Tanshishan Culture Research

Author: Zhong Liqiang
Publisher:
Publishing Date: 2005-07-01
Features: The Tanishan Culture is named after the Tanishan Site in Minhou County, Fujian, and its discovery and research represent an important achievement in Neolithic archaeology in Fujian and the southeastern coastal region of China. While Tanishan Culture is not in a central or dominant position among China's Neolithic archaeological cultures, it still holds indispensable and special significance: the rich and diverse Chinese Neolithic cultures are both distinct and interconnected, both varied and unified. Centered around the Central Plains, with the middle and lower reaches of the Yellow River and Yangtze River as the main areas, and surrounded by many peripheral cultures, it forms a "centripetal, multi-petaled flower-like pattern." Although Tanishan Culture is classified as a "peripheral" culture, it is an integral and inseparable part of this pattern. In the southeastern coastal region of China, under its unique natural and geographical conditions, a distinctive maritime culture developed. In prehistoric times, many residents gathered seafood like shellfish, forming numerous shell middens along the coast and river mouths, which are the earliest remains of maritime culture. Tanishan Culture is a shell midden culture distributed in the coastal areas of the lower Minjiang River in Fujian, serving as a typical representative of such remains. In-depth research on Tanishan Culture will undoubtedly yield significant results in understanding its basic connotations and main characteristics, as well as the unique production and living methods and cultural customs of the people who created these remains. There are many commonalities and close ties between the ancient cultures of southeastern China, South China, and the island regions of the South Pacific. Exploring the inherent connections and historical processes of these relationships, the prehistoric cultural studies of Taiwan and Fujian across the Taiwan Strait are at least a key part of this. Professor Zhang Guangzhi has long pointed out: "Archaeological research in the Taiwan Strait can be seen as building a bridge between continental and maritime cultures, and its importance extends far beyond the scope of China." As the main Neolithic culture on the western coast of the Taiwan Strait in Fujian, the study of Tanishan Culture naturally holds far greater significance than the culture itself. Professor Zhong Liqiang, a native of Wuping in Fujian, joined the faculty of the History Department at Xiamen University after graduating from its archaeology program. Over the past two decades, he has consistently undertaken heavy teaching responsibilities while also holding party and government positions. He has always been diligent and responsible, enduring hardships without complaint. He has systematically taught courses such as "Neolithic Archaeology in China," "General Archaeology," and "Archaeology in Southeast China," and has long led students in field archaeology practices, with his footsteps covering the Yangtze River region and its southern coastal areas. In field archaeology teaching, he has been meticulous, teaching by example, achieving outstanding results and earning widespread praise. It is precisely on the foundation of this long-term teaching practice and accumulated experience that he has written this remarkable work, "Research on Tanishan Culture." While I have not read the manuscript in detail, I should not hastily judge its academic value. However, after a quick review, I was left with two impressions. First, the study of Tanishan Culture has already spanned half a century. Over these fifty years, several sites have been excavated on a large scale, yielding rich materials, but the publication of these materials has been relatively scattered, with no monograph yet available. Numerous articles on the research have been published, but they are scattered across various specialized studies, and the views presented are diverse, with at least four different definitions of the meaning of Tanishan Culture alone. This book compiles the previously scattered materials and research findings, interpreting them in a structured manner. This can be seen as a synthesis of research on Tanishan Culture and has created more convenient conditions for further in-depth study. Therefore, it is not an exaggeration to call it a comprehensive and forward-looking work that builds on past achievements and paves the way for future research. Second, the book is divided into nine chapters. The first chapter narrates the history of the discovery and research of Tanishan Culture. Chapters two to seven, using archaeological cultural analysis methods, systematically and comprehensively interpret the basic connotations and main characteristics of Tanishan Culture, forming the core of the book. The last two chapters, based on the main content, explore the racial features, settlement patterns, social organization, religious art, and other aspects of the Tanishan Culture people from an anthropological perspective. From this angle, the book can also be placed among archaeological anthropology works. For the study of prehistoric archaeological cultures, this research approach is worth promoting. Because it may help prehistoric archaeology overcome the confusion of focusing on objects rather than people, gradually achieving the ultimate goal of reconstructing the true picture of ancient human society.