“良渚古城遗址”靠什么征服了世界呢？其入选又意味着什么？

　　符合两条价值标准

　　载入世遗名录

　　ICOMOS专家在评估报告中认为：“良渚古城遗址符合世界遗产第3和第4条价值标准，建议将良渚古城遗址列入《世界遗产名录》。”

　　按照联合国教科文组织的要求，价值标准一共有10条，前6条标准针对文化遗产，后4条给自然遗产用，第7条可以共用。文化遗产只要满足前六条中的一项，就够格，可成功申遗。良渚古城遗址则符合两项标准：第3条和第4条标准。

　　第3条是：“能为延续至今或业已消逝的文明或文化传统，提供独特的或至少是特殊的见证。”

　　良渚是如何见证的？来看ICOMOS的解读——

　　良渚古城遗址作为良渚文化的权力与信仰中心，建造了距今5000年前的规模宏大的城址，功能复杂的外围水利系统，分等级墓地（含祭坛）等一系列相关遗址，以及以具有信仰与制度象征的系列玉器为主的出土物，揭示了中国新石器时代晚期在长江下游环太湖地区曾经存在过一个以稻作农业为经济支撑的、出现明显社会分化和具有统一信仰的区域性早期国家，并以其时间早、成就高、内容丰富而展现出长江流域对中华文明起源阶段“多元一体”特征所作出的杰出贡献，填补了《世界遗产名录》东亚地区新石器时代城市考古遗址的空缺，为中华5000年文明史提供了独特见证。

　　再看第4条标准：“可作为一种建筑或建筑群或景观的杰出范例，展示出人类历史上一个或几个重要阶段。”

　　ICOMOS在报告中这样说——

　　良渚古城遗址在空间形制上展现出的向心式三重结构——宫殿区、内城与外城，成为中国古代城市规划中进行社会等级“秩序”建设、凸显权力中心象征的典型手法，揭示出长江流域早期国家的城市文明所创造的“藏礼于器”和“湿地营城”的规划特征；以及作为城市水资源管理工程的城址外围水利系统，在工程的选址、规模、设计与建造技术方面展现出世界同期罕见的科技水平，展现了5000年前中华文明、乃至东亚地区史前稻作文明发展的极高成就，在人类文明发展史上堪称早期城市文明的杰出范例，符合世界文化遗产标准。

　　古城遗址四大要素

　　跨过国家“门槛”

　　良渚古城遗址此次派出了4位种子选手参与评审——01号瑶山遗址，02号谷口高坝区，03号平原低坝——山前长堤区，04号古城区遗址。

　　这四者身上蕴含了绝对的竞争力，也就是最终被ICOMOS写进报告的良渚古城遗址四大价值要素是：“城址、外围水利系统、分等级墓地（含祭坛）和以良渚玉器为代表的出土器物。”

　　首先，城址。众志，可以成城。城邦，是文明社会到来的重要标志。

　　1936年，施昕更发现良渚黑陶，开启序幕；1959年，夏鼐提出“良渚文化”的命名；1986年，反山发掘出贵族大墓；1987年，瑶山发现祭坛及埋于其上的贵族墓地；1992年，发掘出莫角山遗址，推测是王者的宫殿……

　　“这些发现仅指向原始的小聚落，并不能确切证明城的存在。”浙江省考古所所长刘斌说，良渚遗址区是否有“城”的疑问，曾一度在考古界萦绕。

　　直到2006年，余杭葡萄畈西城墙初露，2007年南城墙、北城墙、东城墙依次显露。“中华第一城”良渚古城被发现。

　　随着考古发掘和研究不断深入，古城的空间格局、功能分区及各类遗存的内涵日渐清晰。2010年，外城初步确认；2015年，外围大型水利系统确认。

　　造城，是巨大的工程，需凌驾于社会之上的国家政权来完成。

　　聆听城址的介绍，我们会发现，当时的筑城技术已相当成熟。城墙的黄土，由人工取自山上；底部地基石头尖锐，为人工开凿。已知城址的土方工程量，就超过1000万立方米。假设参与建设人数为1万人，每3人每天完成1立方米，需持续工作8年。

　　家是最小国，国是千万家。遥远的良渚时代，是一支怎样有序、团结的队伍，夜以继日地协力建设家国？

　　“良渚不仅仅是一座城，更是一个辉煌的古代王国。它让中国找到了与之相对应的家国文化！”刘斌这样说。

　　一千年前看北京，两千年前看西安，五千年前看杭州良渚。中华文明的灿烂之光，映照出我们的文化自信。

　　第二是外围水利系统。

　　良渚古城外围大型水利系统是古城建设之初，就规划好的城市水资源管理工程，由11条人工坝体和天然山体、溢洪道构成。整个水利系统形成面积约13平方公里的水库，库容量超过4635万立方米，直接保护范围达100多平方公里。

　　先于“大禹治水”千年，良渚水利系统是中国迄今发现最早的大型水利工程遗址，也是世界上迄今发现最早的堤坝系统之一，开启了世界史前水利考古研究的新领域。

　　至今沿用的先人智慧，令浙江省考古所研究员王宁远惊叹不已。他说：“几年前，老虎岭还没被发现为水坝。当地还因其泥土质地合适，搬去筑坝。‘草裹泥’的修堤工艺在后世水利工程中被广泛应用，与当代沙袋筑堰原理一致。”

　　民温饱，国富庶。良渚先民以稻米为主食，宫殿区遗址曾发现超过10万公斤的碳化谷堆积。“稻作文明是良渚文明区别于中国及世界其他文明的重要特征，它比麦作对水资源利用的要求更高。”王宁远强调。

　　穿越时空，回望那一派生机景象：筑堤防洪、蓄水灌溉、摸螺打渔……一群先民在江南水乡繁衍生息。

　　城址内外分布着若干处不同等级的墓地。良渚人的墓地，就是身份的象征，可以从多个角度去判断，你到底是王，还是平民，比如分布位置、选址特征、营建体量、墓葬的排列方式、埋葬规制、随葬品的数量、类别、组合以及用玉制度等等。这构成良渚社会高低悬殊、层级复杂的阶层分化，为环太湖地区区域性早期国家的出现，提供了重要的证据。

　　最后是玉器，这是良渚文明的一个重要特征。良渚玉器数量巨大、种类丰富、工艺精美，是史前玉文化发展的最高峰。

　　“玉器不仅是装饰品，更是物质文化与精神文化的双重代表，说明当时已形成一套不同阶层人群的用玉制度和社会规范。”刘斌认为，玉礼器系统及神徽是维系良渚社会政权组织的主要手段和纽带，显示良渚文化有着极强的社会凝聚力，存在一致的神灵信仰。

　　相距千里，时隔千年。良渚玉器影响了大半个中国。同期的广东石峡文化、甘青地区的齐家文化、成都的金沙遗址等出土的玉器，明显受到良渚文化的影响；之后的青铜时代，二里头、殷墟等许多夏商时代的遗址中，也都发现有吸收和继承良渚文化元素的玉器。

　　“玉从一个侧面反映出，良渚文化在中华民族共同体形成的过程中，一定起过非凡的作用。”刘斌说。

　　8000多年前，玉器从中华大地起源；5000年前，良渚成为“世界绝无仅有，中国只此一家的玉文化殿堂”；而今，玉文化在中华大地赓续，向世界传递“仁、义、礼、知、信、天、地、道、德、忠、乐”的中华气质。

　　From City to State, How Liangzhu Civilization Was Internationally Recognized

The inscription of Archaeological Ruins of Liangzhu City onto the UNESCO’s World Heritage List is owed to the fact that the nominated property meets the selection criteria iii and iv. it is the center of power and belief of an early regional state.

The criteria for selection list ten benchmarks. The first six are for cultural heritage and the last four for natural heritage. Number 7 criterion applies to both. A property that meets any of the first six criteria qualifies for inscription onto the cultural heritage list. Archaeological Ruins of Liangzhu City meet number 3 and number 4 criteria.

Number three criterion reads: to bear a unique or at least exceptional testimony to a cultural tradition or to be a civilization which is living or which has disappeared.

A report of ICOMOS elaborates Liangzhu’s full compliance with criterion iii as follows:

As the center of power and belief of Liangzhu culture, Archaeological Ruins of Liangzhu City are characterized by the large-scale City Site built between 3,300 and 2,300 BC, the Peripheral Water Conservancy System with complex functions, the graded cemeteries (including altar) and a series of other related sites, as well as exhumed objects represented by a series of jade artifacts symbolizing the belief and system, which corroborate the existence of one early regional state sustained by rice farming with obvious social differentiation and unity of belief in the area around Taihu Lake in the lower reaches of the Yangtze River in late Neolithic China. Its early time of formation, great achievement and rich diversities show the outstanding contribution made by the Yangtze River Basin to “Diversity in Unity” feature of the origin of Chinese civilization. Archaeological Ruins of Liangzhu City also fill the blank of Neolithic city sites in East Asia in the World Heritage List, offering unique evidences for the 5,000-year history of Chinese civilization.

Number four criterion reads: to be an outstanding example of a type of building, architectural or technological ensemble or landscape which illustrates (a) significant stage(s) in human history.

In the same report, ICOMOS elaborates Liangzhu’s full compliance with criterion iv as follows:

The centripetal triple spatial pattern adopted by Archaeological Ruins of Liangzhu City, including the Palace Area, the Inner City and the Outer City, is a typical technique to establish the social class order and highlight the symbolism of power centers in ancient China, and also has revealed the planning characteristics created by the urban civilization of the early state in the Yangtze River Basin, which can be frequently seen in the capital planning of the ancient Chinese ritual society. The “water city” planning pattern and construction technology demonstrated by Archaeological Ruins of Liangzhu City reveal the characteristic landscape of city and architecture created by people in the wetland environment. Especially with the Peripheral Water Conservancy System as the urban water resources management project that represents outstanding scientific level rarely observed at that time across the world in terms of project scale, design and construction, it also reveals the great achievement of Chinese civilization as well as prehistoric rice-cultivating civilization developed in East Asia, which can be outstanding examples of early urban civilization in the history of human civilization.

Area of Yaoshan Site (01), Area of High-dam at the Mouth of the Valley (02), Area of Low-dam on the Plain-Causeway in Front of the Mountains (03), and Area of City Site (04), which are four key archaeological ruins of Liangzhu Culture, fully support Liangzhu’s compliance with the two criteria.

The archaeological projects since 1936 led to the step-by-step discovery of the city site, which is the very basis of the conclusion that the city is the center of power and belief of an early regional state.

　　The City Site

In 1936, Shi Xingeng discovered black pottery in Liangzhu, which turned the first page of archaeological projects in Liangzhu. In 1959, archaeologist Xia Nai suggested the name Liangzhu Culture. In 1986, the aristocratic cemetery at Fanshan was discovered. I 1987, an altar and an aristocratic cemetery on the altar were discovered at Yaoshan. In 1992, the Mojiaoshan Site was uncovered and it was conjectured that it was the palaces for the supreme ruler. These discoveries, however, pointed to primitive settlements and were not necessarily evidence of a city. For a long time, the archaeological community was doubtful whether there existed a city within the zone of Liangzhu Site.

In 2006, the western city wall was discovered at Putaofan, Yuhang. In 2007, the southern city wall, northern city wall, and eastern city wall were excavated. Archaeologists knew for certain that there was a city in Liangzhu. More excavation projects revealed that the city’s functions were located in different areas. In 2010, archaeologists concluded that there was an outer city. In 2015, archaeologists discovered a peripheral water conservancy system.

The design and construction of the gigantic city pointed to the existence of a state power. Liangzhu, it is convincingly concluded, is more than a city. It is a regional early state.

　　The Peripheral Water Conservancy System with Complex Functions

The Peripheral Water Conservancy System is an urban water resources management project with unified planning. It is composed of the High-dam at the Mouth of the Valley Low-dam on the Plain and the 11 artificial dam bodies and natural dam bodies as well as spillway at the Causeway in front of the Mountains, with a total earth volume of 2,880,000 m³. It is by far the earliest large-scale water conservancy project site discovered, and also one of the earliest dyke systems ever discovered in the world.

The Peripheral Water Conservancy System is strongly scientific in terms of dam site selection, foundation treatment, selection of dam materials, filling process and structural design, with multiple functions such as flood control and water storage, irrigation and transportation, as well as water adjustment. It is an outstanding example of people’s development and exploitation of wetland in East Asia in the early period.

　　Graded Cemeteries

Graded cemeteries are the main material evidence to obvious social differentiation of the Liangzhu Culture and are composed of 5 cemeteries distributed in different areas. According to the site selection characteristics, tomb arrangement pattern as well as the quantity and grade of burial objects, it can be divided into four or more grades, which indicate that there were at least four or more classes in the Liangzhu culture period.

　　Unearthed Objects with Jade Artifacts in the Majority

Unearthed objects of Archaeological Ruins of Liangzhu City include jade artifacts, lacquerwares, potteries, stone artifacts, bamboo and wooden artifacts, bone and horn artifacts, etc. These objects display various combinations of shapes and ornamentation motifs, different quantities, and preserve the information of production, thus bearing significant witness to the technology, culture and living of Liangzhu period. Jade artifacts made in Liangzhu were discovered in a big part of China, some places being more than 1,000 kilometers apart from Liangzhu. Bronze objects unearthed from sites of subsequent cultures reflect the characteristics of jade objects made in the Liangzhu. From this can be safely said that the Liangzhu Culture must have played an extraordinary and historic role in the history of the Chinese Civilization.