What are the characteristics of the civilization represented by Yin Ruins culture?

First of all, according to archaeological findings, as early as 2000 BC, Xiaotun Yin Ruins was a typical city. There are several rammed earth foundations in the central area here. The larger one is 8 meters wide and nearly 30 meters long. In Xiaotun and its vicinity, there are handicraft workshops such as casting copper, making pottery, making jade and stone tools, and making bones. At that time, handicraft industry not only had a division of labor with agriculture, but also was quite developed and concentrated in urban areas. There is a sacrificial pit in the central area, which should be the victim of laying the foundation stone for the house and offering sacrifices to ghosts and gods. Divination is a religious activity. Oracle bones were stored in the pit after a short speech, similar to the archives of later generations. About 200 meters to the west of Xiaotun Village, a north-south ash ditch was found, which was 750 meters in part, 7 ~ 2 1 m wide and 5 ~1m deep. It is speculated that it may be a defense facility around the royal family. It is about 2.5 kilometers away from Xiaotun. There are 8 Asian-shaped tombs in Northwest Gang Mausoleum, of which the largest tomb covers an area of 330 square meters, plus 4 pyramid-shaped tombs, with a total area of 1.8 square meters and a depth of more than 1.5 meters. There are dozens of people buried in and near the tomb, ranging from one to two hundred. In recent years, more than 1000 small tombs have been found in the western area of Yin Ruins, generally only 2-4 meters long, 0.8- 1.2 meters wide and 2-3 meters deep, which is quite different from large tombs. The difference between rich burial and frugal burial is even greater, from which we can see the degree of social class and grade differentiation at that time, as well as the burial customs at that time.

It is worth writing a special book. Characters were found in a large number of relics of Yin Ruins, such as pottery, bronze, jade and Oracle Bone Inscriptions. Especially in Oracle Bone Inscriptions, there are more than 6,543.8+6,000 pieces with about 4,500 words. As mentioned earlier, characters similar to those of Oracle Bone Inscriptions in Yin Ruins have been found on the pottery pieces in Erlitou and the bone pieces in Erligang period, indicating that characters have appeared at this time. If we go back, the descriptive symbols of Yangshao culture, Dawenkou culture, Longshan culture and Liangzhu culture in Wen Tao can be said to be the predecessors of China characters. The writing system of Shang Dynasty used the so-called "Six Books" method in Han Dynasty to record the language. It is mature enough to record historical events, including the names of emperors and courtiers, the deeds of wars, sacrifices and hunting, and the date and place of historical events. This shows that the Yin Ruins culture in Xiaotun has entered a historical period, not just words. Oracle Bone Inscriptions is one of the most outstanding achievements in Yin Ruins culture. It shows that the Yin ruins culture in Xiaotun period is a highly developed civilization.

In addition, the culture of Yin Ruins has some unique features. For example, the carving of jade stones in the Yin Dynasty, especially jade articles, is one of these characteristics. More than 750 jade articles were unearthed from the tomb of the rich, most of which were jade articles. This is the largest number of jade unearthed so far, with a wide variety and exquisite carving. They show that people are skilled in production technology; Judging from the shapes and patterns, many of them are first-class works of art, and these patterns have many similarities with the patterns of bronzes in Yin Ruins, which is an important manifestation of Yin Ruins. Many bone carvings and ivory carvings have been unearthed in Yin Ruins, and their patterns are similar to those on bronzes in Yin Ruins. A pair of ivory cups inlaid with turquoise unearthed from Fu Hao's tomb are the best of this kind, unprecedented. Exquisite and ingenious jade carving technology, after early development, reached Yin Ruins and became a wonderful work in the ancient world.

Another feature of Yin Ruins culture is the development of pottery industry. This is mainly manifested in the absolute superiority of gray pottery. It replaced red, brown and black pottery and became the main pottery system. Another manifestation of its development is the appearance of carved white pottery and the firing of primitive porcelain (glazed hard pottery). The latter was invented in the lower reaches of the Yangtze River and spread to the Central Plains from Erligang to Xiaotun, becoming increasingly popular and becoming an integral part of Xiaotun pottery group. Hard, practical and beautiful glazed pottery is the first of its kind by China. It has been famous all over the world since the Han Dynasty and has become one of the characteristics of Chinese civilization.

In a word, Yin Ruins culture in Shang Dynasty is indeed a highly developed classical civilization, with three elements: city, writing and bronze ware. At the same time, it fully shows the unique personality and special style of Chinese civilization and has the particularity of its own color.

In short, Chinese culture has a long history, and various cultures compete with each other on the land of China, influencing each other and interweaving into a colorful picture, giving birth to a unique and ancient Chinese civilization.