중화문명탐원공정 이후 중국의 대형 역사･고고 프로젝트

Abstract

China conducted the Project to Trace the Origins of Chinese Civilization(中華文明探源工程) with the goal of archaeologically proving the existence of the Age of the Five Emperors(五帝時代). It was officially declared that 5000 years of Chinese civilization had been archaeologically proven. Recently, the ‘Archaeological China(考古中國)’ Major Project is underway. The scope of the research is from the Paleolithic period to the Ming and Qing dynasties, and it is the largest historical and archaeological project in terms of scale and duration. The project aims to archaeologically prove that there is an unbroken historical continuity within the current territory of China, from the Paleolithic to the Ming and Qing dynasties to the present day, albeit with diversity, but ultimately within the framework of one China. To facilitate the achievement of these goals, the 14th Five-Year Archaeological Special Plan(十四五考古專項規劃) has been established as an institutional backing. This Special Plan does not just support research, but all aspects of archaeological research, including financial and administrative management, construction of scientific analysis equipment, publication of reports, publicity, and talent development. China's implementation and institutional support of state-led research projects will eventually be criticized for actively using archaeology to solve historical and political problems, and it will also have to overcome criticisms from overseas scholars of monolithic historical narratives that seem to acknowledge the plurality of cultures or civilizations but ultimately boil down to one. However, it cannot be ignored that diverse research carried out in an environment of abundance and full state support has its own academic achievements.