Chapter 10 Section 2 From Yin Ruins to Longshan

After Dong Zuobin arrived in Anyang, he learned through on-the-spot investigation that the oracle bones with characters buried underground in Xiaotun were not completely excavated as Luo Zhenyu and others said. He judged from the pit marks left by local farmers who stole the oracle bones. It is huge, the underground relics are very rich, and the ruins of the site are serious, and organized scientific excavation has reached a critical juncture.In his report to Fu Sinian, Dong declared anxiously: "One day later, one day's loss will be discovered by the national academic institutions with scientific methods. It is really an urgent plan."

Fu Sinian was pleasantly surprised when he heard the report that the underground treasures of the Yin Ruins in Anyang were both rich and rich. He immediately raised funds, purchased equipment, and deployed personnel. Anyang Xiaotun conducts field archaeological excavations.Its members include Li Chunyu, Zhao Zhiting, Wang Xiang, Zhang Xijin, etc., and there is also a fellow student of Dong Zuobin, Guo Baojun, then Secretary of the Henan Provincial Department of Education.The organized excavation of Yin Ruins, with the main purpose of finding oracle bone inscriptions, began on October 7, 1928 and ended on October 31. It took a total of 24 days to excavate 40 earth pits, revealing an area of ​​280 square meters. There are nearly 3,000 pieces of utensils, mussels, turtles, jade, copper, pottery, etc., and 854 pieces of oracle bones, including 784 pieces of oracle bones with characters, and human, pig, sheep and other skeletons were unearthed.Dong Zuobin, as the host of this excavation, hand-copied 392 pieces of oracle bones with characters, and made a simple textual research and interpretation. This result, together with his previous investigation report, was the first in the "Anyang Excavation Report" founded by Shiyu later. Article published.The publication of this excavation and writings "not only ended the old antiquities lovers' armchair research era of Bogujia", but more importantly, paved the way for the organized excavation of this famous ruin." Of course, he graduated from Dong Zuobin, who had no formal training in modern Western archaeology, led the excavation team of a group of bumpkin scholars, and the main energy of the excavation was spent on finding the oracle bones with characters, and little attention was paid to other artifacts. Some omissions and even jokes were made.Many years later, Xia Nai, who has become a famous archaeologist, said: "When I participated in the excavation of Yin Ruins in 1935, I also heard a story about Dong Zuobin' digging the monk's grave" when he presided over the first excavation in 1928. Dong Zuobin, who has never seen an unearthed skull, only knows from his notebooks that the hair on the dead is the least perishable. Therefore, when he unearthed an ancient tomb of unknown age, he thought that the owner of the tomb with no hair on his head must be It was a monk. The skull was hideous and terrifying, so it was still buried. It was not until Li Ji and Liang Siyong presided over the excavation that they noticed the collection of human bone specimens, and used scientific methods of collection and preservation.”

Perhaps because of the above shortcomings, Dong Zuobin, who had never drank foreign ink, felt uneasy, and changed his general halfway through. Li Ji, a big-name "sea turtle" exuding a fishy smell, was the reason for the second excavation host.According to Cai Yuanpei's later statement: "Mr. Dong went there and tried digging once. It is judged that he will have a lot to do in the future. Although the time is short, the gains are quite valuable, and later he was in charge of the post. He was modest. At that time, Mr. Li Ji After traveling around the country, the Academia Sinica entrusted him with this job. Based on Mr. Li’s knowledge and experience in archaeology, if he continues to hold this job, there will be endless hope in the future. Let him never give up, promised us, and then Arrived in Anyang in February of this year (1929) and restarted the project."

Regarding this record, Li Ji's disciple, archaeologist Zhang Guangzhi, who later became the head of the Department of Anthropology at Harvard University in the United States, made a supplementary note to it: "Mr. It is said that when Mr. Fu Sinian was looking for the director of the archaeological group and the host of Anyang Yinxu, the last two candidates were Mr. Li Ji and Mr. Ma Heng, a famous epigrapher. Mr. Ma Heng was 48 years old at the time The director of the Archeology Research Office and the vice president of the Palace Museum are the best representatives of traditional Chinese epigraphy. Among these two candidates, Mr. Cai Yuanpei finally chose Mr. Li Ji who represents scientific archaeology. Mr. Xia Nai said: 'It turned out that this choice was wise', this is because Mr. Li Ji led the Yin Ruins excavation to a new direction, that is, brought Chinese archaeology to a new direction."

What Zhang Guangzhi said is generally not bad, but it is not deep and comprehensive enough, and the specific details are also different from the facts. For example, Ma Heng did not serve as the vice president of the Palace Museum at that time, but he had previously served as the director of the Palace Museum and the deputy director of the subordinate antiquities museum. The curator, and a nominal member of the Forbidden City Maintenance Committee.His rejection from the Institute of History and Philology had nothing to do with Cai Yuanpei, it was all a trick of Fu Sinian.The reason for this, apart from the fact that Ma Heng belongs to the school of gold and stone scholars, has outdated academic concepts, and is not "preliminary" compared with Western scholars of the new scientific school, there is another reason that cannot be ignored is that Fu Sinian and his respected teacher Hu Shi was very disgusted with the extremely powerful Zhejiang School or Fa-Japanese School of Peking University, a powerful and powerful faction.In addition to a little admiration for Cai Yuanpei, the president of Peking University, Ma Yinchu, the provost, and Zhu Jiahua, who later became the acting dean of the Academia Sinica, Fu also admired the so-called "three sinking, two horses and two weeks" in the liberal arts of Peking University before or after. Fu Sinian doesn't like whether it is called "throwing gun" or "dagger", "warrior" or "national soul" by people or later generations.Zhou Shuren (Lu Xun), who used to have a better relationship with Fu, has become a life-and-death enemy when he was at Sun Yat-sen University. The others are similar and have no contacts. Ma Heng, who is in this faction, is naturally implicated.

Although Ma Heng is low-key and popular in this faction, and is well-known in the academic circles for classics and history, Jinshi, Han Wei Shijing, etc., but after all, he only came from Nanyang Public School, and it is impossible to have the academic vision and tolerance of the European and American "sea turtles". .At that time, Fu Sinian, who was proud and arrogant, admired the "sea turtles" who were born in Europe and the United States, such as Hu Shi and Chen Yuan. Mrs. Fu dismissed all kinds of people such as three, six and nine. If the two parties had to contact each other for work or other relationships, Fu would often speak to each other in English or a mixture of Chinese and English, in order to tease those who had not studied abroad and did not understand English. bumpkins.At this time, Ma Heng, who is close to the year of his destiny, has a self-evident status and image in Fu Sinian's mind.The Fa-Japanese School of Peking University also appears to be old-fashioned and lifeless in the construction of archaeology, and it is far less scientific than the European and American School headed by Li Ji of Tsinghua University.Due to the decline of the French and Japanese schools and the rising sun, vigor and unstoppable vigor of the scholars in Tsinghua University, Fu Sinian finally chose Li Ji, who mastered the advanced western field archaeological methods, regardless of his psychological likes and dislikes or practical needs. Rather than Ma Heng, the "big old man" of epigraphers, it is actually a historical necessity.Perhaps because of this fate, 20 years later, when Li Ji was in the midst of a life-and-death decision amid raging wars and rumbling gunfire, he resolutely escorted the integrated treasures and famous objects of the Academia Sinica, the Central Museum, and the Palace Museum across Taiwan. Strait, when they safely arrived at Keelung Port in Taipei, the "old folks" headed by Ma Heng fought for land between Beiping and Nanjing, running and shouting, resolutely opposing cultural relics to be transported to Taiwan by the Nationalist government, etc., and found a historical point. Roots and footnotes.

Ma Heng, who was rejected by Fu Sinian, was disgraced and returned to Peking University's Guoxue School without saying a word again.Li Ji, who received the invitation from Cai Yuanpei and Fu Sinian, resigned from all other positions. As the director of the archaeological group of the Institute of History and Philology of the Academia Sinica, he immediately went to Henan to meet with Dong Zuobin who was there to discuss excavation matters, and made further progress on the Yinxu site. Recognition, made three genius settings with great scientific vision: The Xiaotun site is clearly the last capital of the Yin and Shang dynasties.

Although the scope of the site has not been determined, the place where the oracle bones were unearthed must be an important center of the capital city site. There may be other types of relics coexisting with the oracle bones with characters in the underground accumulation. The age of these relics may be at the same time as the oracle bones with characters, sooner or later, of course, it depends on various factors in the place of burial. Based on the above three settings, Li Ji formulated the second Xiaotun excavation plan, and by virtue of his previous good relationship with Beesbo, he received financial support from the Freer Museum of Art in the United States.With the close cooperation of Dong Zuobin, Li Ji led the archaeological team to Xiaotun, Anyang, and carried out the second and third excavations in the spring and autumn of 1929 respectively. The inscription on the head of the big beast and the world-famous "Four Editions of the Big Turtle" (according to the south: a complete tortoise shell engraved with characters).What is particularly eye-catching and exciting is that on November 21 of this year, Li Ji discovered a piece of painted pottery in a pile of fragments—this is the record of 250,000 pieces unearthed in all 15 excavations at Yin Ruins in Anyang before the Anti-Japanese War. Among the pottery sherds, it is the only piece of painted pottery with the nature of Yangshao culture.For this unusual discovery, 20 years later, Li Ji once wrote a paper to point out its great value and significance in the study of Chinese history: "When starting this work, the participants had a hope that they could make China The earliest period of recorded history was connected with the prehistoric culture of China, which received much international attention, in what river engineers called a 'joining dragon'. Dr. Andersen's fieldwork in China was at its peak It has been ten years. This hope was greatly enhanced by the discovery of a piece of Yangshao-style painted pottery in the layer of oracle bones with characters during the third excavation in Anyang. Now it has been 20 years. Think back to the discovery of this piece of painted pottery , It can be regarded as a historical blessing." He also said: "If it is not for the hard work of recording the excavation all day long, the appearance of this pottery piece may have been overlooked. With this discovery, we boldly began to compare the Yangshao culture with the Yin Shang culture and discuss their relative ages."

In the spring of 1930, when the Institute of History and Philosophy was about to excavate the Yin Ruins again, ominous omens came one after another. Heavy rain and hailstorms hit the ground in Henan.This disaster was followed by a drought that caused "an average of more than 1,000 people starve to death every day" throughout Henan.Prior to this, the Yinxu excavation team of the Academia Sinica headed by Li Ji and local forces in Henan had a dispute over the unearthed artifacts, which made the excavation difficult.The Central Plains War that broke out later made the Henan area the main battlefield where the coalition forces composed of local warlords such as Yan Xishan and Feng Yuxiang fought against the Central Army of the Nationalist Government headed by Chiang Kai-shek.The fourth excavation plan of Yin Ruins in Anyang originally planned by the Institute of History and Philology of the Academia Sinica disappeared in the turmoil of cannons roaring, gunpowder smoke, flesh and blood flying, new ghosts complaining and old ghosts crying.

Since Henan could not excavate, Li Ji decided to lead his troops to transfer to the old city of Linzi, Shandong, in order to open up a new excavation site.After the survey in Linzi, I felt that "the problem is too complicated, and it can't be sorted out in a short period of time."While Li Ji and others were hesitating, news suddenly came that an ancient site had been discovered at Chengziya, and the discoverer of the site was Wu Jinding, Li Ji's only graduate student studying anthropology and archaeology at the Tsinghua Research Institute. In the spring of 1928, Wu Jinding, then an assistant professor at Shandong Qilu University, used his spare time to conduct field research and discovered a black pottery cultural site in a place called Chengziya in Longshan Town, Licheng County, about 60 miles east of Jinan.Surprised, Wu Jinding reported the situation to his mentor Li Ji in time.Li Ji was overjoyed, and immediately rushed to Jinan to inspect the site with Wu Jinding. Realizing that this is an extremely important historical and cultural site, he immediately "decided to choose Chengziya as the first work site for archaeological excavations in Shandong."

In the autumn of 1930, when the smoke of the Central Plains War had not yet cleared, Li Ji and Dong Zuobin led their troops out of Anyang and moved to Chengziya, Jinan, Shandong to start the first excavation.Archaeologists found that the site clearly has the characteristics of the Neolithic Age, and the cultural relics unearthed are quite different from the Yangshao culture. Among them, the black pottery and gray pottery utensils found most are almost completely different from the painted pottery in Henan and Gansu, and the shape of the utensils has no similarity.The most characteristic "eggshell pottery" unearthed is pitch-black and bright, and as thin as an eggshell. Its production technology has reached the peak of the Neolithic Age. The last sound of no one to come. According to the excavation results, Li Ji and others determined that their cultural remains belonged to the Neolithic Age, and their archaeological value and significance "not only provided a new thread for the discussion of the original issue of Chinese culture, but also provided a basis for field archaeological work." Compared with the achievements of the Yin Ruins, Chengziya is simpler, but equally important.” Because the Chengziya site is located in Longshan Town, archaeologists named this culture—Longshan Culture. In the spring of 1931, after the war in the Central Plains cleared and the blood dried, Li Ji led his troops back to Anyang to start the fourth large-scale excavation of the Yin Ruins.Under the specific guidance of Li Ji, the Yin Ruins site was divided into five areas in a planned way, and each area was excavated with a new "carpet-like" method under the guidance of an archaeologist with professional scientific training or experience.In addition to the original Guo Baojun, Wang Xiang and others, the excavation team added more than a dozen young scholars.Wu Jinding and Li Guangyu newly recruited by the Institute of History and Philology are here, as are Shi Zhangru, Liu Yao (Yin Da), and Yin Huanzhang, students of the History Department of Henan University.The most eye-catching thing is that Liang Siyong, the second son of Liang Qichao, whom Li Ji called "a man who really specializes in archaeology", also came here in this bright spring, full of vitality and high spirits.