黃河與長江之間――周代南陽盆地的政治支配與物質文化

Abstract

位於黃河與長江之間的南陽盆地，自新石器時代起，便是溝通中國北方黃河流域與南方長江流域最重要的交通通道。然而，在考古學以「文化核心」與歷史學以「政治核心」為論述架構的典範下，長期以來，以南陽盆地為主體的研究受到學界忽視。換言之，在不同考古學文化的論述中，諸如仰韶文化、屈家嶺文化、周文化、楚文化，以及在不同國別史的研究裡，諸如西周史、楚國史、秦國史，或顯或隱，或多或少，都可以見到南陽盆地的身影。但是，由於南陽盆地是南北雙邊典型考古學文化與政治集團的「中間地帶」，因此在上述的研究中，南陽盆地的物質文化與歷史發展，總是被考古學與歷史學一再切割，而我們對南陽盆地的認識，也始終見樹不見林。必須指出的是，夾在黃河與長江之間的南陽盆地，其實自新石器時代起，就已經發展出又南又北且獨樹一幟的歷史面貌。當地的歷史發展，自有其內在理路。因此，本研究的首要目的，便是利用考古材料與傳世文獻，建構南陽盆地自新石器時代至戰國時期的區域發展史。 其次，根據傳世文獻記載，進入周代以後，南陽盆地先後歷經周王朝、楚國與秦國的統治，而中國大陸的考古學者，往往依此架構，將南陽盆地周代的考古學文化，先後區分為周文化、楚文化與秦文化三大階段。這種以「朝代」或「國別」為考古學文化命名的方式，預設具有相同「歷史背景」的人群，必定使用相同的「物質文化」。特定區域上層統治集團的更迭，可以是一朝一夕的事，但特定區域物質文化的演變，卻往往必須歷經數十年甚至數百年的光陰。因此，筆者認為，雖然以「朝代」或「國別」為考古學文化命名有其合理性與便利性，但政治支配是否真的與物質文化的變化緊密相連，仍有進一步討論的空間。南陽盆地恰好位於北方周朝、南方楚國與西方秦國的「中間地帶」，先後更歷經這三大政治集團的支配，是故，這個地區正是檢驗政治支配與物質文化互動關係的最佳場域。

Nanyang Basin, between the Yellow and Yangzi Rivers, is the most important transportation channel to communicate the northern and southern China since the Neolithic Age. In spite of being geographically significant, this region were seldom dealt with by historians and archaeologists. The key factor is that Nanyang Basin is neither political center nor cultural center. In fact, we can find different kinds of historical researches and archaeological excavations related to Nanyang Basin. However, being the middle area of political groups and archaeological cultures in the ancient China, Nanyang Basin’s historical development and material culture are fragmentary in the scope of our knowledge. What must point out is that Nanyang Basin has had its own particular history since the Neolithic Age. Therefore, the first aim of this dissertation is to construct regional history of Nanyang Basin from the Neolithic Age to Warring States Period based on historical narratives and archaeological evidences. Secondly, according to historical texts, the political entities of Zhou, Chu and Qin had ruled Nanyang Basin in succession during Zhou Dynasty, so archaeologists sort the archaeological culture into three periods: the cultures of Zhou, Chu and Qin. Calling archaeological culture after dynasty or political entities presumes that people who have the same historical background share the same material culture. This area was within the sphere of influence of different political entities, but it would be a highly sophisticated question about delimiting a boundary of material culture, which is developed gradually over a relatively long time. Consequently, the relation between political domination and material culture is still an ambiguous issue. Nanyang Basin, the middle area among the northern Zhou, southern Chu and western Qin, provides us radical rethinking of the interaction between the political domination and material culture.