Henan's history
Henan, known as the Central Plains in history, it is one of the important birthplaces of the Chinese civilization and the Chinese nation and one of the core areas of the Chinese history before Yuan.
The suitable geographical location, warm weather, and abundant rainfall created superior conditions for the development of agricultural production in the Central Plains, making this area one of the earliest areas in China to carry out agricultural production activities. After the emergence of primitive agriculture until the 7th century In the 3000 years before the mid-term, the agricultural production level in the Central Plains often represented the highest level in the country. The "An-Shi Rebellion" of the Tang Dynasty brought serious damage to the economic development of the Central Plains. Since then, China's economic center has shifted to the south. The Yellow River The economic level of the middle and lower reaches was gradually caught up and surpassed by the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River, and this situation has not changed until today.
The central location and special hydrological conditions have also made Henan an area with relatively developed natural and artificial water transportation systems in ancient my country. In particular, the gulf built during the Warring States and Wei periods and the Grand Canal that existed in the Sui, Tang, and Song dynasties for more than 500 years created very favorable conditions for the economic and cultural development of the Central Plains, making Daliang, Luoyang and Kaifeng famous during that period. The political, economic and cultural center of gravity. After the Southern Song Dynasty, as the capital moved to the south and north and the flooding of the Yellow River intensified, the political status of Henan declined, the economy stagnated, and the culture gradually fell behind.
Henan has a long history. In the early Paleolithic period five to six hundred thousand years ago, Nanzhao ape people have begun to thrive in Henan. After entering the Neolithic Age, a large number of Peiligang, Yangshao, and Longshan cultural sites have been discovered in Henan, which proves the matrilineal and patrilineal clan social stage of primitive society. Henan people have taken the lead in the creation of stoneware and pottery in the country. In the late patrilineal clan society, Henan became the central area of the legendary "Three Emperors and Five Emperors" activities, which laid the foundation for the final formation of the Chinese nation. The class society was also first developed in the Central Plains.
Our country’s first slavery dynasty, the Xia Dynasty, was established in Yangcheng, Dengfeng, Henan: the second dynasty, Gao Dynasty, arose and developed in Shangqiu. After the capital moved to the stock market in 1300 BC, the economy was realized. The overall prosperity of culture. After that, Luoyang and Kaifeng successively became Eastern Zhou, Eastern Han, Cao Wei, and Western Jin. The political, economic, military, and cultural centers of my country's feudal regimes such as the Northern Wei, Southern, Tang, Five Dynasties, Northern Song, and Jin. That is to say, the stone culture, Qinggang culture, iron culture, character evolution, and artistic evolution in Henan mostly represent the advanced level of the country at that time: Heluo culture and Song agency have become an important part of Chinese traditional culture: for China Even the four great inventions that have had a huge impact on the history of science and technology in the world also appeared and gradually improved during the Eastern Han and Northern Song dynasties where Henan was the capital of Henan. Therefore, Henan is the cradle of Chinese civilization and an important birthplace of Chinese civilization.
The long history has brought rich and colorful cultural resources to Henan. Among them, the outstanding performance is: First, there are many famous cultural cities. In history, more than 20 dynasties established or moved their capital to Henan, making Henan a province where historical and cultural cities gather. Only Luoyang, Kaifeng, Anyang, Shangqiu, Nanyang, Zhengzhou, and Junxian are included in the list of three batches of historical and cultural cities announced by the State Council; in addition, Xuchang, Dengfeng, Huaiyang, Yanshi, etc. This is the unification in the history of our country. Or the capital of a separatist dynasty. Second, cultural relic sites are scattered all over the country. The current statistical results show that the underground cultural relics in Henan are second only to Shaanxi, ranking second in the country; the underground cultural relics rank first in the country: the collection of cultural relics accounts for 1/8 of the country. Historical sites are dotted, Peiligang cultural sites, Yangshao cultural sites, Longshan Cultural relics, Yincheng ruins, Luoyang city ruins in the Han and Wei Dynasty, and Tokyo city ruins in the Northern Song Dynasty. Third, there are many outstanding people and celebrities. The profound cultural heritage has nourished the people of Henan, and the good educational environment has enabled Henan to produce talents in large numbers. Thinkers Laozi, Zhuangzi, Han Feizi: politicians Li Si, Liu Xiu, Zhao Kuangyin: scientist Zhang Heng, medical saint Zhang Zhongjing, religious scholar Xuanzang, writer Du Fu, Han Yu, Li He, Li Shangyin, philosopher Cheng Hao, Cheng Yi military strategist Yue Fei All have played an important role on the historical stage of our country. In addition, unique religious culture, martial arts culture, folk culture, food culture, etc., have also become an important part of Henan's tourism resources.
Following the historical and cultural development of Henan, we can find that it presents obvious differences before and after. That is, about the beginning of the 12th century, the Northern Song Dynasty was a period of prosperity for the development of Henan's history and culture; after the 12th century, with the decline of Henan's political status, it entered the period of decline of its historical and cultural development. Before the 12th century, our country had experienced three major stages of development in primitive society, slave society and feudal society. Since the establishment of slavery countries in the Xia Dynasty, there have been Xia, Shang, Western Zhou, Eastern Zhou (divided into Spring and Autumn and Warring States), Qin, Western Han, Eastern Han, Three Kingdoms, Two Jins (Western Jin, Eastern Jin), Southern and Northern Dynasties, Sui, Tang, Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms, and Northern Zhu Wait for more than 10 dynasties to exist. During this period of more than 4,000 years, China's political, economic, and cultural centers are basically in the areas of Chang'an, Luoyang, Anyang, and Kaifeng in the middle and lower reaches of the Yellow River. Therefore, this period of history is also a prime time for Henan's historical and cultural development.
After the 12th century, China went through the middle and late stages of feudal society, semi-feudal and semi-colonial, and capitalism. There were several major dynasties and regimes in the Southern Song, Yuan, Ming and Qing Dynasties, and the Republic of China. this period. The political, economic, and cultural centers of our country are gradually moving to the southeast and east. Or transfer to the northern coastal areas. In the past millennium, Henan has not only become an important area for military competition, but economic and cultural stagnation, the budding capitalism, the Opium War, the Westernization Movement, and the May Fourth New Cultural Movement have determined the historical fate of modern Chinese society. , The relationship with Henan is very weak. As a result, it caused the decline of Henan's economic status and the marginalization of its political status, as well as cultural backwardness.
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