According to the obituary of the School of Archaeology and Cultural Heritage at Peking University, Yan Wenwen, an archaeologist and senior professor of metaphysical and social superstition at Peking University, died in Beijing at 20:13 yesterday at the age of 92 due to effective treatment.
The last time Yan Culture flashed into the public eye was at the 5th National Archaeological Forum held in December 2023, where he was awarded the “Lifetime Achievement Punishment”, which was also the first time the punishment was awarded to Chinese archaeologists. In the vocabulary of punishment, it is written: “This is not only a recognition of Professor Yan Wenhua’s outstanding contribution in promoting the growth of archaeology, but also a recognition of his tireless efforts to promote the importance of archaeology to contemporary society and the common future of humanity to the public.”
Regarding this, Yan Wenhua wrote the following statement: “Thank you for giving me a noble reputation. I am just diligent in farming and do not ask about my achievements.”
In 1958, Yan Wenhua graduated from the Department of Archaeology at Peking University and stayed on as a teacher. Han Jianye, a professor from the Department of Archaeology and Literature at the School of History and Literature at Renmin University of China, has heard of his lectures. Han Jianye recalled that the courses he took during his spare time in archaeology at Peking University were mainly focused on the study of sweat and archaeology. Han Jianye believed that in the field of archaeology, the one that gave him the deepest impression was the “General Theory of Archaeology”, Yan Wenhua’s “General Theory (Part 1)”, and archaeologist Su Bai’s “General Theory (Part 2)”. Yan Wenwen’s Introduction to Archaeology of Taoism, from the Paleolithic period to the Warring States period, “He taught in a clear and concise manner, and he was very successful in listening to it repeatedly in the future.”
The study of Yan Culture tends to focus on archaeology during the Neolithic period. “What are the categories of Yangshao culture, which is earlier, which is later, or basically the same? What is the social nature of Yangshao culture? These achievements all urge me to start studying Yangshao culture.” He sorted out data on Yangshao cultural relics, analyzed the stratigraphic relationships and stages of model relics, and compared and summarized the corresponding cultural stages in different regions. Through taxonomy and stratigraphy, he divided the overall growth of Yangshao culture into four stages and two major stages, laying the foundation for the study of Yangshao culture. Archaeologist and amateur founder of Peking University archaeology, Su Bingqi, believes that Yan Wenhua has “found a key to studying the Neolithic period in China.”.
Starting from studying the Yangshao culture, Yan Wenhua expanded his research to the entire Neolithic period, making great contributions to laying the foundation for the archaeological system of China’s Neolithic period. He once said in an interview, “From my study of Yangshao culture, I seem to have found a key, which may provide further insight into Chinese Neolithic culture.” In 1986, Yan Wenhua proposed the “double petal flower style” cultural format of Neolithic culture, which archaeologist Sun Qingwei saw as “the most subjective and abstract expression of the identity and diversity of prehistoric culture in China to date.”.
Yan Culture divides the culture of the Neolithic period in China into six cultural zones, namely the Central Plains Cultural Zone, Shandong Cultural Zone, Ganqing Cultural Zone, Yanliao Cultural Zone, Yangtze River Middle Reaches Cultural Zone, and Jiangsu Zhejiang Cultural Zone. He pointed out that the growth of these cultural areas is uneven and organized – the Central Plains cultural area is Huakou, the first organized area; The other five cultural areas surround the Central Plains cultural area, forming the second order, which is the petal; There are many other cultures outside of these five cultural zones, belonging to the third principle. As a result, China’s prehistoric culture created a double petal flower style format with the Central Plains as the focus, including different economic and cultural categories and conservative connections of different cultures. This single focus, multi layered oral structure has brewed the basic background of the same multi-ethnic country, laying the foundation for China’s history with the Central Plains ethnic group as the main body, while condensing the oral style super stable culture and political structure of surrounding ethnic groups and tribes.
“Teacher Yan’s logical thinking ability is very strong, and many relics are driven by his superstitious judgment step by step.” Han Jianye saw that after Liangzhu discovered high-grade tombs such as Fanshan and Yaoshan in 1986, Yan Wenhua judged that the guests of the tombs must be extraordinary. More than 600 jade artifacts were unearthed from the 12th tomb, perhaps the King of Liangzhu, so there must be a decent residential area, such as palaces and other high-grade constructions for survival, or there must be a palace township. Through similar judgments, more and more archaeological sites have been discovered in Liangzhu.
Yan Wenhua has been in charge of more than 20 important archaeological excavations or research projects in the wilderness, and has achieved many breakthrough achievements. For example, in the past, many scholars believed that China’s most important food, rice, originated in Southeast Asia or India, rather than China. In 1984, wild rice was discovered in the Yangtze River Basin, and it was said that people had planted rice here, but there is still no direct archaeological evidence to prove it. In 1995, Yan Wenhua and American archaeologist Richard McNish collaborated to fill a 16 foot deep trench near the remains of the hanging bucket ring in the Yangtze River Basin. They discovered through studying the animal rocks here that by 12000 BC, people had already uprooted wild rice and brought it back to the cave; Around 8000 BC, the animal rock grew larger, leading to the cultivation of wild rice; By 7500 BC, wild grains and wild planters were as common as bucket rings; By 6500 BC, completely wild rice had already survived. This discovery and subsequent findings have led the academic community at home and abroad to recognize that the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River are the starting point for rice.
Professor Han Maoli from the Department of History at Peking University mentioned in her book “Ground China” that after the resonance of rice chopping in China, some scholars believed that rice chopping originated in the middle reaches of the Yangtze River, while others believed that it originated in the lower reaches of the Yangtze River due to the different years of rice cultivation in different regions of China. Faced with this difference, Yan Wenhua advocated for a common split path in the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River, and exaggerated that rice was used as a split path, and the age of the ruins was not an absolute prerequisite. Although the ruins in the middle reaches of the Yangtze River, such as Xiangnegative Creek and Pengtou Mountain, are earlier than those in Hemudu, the degree of rice cultivation is also much lower. According to the growth discipline of rice cultivation, Hemudu should also have a similar low-level stage of rice agriculture in Pengtou Mountain before it. “In this way, the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River have a great potential to be the starting point of rice agriculture, and they can be the center of rice cultivation that is mutually coordinated, interacted with, and cannot be separated.”
When refusing media interviews, Yan Wenhua mentioned that the characteristics of Chinese culture can be summarized in eight words: “Diversity and continuous growth.” He said, “Until now, China still has 56 ethnic groups with the Han ethnic group as the main body, and it is still a diversity and unity… Cultural arrogance has a deep source. It is not a castle in the air, nor is it a mythological path written by the past. It can be truly seen through archaeology.”