A Study On The Prehistoric Social Evolution And The Origin Of The State In The West Liaohe Region

The West Liaohe region is located in the northeast of China,flowing through Inner Mongolia,Liaoning,Hebei and other places.It is one of the breeding places of Neolithic culture.At the same time,the basin is also one of the central regions of the origin of ancient civilization in China.It has played an important role in the formation and development of Chinese civilization.During the Holocene,the West Liaohe region had pleasant climatic conditions,excellent planting conditions and fishery resources.In the early neolithic period,the area formed a fishing-hunting-farming culture.Guided by the Marxist theory of the state,integrating the development of the chiefdom theory,and synthesizing the various factors of civilization in the region,that is,taking the elements of civilization such as agriculture,animal husbandry,handicraft,social organization,religion and so on as the research keynote,The Neolithic period in this area can be roughly divided into four stages.The first stage,about 8200 years to 7200 years ago,was the initiation stage of farming culture in the Western Liaohe region.The representative culture of this period was mainly Xinglongwa culture.In this period,with the climate and conditions for agricultural production,the residents in Liaohe had mastered the artificial cultivation techniques of millet.Tools of agricultural production were mainly made of stone tools,of which stone hoe and stone shovel were the most representative.Jade was still in the early stages of its development.In addition,from the perspective of the shape of social organization,The settlement tribe in this area lived in the form of matriarchal ancestors,and was in the late stage of matrilineal clan.In the second stage,from 7200 to 5300 years ago,the regional culture was further developed,and its representative culture was the Zhaobaogou culture and the early Hongshan culture.The agriculture and handicraft industry of the Zhaobaogou culture period continued to develop.It was manifested in the fact that agricultural tools was basically grinding tools instead of stone tools,the variety of pottery was more diverse,and the manufacturing process had been advanced.The manifestation of religion was more advanced than that of the previous stage,and the religious demand is no longer confined to the need forfertility and survival.During this period the social management organizations became more tightly organized,with the emergence of trench settlements marked by the manifestation of tribal collectivity,the Syndyasmian Family was emergenced and becamed mainstream.The third stage was about 5300 years ago to 5000 years ago,the breakthrough of qualitative transformation of culture in this area,its representative culture was mainly the late Hongshan culture.In this period,religious belief was particularly popular and was an important part of its production and life.The use of ritual objects and the custom of only jade burial was throughout this period,and the emergence of large-scale sacrificial places,a large number of stone mounds and the altar living together,the region has a unique tomb altar in one altar form.In addition,During this period,the social polarization between the rich and the poor intensified.The patrilineal parent-oriented social organization basically replaced the mother-oriented social organization.The social and economic development is still dominated by fishery and agriculture,which belongs to the chiefdom society,but there is the dawn of civilization,close to the national threshold.The fourth stage,about 5000 years ago-3300 years ago,was the flourishing period of civilization in the region,which included the late Hongshan culture and the period of the lower level of Xia Jiadian culture.It was 5300 to 4000 years ago,and it was also the time of the survival of the small river side culture in this area.It is basically consistent with the late Hongshan culture.In the period of Xia Jiadian lower culture,stone tools became the main agricultural tools,and bronze tools were in the initial stage of development.From the batch of bone production,the social division of labor in this stage is further refined,and a special production industry has been sorted out.In architecture,there are not only the traditional half-ground cave houses,but also the middle and late period.Large,medium and small stone city sites with defensive functions,combined with the tombs of this period,the polarization between the rich and the poor increased,class divisions became more prominent,and the form of social organization changed into a male-dominated society with more emphasis on men.The emergence of special weapons and etiquette in this period,social organizations with mandatory and standardized,all reflectthat this period should be the early national era.