Pei Wenzhong

Pei Wenzhong

Pei Wenzhong (19 January 1904-18 September 1982), born in Fengnan, Hebei Province, is a member of the academic department of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and a researcher of the Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences.

Pei Wenzhong graduated from the Department of geology of Peking University in 1927. He was the first discoverer of Peking ape skull since 1929. After receiving a doctorate from Paris University in 1937, he returned to China as a technician in the Institute of geological survey of the Ministry of industry, director of Zhoukoudian office and director of Cenozoic research office. He also worked in Peking University, Yanjing University and Beijing Normal University Fan university teaches prehistoric archaeology; he joined the Jiusan Society in 1946; he was a researcher in the Institute of vertebrate paleontology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences in 1954; he was selected as one of the first members of the academic department of the Chinese Academy of Sciences in 1955; he was the director of the Institute of vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences in 1963; he was the director of the Beijing Museum of natural history in 1979; he died in Beijing on September 18, 1982.

Pei Wenzhong is good at Paleolithic archaeology, Quaternary Geology and quaternary mammals; he presided over the excavation of the shandingdongren site and obtained a large number of valuable shandingdongren fossils and cultural relics; after 1949, he actively carried out comprehensive research on the Mesolithic and Neolithic age.

Life of the characters

On January 19, 1904, Pei Wenzhong was born into a poor teacher's family in wazizhuang, Daxinzhuang Township, xugezhuang Town, Fengnan County, Hebei Province.

In 1921, he was admitted to Peking University.

In 1923, he was transferred to the Department of geology of Peking University.

In 1927, after graduating from the Department of geology of Peking University, he worked in Beijing Geological Survey Institute.

In 1928, he was sent to Zhoukoudian to participate in the excavation of paleontological fossils, and was able to independently undertake the comprehensive excavation work.

In 1929, he presided over and participated in the excavation and research of Zhoukoudian in Beijing. The first skull of Chinese ape man was found in Zhoukoudian, which is of great value to the study of Paleoanthropology in the world.

In 1931, the existence of Paleolithic and fire traces was confirmed, which provided an important archaeological basis for Zhoukoudian ancient human site.

In 1935, he went to Paris University to study prehistoric archaeology under the guidance of Professor Bu riye.

In 1937, he received a doctor's degree in natural science from the University of Paris and became a member of the French Geological Society. After returning to China, he served as technical director of Geological Survey Institute of Ministry of industry, director of Zhoukoudian office and director of Cenozoic Research Office, and taught Prehistoric Archaeology in Peking University, Yanjing University and Beijing Normal University.

In 1946, he joined the Jiusan Society.

From 1950 to 1953, he was director of the Museum Department of the social and cultural administration bureau of the Ministry of culture.

In 1954, he was a researcher in the laboratory of paleovertebrates, Chinese Academy of Sciences.

In 1955, he was elected as the first member of the Department of biogeography of the Chinese Academy of Sciences.

In 1957, he was awarded the honorary member of the Royal Society of anthropology.

In 1963, he was the director of paleoanthropology Research Office of Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology, Chinese Academy of Sciences.

In 1979, he was the director of Beijing Natural History Museum. In the same year, he was elected honorary executive director of the association of Prehistory and former historiography of UNESCO.

On September 18, 1982, he died in Beijing.

Main achievements

Achievements in scientific research

Pei Wenzhong believes that the study of labor means remains is the reliable material evidence to restore the development of social production. How to identify artifacts and non-human artifacts has become the key to the theory and practice of prehistoric archaeology. With his keen observation and careful comparative experiments, Pei Wenzhong made clear the difference between man-made striking and natural breaking in the excavation of Zhoukoudian, thus making clear the existence of Chinese ape man stone tools. During his study in France, Pei Wenzhong analyzed the fundamental difference between the stone tools made by human beings and the "pseudolithic tools" formed by nature in combination with the experiments of artificial strike and the natural broken rock samples collected abroad. His doctoral thesis "the role of natural phenomena in the breaking and formation of hard rocks used by prehistoric human beings" has been well received by the academic circles. It not only makes a powerful explanation for the bankruptcy of "dawned stone tools", but also has important practical significance in the methodology of prehistoric archaeology. On the basis of Zhoukoudian's excavated specimens and Cenozoic specimens, Pei Wenzhong studied and analyzed the non artificially broken bone fossils, and pointed out that the causes include the bone fossils bitten by rodents, the bone fossils bitten by carnivores, the claw marks of carnivores, the wrinkles after bone corrosion, and the deformation caused by chemical and water erosion, etc According to the observation and proved by experiments, the nature and characteristics of non artificially broken bone fossils are more clear.

Pei Wenzhong also made a pioneering and in-depth comprehensive study on the cultural system and chronology of the Paleolithic age in China. In 1937, an International Symposium on early human beings was held in Philadelphia, USA. Pei Wenzhong read out "Chinese Paleolithic culture" at the symposium, which was the first comprehensive summary published by Chinese scholars and attracted extensive attention in academic circles. This paper classifies Chinese ape man culture, Hetao culture and shandingdong culture into three stages: early, middle and late, which lays the foundation for the division of Chinese Paleolithic culture and points out that it is different from European Paleolithic culture. In 1955, 1959 and 1965, he published a series of summative papers. According to the new discoveries and studies, he constantly expanded the contents and put forward new ideas, such as replacing the past Hetao culture with Shuidonggou culture and Salawusu River culture. Pei Wenzhong's discussion on the system and stages of Chinese Paleolithic culture is of epoch-making significance in the study of China's Paleolithic age.

Pei Wenzhong also expanded his research field to the Mesolithic and Neolithic age, contributing to the development of Paleolithic Archaeology in China. The study of Prehistory in China is a concrete representative.

The Mesolithic Age in China is the first research topic proposed by Pei Wenzhong. In 1935, a large number of smashed stone tools and individual ground stone tools were found in Guangxi, and the symbiotic animals are living species. Pei Wenzhong suggested that these remains may belong to the Mesolithic Age. Pei Wenzhong investigated and excavated in Inner Mongolia in 1943, denied that this site belonged to Paleolithic remains, treated this site and guxiangtundu in Harbin, Heilongjiang Province as Mesolithic, and emphasized the role of microlithic in this period. Inspired by the above argument, with the increase of new discoveries, Pei Wenzhong has a deeper understanding of the origin, age and distribution of microliths.

Pei Wenzhong also did a lot of field work on Neolithic Archaeology. In 1947, he made a three-month investigation and excavation in the upper reaches of Weihe River in Gansu Province, Hanshui River Basin in Shaanxi Province, Taohe River Basin in Shaanxi Province and near Lanzhou, and found 93 Neolithic sites. Through this investigation, we have a deeper understanding of the distribution and stages of prehistoric remains in Gansu Province, and correct the mistakes in the past, making the first breakthrough in the so-called "six periods" system of J.G. Andersson. In 1948, he continued to do three months of archaeological investigation in Hexi Corridor of Gansu Province, Huangshui River Basin of Qinghai Province and the vicinity of Qinghai Lake. He had a deeper understanding of the distribution and stages of the sites in this area, as well as the "Silk Road" in prehistoric period. In particular, the name of Shajing culture was another breakthrough in the theory of "six periods".

At the same time, Pei Wenzhong also noticed the archaeological research of some artifacts, such as the paper on Tao Lu and Tao Ding (1947). This paper first expounds the definition and classification of tripod ware, the names of related parts and their evolution trend, and points out that the shapes of tripod ware and tripod ware are the representatives of Central Plains culture, while the deformed tripod ware in the border area is influenced by the Yellow River Basin. This is the earliest paper on the topic of pottery tripod ware and tripod ware in China, which sets a model for the study of utensil typology.

Pei Wenzhong also made great contributions to the study of Quaternary mammalian fossils and stratigraphy. Early studies were carried out around the Zhoukoudian excavation, such as the animal fossils of the 13th, the first, the fourth, the 15th sites and the peak cave, which clarified the relative age and evolution process of different sites and laid the foundation for the Quaternary mammalian research in China. In the later period, they were concentrated in South China, such as the giant ape fossils, the giant ape and the giant ape fauna were discovered under his leadership and participation. He established a standard section of early Pleistocene in South China from paleontology and stratigraphy. After extensive investigation and research, Pei Wenzhong pointed out that the giant panda Saber Toothed elephant fauna existed in the whole Pleistocene, represented by the giant ape cave fauna in the early Pleistocene, and the appearance of Homo sapiens fossils in the middle and late Pleistocene can be used as the standard for late regeneration. In the study of Quaternary mammal fossils, Pei Wenzhong proposed the concept of dividing into four regions: North China, South China, Northeast China and Huaihe River. He pointed out that Huaihe River is the transitional zone between North China and South China, including the typical species and genera of the two regions, which is conducive to comprehensive analysis. He put forward his own views on the division of the Sanmen system and the division of the tertiary and Quaternary period, marked by the appearance of human beings.

As of September 1982, Pei Wenzhong has paid attention to field practice in his scientific career of more than 50 years. He has been to 19 provinces, cities and autonomous regions of China to do extensive investigation and excavation of prehistoric archaeology, paleontology and geology. He has published 168 papers and monographs. His representative works include "History of Chinese ape man", "carnivorous fossils in the first place of Zhoukoudian" and "essays on the top cave of Zhoukoudian" "The fauna of the peak cave in Zhoukoudian", "the study of Prehistory in China" and "the study of Chinese ape man stone tools".

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