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【博雅双语名家名作】李济：中国文明的开始（三）
The Beginnings of Chinese Civilization中国文明的开始
作者简介：李济，哈佛大学哲学博士，考古学、人类学家，中国考古学之父，对西阴村、安阳和城子崖考古发掘的领导影响了20世纪下半叶中国考古学的发展。
内容简介：结集李济在在考古学、人类学领域最具代表性的英文论文，如在华盛顿大学介绍“使殷商文化由传说变为信史”的安阳殷墟发掘的演讲和分析中国现代考古学科形成、考证中华民族起源的文章。
Important as these inscribed bones are, the associated finds are no less so. Inasmuch as the time can be approximately defined, the material culture, as revealed in the artifacts contemporaneous with this period, can both substantiate the verbal statements on the bones and, to an even greater extent, supplement them. A great deal of our knowledge concerning the culture of this period depends almost entirely on such finds. For instance, it would be difficult to find out from the inscriptions whether the Shang people of this period were still in the stone age or had already begun to use metals; if they used metals, to what extent. The stone or metal objects themselves furnish the exact data. By means of careful stratigraphical study we know for certain now that the Shang people of this period had already mastered to a very advanced degree the secret of casting bronze. They made weapons, ceremonial vessels, and many ornaments of this metal, and developed an extensive bronze industry right on the spot, as proved by the remains of moulds, bronze ore, and slags attached by copper rust. But at the same time, the copper and tin supply must have been somewhat limited, so a great number of utensils were still made both of bronze and stones, such as axes and knives, etc. That it is possible to show and prove that in this period people were using both stone and metals, is, I believe, a great contribution to our knowledge of early Chinese history, and at the same time furnishes new materials for students who are interested in the migrations of early cultures.这些刻有文字的甲骨固然重要，相关发现的重要性也同样不可忽视。由于可以大体确定这一文化所处的时期，同时期的史前器物所反映的物质文化，不仅可以证实甲骨上的文字内容，而且还能更进一步地补充这些文字内容。我们关于这一时期文化的许多认识几乎完全依赖于这些发现。例如，从甲骨文中，我们还难以确定：这一时期的商人是仍处于石器时代，还是已经开始使用金属；如果他们使用金属，到什么程度。石器或金属实物本身提供了这方面的确切资料。经过仔细的地层研究，我们现已确知，这一时期的商人已经掌握了相当先进的铸铜技术。他们用青铜来制造兵器、礼器和饰品，在当地发展起了庞大的青铜业，此点可由当地出土的铸模、铜矿以及带有铜锈的熔渣证明。但与此同时，铜、锡的供应必定有限，因此还有大量的器皿，如斧头和刀子等，都是用青铜和石头混合制造的。笔者认为，对这一时期人们可能既使用石器又使用金属这一事实的表现和佐证，大大增加了我们对于中国早期历史的认识，同时也为对早期文化迁移有兴趣的学者提供了新的材料。
Ceramics, which are basic archaeological materials, have been found in great quantity. They consist of many fundamentally different types, easily proven to be an aggregation of different local productions, as is to be expected of a metropolitan culture. One of the amazing discoveries concerning this industry is its use of glaze, the beginning of which has been hitherto considered to be sometime in the Han Dynasty. In spite of its aggregative character, the ceramics on the whole share certain individual traits typical of this period. For instance they are all monochrome and decorated by incised lines, entirely different from the aëneolithic Yang-shao ceramics, which are polychrome and decorated by paintings. Survivals of Yang-shao wares were discovered on this site. This discovery is of some importance because it helps to determine the lower limit of the age of Yang-shao which has never been definitely fixed.陶器——考古学的基本材料之一——已被大量发现。所发现的陶器包含许多迥异的类型，显然证明了这是不同产地陶器的汇聚，这正如人们预想中的大都市文化一样。关于这一行业的一项惊人发现是釉的使用。此前学界一直认为，釉的使用最早是在汉代。尽管这些陶器是从四面八方汇聚而来，但总体上都有这一时期陶器的几个典型特征。比如，它们都是单色的，刻有装饰线条，完全不同于仰韶新石器时代那种多色、绘饰的陶器。仰韶时期器皿的遗存也发现于这一遗址。这一发现的意义在于，它有助于确定此前一直未能确定的仰韶时期的时间下限。
The finds also contain many decorative works of shell, stone, and bone, illustrating profusely the art of the period. The decorative elements on the whole are quite consonant with the traditional ideas relating to the art of the period, only proving to be more luxurious. When they are worked out, it will be possible to determine the relationship with the various surrounding centers that were contemporaneous with this culture.出土物中还包括许多装饰性的贝壳、石、骨等，充分展示了这一时期的艺术。这些装饰性元素从总体上看与有关这一时期艺术的传统观念相符，只是更加丰富多彩。待这些元素得以确定，就有可能确定它们与同时期周边文化中心之间的关系。
These are only a few examples of the finds from this site; many are still in the hands of specialists whose opinions are being awaited as to their real significance. Even these few are sufficient to show the general nature of the contents and the importance that may be attached to them. From an archaeological viewpoint it is most fortunate that this site should have been chosen for the first serious work. When the materials are thoroughly studied they will help to clarify many difficult problems and serve as standard of definite value by which others may be compared and judged. In other words we have got a key site in North China, gradually worked out and found a guide to direct our search in the archaeological maze of the Yellow River Valley.以上只是有关这一遗址出土物的几个例子，更多的例子还在专家们的手里，其真正的重要性还有待专家的意见。不过，仅这几例已足以表明这些发现的一般性质及其可能具备的重要性。从考古学的角度来看，选择这一遗址作为第一个正式发掘点是十分幸运的。材料经过彻底研究后，会有助于澄清许多难题，并充当绝对价值标准，以资参照、判断。换言之，我们已经在华北地区发现了一个颇为关键的遗址，并逐渐摸索得出了一个指引我们在黄河流域考古谜宫探索的指南。
Future Prospect未来展望
The work of the Institute has already created a widespread interest in archaeological excavation in China. To follow up this work many plans have been made by various universities and museums to excavate early remains. It can be safely predicted therefore that as soon as the country is politically settled there will be a flourishing period of archaeological diggings. But from practical experience can we say anything about the archaeological prospects of this country?史语所的工作已在中国引发了一阵广泛的考古发掘的热潮。紧接着这一工作之后，许多大学和博物馆制订计划，准备发掘早期遗址。因此，可以大胆预测，一旦国家政治上安定下来，马上会有一个繁忙的考古发掘期到来。不过，就实践经验而言，我们对于本国的考古前景可以说些什么呢 ?
I have been told that when Sir Flinders Petrie first went to Egypt in 1880 he was not at all encouraged by any of his senior workers; the fact was that Egypt seemed to many experts at that time to have been archaeologically exhausted. Fifty years have now passed since his first triangulation of the Pyramids in Gizeh, and many undreamed of discoveries have been made, one after another in this period; yet, to this day, Egyptology seems to be a field for young archaeologists just as alluring as it was fifty years ago. China possesses an ancient tradition and is just beginning to be explored. Results of the recent works prove most substantially that the spade can work just as many wonders here as it did in other old countries. The forgotten history of China will certainly be written on materials to be recovered from this source, as has been the case with Mesopotamia, Egypt, Greece, and Rome.有人曾经告诉笔者说，1880 年派特力前往埃及时，没有一个前辈鼓励他；在那时的许多专家看来，从考古学意义上讲，埃及早已考之殆尽，无可再考。自他对吉萨的金字塔进行三角定位以来，已经五十年过去了。在这段时期里，许多前人连做梦都未想到过的发现却一个接一个出现了。直到今天为止，对于年轻的考古学家来说，埃及学仍像半个世纪前那样充满魅力。中国有着古老的传统，探索才刚刚开始。最近的工作结果充分证明，一把铁锹在其他古国可以发现奇迹，在中国同样可以发现奇迹。同美索不达米亚、埃及、希腊、罗马一样，有了这一源头所发掘出的资料，中国被遗忘的历史必将被重新书写。
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