Chapter 38 Section 2 Wu Jinding and Chengziya Ruins

As the head of the inspection team, Wu Jinding (named Yuming), and Fu Sinian are both from Shandong, but they are short in stature, not good at speaking, shy by nature, and sometimes show a little shyness in front of strangers, completely unlike Fu Sinian The image of a Shandong man with big arms, round waist, vigorous tiger spirit, swearing at Fang Qiu, and provocative writing.In terms of appearance characteristics, it is of course not accurate to compare Fu and Wu to Wu Erlang, the tiger-fighting hero among Liangshan heroes in the water park, and Dalang brother, who sells sesame seed cakes on the streets of Yanggu County, because this seems to be unfair to Wu Jinding. Humanistic care.However, if Fu is praised as a big man in Shandong and Wu as a small man in Shandong, it should be realistic and justifiable.Although Wu's stature is short, his body is strong and strong, and the stubborn and straight blood of Shandong people flows in his veins. If there is a fight, he can fight with ordinary strong men. It will also knock the opponent down, this feature can be regarded as making up for the shortcoming of the five short stature.

Perhaps it is because Wu Jinding and Fu Sinian are quite different in stature, personality, educational background, and thinking. During the more than ten years that the two have been together on and off, Fu seems to have never taken Wu Jinding seriously. After school, he was taken care of by fellow villagers. On the contrary, during his stay in Lizhuang, he also showed some attitudes and ways of handling things that made Wu unhappy.At least it can be said that Fu Sinian and Wu Jinding have never established a personal friendship and fell in love with each other emotionally. Compared with Fu Sinian's attitude, the relationship between Li Ji and Wu Jinding seems to be like brothers and sisters, which is extraordinary.Tracing back to the source of this situation, it is naturally closely related to the friendship between teachers and students formed during the Tsinghua era.

Wu Jinding was born in Wangezhuang, Anqiu County, Shandong Province in 1901. He studied at the History and Politics Department of the College of Arts and Sciences of Shandong Qilu University in his youth. After graduation, he was admitted to the Tsinghua Research Institute in 1926 and was honored to be one of the 36 students in the second batch. .In Tsinghua University, he mainly studied anthropology and archaeology with his mentor Li Ji, and his great achievements and contributions in Chinese archeology and anthropology were also rooted in this.According to Dai Jiaxiang, a classmate of Wu Jinding at that time and later a professor at East China Normal University, recalled: "At that time, the archeology taught by Mr. Li (Ji) was quite different from the archeology we talked about in the past, or the excavation and collection of antiques. Among the second class of students, only Wu Jinding chose this major. Wu Jinding, a native of Shandong, graduated from Qilu University. He seems to be a dull gentleman, holding a huge foreign language book all day long. Teacher Yin Ke said to me behind his back: "Wu Jinding's English is excellent!" But he didn't write a thesis, and he didn't get his graduation certificate in the summer vacation of 1927. This may be because there was no archaeological excavation site at that time."

When Wu Jinding studied at Tsinghua University, his research topic was "Chinese Ethnography". Although Li Ji served as his instructor for less than a year, he had a profound and huge influence on him.In the introduction to his doctoral dissertation "Chinese Prehistoric Pottery" published in 1938, Wu revealed that his desire to devote himself to archaeological anthropology was rooted in Tsinghua University and was greatly influenced by Li Ji.Wu said: "When Dr. Li Ji was excavating the prehistoric site in Xiaxian County, I was studying at the Academy of Chinese Studies at Tsinghua University. Dr. Li Ji brought the relics from his excavation back to the university. From the exhibition of typical artifacts to Dr. Li Ji and Yuan Fuli The professor’s speeches about the excavation work in the tea party were very lively and interesting, which made me unconsciously imagine that one day I would be able to discover a site, study it, excavate it, and write its history.”

According to the archives of Tsinghua University, on June 7, 1927, the Academy of Chinese Studies held the 12th Academic Affairs Conference, which reviewed and confirmed that 30 graduates were qualified and awarded graduation certificates.Li Ji also attended the meeting, but Wu Jinding's name was not on the list of qualified students.Wu did not write a thesis, and Dai Jiaxiang speculated that he might not be able to find an archaeological excavation site at that time. Whether this conjecture is in line with the actual situation at that time remains to be verified.It’s just that Wu Jinding died young and left no explanatory text related to this historical suspense. Although his close friends such as Xia Nai have recalled texts, they also did not reveal a single word of information about this suspicious point. While increasing the difficulty, it also provides a variety of thinking space.Many years later, a Taiwanese scholar named Su Yunfeng, after depreciating and refurbishing this historical fact, wrote the following passage: "Li Ji was in charge of the Anyang archaeological excavation work and went to the United States to participate in the archaeological academic conference, and gave lectures at the (Tsinghua) Research Institute. The time of each semester is only a few weeks, and the number of times to participate in the academic affairs meeting of the research institute is the least. The students he supervises are only Xu Zhongshu and Wu Jinding. It can be seen that there is no close relationship between him and his students like that between Wang Guowei and Liang Qichao."

Su did not point out that Wu Jinding's failure to obtain a diploma was directly related to Li Ji's lack of care, but if the reasoning is correct, Su's words should point to this aspect.Then Li Ji asked about Wu Jinding's graduation certificate. Is it like when Hu Shi was defending his doctoral thesis at Columbia University in the United States, at the last moment of life and death decision, the famous tutor Professor Dewey just watched with cold eyes and let him die on the spot? Enthusiastically running around?Although there is no definite evidence of this process left in the world, judging from the later relationship between Li Ji and Wu Jinding, it is not likely to be as heartless as the old Mr. Dewey who turned a blind eye to Hu Shi, who was "ashen-faced" in the examination room, and even saw death. Can't help.Li Ji should at least have made some efforts for this, but he failed in the end.

The reason for bringing forth the new through the old is that, according to available data, in the following years, Li Ji has been encouraging and paying attention to the progress of Wu's academic career.Wu Jinding later said in the introduction to his book "Study on Human Physique in Shandong Province": "In the spring of the 16th year of the Republic of China (1927), the author worked in the Research Institute of Tsinghua University, and was awarded the human body by Mr. Li Ji. The method of the test. At the same time, it is practiced on the spot to be proficient. With the help of Mr. Wang Yizhong, a teaching assistant, a total of 68 students from Tsinghua University were measured in about one month. This is the author's first attempt at the human body test. Said: "Since Tsinghua was on vacation and returned home, Mr. Jizhi kindly agreed to lend the instrument so that he could take it back to Shandong for a long-term test to complete my unfinished work. The expectation is still far and great. After returning to Lu, he taught Qilu In the university, we are tired of school every day, and have little time to do extracurricular research. Fortunately, there are some holidays during the semester, so I have to work a little. From the autumn of the sixteenth year to the winter of the eighteenth year, a total of 291 People. Mr. Shiji wrote a book to inquire about the achievements, so he took all the information, calculated and sorted it out and drafted an article "The Characteristics of Shandong People's Physique", which was posted to Mr. It is highly praised and published in the spring of the 19th year. The archaeological team of the institute inherited the life of the ancestors, and recalculated it from the original manuscript, which is the cost." If this statement is true, what Dai Jiaxiang said should have some truth, and Wu Jinding may not have received his graduation certificate because he did not complete the thesis.

Thinking back to that hot summer in 1927, Wu Jinding left Tsinghua University with a sense of melancholy and a little regret.After leaving school, he returned to his alma mater Qilu University as a teaching assistant.In addition to his inner hometown complex, there is another important reason for this choice, that is, Shandong, like most other provinces in northern China, has quite a wealth of ancient relics, dating back to the Neo-Paleolithic Age to the Han Dynasty, almost every day. Can be found in a county.Since Wu is interested in the research of archaeology and anthropology, it is not surprising that he chose Qilu University, which has the opportunity to conduct archaeological work.

While teaching at Qilu University, Wu Jinding used his spare time to conduct field archaeological investigations in the field, and further strengthened his lifelong research on Chinese Neolithic culture.In his "Pingling Visiting Ancient Records", he described his mood after his second survey of the Longshan site on April 4, 1928: "Since then, I have definitely identified this site, including the great significance contained in it. Since then, my interest has been unconsciously shifted, and my enthusiasm for studying Pingling has gradually become colder. Afterwards, most of the reference books I read are about the culture of the Neolithic Age. What I think about in my spare time is mostly the living conditions of people in the Stone Age. Gai Yu has confirmed that this Longshan site is indeed a Neolithic village. An ancient historical site is hidden deep in the loess ridge. Afterwards, I will sacrifice all my spare time to try my best to understand this site."

The visit to ancient times in Pingling was the starting point for Wu Jinding to set foot in field archaeology, and it was also an important turning point in his life. In 1928, when Wu Jinding went to Shandong Pingling to conduct archaeological investigations, he noticed unusual accumulations on Chengziya Terrace—this was a resounding prelude to the discovery of the great Longshan Culture.Later, after many investigations and excavations, the Longshan culture represented by black pottery buried in the Chengziya site officially appeared in the sequence of Chinese archaeology, and caused a wide and huge impact worldwide.

It cannot be said that without Wu Jinding, there would have been no discovery of Longshan culture, but at least this discovery would have been some years later, and whether the Chengziya site discovered and excavated in later years still occupies such an important position in the archaeological history of China and the world, and has such The widespread impact is unimaginable.In this regard, Li Ji made it very clear: "When the real objects unearthed from the Yin Ruins are analyzed, they are obviously in a very complex mixed state, and the materials for comparison must be pursued in many ways. Before such materials are realized, the significance of the unearthed objects from the Yin Ruins cannot It is not very clear. Therefore, Shiyu has been engaged in similar searches since excavating the Yin Ruins... With the excavation of Chengziya, we not only found a hometown for the source of part of the Yin Ruins culture, but also gained a understanding of the culture of the dawn of China. A new stage." From this description, it can be seen that the discovery of Longshan Culture was just at the right time, and Wu Jinding made a great contribution. After the excavation of the Chengziya Longshan Culture, Wu Jinding concentrated all his energy on the pursuit and research of Chinese Neolithic culture, paying special attention to the pottery produced in various places. In the spring of 1932, Wu followed Li Ji, Dong Zuobin and other seniors to the Yin Ruins of Anyang for the sixth excavation, including one edition of character bones and architectural relics that can be divided into three phases.In the winter of this year, Wu Jinding discovered an important site containing black pottery and stone tools near Lincheng Station on Jinpu Road, which attracted great attention from the academic circle.In view of Wu Jinding's significant contribution to archaeology, the Shandong provincial government specially provided a scholarship. In July 1933, he and his wife Wang Jiechen were sent to study archeology under Professor W. Perceval Yetts at the Research Institute of the University of London, UK. Ph.D. (accompanied by Wang Jiechen).In the winter of the same year, he went to Palestine in the Middle East to do excavation work with Professor FW Petrie, the British Egyptian archaeologist.Regarding this experience, Xia Nai, who later went to study in the UK, recalled: "When I visited Professor Petrie and talked about Mr. Wu through the city of Jerusalem, the 87-year-old professor still lifted his silver beard and said: 'Mr. Wu He is indeed a good field worker. Although he is not brave and quick-witted, he is calm and hardworking, and his work is rare.' I met a few Arab workers who worked with Mr. Wu in Palestine. When they mentioned Mr. Wu, they all raised their thumbs Calling him "Kwaiyis" (Kwaiyis. That is "top good" in Chinese), Mr. Wu also often uses a humorous tone to describe his experience of working with an old professor in Palestine." In 1934, he recorded in detail the origin of the excavation of Longshan Culture in Chengziya, The archaeological report of the process and results, "Chengziya", was published by the Institute of History and Philology of the Academia Sinica.This book is edited by Li Ji, Liang Siyong, and Dong Zuobin, with Fu Sinian and Li Ji writing the preface, and the main contributors are Wu Jinding, Guo Baojun, Liu Yuxia, etc.Before going to England, Wu put considerable energy into writing this first archaeological report in China.The book has seven chapters in total, of which Wu Jinding wrote two chapters by himself and co-authored four chapters, covering almost all of the report.This work performance is just as Li Ji said in the preface: "Most of the first draft was prepared by Wu Jindingjun, who was the discoverer of Chengziya. He worked a lot in the field, and the work in the house and the draft of the report took the longest time. When his first draft was handed over to Mr. Liang Siyong, it was more than twice as large as it is now, which shows that he worked hard." When the archaeological report "Chengziya" was published in China and caused a sensation in the industry, Wu Jinding practiced the original method of making pottery at the Central Higher Technical School in London, thousands of miles away, and was unable to witness this grand occasion. In the spring of 1935, Wu received a scholarship from the China Committee of the University of London and returned to China to collect materials for his thesis.At this time, he met Xia Nai, another important figure in the history of Chinese archaeology.