Objects from the Taosi ruins in Shanxi Province that suggest Chinese civilization began around 4200 B.C., 500 years earlier than scholars had previously believed, will be displayed in the Capital Museum from July 29 to Oct. 10.
The Capital Museum and the Archaeology Institute of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences will hold an archaeological exhibition containing the major achievements of the Archaeology Institute in the past 60 years and 70 percent of the content will be exhibited to the public for the first time.
It is generally believed that Chinese civilization began with the Xia Dynasty. However, recent archaeological discoveries at the Taosi ruins in Xiangfen County, Shanxi Province suggest the elements that form a civilization, including written characters, bronze ware and cities, all emerged as early as the Yao Dynasty.
Wangwei, director of the Archaeology Institute of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, said the recent archaeological achievements at the Taosi ruins will be displayed in the exhibition, and as one of the projects that retraces the origins of Chinese civilization, those discoveries will "change history."
Source: People’s Daily Online [July 23, 2010]