Rice Domestication and the Origins of Chinese Civilization:Ideological Education in the Teaching of Chinese Geography
As a world cultural heritage,the Liangzhu culture confirms the 5000-years civil history of the Chinese people.It is closely related to the origin of rice.Discussions on the origin of rice began in the 19th century,with Swiss botanist Alphonse de Condor arguing,based on documentary evidence,that it originated in China and India,and after repeated authentication by scholars from different countries,the origin of rice in the Middle and Lower reaches of the Yangtze River has become a basic consensus.Roughly speaking,rice originated in the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River 10000 years ago,and it was not until 5000 years ago that it officially became a mainstay of the local food supply,having been tasted and supplemented.By and large,10000 years ago,the Shangshan site,indicated the domestication of rice and the origin of rice agriculture.It was still in the initial stage.By the time of the Hemudu culture period,7000-8000 years ago,human society had been still in the process of transformation from a gathering and hunting to a rice-farming society,and human beings had not yet entered the stage of a true rice-farming society.During the Liangzhu period,the Lower Reaches of the Yangtzi River in China had already entered the stage of rice agriculture society.It has completed the transformation process from gathering and hunting to rice agriculture.As we all know,rice and wheat are the two major staple foods in the world.About 10000 years ago,wheat originated in the Mesopotamain Basin and late spread to Egypt and the Indus Valley.In other words,among the four major ancient civilizations,only the Chinese civilization was based on rice,while the other three were based on wheat.From west to east,Ancient Egyptian civilization,Mesopotamian civilization,Ancient Indian civilization,and Chinese civilization(Liangzhu culture)were all coincidentally located on the 30th parallel of north latitude,which reflects the regularity of the emergence of ancient civilizations 5000 years ago.
rice originChinese civilizationLiangzhu cultureMiddle and Lower Yangtzi Rivermarginal effect