Painted Pottery And Bronze, Encountering Silk Ancient Road

In the history of human development, Eurasian steppe is an important area of cultural transmission. The prairie rises from Northeast Asia to the North Asia (south of the prairie), Central Asia, and West Central Europe plain. The ancient civilization, which originated from the West Asia and the East, has developed northward. It is further divided into a branch westward to Europe, and a branch eastward to the Eurasian steppe, especially for the spread of agricultural civilization. China's civilization can be divided into two regions: the north and the south, which are centered on the Central Plains, are influenced by human migration and culture from the Eurasian steppe, and the ancient Silk Road is the main road of cultural exchanges between China and the West.

People generally refer to Zhang Qian's route to the western region in second Century B.C. as the "Silk Road". From archaeological discoveries, this passage from this point of time can only be regarded as the "Silk Road". In the thousands of years before, the painted pottery of Central Plains and bronzes from the West have already flowed on this great road. In the Luoyang basin, the most ancient capital site in China (1800-1500 BC), a large number of bronze sacrificial vessels were found in the second Li Dynasty. The painted pottery in the the Yellow River Valley appeared in the Hami basin in the eastern Tianshan mountains around 2000 BC, and it appeared in the Yili valley about 3000 years ago. The research in this area has been quite rich. The two books on the Bronze Age Archaeology in Northwest China and the dialogue between painted pottery and bronze have been verified from the perspective of rigorous academic and popular culture. They have drawn a complete history of cultural exchanges between China and the west, and let us have a deeper understanding of the profound implication of Chinese civilization.

An archaeological collection of bronze age in Northwest China. Data map

Dialogue between painted pottery and bronze. Data map

The dialogue between painted pottery and bronze shows that China began to make pottery from the late Paleolithic period 20 thousand years ago, with a clear timeline and rich painted pottery pictures, to the history of ceramic women who started from the upper reaches of the Yellow River seven thousand or eight thousand years ago, went to the Hexi Corridor, crossed the Tianshan corridor, and spread the art of colored pottery to the Yili valley. This landmark achievement of the Central Plains culture has brought the whole East Asian history to the Neolithic age with pottery, which has spread to the edge of Central Asia. However, judging from the color pottery patterns, patterns, colors and textures excavated from the ruins, the painted pottery has reached its peak in the area of Gansu, Qinghai and Hequ. At the end of the western corridor, the end of the painted pottery has the characteristics of the Central Plains culture. The style and use of painted pottery spread to Xinjiang are closer to nomadic people. This is the end of the Central Plains painted pottery culture spreading from east to west.

The technology of bronze smelting originated from western Asia, and divided into two parts. South Road to India River, Xing Du Kush mountain, blocked by Pamirs high mountains, did not enter China. On the North Road, people from Eurasian steppe forest area cross the Altai mountains, enter the Tianshan Mountains, reach the oasis of the Tarim Basin, and then spread along the Silk Road to the Central Plains. Some people are accustomed to neglecting the contribution of the grasslands to the spread of culture. In fact, nomads are not necessarily backward than settled agriculture. In a sense, they represent another kind of productivity. For example, nomadic people domesticated donkeys very early, and invented hollow spoke wheels early, and then migrated with horses and carriages. Moreover, nomads eat a lot of dairy meat and have strong physique. Scholars believe that horse drawn and bronze ware have greatly promoted the development of agriculture. Copper Falcon and copper axe have great impetus to agricultural production. This is a positive influence brought about by the conflict between nomadic people and agricultural population.

The early Bronze Age in the western part of Central Asia began 6000 years ago. At the very beginning, pure bronze and arsenic bronze were the protagonists. More than 5000 years ago, tin bronze gradually replaced it as the most important metal alloy. At that time, the temperature in the Black Sea and Caspian Sea decreased, and the grass became sparse and sparse. It was under the pressure of environment and population. People who had mastered bronze smelting began to migrate to the East. The Oriental painted pottery and Western bronzes came together in the Hami basin more than 3000 years ago. This is also an important site for the dissemination of West Asia tin bronze technology from west to East, forming a new combination of different Western bronzes, and from the Hexi Corridor and the Huanghe valley into the Central Plains.

Along with the spread of painted pottery and bronzes, there are also agricultural and textile technologies in Central Plains. Western copper mining, wheat planting, cattle and sheep domestication, production of milk and leather, horse training, horse drawn carriages and other technologies also have a profound impact on the origin and development of the civilization of the the Yellow River valley. Bronze technology spreads faster and farther than painted pottery. Western bronzes are mainly used for production and war, such as axes, swords, spears, chisels and so on. After reaching the hinterland of the Central Plains, the function changes are becoming more and more obvious, and more and more are used in non productive areas, such as witch implements and sacrificial utensils made of bronze. With the continuous development and innovation of the Chinese nation, the bronze arts and crafts of the Shang Dynasty have reached the world's recognized standard. A large number of northern civilization, which integrated Western cultural elements, further expanded to the south, forming a Chinese civilization along with another ancient civilization south of the Yangtze River. Scholars believe that China's close contacts with the external world, especially the cultural elements of Western civilization before and after Xia and Shang Dynasties, have gained more foundation for communication with external technology, ideology and system, promoted social progress, and spawned the maturity of the civilization of Central Plains.

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