Archaeological ruins of Liangzhu City

Archaeological ruins of Liangzhu City
良渚古城遗址
Ruins of west city walls
LocationPingyao and Liangzhu, Yuhang district, Hangzhou
RegionZhejiang
Coordinates30°23′44″N 119°59′27″E / 30.39556°N 119.99083°E / 30.39556; 119.99083
TypeSettlement
History
CulturesLiangzhu culture
Site notes
Discovered1936
ManagementLiangzhu Archaeological Site Administrative District Management Committee
WebsiteOfficial website (in Chinese)
Official nameArchaeological Ruins of Liangzhu City
Location China
Criteria(iii), (iv)
Reference1592
Inscription2019 (43rd Session)
Area1,433.66 ha (3,542.7 acres)
Buffer zone9,980.29 ha (24,661.8 acres)
Chinese name
Traditional Chinese良渚古城遺址
Simplified Chinese良渚古城遗址
Transcriptions
Standard Mandarin
Hanyu PinyinLiángzhǔ gǔchéng yízhǐ
Alternative Chinese name
Traditional Chinese良渚遺址
Simplified Chinese良渚遗址
Transcriptions
Standard Mandarin
Hanyu PinyinLiángzhǔ Yízhǐ

The archaeological ruins of Liangzhu[a] City, or simply the Liangzhu site,[1][2] consist of a cluster of Neolithic sites located in the Liangzhu Subdistrict and Pingyao Town of Yuhang, Hangzhou, China.[3] Initially excavated by Shi Xingeng in 1936, the ruins were recognised to belong to a previously unknown civilisation, termed Liangzhu culture, in 1959.[4] The site was confirmed as an ancient city after the discovery of its city walls in 2006.[5]

Situated in the southwestern part of the Liangzhu cultural area, this city is thought to have been the political and spiritual centre of Liangzhu culture, exemplifying a prehistoric, rice-cultivating urban society of an early state in the Yangtze River basin. The site includes a walled city with palatial complexes, ceremonial areas, and an intricate hydraulic system, indicative of a highly developed society with centralised governance.[3] The hydraulic system of Liangzhu is by far the earliest known one in the world.[6] Existing from approximately 3300 to 2300 BCE, the city was ultimately abandoned, and the civilisation collapsed due to extensive flooding linked to climate change.[7]

Recognised as one of the earliest examples of Chinese civilisation,[8] the ruins are managed by the Liangzhu Site District Management Committee, which oversees the Liangzhu National Archaeological Site Park.[9] The city ruins, along with the Yaoshan site, were designated a major cultural heritage sites under national protection in 1996, while the hydraulic system received provincial protection in 2017.[10] Together, these sites were designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2019.[8]


Cite error: There are <ref group=lower-alpha> tags or {{efn}} templates on this page, but the references will not show without a {{reflist|group=lower-alpha}} template or {{notelist}} template (see the help page).

  1. ^ Deng, Zhangyu (December 9, 2022). "Ancient kingdom reveals its secrets". China Daily. Archived from the original on 2024-11-11. Retrieved 2024-11-11.
  2. ^ Xiao, Jiayi; Shang, Zhiyuan; Zhang, Zixin; Xiao, Shengjun; Jia, Xin (2023-01-20). "A preliminary study on the mechanism of the Liangzhu culture's migration across the Yangtze river". Frontiers in Earth Science. 11. Bibcode:2023FrEaS..1121469X. doi:10.3389/feart.2023.1121469. ISSN 2296-6463.
  3. ^ a b State Administration of Cultural Heritage 2019, 2.a-1 General Description of the Property
  4. ^ Zhu 2023, Chapter 1. A Few Concepts About “Liangzhu”
  5. ^ Zhu 2023, Chapter 7. The Walls Surrounded on All Sides—The Ruins of the City Wall of the “China’s First City”
  6. ^ Liu, Bin; Wang, Ningyuan; Chen, Minghui; Wu, Xiaohong; Mo, Duowen; Liu, Jianguo; Xu, Shijin; Zhuang, Yijie (2017-12-26). "Earliest hydraulic enterprise in China, 5,100 years ago". Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 114 (52): 13637–13642. Bibcode:2017PNAS..11413637L. doi:10.1073/pnas.1710516114. ISSN 0027-8424. PMC 5748178. PMID 29203672.
  7. ^ Zhang, Haiwei; Cheng, Hai; Sinha, Ashish; Spötl, Christoph; Cai, Yanjun; Liu, Bin; Kathayat, Gayatri; Li, Hanying; Tian, Ye; Li, Youwei; Zhao, Jingyao; Sha, Lijuan; Lu, Jiayu; Meng, Binglin; Niu, Xiaowen (2021-11-26). "Collapse of the Liangzhu and other Neolithic cultures in the lower Yangtze region in response to climate change". Science Advances. 7 (48): eabi9275. Bibcode:2021SciA....7.9275Z. doi:10.1126/sciadv.abi9275. ISSN 2375-2548. PMC 8626068. PMID 34826247.
  8. ^ a b "Jade and Prosecco see China and Italy tie for most world heritage sites". ABC News. 2019-07-08. Retrieved 2024-11-09.
  9. ^ Wang, Dongdong; Nakamura, Shin’ichi (2018). "Case studies in large-scale archaeological site conservation and management in china: the Liangzhu, Yin Xu, and Han Yangling sites" (PDF). História: Questões & Debates, Curitiba. 66 (1): 113–140. doi:10.5380/his.v66i1.57406.
  10. ^ State Administration of Cultural Heritage 2019, 5.b Protective Designation

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia · View on Wikipedia

Developed by Nelliwinne