Yi Zhongtian said that the history of China is only 3700 years, which is actually a conclusion that is difficult to justify.

The 21st century is a highly information-based era. The appearance of the Internet makes the information spread more quickly and conveniently in the whole country and even the whole world. However, due to the lack of strong planning and management of the network environment, we are often blinded by false statements while receiving effective information.

In particular, some famous experts and scholars, any comments they make on the Internet will be regarded as authoritative theories, so they should be more cautious to avoid misleading the world.

Friends who like history should be familiar with the name Yi Zhongtian. He was invited to explain the history of the Three Kingdoms period in the column of Lecture Room. His vivid and interesting way of telling the story in the program was profound and three-dimensional, which left a deep impression on people.

He has gradually become a popular historical and cultural celebrity, and even become an enlightener of many young people’s history and culture.Because he has his own views and attitudes towards history, he has been caught in the storm of public opinion over the years because of many remarks.

Yi Zhongtian has repeatedly said in public that "China has been up and down for five thousand years" is actually inaccurate.According to academic research, 5,000 years refers to the span of Chinese culture, not the time when Chinese civilization existed.

Culture and civilization, the word difference, but the meaning is far from each other.Yi Zhongtian also wrote "Our Destiny and Choice for 3,700 Years" when talking about Chinese civilization in his book "The History of China in Yi Zhongtian".Then where did he come from when he said this time of 3.7 thousand years?

The reason why Yi Zhongtian put forward such a view is actually drawing lessons from western scholars’ saying: "The establishment of a country is the premise of the origin of civilization, and the appearance of cities is the symbol of the establishment of a country".

In the study of history, to determine whether a civilization exists, the most important thing is to have cultural relics of this period, followed by historical documents. This research view has been recognized as an "international consensus".

In the view of western scholars, Chinese civilization originated from Shang Dynasty, and Xia Dynasty before Shang Dynasty did not necessarily exist, because no cultural relics about Xia Dynasty have been unearthed in China.

There are few documents about the Xia Dynasty, and there has never been any records of the Xia Dynasty in Oracle Bone Inscriptions unearthed in the Shang Dynasty adjacent to it. Therefore, western scholars have always denied that the Xia Dynasty ever existed, and it was not until the excavation of Erlitou cultural site that it was confirmed that the Xia Dynasty did exist.

The Erlitou site has a history of about 3,700 years after textual research. Yi Zhongtian also stated in his book that he took Erlitou culture as the boundary before the origin of Chinese civilization, which is also an important basis for his proposal that Chinese civilization is only 3,700 years old.

However, the exploration of history is endless. Because of the long time, there are many historical relics that we are difficult to discover, but it does not mean that they have never existed at all. As a famous scholar of history and culture, Yi Zhongtian has repeatedly denied that China’s 5,000-year history is indeed too arbitrary and one-sided.

Where did the well-known saying "China has been up and down for five thousand years" come from?? The Historical Records compiled by Sima Qian in the Western Han Dynasty recorded the history of nearly 3,000 years from the Huangdi period to the Emperor Wudi’s period, and the Emperor Wudi has a history of nearly 2,000 years so far, so the history of Chinese civilization of 5,000 years can be completely recognized.

Although "Historical Records" is mixed with many personal opinions of Sima Qian, according to Sima Qian, "Historical Records" is"The words of a hundred schools of thought make a family.".

He traversed mountains and rivers, read local customs, and compiled all historical materials, experiences and feelings. It can indeed be called a change from ancient times to modern times, and his credibility is very high.

Some historians in the west also affirmed whether the Chinese civilization existed for five thousand years. The former Soviet historian Stuart Luwei mentioned something about China in his book "The Ancient East".

He once wrote in his book that "China has a history of 10,000 years", and Hegel once said: "China is the oldest country in the world, and the origin of world history should start with the history of China".

Yi Zhongtian also denied the historical facts recorded in the two works, Shangshu and Guoyu, which exist today, and then denied the history of Chinese civilization 3,700 years ago.

However, historians maintain a strict skeptical attitude towards civilizations with clear literature records but no unearthed cultural relics, and will not easily deny the existence of these historical civilizations, but leave those that cannot be verified for the time being to future generations for textual research.Yi Zhongtian’s statement is actually extremely disrespectful to historical documents.

Yi Zhongtian once said, "Civilization contains three elements, namely philosophy, religion and art",China’s ancient works such as River Map, Luoshu and Fuxi Bagua depict the ancient people’s understanding of the natural landscape by watching the sun, the moon and the stars, and are full of philosophical thoughts of the connection between man and nature.

The totem culture worshipped by the early tribes is also the embryonic form of religious belief, and these things have a history of at least 7 thousand years.

The Hemudu cultural site found in the Yangtze River valley, the Banpo cultural site found in the Yellow River valley and the Dawenkou cultural site have a history of at least 6,000 years. A large number of bones, jade, wood and pottery were unearthed in these early cultural sites.

Among them, painted pottery is the most famous, with various shapes, exquisite and meticulous patterns and colorful and heavy colors.Aren’t these real works of art the real evidence of the existence of Chinese civilization?

According to Yi Zhongtian’s definition of civilization, Chinese civilization should exist for at least 6,000 to 7,000 years. However, there is no documentary record of these cultures, and Chinese civilization is defined as about 5,000 years with real records, which also maintains the humble attitude of China people.

However, no matter how to define the existence time of Chinese civilization, it will not only be 3,700 years as Yi Zhongtian said.Yi Zhongtian’s own remarks before and after are self-contradictory, even difficult to justify.

At present, it is a democratic and open era, and everyone has the right to express his own opinions.Yi Zhongtian, as a public figure, should be responsible for what he said, and should not be the fuse to mislead people to interpret history.

The responsibility of cultural celebrities is not only to spread the true historical facts and culture to the public, but also to spread a positive attitude towards life and become a civilized benchmark for the public.

As a historian, we should be more modest and prudent. Although the real cultural relics we can explore now can only be traced back to about 3,700 years ago, with the passage of time, science and technology have made progress.

Maybe at some time in the future, we will unearth the sites of earlier civilization and break the current speculation about the Yao, Shun and Yu era.We need to respect and revere history.Taking advantage of a moment’s talk and jumping to conclusions will often only make you not recognized.

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