Zhenjiang Cultural Tourism

Author: Zhang Da Hua
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2005-03-01
Features: Zhangjiagang, the birthplace of Wu culture, is the cradle of Wu culture. Wu culture is a regional culture in southern China, encompassing areas roughly corresponding to Jiangsu, most of Shanghai, and parts of Anhui and Zhejiang. It primarily includes cities such as Shanghai, Suzhou, Wuxi, Changzhou, Zhangjiagang, Nanjing, and the southern shore of Taihu Lake, including Hangzhou, Jiaxing, and Huzhou. Wu culture covers the economically and culturally most developed, as well as the wealthiest, regions in Chinese history. It is also today's most vibrant and promising leading area in China to achieve modernization first. The founders of Wu culture were Taibei and Zhongyong, the sons of King Wu of the Western Zhou (1046–1043 BC), three thousand years ago. At that time, King Wu of the Zhou wanted to pass the throne to his third son, Jili, to avoid conflict over succession. To prevent this, Taibei and Zhongyong, who were at a disadvantage, pretended to lead their tribes of over 1,000 households to the area around Dantu County in the Nanjing-Zhangjiagang mountain range in the Jiangnan region. There, they merged with the local indigenous people, the Jingman, and adopted practices such as cutting their hair and tattooing themselves to seek a new path for development. After accumulating strength, they continued eastward, first arriving in Meili, Wuxi, and then later moving to Wuxi County in Jiangsu. In Meili, Wuxi, they established the Wu State (also known as the Gouwu State), the first slave-state in southern China. Taibei and Zhongyong successively became the rulers of the Wu State. They ruled for 25 generations, lasting for 700 years. By the late Spring and Autumn period, the Wu State had become powerful. In 506 BC, King He Lu of Wu temporarily defeated the Chu State. During his son Fuchai's reign, Wu defeated the Yue State and competed with the Jin State for dominance in the north. In 473 BC, the Wu State was eventually destroyed by King Goujian of Yue. For over 50 years after its founding, archaeologists in Zhangjiagang and Jianbi have unearthed numerous earthen mounds, bronze artifacts, and primitive porcelain, drawing great attention from domestic archaeologists and historians. Research by authoritative scholars such as Li Boqian, Director of the Chinese Archaeology Research Center at Peking University, Yang Baocheng, Professor and PhD supervisor at Wuhan University, Shang Zhihao, Professor and PhD supervisor at Sun Yat-sen University, and Xiao Menglong, Deputy Director of the Zhangjiagang Museum and Researcher, has proven that the area around Zhangjiagang and Jianbi is the birthplace and central region of Jiangnan Wu culture. When Taibei and Zhongyong migrated to Wu, they brought advanced agricultural techniques, integrating and developing the farming culture of the Central Plains with the rice culture of the Jiangnan indigenous people, thus promoting the early development of the Jiangnan region. The Wu culture that emerged from this process interacted and merged with the northern Qilu culture, the western Chu culture, and the southern Yue culture, giving rise to a splendid ancient civilization anding the second golden age of southeast culture.
The Early Humans in Zhangjiagang
Zhangjiagang is one of the earliest regions in China to enter the era of civilization. In the past, people always believed that the Yellow River basin was the cradle of Chinese civilization. However, archaeological discoveries over the past 50 years, especially in the last 30 years, have compellingly demonstrated that the Yangtze River basin is also the birthplace of Chinese civilization. A series of archaeological findings indicate that Zhangjiagang, located in the Ning-Zhen mountain range, has suitable hilly highlands for early humans to live in, making it an ideal natural habitat for early humans along the Yangtze River. In March 1980, archaeologists in Zhangjiagang discovered two fossilized femurs and four fossilized cow teeth in a soil pit near a marble quarry in Jinfujian, Gaozi Town, Dantu County. After examination by the Shanghai Natural History Museum,