Liangzhu site in China has been of great importance in showing the history of the country, and this has significantly helped in ensuring that the citizens understand their culture and that the appreciate the origin. There have various researchers and scholars that have done studies to show the importance of archaeological sites to the present generations and relate such sites to the understanding of the history. The Liangzhu culture (3400-2250 BC) is of grandness as it is considered to be the last Neolithic Jade culture in China and specifically in Yangtze River Delta (Zhao, 2011). The high degree of stratification of the culture is because of the existence of jade, lacquer, ivory and silk in the elite burials in an extensive manner. Additionally, pottery was common in the plots that the poor individuals in the region used to bury their dead. This represents a rich history of China and helps the people to understand their natural heritage.
History proves that Liangzhu site had a broad range of social stratification and this proves the fact that it was one of the first states, this is because of the eminent differentiation between the social classifications in the social funeral systems. The Liangzhu culture had much influence on the citizens, and this influence reached up to Shanxi in the north and Guangdong in the south. The identification of the Liangzhu site took place in the year 1936 in the Yuhang County in Zhejiang and the excavation done by Shi Xingeng (Fuller & Pang, 2015). In the year 2007, the human remains that were discovered in the Liangzhu site in the year 1936 were subjected to DNA testing and revealed that there were high probabilities of existence of the Haplogroup 01 and this linked the Liangzhu finesse into modern Tai-Kadai and Austronesian populations.
Historians believe the Austronesian speaker originated from Liangzhu culture and other subtraditions. In this manner, the influence of the Liangzhu culture was peak between 4000 and 5000 years ago, although the effectuation was reduced around the regions of Taihu Lake in the year of 4200 when the culture was at its peak (Liu et al., 2015). There is a lack of evidence of the influence of the Liangzhu culture in the preceding years in the region, and this proves the decreasing impact of the culture to the citizens. It is of great importance to appreciate the role of the culture in the lives of the society and acknowledge the fact that the culture greatly helped in shaping the populations. Research suggests that human settlements faced various interruptions on several occasions by rising waters (Zheng et al., 2016). In this manner, such a suggestion leads to the conclusion that the fall of Liangzhu culture is greatly attributed to the environmental effects among them being floods because the cultural layers usually face several effects by the marshy, muddy or sandy-gravelly layers that are buried with the palaeotrees.
Understanding the Liangzhu site suggests that it belongs to China and this supports the notion that China has a rich history that dates 5000 years back. Understanding of the same also helps in dispensing with the belief that China has no recorded history and appreciates the role of China in the building of the world history. There are various misunderstanding and misconception between Chinese archaeology and world archaeology and understanding the Liangzhu culture; there is additional information regarding the matter. One of the ways in which the Liangzhu site proves to be part of China is the discovery of the city and the dams that were built and are believed to be some of the earliest hydraulic projects in China and there is evidence to support such a claim (Barnes, 2015). Due to the modern technological development and infrastructural investment in China, there is are lot correlations between Liangzhu site and the modern day China.
The Liangzhu relics that whose discovery was done in the Hangzhou that is in the Zhejiang province in East China serve as early evidence of Chinese civilization and date the history of China to more than 5000 years ago. Additionally, the remains of the Liangzhu culture discovered in the Yangtze River Delta are believed to be dating back to 5300 years ago (Ling, 2013). Such progress suggests that there is a rich Chinese history that the population needs to apprize and ensure that ways are made to preserve the history of the country and appreciate the role of the same in the development of the modern culture. In this manner, the identification of the evidence proves that China has played a major role in the development of Worlds Archaeology. Historians have proven that the ancient Chinese practices great artistic skills and depended greatly on their artworks. In this manner, the discovery of some parts of the Liangzhu site 80 years ago in China and evidence of more than 630 photographs that show the discovered stoneware, jade artifacts and pottery shards are evidence of rich Chinese history (Leone, 2005).
Additional evidence that relates the discoveries in the Liangzhu site to the world archaeology are the artifacts that were in the shapes of letters X and Y which affirms that the Chinese has knowledge of the English words and prove that the citizens had played a role in the development of the English language. Despite the discovery of the artifacts, there is a need to take much effort in the decoding of the artifacts as this helps in explaining the meanings of the artifacts and improves understanding of the population (Zheng et al., 2016). Discovery of the hydraulic projects that comprised of 11 dams proves that China had acknowledged civilization 5000 years back and the people had appreciated technological development in the society. The discovery of the hydraulic project in the Liangzhu culture is proof that China played a great role in the world civilization in the technological development of the society.
There is also the acknowledgment of the fact that the book Pictography that was discovered in Liangzhu site contained 656 symbols and the various marks that appeared on items that were unearthed. Additionally, there were found several photos in the book that relate to the several photographs that appear on a single pottery shard. Archaeologists posit that it is not clear if the symbols were words (Nightingale, 2015), this is a suggestion that the Liangzhu site could be one of the oldest sites where language and literary skills were first developed in the world. There is a need to decode the symbols that were identified, and this proves the need to appreciate the role of the artistic skills in the development of language and in ensuring that there is communication in the society. The materials that were discovered from the Liangzhu site serve as evidence of primitive words in ancient China, this is in line with the inscriptions on bones of the Shang Dynasty, that was between the 16th century and 11th century BC.
Examination of the artifacts identified in the Liangzhu site also suggests that there was religion in the ancient China and this is illustrated in the discovery of the emblem that shows a man with an animals body; this is depicted as a symbol of religion. Religion is a contentious issue in the society, and the West have for a long time claimed that religion originated from the West (Museums, 2011). By the discovery of an emblem that suggests the existence of religion 5000 years ago, there is a slight proof that 5000 years ago, China had acknowledged the role of religion in the country and this requires the society to appreciate the role of Chinese archaeology in the development of modern day religious beliefs. Additionally, the evidence of religion and the proof that China played a role in the development of world Archaeology is supported by the image of the emblem on the various surfaces of jade of artifacts that were discovered from the tombs of the aristocrats which were used for religious purposes.
The design of the emblem proves that it was used for religious use; this is because it was curved on a jade artifact that was 6.5 kilograms which were unearthed from the tomb. The tomb was believed to belong to one of the kings during the Liangzhu era. In this regard, the jade artifacts, therefore, prove that they had a religious role, and this is a confirmation that during the Liangzhu period, religion was practiced, this confirmed that China played a critical part in the development of religious beliefs and that it acknowledges the role of religion in the modern society (Barnes, 2015). There are artifacts that were discovered in the tombs of the ordinary people and these helps in supporting the existence of religion during the Liangzhu period. Such artifacts are such as images of the emblem that were carved on stoneware or pottery shards.
The identification of various symbols and emblems, monotheistic religion and sophisticated hydraulic project suggest that there was the existence of a kingdom or a state in ancient China (Liu et al., 2015). The emblems and symbols are other proofs that China played a critical role in the development of systems of governance in the society. It is of great importance to acknowledge the role of China in shaping world history. Evidence of agricultural development also exists from the examination of the Liangzhu culture; this is because the culture suggests that there was advanced agriculture that included irrigation, aquaculture, paddy rice cultivation, and houses were also constructed using stilts on shorelines or rivers. Food security is a major issue in the modern society, and the identification of the same suggests that ancient China did acknowledge the importance of food security and that is helped in setting trends of food surety in the modern society (Zheng et al., 2016). In this light, it is of great importance to appreciate the role that China played in taking part in the development of technologies of agricultural development for a stable future.
Finally, evidence of technological development is also present in the examination of the Liangzhu culture. An evidence is in the availability of artifact designs of bent knee shaped adze handles, cord-marking of pottery, stone untangled adzes, pottery pedestals with cut-out decorations, art styles that emphasize the use of spirals and circles, slate reaping knives baked clay spindle whorls and spear points. The making of such designs requires the use of advanced technology and skills, and this proves the fact that Ancient China had adopted technological prowess in the designing of its products (Zhao, 2011). The designs are, therefore, proofs that China had a recorded history of technological development and played a crucial role in the in the civilization of the modern society. There is a need to appreciate the quality of the designs made during the Liangzhu period as this helps in appreciating technological sophistication that existed in China in the Liangzhu culture, this greatly helps in relating China to the world archaeology and correlates the impact of China in shaping world history.
Conclusion
With the evidence available, there is a need to carry out additional research and help in relating world history and China archaeology, this would aid in appreciating the relevance of China in the world and enlighten the society regarding the rich history of China in the modern society. Examination of the Liangzhu culture require specific analysis of the Haplogroup 01; this is because this group was missing respective archaeological sites inland and this might suggest that there might be manifest of two dissimilar routes of human migration at the times of peopling Eastern Asia (Fuller & P...
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