Li Ji (Chinese: 李濟; July 12, 1896 – August 1, 1979), also commonly romanized as Li Chi, was an influential Chinese archaeologist. He is considered to be one of the foremost figures in modern Chinese archaeology and his work was instrumental in proving the historical authenticity of the Shang Dynasty.[1][2][3][4]
Li Ji came from a wealthy family of Hubei province, where, in 1896, he was born in the city of Zhongxiang. After his graduation from the Tsinghua University in Beijing he moved to the United States in 1918 to study psychology at Clark University in Worcester, Massachusetts. After he had earned a BA in psychology and a MA in sociology at Clark, he moved on to Harvard University to study anthropology. There he studied in particular with Alfred Tozzer (archeology), Roland Burrage Dixon (anthropology) and Earnest Hooton (anthropology) and was awarded a PhD in 1923. His dissertation was later published by Harvard University Press under the title The Formation of the Chinese People: an Anthropological Inquiry (1928). Li Ji returned to China and began teaching anthropology and sociology at Nankai University and later at Tsinghua University. In 1925 and 1926 he conducted archeological excavations of the Yangshao culture in the southern part of the Shanxi province, for which he was invited to join the Freer Gallery of Art in Washington D.C. as a field worker. In 1928 he became the first director of the archeology department of the Academica Sinica while continuing to work for the Freer Gallery.[1][4][5]
Li Ji led the excavations at Yinxu near Anyang from 1928 to 1937 until the outbreak of the Second Sino-Japanese War prevented further work. Regarded as the first set of archaeological excavations following modern archaeological principles in China, these excavations yielded the discovery of a royal palace and over 300 graves, including 4 royal ones. The recovered artefacts comprised among others early bronze casts and a large number of oracle bones, which represent the earliest significant body of ancient Chinese writing. Those findings finally established historical authenticity of the Shang Dynasty, which had still been a subject of debate up to that point.[2][3]
After the war Li Ji fled to Taiwan when the communist forces under Mao Zedong took power in mainland China. There he became the head of the archeology and anthropology departments of the National Taiwan University in Taipei. He died on August 1 of 1979 in Taipei.[1][4]
During his career Li mentored a generation of Chinese archaeologists including Xia Nai, Kwang-chih Chang, and Guo Baojun.
Influence
Chinese Modern Archaeology
In 1929, the excavation of Yinxu personally presided over by Li Ji did not focus on finding oracle bones, but pottery, animal bones, and bronzes were given equal attention as specimens. When working in the field, use the digging method to excavate. During the excavation in the second half of 1929, Li Ji also asked Zhang Weiran to measure a more detailed topographic map of the Yinxu. All of this shows that the excavators attached great importance to the spatial location of the unearthed objects. However, in the excavation of strata, Li Ji followed his horizontal stratum excavation method in Xiyin Village, Xia County. It marked that the excavation of Yinxu in 1929 completely broke away from the category of epigraphy and began to truly move towards the road of modern field archaeology.[6]
And this layering method promoted the excavation of Yinxu. In 1931, the excavation of the Hougang of Yinxu revealed that the three cultural layers of Xiaotun, Longshan and Yangshao were superimposed and accumulated, and confirmed the sequence of ancient Chinese cultural evolution.
Yinxu and the origin of Chinese culture
The exploration of the cultural origin of Yinxu and the reconstruction of ancient history, the former is an archaeological problem, and the latter is a historical problem, but the two are interrelated. The exploration of the cultural origin of Yinxu is the basis for the reconstruction of ancient history. At the beginning of the excavation of Yinxu, the excavators paid attention to the origin of Yinxu culture. During the third excavation of Yinxu in 1929, Li Ji discussed the pioneers of the "Xiaotun Culture" based on a piece of painted pottery unearthed in the strata.
Li Ji's Views on Archaeology
Although Li Ji presided over the excavation of Yinxu in order to find the origin of Chinese civilization and refuted Andersson's statement about Chinese culture, he was always vigilant that he could not fall into the myth of nationalism. He criticized the "cultural centralism" prejudice of Western sinologists, and needed to pay attention to the uniqueness of Eastern civilization. On the other hand, he also criticized the limitations of Chinese scholars and paid too much attention to cultural exchanges in East Asia and surrounding areas.[7]
Works
1928: The Formation of the Chinese People: an Anthropological Inquiry
1932: Manchuria in History: a summary
1957: The Beginnings of Chinese Civilization
1977: Anyang
Notes
^ abc Gina L. Barnes: Li Chi. In: Neil Asher Silberman (ed.), Alexander A. Bauer (ed.): The Oxford Companion to Archaeology - Band 1. Oxford University Press, 2012, ISBN9780199735785, p. 223
^ ab Timothy Murray: Milestones in Archaeology. A chronological encyclopedia. ABC-CLIO, Santa Barbara California 2007, ISBN978-1-57607-186-1, pp. 388 (online copy, p. 388, at Google Books)
^ ab Barbara Ann Kipfer: Encyclopedic Dictionary of Archaeology. Kluwer Acad./Plenum Publ., New York NY 2000, ISBN0-306-46158-7, p. 310-311 (online copy, p. 311, at Google Books)
^ abcK.C. Chang: Li Chi: 1896-1979. Asian Perspectives, Vol. 23, No. 2 (1980), pp. 317-321 (JSTOR)
^ "Li Chi". Encyclopædia Britannica Online. Retrieved 17 May 2017.
^唐际根 荆志淳 (2018). "殷墟考古九十年回眸:从"大邑商"到世界文化遗产". Archaeology. 2. Retrieved 1 April 2022.
^Peng, Peng (1 October 2021). "Decentralizing the Origin of Civilization: Early Archaeological Efforts in China". History of Humanities. 6 (2): 515–548. doi:10.1086/715935. ISSN 2379-3163. Retrieved 1 April 2022.
Further reading
Clayton D. Brown: Li Ji: Father of Chinese Archaeology. In: Orientations Vol. 39, No. 3, April 2008, ISSN 0030-5448, p. 61-66.
archaeologist, this, chinese, name, family, name, chinese, 李濟, july, 1896, august, 1979, also, commonly, romanized, influential, chinese, archaeologist, considered, foremost, figures, modern, chinese, archaeology, work, instrumental, proving, historical, authe. In this Chinese name the family name is Li Li Ji Chinese 李濟 July 12 1896 August 1 1979 also commonly romanized as Li Chi was an influential Chinese archaeologist He is considered to be one of the foremost figures in modern Chinese archaeology and his work was instrumental in proving the historical authenticity of the Shang Dynasty 1 2 3 4 Li Ji李濟Li Ji ca 1940 Born 1896 07 12 July 12 1896Zhongxiang Hubei Qing dynastyDiedAugust 1 1979 1979 08 01 aged 83 Taipei TaiwanNationalityChineseOccupation s Archaeologist professorKnown forModern Chinese archaeologyAcademic backgroundEducationTsinghua UniversityClark UniversityHarvard UniversityThesis The Formation of the Chinese People an Anthropological Inquiry 1928 InfluencesAlfred Tozzer Roland Burrage Dixon Earnest HootonAcademic workDisciplineArchaeology anthropology sociology psychologySub disciplineChinese prehistory Ancient Chinese history archaeology of the Shang dynastyInstitutionsNankai UniversityTsinghua UniversityFreer Gallery of ArtAcademia SinicaNational Taiwan UniversityNotable studentsXia Nai Kwang chih Chang Contents 1 Biography 2 Influence 2 1 Chinese Modern Archaeology 2 2 Yinxu and the origin of Chinese culture 2 3 Li Ji s Views on Archaeology 3 Works 4 Notes 5 Further reading 6 External linksBiography EditLi Ji came from a wealthy family of Hubei province where in 1896 he was born in the city of Zhongxiang After his graduation from the Tsinghua University in Beijing he moved to the United States in 1918 to study psychology at Clark University in Worcester Massachusetts After he had earned a BA in psychology and a MA in sociology at Clark he moved on to Harvard University to study anthropology There he studied in particular with Alfred Tozzer archeology Roland Burrage Dixon anthropology and Earnest Hooton anthropology and was awarded a PhD in 1923 His dissertation was later published by Harvard University Press under the title The Formation of the Chinese People an Anthropological Inquiry 1928 Li Ji returned to China and began teaching anthropology and sociology at Nankai University and later at Tsinghua University In 1925 and 1926 he conducted archeological excavations of the Yangshao culture in the southern part of the Shanxi province for which he was invited to join the Freer Gallery of Art in Washington D C as a field worker In 1928 he became the first director of the archeology department of the Academica Sinica while continuing to work for the Freer Gallery 1 4 5 Li Ji led the excavations at Yinxu near Anyang from 1928 to 1937 until the outbreak of the Second Sino Japanese War prevented further work Regarded as the first set of archaeological excavations following modern archaeological principles in China these excavations yielded the discovery of a royal palace and over 300 graves including 4 royal ones The recovered artefacts comprised among others early bronze casts and a large number of oracle bones which represent the earliest significant body of ancient Chinese writing Those findings finally established historical authenticity of the Shang Dynasty which had still been a subject of debate up to that point 2 3 After the war Li Ji fled to Taiwan when the communist forces under Mao Zedong took power in mainland China There he became the head of the archeology and anthropology departments of the National Taiwan University in Taipei He died on August 1 of 1979 in Taipei 1 4 During his career Li mentored a generation of Chinese archaeologists including Xia Nai Kwang chih Chang and Guo Baojun Influence EditChinese Modern Archaeology Edit In 1929 the excavation of Yinxu personally presided over by Li Ji did not focus on finding oracle bones but pottery animal bones and bronzes were given equal attention as specimens When working in the field use the digging method to excavate During the excavation in the second half of 1929 Li Ji also asked Zhang Weiran to measure a more detailed topographic map of the Yinxu All of this shows that the excavators attached great importance to the spatial location of the unearthed objects However in the excavation of strata Li Ji followed his horizontal stratum excavation method in Xiyin Village Xia County It marked that the excavation of Yinxu in 1929 completely broke away from the category of epigraphy and began to truly move towards the road of modern field archaeology 6 And this layering method promoted the excavation of Yinxu In 1931 the excavation of the Hougang of Yinxu revealed that the three cultural layers of Xiaotun Longshan and Yangshao were superimposed and accumulated and confirmed the sequence of ancient Chinese cultural evolution Yinxu and the origin of Chinese culture Edit The exploration of the cultural origin of Yinxu and the reconstruction of ancient history the former is an archaeological problem and the latter is a historical problem but the two are interrelated The exploration of the cultural origin of Yinxu is the basis for the reconstruction of ancient history At the beginning of the excavation of Yinxu the excavators paid attention to the origin of Yinxu culture During the third excavation of Yinxu in 1929 Li Ji discussed the pioneers of the Xiaotun Culture based on a piece of painted pottery unearthed in the strata Li Ji s Views on Archaeology Edit Although Li Ji presided over the excavation of Yinxu in order to find the origin of Chinese civilization and refuted Andersson s statement about Chinese culture he was always vigilant that he could not fall into the myth of nationalism He criticized the cultural centralism prejudice of Western sinologists and needed to pay attention to the uniqueness of Eastern civilization On the other hand he also criticized the limitations of Chinese scholars and paid too much attention to cultural exchanges in East Asia and surrounding areas 7 Works Edit1928 The Formation of the Chinese People an Anthropological Inquiry 1932 Manchuria in History a summary 1957 The Beginnings of Chinese Civilization 1977 AnyangNotes Edit a b c Gina L Barnes Li Chi In Neil Asher Silberman ed Alexander A Bauer ed The Oxford Companion to Archaeology Band 1 Oxford University Press 2012 ISBN 9780199735785 p 223 a b Timothy Murray Milestones in Archaeology A chronological encyclopedia ABC CLIO Santa Barbara California 2007 ISBN 978 1 57607 186 1 pp 388 online copy p 388 at Google Books a b Barbara Ann Kipfer Encyclopedic Dictionary of Archaeology Kluwer Acad Plenum Publ New York NY 2000 ISBN 0 306 46158 7 p 310 311 online copy p 311 at Google Books a b c K C Chang Li Chi 1896 1979 Asian Perspectives Vol 23 No 2 1980 pp 317 321 JSTOR Li Chi Encyclopaedia Britannica Online Retrieved 17 May 2017 唐际根 荆志淳 2018 殷墟考古九十年回眸 从 大邑商 到世界文化遗产 Archaeology 2 Retrieved 1 April 2022 Peng Peng 1 October 2021 Decentralizing the Origin of Civilization Early Archaeological Efforts in China History of Humanities 6 2 515 548 doi 10 1086 715935 ISSN 2379 3163 Retrieved 1 April 2022 Further reading EditClayton D Brown Li Ji Father of Chinese Archaeology In Orientations Vol 39 No 3 April 2008 ISSN 0030 5448 p 61 66 Henrika Kuklik A new History of Anthropology Wiley 2008 ISBN 978 0 631 22600 0 p 214 215 online copy p 214 at Google Books External links EditLi Chi at Britannica Online Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Li Ji archaeologist amp oldid 1114483905, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
