of civilization, the Yellow River Basin has been the political, economic and cultural center of China for more than 3,000 years. As early as 4,000 years ago, the first dynasty of China established its capital in the Yellow River valley in the summer. From the establishment of the Xia Dynasty (2 1 century BC) to the Northern Song Dynasty, most of them established their capitals in the Yellow River valley. Among the seven ancient capitals of China, Anyang, Xi, Luoyang and Kaifeng are all in the Yellow River basin or on both sides of the Yellow River. From the Western Zhou Dynasty, the Qin and Han Dynasties to the Sui and Tang Dynasties, Xi 'an had 1 1 dynasties, which lasted for thousands of years. Since the Eastern Zhou Dynasty, the Eastern Han Dynasty, the Cao Wei Dynasty, the Western Jin Dynasty, the Northern Wei Dynasty, the Sui Dynasty, the Tang Dynasty, Hou Liang and the Later Zhou Dynasty have all established their capitals in Luoyang, which is known as the "ancient capital of nine dynasties" and has a history of more than 900 years. Kaifeng House began in the Warring States Period when Wei Huiwang moved its capital here, and Hou Liang, Houjin, Houhan, Houzhou, Northern Song Dynasty and Kyoto at the end of Jin Dynasty in the Five Dynasties were all located here, which lasted for more than 200 years. There are also Yuan, Xixia and other ethnic minorities who have successively established Yinchuan as their capital.

For a long time, the economic development of the Yellow River Basin has been far ahead. In farmland farming, working people not only made and reformed farming tools and technologies, but also made bold explorations in farmland irrigation projects and developed water transportation. For example, Zheng Guoqu in Qin State and Baiqu in Han Dynasty. In thousands of years of civilization, the Yellow River Basin has established such disciplines as magnetism, acoustics, mathematics, optics, mechanics, medicine, pharmacy, architecture and so on, and has been greatly developed. The ancient "four great inventions" praised by the world-papermaking, movable type printing, compass and gunpowder-all originated in the Yellow River basin.

Literature and art began with The Book of Songs, the first collection of poems compiled by Confucius in China. Since then, Han Fu, Tang Poetry, Song Poetry, Yuanqu and novels, such as the water of the Yellow River, have a long history. There are many famous artists and many excellent works in the Yellow River Valley. The prose of Zhuangzi, Li Si, Sima Qian and Liu Zongyuan, the poems of Li Bai, Du Fu and Bai Juyi, the ci of Su Dongpo, Xin Qiji and Li Yian, Guan Hanqing's zaju and Cao Xueqin's novels are all leading the way, which have been passed down through the ages. In addition, the art of calligraphy and painting, sculpture all over the Yellow River, is also amazing. The Terracotta Warriors and Horses in Lintong, Yungang Grottoes in Datong, Longmen Grottoes in Luoyang, and the cultural miracle created by the working people in the Yellow River Valley are all suspected by later generations to be ingenious and left by heaven. Music and dance of all ethnic groups are more like gorgeous flowers in a hundred gardens.

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 China culture. In the eyes of China people, the Yellow River has far surpassed the natural rivers in general. The Yellow River and its derived culture, like the backbone of all Chinese civilizations, have become the most basic reference coordinates for China people's psychological cognition.

We often refer to Chinese civilization as yellow civilization. Born with a Yellow River, Yellow River, Loess, Yellow Emperor and yellow race, what else can unite the Chinese nation in such a natural and harmonious way and make this loong 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 War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression period, a song of The Yellow River Cantata made many Chinese sons and daughters excited and threw themselves into the torrent of War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression without hesitation. The Yellow River is roaring, the Chinese nation is roaring, and the people of China are fighting. This is the cry of the Yellow River, and this is the cry of the Chinese nation.

It is said that the Yellow River is the symbol and flag of the Chinese nation and civilization. The following two examples may deepen our knowledge and understanding of this issue.