(Article and Photo/Yan Xiuting, Review/Pu Chuanxin, Ma Jun)

On the afternoon of 11 April, the 10th Marxism Academic Workshop "Modern Chinese Civilisation in Multidisciplinary Perspective" was successfully held. Assistant Professor Li Xiaolong of the Institute of Cultural Heritage made a keynote speech entitled "From Diversity to Unity: The Origin of Chinese Civilization in the Perspective of Archaeology", while Associate Professor Shi Jiangang of the Institute of Cultural Heritage and Associate Professor Zhao Haixia of the School of Marxism held a dialogue and discussion, which was enthusiastic and exciting on the spot.

In the keynote speech, firstly, Assistant Professor Li Xiaolong gave us a detailed overview of the historical evolution of the Chinese nation from the Early Neolithic, Middle and Late Neolithic Periods from a professional archaeological perspective, demonstrating the successive development of the Chinese civilisation from pluralism to unity, with ups and downs as well as divergences and mergers, and highly summarising the characteristics of the Chinese culture in five aspects, i.e. continuity, innovativeness, unity, inclusiveness, and peacefulness. Secondly, he pointed out that Chinese civilisation has gradually formed its cultural genes with the core of "respect for heaven and the law of the ancestors" in the process of 10,000 years of foundation, 8,000 years of origin, 5,000 years of formation, and 4,000 years of development (unification), which is the fundamental reason for the continuous development of Chinese civilisation to the present day. Finally, he pointed out that along the main line of learning and implementing Xi Jinping's cultural thought, we should constantly understand that Chinese civilisation has a long history and is profound and profound, which is the unique spiritual identity of the Chinese nation, the foundation of contemporary Chinese culture, the spiritual bond that connects Chinese people all over the world, and also the treasure of Chinese cultural innovation, and he encouraged everyone to carry forward the excellent traditional Chinese culture and enhance cultural self-confidence, and the teachers and students in the audience said that they had benefited a lot from the experience.

In the talk session, Associate Professor Shi Jiangang firstly summarised the speech of Assistant Professor Li Xiaolong, pointing out that the origin of Chinese civilisation was in the Neolithic Age;secondly, from the important cultural symbols of the Neolithic Age ---- "dragon" and "pig", he introduced the inner core of Chinese culture, that is "material and spiritual", and pointed out that this cultural core is continuous and unified, reflecting the unity of Chinese people with heaven and man, and humanism. He pointed out that during the implementation of the project of exploring the origin of Chinese civilisation, we insisted on being guided by dialectical materialism and historical materialism, and adhered to the Marxist view of the state, which states that "the state is the generalisation of civilised society", and took the emergence of the state as a fundamental symbol for judging the entry of a society into civilisation,breaking through the "three elements" of civilisation in the judgement of the Western academic world, and stresses that we should strive to build an archaeology with Chinese characteristics, Chinese style and Chinese influence.

Associate Professor Zhao Haixia firstly expressed her gratitude to Assistant Professor Li Xiaolong and Associate Professor Shi Jiangang, and briefly expressed two points.Firstly, she pointed out that the large-scale investigations and excavations of Yangshao, Liangzhu, Erlitou and other sites had demonstrated that a complex civilisation prevailed in prehistoric China at this stage, providing strong physical evidence of more than 5,000 years of civilised history of the Chinese nation, and vividly interpreting that the origin of the Chinese civilisation was a "star-filled" one，people from all over the world gradually formed common beliefs through mutual exchanges, laying a solid ideological foundation for the formation and development of a unified multi-ethnic state.Secondly, she pointed out that the project of exploring the origins of Chinese civilisation was guided by dialectical materialism and historical materialism, and that through archaeological excavations and multidisciplinary research, it had been proved by solid archaeological materials and comprehensive research results that the history of the Chinese nation's civilisation of more than 5,000 years was a true and credible history. This conclusive understanding is of far-reaching significance for us to understand the long history of Chinese civilisation, enhance historical and cultural confidence, and promote the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation.

As an academic exchange platform established by the university, "Marxism Academic Workshop" is an important form of innovative organised scientific research in the field of philosophy and social sciences of the university. This seminar strengthened the academic concern of teachers and students on "Modern Civilisation of the Chinese Nation under Multi-disciplinary Perspective", deepened the academic exchanges between teachers and students, deepened the understanding of teachers and students on organised scientific research, and built a platform for academic exchanges and seminars.