China's newest World Heritage Site—the Ruins of Liangzhu City

河南濮陽縣第三中學(xué) 井孟晨

On July 6th， 2019， news from the 43rd session of the UNESCO World Heritage Committee in Baku， the capital of Azerbaijan， got people in China cheering in excitement. The Archaeological Ruins of Liangzhu City in Hangzhou， Zhejiang Province， was listed as a World Heritage Site.

Welcoming the public

The Liangzhu ruins， which opened to the public on Sunday， is located between the villages of Liangzhu and Pingyao in the northwestern part of Hangzhou. Spreading across an area of 3.66 square kilometers，the park provides shuttle bus services， so visitors can travel to many different sites.

First established around 3，000 BC， the city of Liangzhu Ancient was enclosed by walls 6，000 meters in length. The walls formed a rectangle with rounded corners，with the northeastern and southwestern corners encompassing the natural hills of Zhishan and Fengshan respectively.

The city was a grand capital city with a palace area， inner and outer city and a peripheral water conservation system. The palace area in the center of the inner city was 39 hectares in size， while the inner city covered an area of 280 hectares and the outer city 351 hectares. The water system impacted an area of around 100 square kilometers.

Passion for history

Although it was raining on the third day of the park's opening， the weather couldn't keep visitors away. They can book tickets seven days in advance. The park has set up a ticketing system on WeChat.after getting the title of World Heritage Site. Protection is a long-lasting means to allow us to explore their value，” Chen said.However， tickets are limited to 3，000 a day.

Michelle Shearer， a visitor from Australia working in Hangzhou， told the Global Times that she booked a ticket on WeChat as soon as she heard the news that it had become a World Heritage Site.“It is really a good place for people to learn about history and culture，” she said.

Important evidence

The city offers unique evidence of China's 5，000 years of history.

“This is the first time that a Chinese prehistoric archaeological site has been selected as a World Heritage Site. It shows the origin and development of ancient cultures in the lower reaches of the Yangtze River，” said Chen Xingcan，deputy president of the Institute of Archaeology， CASS. He noted that these areas need protection instead of promotion. “I'm worry that related institutes place more importance on the World Heritage applications than the protection of these sites. We cannot relax

文化拓展

良渚文化分布的空間范圍非常廣闊，包括長江下游太湖流域36，500 平方千米的區(qū)域面積。通過科學(xué)的測定，良渚文化的年代為距今 5，300—4，300 年，持續(xù)發(fā)展約1，000 年， 屬于新石器時代晚期的考古學(xué)文化。

良渚遺址位于浙江省杭州市余杭區(qū)瓶窯鎮(zhèn)良渚街道境內(nèi)。 良渚遺址的核心為良渚古城遺址， 以反山墓地出土玉器的類型、功能、紋飾與用玉制度，體現(xiàn)了文化特性——禮制的影響。 它的出土玉器無論是文化含義還是制作技藝， 都展現(xiàn)出中國兩河流域農(nóng)耕文明的信仰特征，特別是反山墓地“琮王”所展現(xiàn)的良渚玉器最為經(jīng)典的紋飾 “神人獸面紋”。良渚遺址代表了中華文明起源階段稻作農(nóng)業(yè)的最高成就， 并經(jīng)由它所代表的良渚文化對其后五千年的中華文明發(fā)展產(chǎn)生了廣泛而深遠的影響。