CHINA / Backgrounder
Ancient Period
(chinadaily.com.cn)
Updated: 2003-07-21 19:03
Zuozhen Man -- as Ancient as Peking Man
Taiwan was part of mainland land mass 30,000-20,000 years ago, when the
primitive people of Taiwan, mainland Zuozhen Man, were already living
there. When the sea level rose during the Ice Age 15,000 years ago, the
land link between Taiwan and the mainland was submerged.
Modern archaeology has traced Taiwan's connection with the Chinese
mainland back to primeval history. Human fossils of Zuozhen Man have been
discovered by archaeologists in Zuozhen Town, Tainan County, in the south
of the province. Zuozhen Man inhabited the area more than 30,000 years
ago, during the same period as Peking Man, or the Upper Cave Man, whose
fossils were found at Zhoukoudian near Beijing. Stone and bone utensils
and earthenware later uncovered in Zuozhen were found to be very similar
to the old-stone-age artifacts excavated in different parts of the
mainland. The colored and black earthenware dug up in the Fengbitou area
of Kaohsiung County were found to be products of the southeastern coastal
areas of the mainland. They are relics of the "geometrically-impressed
pottery culture" developed in the middle and lower reaches of the Yellow
River, the coastal areas, and southern parts of the mainland. These
artifacts stand testimony to the national ties between progenitors of the
inhabitants of Taiwan and of the mainland.
In July 1980, archaeologists in Taiwan exhumed a large number of stone
coffins in Pinan Township, Taidong County. Many of the stone utensils,
jade ware, and pottery shards uncovered on this site were those used by
inhabitants 2,000 to 3,000 years ago. Date authentication of these
artifacts and research into the cultural characteristics of these early
dwellers indicate that they bore a strong resemblance to the primitive
Yuepu people from the southern mainland. Based on these findings,
Taiwan's "Research Society into the Sources of Historical Sites"
announced that Taiwan's cultural source is the mainland. The earliest
settlers in Taiwan came directly from the southeastern coast of China's
mainland.
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