Chapter 5 Chapter Two: The New Dynasty in the Lower Yellow River: The Yin and Shang Dynasties

The Xia Dynasty was built in the upper reaches of the Yellow River and was a dynasty built by highland residents, while the Shang Dynasty was built in the lower reaches of the Yellow River and was a dynasty built by lowland residents. The Shang Dynasty followed the Xia Dynasty, and the recent discovery of direct historical materials of that era has made a great contribution to the credible value of ancient Chinese history. Regarding the newly discovered direct historical materials of the Yin and Shang Dynasties, the main ones are the oracle bone inscriptions of the Yin Ruins.It was discovered in the period of Guangxu, Wuxu and Jihai in the Qing Dynasty, from Xiaotun in the northwest of Anyang, Henan.The land is in the south of Huanshui, and Huanshui is surrounded on three sides, which is exactly what Xiang Yu said in the "Historical Records": "On the Yin Ruins in the south of Huanshui".These oracle bones are generally engraved on tortoise shells and ox bones, which were used by the emperors of the Yin Dynasty for fortune-telling.

According to historical records, the emperors of Yin had names and generations, but no age, which is similar to that of the Xia Dynasty. Historical Records of Yin Benji: From Qi to Tang, the fourteenth generation, from Tang to Zhou, thirty-one emperors, the seventeenth generation. Shang dynasty imperial table Generally speaking, the calendar of the Yin and Shang Dynasties should be around 500 years. Liu Xin's three reigns dated to the 629th year of the Yin Dynasty, and the Bamboo Book Chronicles say that Tang destroyed the Xia Dynasty to the 29th king of Zhou Dynasty, 496 years.Today, it is deduced from a generation of thirty years, and the seventeenth generation of Shang Dynasty, more than five hundred years, is not far-reaching.

Most importantly, what is recorded in Shiji is confirmed by the newly discovered oracle bone inscriptions in Yin Ruins. The first person to do this is Wang Guoweishi's Yin inscriptions on the examination of the ancestors and kings and the continuation examination.Its most important findings are as follows: 1. Evidence that the people of Yin came from Emperor Ku.According to this, the legends of Yinbenji, Shiben, Shanhaijing, Zuozhuan, Luyu, and Huangfu's posthumous emperor century can be referenced and coherent, and the value of these books in ancient historical materials has been re-evaluated due to the discovery of inscriptions.Based on this, we know that although the system of the Five Emperors was fabricated by the descendants of the Warring States Period, the individual legends of the Five Emperors have their own origins and are by no means fabricated by the descendants.For example, Emperor Yin came out of Emperor Ku, which is one example.

2. Found that there is Wang Hai in the inscriptions, which is the vibration in the historical records.According to this, various legendary records of Shanhaijing, Bamboo Book Chronicles, Lu's Spring and Autumn Annals, Chuci, Tianwen, Shiben, Guanzi, and Hanshu, ancient and modern, can be referenced and coherent. Third, there was Wang Hai and Wang Heng was discovered.Using inscriptions to prove the question of heaven can make up for the gaps in ancient history. Moreover, all the witnesses were before Cheng Tang, so the ancient history of the Xia Dynasty recorded can also enhance its credible status.

Shiji is from Qi to Tang fourteenth, and Xia Dynasty is from Yu to Jie, also fourteenth.Jie and Tang are at the same time, so Yu and Tang can also be slightly at the same time.The events before Tang in the Yin Dynasty recorded in the historical records are proved by oracle bone inscriptions, and the historical records record the events before Jie in the Xia Dynasty. . The general lineage down to Cheng Tang can also be corroborated by historical records and inscriptions. After Wang's study and treatment of Jiawen in Yin Ruins to prove and discuss ancient history, there is Guo Moruo's family.Guo suspected that Wang's textual research was unreliable, and he said three things:

One is that since Pan Geng moved to Yin to Zhou, Yin originally recorded Fan VIII and twelve emperors, and the bamboo book records 773 years, so the calculation is inconsistent. The second is that most of the names in the inscriptions are suspected to be emperors, such as Zu Bing, Zu Wu, Xiao Ding, Xiao Gui, etc., all of which are not found in the Yin Benji. The third is that the age of the lineage below Pan Geng is suspicious, and I dare not believe it before.The first of these three points is the most important.The records of Yin Benji of Shi Ji explain the chronology of bamboo books: "Tang Mie Xia Zhishou was four hundred and ninety-six years." There is only one article and it says: "Pan Geng to Zhou Dynasty seven hundred and seventy-two years." These two contradict each other. I know there must be typos in it.Guo's overthrow of Wang's argument based on this article is actually suspected of insufficient evidence.The second point is based on the first point, and Wang has already explained it here.It is said that brothers in the throne of the Yin people will eventually be followed by younger brothers. Therefore, even though the brothers did not practice the throne in their early lives, they also sacrificed with the king. This is very reasonable.The third point is based on the first and second points, and since the first two have been answered, the third question is difficult to establish. According to the historical records, the lineage of the emperors of the Yin Dynasty is generally credible, that is, there is no way to overthrow the Xia Dynasty. It's totally unbelievable.

Most of the Yin people's settlements seem to be in the east.Before the Tang Dynasty, they were generally located near Shangqiu on the south bank of the Dahe River in Henan Province. The place where Di Ku lived and the place where Tang lived belonged to the land of the Song Dynasty.Qi Jufan, that is, Lu Guofan County in the Geographical Chronicles of the Han Dynasty.According to the historical records of Yin Benji, "the deed was granted to Shang", it is Shangqiu in the Song Dynasty.Xiangtu lived in Shangqiu, Zhuanxu's Xu, also known as Diqiu, that is, the guard of Spring and Autumn.Zuo Zhuan Zhu Tuo said: "Take it from the eastern capital of Xiangtu, and search for the east of the meeting king" is also true.It is said that Tang moved eight times before, most of which were in the east.

Until Hequan Jia lived in the prime minister, Zu Yi moved to Geng, and even to the north bank of the big river. Danjia City is located on the south bank of Huan River, Wuli, northwest of Anyang County, and it was the Yin people who began to move northward.Geng is also in Hebei, twenty miles east of Wen County, Henan Province. Pan Geng was a disciple of Yin, and even Zhou did not move the capital. From Tang Dynasty to Pangeng, the eighteen emperors of the tenth generation.From Pan Geng to Emperor Xin, the Seventh Emperor and Twelve Emperors, this period probably lasted for two hundred years.Therefore, by the time of Shang Dynasty, the city of Shang was expanding day by day, with Chaoge in the south and Handan and the sand dunes in the north.Gather millions of people, drink Qi water on the left, and drink Huan water on the right without flowing, the grand occasion can be imagined.

In ancient times, the Yellow River turned northward from the east of Henan, passing through the present Zhanghe River Basin and entering the sea in Cangzhou, Hebei.The Shang nationality lives in the four circles of the lower reaches of the Yellow River where the three provinces of Henan, Shandong, and Hebei intersect, just opposite to the four circles of the upper reaches of the Yellow River where the three provinces of Henan, Shaanxi, and Shanxi intersect.Most of the lowlands in the lower reaches have a better climate and soil, and a better living culture, while the residents are weaker and prone to luxury and prostitution.In the upper highlands, the climate and soil are worse, the living culture is lower, and the residents are more armed, which is better than military and political unity.The power of the Xia people moved eastward one by one, gradually descending, conquering the downstream residents, and gradually becoming accustomed to their arrogance and luxury, so the downstream people took the opportunity to overthrow the ruler and establish a new dynasty by themselves.The Yin people began to destroy the Xia from the Tang Dynasty in the Shang Dynasty, and gradually formed a more decent country. The Zhou people rose from the west, followed the pattern of the Xia people, invaded and conquered the Yin people in the east, and gradually colonized the plains in the lower reaches of the great river.In this way, the upper and lower reaches of the Yellow River were intertwined with each other to form a more complete and decent kingdom in ancient China, which was the Zhou Dynasty.

The legend of the Han people is "Xia Shangzhong, Shang Shanggui, Zhou Shangwen". Although this discussion of the cultural characteristics of the three generations is an imaginary theory, there is some basis for the ancients to speak of ancient history.Mostly, advocating loyalty and advocating literature is all about political and social practical affairs. The so-called "loyalty and trust are the quality and literature is based on ritual and music", the "literature" of the Zhou people is only the "loyalty" of the Xia people plus some etiquette. Le Wen decoration is a necessary step in the evolution of history and culture.In fact, the two western nations are both a kind of nation that insists on doing their best, and their styles and spirits are quite similar.Businessmen's emphasis on "ghosts" is close to religious speculation, which is quite different from those of the Xia and Zhou clans who value reality.Therefore, the book of Yu said that Yu was Sikong to control the water, abandoned Houji to be the governor of Jiarong, and Qie was made Bishop of Situ.

Both Yu and Ji symbolize a person who works hard and earnestly, while the ancestors of merchants who dedicated themselves to education still see it as the cause of a nation with a beautiful culture and indulge in ideals in the Eastern Plain.Later, in the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, people in the Song Dynasty often had people who ignored the facts and pursued their ideals.However, Confucius was born in the Song Dynasty and his ancestors lived in Lu. On the one hand, he had great and lofty ideals, but on the other hand, he deeply loved the cultivation of Zhou culture. He admired the political system since Duke Zhou. A sage of great thought. According to the oracle bone inscriptions in the Yin Ruins, the cultural level of farming, planting, animal husbandry, construction, and other aspects of human life in the Shang Dynasty is quite decent. In terms of farming, there are characters such as Tian, ​​Chou, Wo, Yi, Shu, Millet, Lai, and Mai in Jiawen, as well as wine, Chan, etc., offering sacrifices to Baiyou, which shows the prosperity of wine making at that time.In terms of planting trees, there are words such as garden, fruit, tree, mulberry, chestnut, silk, and silk. It is known that there was a sericulture industry at that time.In terms of animal husbandry, there are horses, cattle, sheep, dogs, hogs, dolphins, pigs, pigs, etc. The names of livestock and poultry are very popular. It is known that the livestock industry was also very prosperous at that time.In terms of construction, there are words such as palace, room, house, home, boat, and car. It is known that house construction and transportation tools have made considerable progress at that time.The number of hunts in inscriptions is very high, because divination and hunting are related to each other, and they are both rituals under sacrificial offerings. The ancient aristocrats used hunting as a ceremony, which means that entertainment continued until the Spring and Autumn Period and even the Western Han Dynasty.Based on this, it cannot be said that at that time "it was developing from fishing and hunting to farming". The inscriptions on the inscriptions are not as small as millet, and the oracle bones are so strong that the contract knife must be extremely sharp. That is to say, alchemy must have evolved considerably at that time, and it cannot be said that the Shang Dynasty "is advancing from stone tools to gold tools." It is said that Fang in the Shang Dynasty was in a "matrilineal-centered clan society", It is also said that it is a "primitive communist clan society", which is even more unfounded speculation. According to the number and fineness of bells and tripods handed down from the Shang Dynasty, it can be seen that the cultural level was high at that time. According to Yin Wencun, there are more than 700 kinds of inscriptions on Yin wares. The only reason is that there are Zhou wares indiscriminately, and the second is that there are wares and lids.It is quite impressive. If you compare the culture of the Yin Dynasty with the early Zhou Dynasty.Then we can see that there is a trace of inheritance. The bronze inscriptions of the Zhou Dynasty come from the same origin as the characters of the Yin Ruins.In the Yin Ruins, there are bone hairpins and bone combs, and it is known that merchants already have the custom of binding their hair.In the oracle bone inscriptions and in the bronze ware, the figure of a person sitting is painted, and the seat is the same as that of the Yin and Zhou, and the three are also.Zun, 罍, Gu, Jue, Ding, and Ge all have the same shape and structure in Yin and Zhou, and they are four.Weapons Ge, spears, bows, arrows, knives, etc., are no different from bronze wares.The bows and spears obtained in the Yin Ruins are also similar to the Zhou utensils.Zhou Dynasty characters, Jiawen writing, etc., have the same system of compilation and simplification, and there are six.Both Yin and Zhou used shells as currency, and the character "贝" is often found in Jiawen and bronze wares, Qiye. In ancient times, the traffic between the east and west of the Yellow River has long been prosperous, so stories of Shun and Yu are often seen among merchants.The cultures of the Xia and Yin dynasties have already blended together, let alone the Yin and Zhou dynasties from the beginning. Before the Zhou people destroyed Yin, the two countries had already had political relations, and they were not two ethnic groups who did not know each other. According to legend, King Ji of Zhou ordered him to be the priest of Yin, and then Wen Ding killed Ji Li.Xibo, Jiuhou, and Ehou were the three princes of Zhou, and Xibo was imprisoned in Yuli.Then the relationship between Yin and Zhou has existed for a long time.Or Wu Yi's violent thunderstorm died between the river and the Wei, almost like Zhou Zhaowang's southern expedition and never returned. Moreover, the relationship between Yin and Zhou has already shown the relationship between the central co-lord and the four princes in later generations. Zhou people's self-report of this evidence.The poem is elegant: "Zhi Zhong's appointment, from the Yin Shang Dynasty, came to marry in Zhou Dynasty, and said that the concubine was in Beijing, which was the trip of Wang Ji and Weide." This is also the marriage between Wang Jishi and the princes of Yinji.Shangshu Zhaogao was called "Great Country Yin", Toshi was called "Tianyi Shang", Dagao was called "Xiaobang Zhou", and Gu Ming was called "Great Country Yin".These are all proclamations made by the Zhou people after the destruction of the Shang Dynasty.It can be seen that in the past, the status and status of Yin and Zhou in the world were indeed high and low, and they were definitely not enemy countries. According to the Zhou people, it is known that the Yin and Zhou at that time were slightly like the previous Xia, Shang, and the concepts of the Xia, Shang, and Zhou dynasties originated very early. Zhao Gaoyun said: "The God of Heaven, change Jue Yuanzi, the great country of Yin is ordered, but the king is ordered. According to the ancestors of ancient times, there was Xia, but now they have fallen. Today, there is Yin, and now they have fallen. Today The king's heir is ordered by Jue, and I am also ordered by the two kingdoms." In the Xia Dynasty, there were so-called international relations between the central co-lords and the four kingdoms. By the beginning of the Yin and Zhou Dynasties, the political evolution of these co-lords and princes had a history of at least seven or eight hundred years.Moreover, Yin was in Anyang and Zhou was in Fenghao, thousands of miles away from each other. Politically, there was such a connection and separation of names. Based on this alone, we can infer the level of general culture at that time.