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Renowned Archaeologist Celebrates 80th Birthday

The Chinese archaeological fraternity recently celebrated the birthday of one of the nation's most well-known archaeologists, Shi Xingbang, in Xi'an, capital of Northwest China's Shaanxi Province, which is noted for its archaeological finds.

The ceremony drew a large gathering of his colleagues, friends and students, some of them having traveled to Xi'an from other parts of the country.

At the same time, a large volume of dedications to Shi's achievements was published.

An established scholar, Shi has devoted the best part of his 80 years to archaeology. During his career, Shi has made exciting discoveries that have helped rewrite ancient Chinese history.

His life has been punctuated by excitement and magical discoveries.

Born in Shaanxi, Shi experienced many of his thrilling moments in his home province, as its chief archaeologist and director of the Shaanxi Provincial Institute of Archaeology.

Among his major contributions to modern Chinese archaeology was the discovery of Banpo Village, the first prehistory Neolithic settlement to be unearthed in China.

He led the excavation in 1954. In the following years, Shi and his colleagues were able to uncover an area of about 50,000 square meters.

In the ancient settlement, there were a living quarter, a pottery-making center and a cemetery. The village dates back more than 6,000 years.

From the digs, Shi and his colleagues unearthed plenty of painted crockery fragments, vegetable and grain seeds, polished stone tools for farming and hunting, and the bones of domesticated animals.

There were also foundations of three kinds of primitive houses.

The Banpo site is now universally considered the best example of a Chinese Neolithic agricultural settlement. An on-the-site museum was constructed there in 1957.

"That was an exciting time," Shi recalled.

Shi has since left his footprints throughout China, especially in the provinces along the Yangtze River valley, where he led teams to conduct archaeological surveys in the late 1950s and early 1970s.

He discovered and dug out several Neolithic sites in the valley.

The teams' efforts laid the foundation for the future completion of archaeological investigations and excavations before the launch of the Three Gorges Dam.

The 1973 excavation of the No 2 Tomb of the Mawangdwui Han Tombs in Changsha, capital of Central China's Hunan Province, was another exciting moment in Shi's career.

He also led the official excavation of the underground chamber beneath the Famen Temple Pagoda in the summer of 1987.

From the underground chamber in the well-known Famen Buddhist Temple, Shi and other researchers unearthed some 20,000 gold, silver, jade and silk relics.

The most important finds were the four finger-bone relics of Sakyamuni. Today, the temple has become a shrine for the study of Buddhist culture in the Tang Dynasty (AD 618-907).

Shi's father was a farmer in Shaanxi Province's Yaoxian County. "Seeing my potential and desire to study, my father sent me to a local primary school when I was 8," Shi said.

"My father had no formal education, but was a smart and foresighted man. He was well respected in our village and held the post of village head for many years."

Shi persisted with his high school education during the arduous "War of Resistance against Japan" (1937-45).

In 1944, with the top score in the provincial high school graduation exam, Shi enrolled in the Central University in Nanking (today's Nanjing in East China's Jiangsu Province), where he studied politics, English, Western philosophy, Mongolian and anthropology, among other subjects.

In 1949, he entered Zhejiang University as a graduate student, majoring in physical anthropology and later archaeology.

Modern field archaeology in China started in the 1920s, but wars and disasters hindered its development in the next 20 years.

It was only after the founding of New China in 1949 that "modern" archaeology resumed, with the establishment of the new Institute of Archaeology under the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.

Soon after, Shi started taking part in excavations in several areas. The major digs included the ruins of the Shang Dynasty (1600-1046 BC) in Central China's Henan Province, a Ming Dynasty (1368-1644) imperial concubine's tomb at the Summer Palace in Beijing and a tomb of the Chu Kingdom from the Warring States Period (475-221 BC) in Central China's Hunan Province.

Shi gained invaluable knowledge while in the field. But he was not able to pursue archaeology during the "cultural revolution" (1966-76) -- a period that he regards as a "waste of time."

In between his busy work schedule, Shi has taught and trained numerous students, written and edited archaeological books, presided over international symposiums, and established links between the Shaanxi Institute of Archaeology and research institutes in Germany and the United States.

He has been editor and a writer for the Archaeological Volume of the Chinese Great Encyclopedia.

"I owe half of my achievements to my wife," Shi said.

Chang Jingpo, two years Shi's junior, was an English teacher before retirement. They have been married for more than 50 years.

"It's not easy to be his wife," Chang says. "I had to do all the housework." Chang said she endured particular hardship in the 1950s, when she bore their three sons and Shi was away in the field.

"I was fortunate to have my mother and sisters to help me take care of our children," she said.

Despite his age, Shi is still full of energy and passion. Shi said he was very lucky to become a student of and later an assistant to Xia Nai, who was the first head of the country's Institute of Archaeology.

Shi regards the period as a turning point in his life. "Xia is one of the great modern Chinese archaeologists," Shi says.

"He taught me that to be a real archaeologist, you have to first be an honest person.

"I took his words to heart and will remember them all my life."

(China Daily July 13, 2004)

 

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