ChinaDaily[971130-8]

[Chinese News]

China Daily

97 / 11 / 30 /

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1. Research to solve mysteries
2. Archaeologists rev up to save relics and ruins
3. DNA testing technique to answer coffin riddle
4. What's on (Page 6, Date: 11/29/97)
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Research to solve mysteries
Editor's note: As the gigantic Three Gorges Dam project has
entered its second phase of construction, archaeologists and
anthropologists are quickening their work to meet the urgent
demands of the dam deadline. Our staff reporter Ji Tao and
photographer Li Taihang travelled to the dam site and other
counties upstream recently and produced the stories and photos on
this page from their interviews with relic protection officials
and researchers on site.
THE Three Gorges is the answer sheet to four mysteries that amaze
archaeologists and researchers, said Yu Weichao, summing up recent
archaeological finds in the area.
Because of its difficult geological situation and poor
communication with the outside world, only two small surveys were
carried out in the area, in the 1960s and the 1980s. Only 100
archaeological sites were found.
No artefacts of the Paleolithic Period were found in the Three
Gorges area in the past. This created doubts as to whether there
was Paleolithic civilization in the area.
Three Gorges area: A place of transition?
The comprehensive survey conducted during 1994 to 1995 finally
answered the question positively.
More than 50 sites having Old Stone Age vestiges of life were
found. To the excitement of the researchers, the stone-making
skill found in the area proves to be the transition between the
north and south Paleolithic stone-making skills.
Even since ancient times, the Three Gorges area has been a place
where the north and south civilizations met and collided.
But questions arose as to why the area has always been chosen to
act as the transition place between ancient China's north and
south civilizations in all its aspects? The archaeological finds
this time are expected to give the answer.
What happened to the Ba people?
Yu referred the second mystery to the disappearance of the ancient
Ba people.
During the Shang Dynasty (1600-1100 BC), the Three Gorges area is
believed to be the stage where the mysterious Ba left most of
their traces.
Legend says the ancestor of the Ba people was Lin Jun, who was
believed to be chosen as the head because he was able to throw his
arrow into a stone cave without missing and sail a clay boat
without sinking.
The Ba people are known for their belligerence. In "Hua Yang Guo
Zhi," ancient annals written by Chang Qu of Jin (AD 936-946), one
of the kingdoms in the period the Five Dynasties and 10 Kingdoms
(AD 907-960), brave soldiers of Ba once helped an emperor of
Western Zhou (1100-771 BC) to beat up his enemy. On the
battlefield, they performed bold dances just to humiliate their
rivals. The ancestors of the Ba people were thus assigned as lords
of the Three Gorges area and set up the Ba State.
Later, the Ba people were confined within the Three Gorges area,
because of the growing aggression of its nearby state, Chu. Until
316 BC, Qinshihuang, who later founded the first feudal empire in
Chinese history, sent his troops to annex the state of Chu,
finally shoving the Ba into oblivion.
Historians disagree about the whereabouts of the Ba people from
the time after Qinshihuang united the whole country.
Some said their descendants scattered across Southwest China,
while others believe the Ba people broke into five branches and
each settled along one of the rivers in Hunan Province.
These fragmentary pieces of legend about the mysterious people
could not satisfy scholars and researchers.
What was the origin of the Ba people? What was their way of life?
These questions remained a mystery due to either a lack of legible
records or a lack of convincing archaeological finds. For a long
time, archaeologists only unearthed a number of bronze wares that
bore unintelligible inscriptions that look like a form of written
language.
"But now the mystery has a chanceof being solve itself," curator
Yu said, summing up recent finds in the area.
One tomb found, five still undiscovered
Yunyang County, now also under the jurisdiction of Chongqing, will
be submerged during the second phase of the dam project from 1998
to 2003. The area has been documented as a place with tombs of six
kings of Chu State of the Warring States Period (475-221 BC) in
"Shuijingzhu," an ancient book of legends.
However, not until an overall survey team headed by curator Yu
began combing the 600-kilometre area along the river from 1993 to
1995, was one of the tombs finally located in the county. It is
about 200 kilometres upstream from the dam site in Hubei
Province's Sandouping.
Even though no further excavation has started, there is evidence
the tomb will be the largest one of the Chu State, said Yu.
But the five other tombs still undiscovered weigh heavily on Yu,
especially as the time of dam completion draws near.
Zhongbaodao artefacts provide some answers
In November 1994, before dam construction started, artefacts were
unearthed in Zhongbaodao, an island where the dam is being built
today. These artefacts date back from Xia and Shang to Ming
(1368-1644) and Qing (1644-1911) dynasties. With such
comprehensive archaeological finds, startled archaeologists now
regard the Zhongbaodao Island as an underground chronology of part
of Chinese history.
"It will be very challenging to find out how such a chronology
came into being," Yu said. But as the digging goes on, more clues
will emerge from the abundant finds.
_____________________________________________________________

_Date: 11/29/97_
_Author: _
_Copyright© by China Daily_

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Archaeologists rev up to save relics and ruins
PROFESSOR Shui Tao finally had some days off in late October.
Shui arrived on September 10 in Badong, a county 64 kilometres
upstream from the dam site in Yichang's Sandouping, together with
14 other colleagues and students from the History Department of
Nanjing University in Jiangsu Province.
Rain fell that day -- the first they had since they arrived there.
It became a muddy vacation for the workers from their field
excavations.
After winning the bid for the excavation project from Hubei
Provincial Bureau of Cultural Relics and the Culture
Administration, the 15-member team immediately began a 50-day
schedule of fieldwork at the excavation site, focusing on an area
of 800 square metres. Besides, they had to finish the survey of an
area of about 9,000 square metres, which might give an outline of
the archaeological situation there.
Standing in the courtyard of a house they rented from a villager,
and facing the flowing river, Shui said it's urgent to take this
chance to do something. "When the water comes, everything will be
gone," he said.
In Badong alone, 195 sites of cultural relics were recorded in a
comprehensive survey conducted from 1992 to 1995 covering all the
area to be submerged by the dam.
Even though not all relic sites will be submerged immediately,
they will be under constant threat from the rising water during
the second phase of the dam project, especially in the flood
season.
Through early December, Shui and his teammates will excavate the
800-square-metre area where they began their work. Artefacts
dating as early as the Western Zhou Dynasty (1100-771 BC) have
been found there. Their finds might advance the recorded history
of the area about 1,000 years from the Han Dynasty (206 BC-AD
220).
But Shui seemed dissatisfied with what the team had achieved.
"Badong is believed to be the place where the ancient Ba people
once lived," he said. "But so far we haven't found significant
artefacts directly related to this mysterious tribe in Chinese
history."
Meanwhile, teams from four other universities have also gathered
in Badong, trying hard to unearth some significant finds which
might help to decode the mystery of the Ba people. Shui's
counterparts from the universities seemed to be a bit more
hopeful.
The excavation team of Wuhan University, headed by Professor Chen
Bingba, has unearthed some artefacts in Badong's Guandugou, which
neither belong to the culture of Chu, nor that of Shu, two states
along the Yangtze River at the same time as the Ba people are
thought to have been there, before Emperor Qinshihuang united
China in 221 BC.
Even though further research into the identity of these artefacts
is needed, Chen said that he was still optimistic.
In a bid to provide more specially trained personnel for the
province, Wuhan University has also enrolled dozens of students
for a two-year course of study in archaeology focusing
specifically on the Three Gorges areas.
Currently more than 100 teachers and students from Wuhan, Jilin,
Shandong, Xiamen and Nanjing universities are working urgently at
the sites to help recover historic items.
Jilin University also turned up some important finds. In Badong's
Leijiaping, they have excavated artefacts dating to the late
Neolithic Period. Distinctive cultural layers were also
discovered, which might improve the current understanding of the
area's history.
In the region that will be affected by the Yangtze River after the
damming of the Three Gorges, there are 1,282 ancient relics sites,
with 453 artefacts on ground and 829 underground.
Since 1993, more than 300 archaeologists and workers have
conducted searches for relics in more than 20 cities and counties
from Yichang in Hubei Province to Chongqing.
In Yunyang County, archaeologists from Sichuan Union University
have also been working at the tomb sites of the ancient Ba people
and have also found building relics of the Han Dynasty (206 BC-AD
220).
The archaeologists from Beijing University drew up a six-year plan
to complete the relics excavation work in Zhongxian County.
Archaeologists have proved that there are 130 above-ground and 63
underground ruins of historical relics in the to-be-submerged
region of Hubei.
Archaeologists have excavated three large ruins and unearthed
relics dating back to the Eastern Zhou Dynasty (770-256 BC) in
Zigui County.
In Xingshan County, 13 tombs and three caves from the Han Dynasty
(206 BC-AD 220) have been unearthed, while in Badong County,
archaeologists are uncovering nine underground ruins.
Nearly all of the experts at the Yichang Museum are working to
collect information on the Shang Dynasty (about 1600-1100 BC).
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_Date: 11/29/97_
_Author: _
_Copyright© by China Daily_

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DNA testing technique to answer coffin riddle
WHAT helped to identify the last Russian Czar and his family will
finally help to detect the identities of the owners of ancient
suspended coffins found in the Three Gorges area.
DNA provides a biological blueprint in the cells of particular
species. Individuals related by blood will produce the same result
in DNA analysis.
After Nicholas II (1868-1918), the last Russian Czar, abdicated on
March 2, 1917, the royal family were transported to Siberia. In
April 1918, the imperial family was moved to Ekaterinburg in the
Urals, where they were all shot on July 17, 1918.
But skepticism arose many years later about whether the royal
family were dead for sure.
DNA technology was applied to test the bones found in their tombs
and successfully confirmed their identities.
"This time, DNA will work out the relationship between the ancient
Ba people and the people of today living in the same area," said
Zhuang Kongshao, anthropologist from the Central University for
Nationalities in Beijing.
By doing that, Zhuang hopes to outline a clearer picture of the
mysterious Ba people.
Since 1995, Zhuang and his colleague Pan Shouyong have worked
alongside archaeologists and geneticists in trying to solve the
mystery.
Archaeologists have tried to deal with the issue through different
approaches. But lack of literary records has always posed the
biggest cultural obstacle to the mystery of how the Ba people
disappeared.
Many suspended coffins have been found in the area. Local people
even dubbed the phenomenon a famous scenic site. The Bellow Gorge,
its name taken from the shape of these suspended coffins, is about
2 kilometres downstream from Baidicheng, within the Qutang Gorge.
The practice of suspending the coffins on the mountains has been
regarded as a special burial custom closely related to the
almost-legendary people in Chinese history. Zhuang and his
colleagues have decided to compare the DNA results of the samples
collected in the suspended coffins with people of today.
Are the descendants of the mysterious Ba people still wandering
along the same land, where their ancestors once waged wars, spilt
blood and wept tears?
So far, they have mapped out the DNA results of the Ba people by
analyzing the samples they collected from the suspended coffins.
But the collecting the blood sample of today's people living in
the Three Gorges area is not so easy.
Since 1995, Zhuang and his colleague Pan Shouyong have been
collecting blood samples in the area. By March 1997, they have
already acquired the DNA results of the sample of bones and teeth
collected from some suspended coffins in Wushan.
If the suspended coffins' owners are found to be closely related
to today's Three Gorges' people, there might emerge more clues to
the fragmentary history of the Ba.
"If not, it is also a kind of answer to the mystery," Zhuang said.
_____________________________________________________________

_Date: 11/29/97_
_Author: _
_Copyright© by China Daily_

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What's on (Page 6, Date: 11/29/97)
EXHIBITIONS
Joint art show -- Seven young artists are holding their joint show
entitled "Urban Love Songs" at the Hanmo Art Gallery.
Time: 10 am-5 pm, through December 28.
Place: Hanmo Art Gallery, Beijing Curio Mansion, Dongsanhuan
Nanlu, Chaoyang District, Beijing.
Tel: 6774-7711 ext 1064.
Folk art show -- The Qin Gallery is holding a folk art exhibition
of authentic Ming and Qing folk art items including new year
paintings, embroidery, shadow puppets and paper cuttings.
Time: 9:30 am-6 pm, through December 31.
Place: Qin Gallery, Ritan Dongyijie, east of Ritan Park, Chaoyang
District, Beijing.
Tel: 6507-4062.
'Sea of Desire' painting show --The Red Gate Gallery is displaying
Inner Mongolian artist Su Xinping's oil paintings which reflect
the complex feelings of contemporary Chinese.
Time: 11 am-6 pm, until December 10.
Place: Red Gate Galley, third floor, China World Trade Centre, 1
Jianguomenwai Dajie, Beijing.
Tel: 6505-2266 ext 6821.
Medici collection -- Italian Medici Collection Show is running at
the Working People's Cultural Palace, ushering in the '98 China
Year of International Fine Arts. the exhibition features original
works of Michelangelo and Sandro Botticelli.
The Medicis were the famous Italian family that ruled Florence
during the Renaissance (1300-1600). Florence at that time was very
prosperous and formed the focus of Renaissance art. The Medicis
patronized Michelangelo, the most famously gifted sculptor of the
Renaissance or perhaps any era.
Through the efforts of the family, especially Lorenzo de Medici,
Florence and their home boasted a rich collection of Renaissance
artwork.
Time: 8 am-5 pm, until January 10 next year.
Place: Working People's Cultural Palace, east of Tian'anmen
Rostrum
Tel: 6403-1631
Oil paintings show -- An art exhibition of young Chinese oil
painters "March Towards the New Century" is running at the China
National Art Museum.
Time: 9 am-4 pm, until December 7
Place: China National Art Museum, 1 Wusi Dajie, Dongcheng District
Tel: 6401-2252.
CONCERTS
Look Twice shake it -- Look Twice from Sweden started their China
tour on November 27 at the invitation of the China Central
Television Overseas Centre to mark the its fifth birthday. After
that, the band will play in Beijing.
Look Twice was set up in 1993 by two young men: Imre and Wincent.
Neither had received regular training in music. They favour dance
and pop music, and established their reputations with such
danceable numbers as "Shake That Rump," "Move That Body," "Mr
Dance and Mr Groove" and "That's the Way (I Like It)." Later,
Veronica joined them, bringing a gentle and romantic feel to the
band's music.
According to the press release, "the music of 'Look Twice' is a
"living music," which features youthful energy, "funky" rhythm,
"sour" flavour and a peculiar combination of toughness and
gentleness." Their first record, "Twice as Nice" was well received
in more than 50 countries with a circulation totalling 1 million.
"That's the Way (I Like It)" was a big hit in Southeast Asian
countries. Their second record "Happy Hour" will soon be released
exclusively in China.
Their tour will include performances of "Heartbeat," "Victim,"
"Feel the Night," "Me and My Boys," "Good Vibration" and "All the
Ladies."
Time: 7 pm, December 13-14
Place: College Students Gymnasium, 11 Beisanhuan Xilu, Haidian
District
Tel: 6615-1655, 6204-9933, 6232-6655 ext 1524
German classics -- The Saarbrucken Radio Symphony Orchestra of
Germany will perform under the baton of Michael Stern at the
Beijing Century Theatre.
With its large and diversified repertoire, besides radio and CD
productions, the orchestra gives more than 40 concerts a season.
It has already toured Australia, the former Soviet Union, the
United States, Italy and Spain with great success.
For this China tour, the orchestra has invited two brilliant
China-born soloists: Han Xiaoming (horn) and Wang Jian (cello).
The programme includes immortal pieces by master composers Richard
Wagner, Joseph Haydn, Richard Strauss and Johannes Brahms.
Time: 7:15 pm, November 29-30.
Place: Century Theatre, 40 Liangmaqiao Lu, Chaoyang District
Tel: 6405-5512, 6407-3532
Russian songs -- Cheng Zhi and Wang Xiufeng will lead the chorus
featuring old Soviet songs, sung by the chorus of the Song and
Dance Ensemble of the Political Department of the Chinese People's
Liberation Army.
Familiar songs include "Red Plum Flowers Bloom," "Path," "Night at
the Moscow Suburbs," "Weaving Girls," "Harbour's Night," "Holy
War," "Youth League's Song" and "We Toast."
Time: 7:30 pm, November 29
Place: Beijing Concert Hall, 1 Beixinhuajie
Tel: 6605-5812
Piano solo -- Jiang Chen from the Shanghai Conservatory of Music
will give a piano concert featuring works of Chopin and Beethoven.
Time: 7:30 pm, December 2.
Place: Beijing Concert Hall, 1 Beixinhuajie
Tel: 6605-5812
Military bands -- To greet and prepare for the coming New Year,
the Military Band of the Chinese People's Liberation Army will
perform "Good Morning, Sun," "Captain's Marching," "Careless" and
"Dances with Wolves."
Time: 7:30pm, December 6.
Place: Beijing Concert Hall, 1 Beixinhuajie
Tel: 6605-5812
Folk classics -- Students from the Central Conservatory of Music
will give a folk concert.
The programme includes Chinese songs "Tiema Mountain," "Yi Ethnic
Minority Dance," "River Water," "Horse Racing," "Spring Night on a
Moonlit River," "The Moon Mirrored in Springs" and "Nostalgia."
Time: 7:30 pm, November 29
Place: the Art Salon of Holiday Inn Crowne Plaza, 48 Wangfujing
Dajie
Tel: 6512-5063 or 6513-3388 ext 1209
EVENTS
Photo competition -- The China Women News is holding a nationwide
Hengyuanxiang Cup Photo Competition.
The competition gives both professional and amateur photographers
a chance to show their talents in capturing memorable moments in
Chinese society which is undergoing great changes. Entries from
foreigners who are living or travelling in China are also welcome.
The deadline is November 31, 1998.
The entry photos should be submitted to: The Photography
Department of the China Women News 103 Di'anmen Xidajie, Dongcheng
District, Beijing 100009.
Fujian Opera -- Fujian Opera Festival '97 will be held from
December 1-11 in Beijing.
Five opera houses will stage their latest works in Beijing
Workers' Club during the festival.
Known as "town of operas," Fujian Province has given birth to many
frequent-staged operas over the past few decades.
Featuring the local culture, the operas of the festival include
Gaojia Opera, modern drama, Min Opera and Xiang Opera.
Time: December 1-11
Place: Beijing Workers' Club
Telephone: 6526-5522 ext 2707.
Special tickets -- To celebrate the second birthday of the Youth
Palace, a special ticket is on offer to reward its loyal
clientele.
From this December to February 1998, the 100 yuan ticket will
provide customers access to the Dancing and Singing Hall, snacks
and four other activities including mini-golf, billiards, pingpong
and electronic games.
Time: December 1997-February 1998.
Place: 68 Xizhimen Nanxiaojie, Xicheng District
Tel: 6615-2211 ext 4008
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_Date: 11/29/97_
_Author: _
_Copyright© by China Daily_

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Updated on September 24, 1997

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_[1]The 15th Party Congress_

_[2]Sep. 12 - Sep.18, 1997_

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[3][LINK] _[4]General Secretary Jiang Zemin's
Report to the 15th Party Congress_
[5][LINK] _[6]New Party Leadership elected,
Top Leaders' Profiles_
[7][LINK] _[8]Communique of 15th CPC Central
Committee's First Plenum_

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Feedback: [9]cd...@chinadaily.net

_Copyright by CBnet ®, China Daily Information_

References

1. http://www.chinadaily.net/cndy/history/15/engtg124.html
2. http://www.chinadaily.net/cndy/history/15/engtg124.html
3. http://www.chinadaily.net/cndy/history/15/report.html
4. http://www.chinadaily.net/cndy/history/15/report.html
5. http://www.chinadaily.net/cndy/history/15/engtgb46.html
6. http://www.chinadaily.net/cndy/history/15/engtgb46.html
7. http://www.chinadaily.net/cndy/history/15/engtgb09.html
8. http://www.chinadaily.net/cndy/history/15/engtgb09.html
9. mailto:cd...@chinadaily.net

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[2][LINK]

[3][LINK]

[4][LINK]

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_Chinese, U.S. Presidents Hold Press Conference _

WASHINGTON, October 30 (Xinhua) -- Chinese President Jiang
Zemin and U.S. President Bill Clinton have agreed that China
and the United States should strengthen cooperation in
building a strategic partnership oriented toward the 21st
century, with a view to promoting world peace and
development.
This was stated by Jiang during a joint press conference by
the two presidents Wednesday.
The two presidents also shared the view of holding regular
visits between the two countries' heads of state,
facilitating a Washington-Beijing presidential communications
link, triggering the mechanism of a regular exchange of
visits by foreign ministers and other cabinet officials, as
well as strengthening cooperation in economic, scientific and
technological, cultural, educational fields and in law
enforcement.
Jiang described his talks with Clinton as "constructive and
fruitful," and believed that his ongoing visit could attain
the goal of enhancing mutual understanding, broadening common
ground, developing cooperation and building the future.
The two presidents also agreed to handle bilateral relations
and differences in line with the principles of mutual
respect, non-interference in each other's internal affairs,
equality and mutual benefit, and seeking common ground while
putting aside differences.
Clinton said that Jiang's visit to the United States gave
them the opportunity and the responsibility to build a future
that is more secure, more peaceful, more prosperous for both
peoples.
The two countries share a profound interest in a stable,
prosperous and open Asia, and a strong interest in stopping
the spread of weapons of mass destruction and other
sophisticated weaponry, Clinton said.
He said he agreed to move ahead with the U.S.-China agreement
for cooperation concerning the peaceful use of nuclear
energy.
In both China and the United States, trade has been a
critical catalyst for growth, and China is the fastest
growing market in the world for America's goods and services,
Clinton said. He also said the United States would "do
everything possible to bring China into the World Trade
Organization."
Referring to the Taiwan issue, Jiang said that China wishes
to effect the peaceful reunification of the motherland by
means of implementing Deng Xiaoping's concept of "one
country, two systems."
But China is not committed to giving up the use of force in
this regard, he said, adding that this does not target the
Taiwan compatriots, but direct against the foreign force
interfering in Taiwan affairs and against the scheme that
would attempt to separate Taiwan from China.
On the human rights issue, Jiang said the current world is a
rich and diverse one, and concepts on democracy and human
rights and on freedoms are relative and specific ones.
Therefore, they should be determined by the specific national
situation of different countries.

References

1. http://www.chinadaily.net/cndy/history/visit/report.htm
2. http://www.chinadaily.net/cndy/history/visit/d1-jiang_j15.htm
3. http://www.chinadaily.net/cndy/history/visit/comment.htm
4. http://www.chinadaily.net/cndy/history/visit/backgrnd.htm

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