What is the spread of civilization to the east?

After King Yan Zhao established five counties in 300 BC, the southern part of Northeast China was officially brought under the effective management of the Central Plains Dynasty. This was an epoch-making event and had a profound impact on the development of the Northeast region. Influence. To sum up, it is mainly reflected in the following aspects:

First, the Great Wall defense system built by the Yan State was very important in preventing the Donghu and other nomadic tribes from invading southward, protecting the agricultural economic civilization south of the Great Wall, and consolidating the five counties. development, played an important role.

The second is the establishment of counties and counties, which for the first time brought these areas under the effective management of the feudal regime of the Central Plains, enabling these remote and backward areas to quickly transition to feudalism and shortening the gap with the Central Plains.

Third, with the construction of the Great Wall and the establishment of the five counties, a large number of Central Plains garrison soldiers, officials, merchants and immigrants came to the Northeast region, which strengthened the political and political conflicts between the various ethnic groups in the Central Plains interior and the areas north and south of the Great Wall. Economic and cultural exchanges and the advanced farming civilization of the Central Plains have greatly promoted the economic and social development of all ethnic groups in the Northeast, laying the foundation for the formation of a unified multi-ethnic country.

In short, after the establishment of Liaodong and other five counties, the wind of feudal civilization in the Central Plains quickly spread to the Northeast region. After nearly 80 years of management and development by the Yan State, the appearance of the Liaodong region, including Shenyang, has changed a lot. Big changes. However, historical documents often rarely record this kind of social progress, but archaeological discoveries prominently reflect this huge change. Next, let us use archaeological data to take a look at this social progress from three aspects.

The "Long Live Qianqiu" tiles unearthed from the Weijialouzi city site in Sujiatun

The emergence of the city is one of the important signs that human society has entered a civilized society.

Archaeological discoveries in recent years have proven that in the late primitive society, around 6,000 years ago, cities had appeared in the Yellow River Basin and Yangtze River Basin in China. The city walls were made of rammed earth. .

The original city was just the central settlement of the tribe, and its main function was for defense, so Mencius said:

"The city is self-defense." In class society, the city became a political and economic , the center of culture, there was a fixed "market" for trading in the city, so the proper noun "city" appeared again. The Northeast region is located on the border, and cities appeared later than those in the Central Plains. About four thousand years ago, the city appeared in the lower-class culture of Xiajiadian in western Liaoning. Most of these cities were built on hillsides, and their walls were mostly made of stones. They were generally not large in scale. These stone cities are often distributed from east to west and were obviously built to defend against intrusions from the nomadic tribes from the north.

The real rammed earth city walls in the Northeast appeared only after the Yan State established five counties including Liaodong after 300 BC. In the Shenyang area, in addition to the Houcheng in the old city, the ancient city of this period in Shenyang has also been discovered by archeology at the ancient city site of Weijialouzi in Shahe Township, Sujiatun District. The city was built on a hill northwest of Weijialouzi Village and on the south bank of Shah River. The highest point of the city site is 7 meters above the ground outside the city. The city is slightly square, 105 meters long from north to south, 101 meters wide from east to west, and has a gate in the south. The city walls are made of rammed earth. The east, west, and north walls are well preserved, and their remaining height is generally about 3 meters. The underground cultural layer is 1.8 meters thick. At the bottom are Corded gray pottery pieces from the Warring States Period and the early Western Han Dynasty. Above are Corded tiles, tube tiles, Corded bricks, mat pattern bricks and gray pottery pieces from the Han Dynasty. Above that there are Corded gray pottery pieces from the Liao Dynasty. Slab tiles, tube tiles and various ceramic pieces from the Golden Period. Among the cultural layers of the Han Dynasty, we also collected the round tile "Long Live Qianqiu", pottery dice used for gambling, and two seals. It can be seen from the stratigraphic relationship and unearthed relics in the city that the Weijialouzi city site was built during the Warring States Period and continued to be used during the Han, Liao and Jin Dynasties.

The "Long Live Qianqiu" tiles unearthed in the city site prove that this city site may also be one of the eighteen counties under Liaodong County in the Han Dynasty. Among the eighteen counties, there is Gaoxian. From the name of the county, it can be seen that the terrain of Gaoxian City should be relatively high. The Weijialouzi city site is located on a hill on the south bank of the Shah River, next to the river cliff, and surrounded by undulating hills. It does have the characteristics of "high and prominent". In addition, "Book of the Later Han Dynasty: Chronicles of Countries" records that during the Eastern Han Dynasty, the three counties of Gaoxian, Houcheng and Liaoyang were transferred from Liaodong County to Xuantu County, indicating that the three cities were not far from each other.

The city site of Weijialouzi is about 20 kilometers away from Shenyang in the north and about 30 to 40 kilometers northwest from Liaoyang County of the Han Dynasty (i.e. Ciyutuo Piianbaozi in Liaozhong County). Therefore, most academic circles believe that Weijialouzi is Gaoxian in the Han Dynasty.

Dice unearthed from Weijialouzi

The eighteen counties under the Liaodong County of the Han Dynasty also included Liaoyang County. This Liaoyang is not in today's Liaoyang City. The "Xiaoliao Water" article in Li Daoyuan's "Shui Jing Zhu" of the Northern Wei Dynasty states: "The Liao River flows out of Liaoshan, passes through Liaoyang County in the southwest and meets the Daliang River." The Xiaoliao River or Liao River mentioned here refers to the Hun River and Daliang River. The water is now Taizi River. In ancient times, the Hun River merged with the Taizi River in the south of Liaozhong County, and the north of the water was Yang. Therefore, Han Liaoyang County should be on the north bank of the Hun River. In the 1950s, archaeologists discovered an ancient city in Pianbaozi, four kilometers northeast of Ciyutuo in central Liaoning. The city was located on the north bank of the Hun River, 40 kilometers northeast of Shenyang, and its location coincided with the location of Liaoyang County in the Han Dynasty recorded in the literature. Although the rammed city walls of the ancient city have long been destroyed due to the erosion of the Hun River, the Han Dynasty corded tiles and tiles remaining in the city indicate that this is a Han Dynasty city site. Many Warring States currency hoards were found near Ciyutuo, indicating that this city site was probably built in the Yan State during the Warring States period.

After the establishment of Liaodong County, most of the city sites built in the Shenyang area were located at traffic hubs or river intersections. As the first administrative centers in the Shenyang area, they became the regional governance centers due to the establishment of city walls and official offices. Later, with the increase in population and the development of handicraft industry and commerce, these towns quickly developed into economic and cultural centers.

The eastward spread and popularization of ironware After the establishment of Liaodong County, a large number of Yan people came eastward, bringing with them advanced production technology and feudal culture from the mainland. The most prominent one was the eastward spread and popularization of ironware.

In the middle of the Warring States Period, ironware had become popular in the interior of the Yan Kingdom. The reduction method and quenching technology had been used in the casting of ironware. A batch of iron molds discovered in Xinglong, Hebei Province show that metal molds were used at that time, including single molds and composite molds composed of two or three pieces. The design and casting process had reached a very high level. Using metal molds to cast ironware, the product has good quality, can be used for a long time, and the cost is low, making it possible to promote and popularize ironware. With the construction of the Great Wall and the establishment of the five counties, iron tools quickly spread eastward and were widely used. Archaeological data show that the discovery of iron tools is very common in the Five Counties area. They have been found in Chifeng, Jianping, Aohan, Naiman, Chaoyang, Jinzhou, Huludao, Fushun, Anshan, Lushun, Pulandian, Kuandian and other places. Ironware from the Warring States Period. More than 80 pieces of iron tools were unearthed at the Lotus Fort site in Fushun near Shenyang, of which agricultural tools accounted for more than 80%. It can be seen that iron tools at that time were mainly used for agricultural production. There are a relatively complete range of agricultural tools, including axes, picks, etc. suitable for cutting down wasteland, plowing and digging, five-tooth rake for leveling the land, hoes for weeding, and sickles and pinch knives for harvesting. Among these iron farm tools, they are the largest in number, accounting for 60 of the 80 iron tools unearthed in Lianhua Fort, and they can be divided into three forms. It is the most distinctive iron farm tool of this period. It is rectangular or trapezoidal, with a sharp blade at the lower part and a handle on the upper part, which is most suitable for clearing land and digging soil. After the establishment of counties and counties, it was necessary to open up wasteland and develop agricultural production. Iron farm tools were the most widely used.

Warring States copper arrowheads unearthed in the palace

Yan cloth coins, knife coins and "Yihua" copper coins unearthed in Shenyang area

The widespread use of ironware, It was beneficial to felling trees, reclaiming wasteland, building water conservancy projects, and digging wells for irrigation. It promoted the development of agricultural production and the strengthening of military power, and also caused dramatic changes in society in Liaodong.

Circulation of Metal Currency The State of Yan was the first country to mint sword coins. The early sword coins minted were pointed knives. After the late Spring and Autumn Period, bright knives appeared. Later, cloth coins and round coins with square holes were minted. The round coins were minted in the Wujun area in the late period. Before the Qin Dynasty opened up territory and established counties, the economy in Liaodong was relatively backward, commodity exchange was in the barter stage, and a monetary economy had not yet emerged. After the establishment of counties, the coins of Yan State began to be circulated and used in the five counties. According to archaeological data, Yan currency has been found in the original five counties of northern and eastern Hebei, southeastern Inner Mongolia, all of Liaoning, and the northern part of the Korean Peninsula.

Since the 1970s, in Wujiagangzi Village of Laoguantuo Township in Liaozhong County (today’s Liaozhong District), Yingchengzi Village of Wusan Township in Dongling District (today’s Hunnan District) of Shenyang City, and Baijia Village in Sujiatun District. A large number of them have been found in Heshun Village in Qingzhai Township, Wangbin Township in Xinchengzi District, Laolongtou Village in Masanjiazi Township in Yuhong District, Tawan in Huanggu District, Sanjing Street in Heping District and the old city of the city. The hoard of sword coins and cloth coins of the Warring States Period shows that currency circulation was quite common in the Shenyang area at that time. Ma Qian of the Taishi Company said: "Agricultural, industrial and commercial transactions are well established, and the currency of turtles, shells, money, knives and cloth is very popular." After Yan unified the northeastern region, it promoted the development of production and promoted the circulation of commodities. The discovery of a large amount of currency reflects the development of the commodity economy at that time.

It is also worth noting that, except for a few unearthed from tombs and ruins, most of the Warring States coins found in various places belong to cellars, and the coins are often tied with ropes or leather straps and placed neatly, and some are even Served in clay pots. This situation shows that coinage was used not only as a means of payment, but also as a public and private means of storing wealth. These hoards may have been deliberately hidden during the turmoil at the end of the Warring States Period, and they were intended to be taken out after returning from the escape. However, due to various reasons, the owner failed to do so, resulting in these coins being buried underground for more than two thousand years before they were seen in the light. What we have today is A valuable resource for studying this period of history.