Casting light into the shadows of the past
11 months, 2 weeks ago

Casting light into the shadows of the past

China Daily  

Gold artifacts with snake and tiger motifs, unearthed from Xiazhan site in Baoji, Shaanxi province. In Beijing, the Temple of Heaven has stood for centuries, silently standing in testament to Chinese people's awe of the divine and their sacrificial custom to the heaven in the Ming and Qing dynasties — a custom that actually has a much longer history. Ancient Chinese people believed that "the great things in a country are its sacrificial and military affairs", as stated in Zuo Zhuan, the first detailed historical annal in China, dating back to the 4th century BC. Our understanding of ancient Chinese people's sacrificial rites has been enhanced thanks to the archaeological work taking place at the Xiazhan site in Baoji, Shaanxi province, since 2020. According to You Fuxiang, a researcher at the National Museum of China, the pits in the site mainly have three shapes, namely long-strip, rectangular and cave forms.

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History of this topic

Lavish 2,200-year-old tomb of Chinese emperor unearthed
7 months, 3 weeks ago

Lavish 2,200-year-old tomb of Chinese emperor unearthed

The Independent  

Sign up for our free Health Check email to receive exclusive analysis on the week in health Get our free Health Check email Get our free Health Check email SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy Archaeologists have unearthed a luxurious 2,200-year-old tomb in eastern China that …

Women make their mark in archaeological field
9 months, 1 week ago

Women make their mark in archaeological field

China Daily  

China Daily | Updated: 2024-03-16 10:05 Members of the archaeological team. Hunching over with shovel in hand, 30-year-old Zhu Yingpei is at work in a newly excavated tomb in Xianyang in Northwest China's Shaanxi province. Pointing to bones and relics in a coffin, Zhu says the tomb belonged to an ordinary person during the Western Han Dynasty. Digging in soil, …

New findings unveil stone processing practices of China's Liangzhu civilization
11 months ago

New findings unveil stone processing practices of China's Liangzhu civilization

China Daily  

Tourists visit the Liangzhu Museum in Hangzhou, capital city of East China's Zhejiang province, Nov 7, 2023. HANGZHOU -- Two archaeological sites have been unearthed in the city of Hangzhou, the capital of East China's Zhejiang province, shedding light on stone processing dating back to the Liangzhu civilization around 5,000 years ago, according to a meeting on the province's archaeological …

Casting light into the shadows of the past
11 months, 2 weeks ago

Casting light into the shadows of the past

China Daily  

"So far, we have learned that the Qin people's sacrificial system mainly consisted of three types, one to worship ancestors, like the Majiazhuang ancestral temple ruins in the central area of Yongcheng city ruins, one to worship heaven like yongwuzhi and the last to worship mountains and rivers," says Jiao. "Yongwuzhi, represented by the Xiazhan site, was an important stage …

Casting light into the shadows of the past
11 months, 2 weeks ago

Casting light into the shadows of the past

China Daily  

Gold artifacts with snake and tiger motifs, unearthed from Xiazhan site in Baoji, Shaanxi province. In Beijing, the Temple of Heaven has stood for centuries, silently standing in testament to Chinese people's awe of the divine and their sacrificial custom to the heaven in the Ming and Qing dynasties — a custom that actually has a much longer history. Ancient …

Casting light into the shadows of the past
11 months, 2 weeks ago

Casting light into the shadows of the past

China Daily  

A jade artifact often used in rituals in ancient China. Archaeologists have found four sacrificial sites in Baoji and excavated three of them, namely Xuechi, Wushan and Xiazhan, and suggest that they were all constituent parts of yongwuzhi. "With the establishment of the Qin Dynasty, yongwuzhi upgraded from the sacrificial sites of a vassal state to places to worship heaven …

Casting light into the shadows of the past
11 months, 2 weeks ago

Casting light into the shadows of the past

China Daily  

Gold artifacts with snake and tiger motifs, unearthed from Xiazhan site in Baoji, Shaanxi province. A large number of gold, jade and bronze chariots from the Spring and Autumn Period, jade artifacts, bronze chariots and crossbows, arrowheads, coins and architectural items from the Qin and Han dynasties have also been found at the site. "Many of the gold and jade …

China's Shanxi builds museum on Neolithic civilization
1 year, 6 months ago

China's Shanxi builds museum on Neolithic civilization

China Daily  

This photo taken on May 1, 2023 shows a miniature model of the Taosi relic site in Xiangfen county, North China's Shanxi province. TAIYUAN -- North China's Shanxi province is constructing a museum dedicated to showcasing the remarkable relics of Longshan Culture, a late Neolithic civilization in the middle and lower reaches of the Yellow River. The museum of the …

Xia Dynasty relics site found in North China
1 year, 9 months ago

Xia Dynasty relics site found in North China

China Daily  

This undated photo provided by the Shanxi provincial institute of archaeology shows bone tools unearthed from the Dongqu relics site dating back to the late period of the Xia Dynasty in Jishan county of Yuncheng city, North China's Shanxi province. TAIYUAN -- Archaeologists have unearthed a relics site dating back to the late period of the Xia Dynasty in North …

Xia Dynasty relics site found in North China
1 year, 9 months ago

Xia Dynasty relics site found in North China

China Daily  

This undated photo provided by the Shanxi provincial institute of archaeology shows bone tools unearthed from the Dongqu relics site dating back to the late period of the Xia Dynasty in Jishan county of Yuncheng city, North China's Shanxi province. TAIYUAN -- Archaeologists have unearthed a relics site dating back to the late period of the Xia Dynasty in North …

Sands of time protect an ancient treasure
1 year, 9 months ago

Sands of time protect an ancient treasure

China Daily  

Site of Western Xia ceramic production in Northwest China fascinates archaeologists, Wang Kaihao reports. The ruins of 13 porcelain kilns were found by archaeologists in Helan county, Yinchuan, capital of Ningxia, at the Suyukou site, which covers about 40,000 square meters, according to a conference of the National Cultural Heritage Administration earlier this month in Beijing. Though only 1,000 sq …

Sands of time protect an ancient treasure
1 year, 9 months ago

Sands of time protect an ancient treasure

China Daily  

Site of Western Xia ceramic production in Northwest China fascinates archaeologists, Wang Kaihao reports. The ruins of 13 porcelain kilns were found by archaeologists in Helan county, Yinchuan, capital of Ningxia, at the Suyukou site, which covers about 40,000 square meters, according to a conference of the National Cultural Heritage Administration earlier this month in Beijing. Though only 1,000 sq …

Prehistoric ruins discovered in East China
1 year, 11 months ago

Prehistoric ruins discovered in East China

China Daily  

JINAN -- An ancient hominid site dating back some 13,200 years ago has been unveiled in East China's Shandong province, with over 1,000 relics, including pottery sculptures. "We can see that the pottery-making techniques had become relatively mature at that time, and the relics are the hitherto earliest potteries discovered in Shandong," said Zhao Yichao with the provincial cultural relics …

Relics dating back to Bronze Age found in NE China
2 years ago

Relics dating back to Bronze Age found in NE China

China Daily  

This photo taken on Oct. 27, 2022 shows a piece of oracle bone unearthed at the Weizili site in Xiaochengzi village, Nongan county, Northeast China's Jilin province. CHANGCHUN-- Over 100 relics and 24 houses, tombs, and pit remains have been unearthed in a site dating back to the Bronze Age in Northeast China's Jilin province. Twenty-four houses, tombs, and pit …

Millennia-old relics unearthed in Central China's Hunan
2 years ago

Millennia-old relics unearthed in Central China's Hunan

China Daily  

CHANGSHA — A collection of pottery and stone artifacts dating back more than 2,200 years has been unearthed from an archaeological site in Hunan province, according to the provincial institute of heritage and archaeology. Unearthed artifacts mainly include pottery pieces, pottery cauldrons and stone tools, such as spears, arrowheads and knives. Based on the various patterns on the hard pottery …

Archaeologists unearth key temple
2 years, 4 months ago

Archaeologists unearth key temple

China Daily  

Archaeologists recently confirmed the construction period of an ancient temple in the ruins of Suoyang City, Jiuquan, Northwest China's Gansu province, saying it was a high-level temple along the ancient Silk Road. Wang Jianjun, who leads the excavation at the site and is from Dunhuang Academy, says there is mention of the temple in literature, while archaeological evidence demonstrates that …

Restoration of ancient grottoes begins in China's Gansu
3 years, 3 months ago

Restoration of ancient grottoes begins in China's Gansu

China Daily  

The Mati Temple Grottoes cover about 100 square kilometers in Sunan, a Yugu ethnic autonomous county 600 kilometers from Gansu's provincial capital Lanzhou. Northwest China's Gansu province has launched a restoration project in a key part of the Mati Temple Grottoes in Zhangye city, a national key cultural relic protection site, local authorities said. The work is focused on one …

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