Google Cloud Speech-to-Text API (Chirp) + Gemini 2.5 Flash Non-Thinking. Treat it as a searchable index of what was broadcast, not a quotation record.
00:00:00The method of eating is
00:00:29.
00:00:43The northern part of the Loess Plateau, Longmu Jiaocuo with the Yellow River
00:00:47stream ,
00:00:50on the river bank , a towering wall made of giant stones
00:00:54stood for thousands of years
00:00:56.
00:01:16When the thick layer of loess covering the Huangcheng Terrace was peeled off, a magnificent
00:01:19city reappeared before people's eyes
00:01:22. This prehistoric ancient city
00:01:26with Huangcheng Terrace as its ruling center was called Shimao. For thousands of years
00:01:48what kind of people lived in this city?
00:01:52How did their stories resurface more than 4,000 years later?
00:02:03In July 1927 , the Northern Expedition War was in full swing.
00:02:45Such surprise and doubt were buried deep in people's hearts
00:02:48.
00:02:53Today, in the Shaanxi Provincial Institute of Archaeology, a batch of exquisite cultural relics
00:02:56from about 4,000 years ago are on display.
00:03:18The appearance of these cultural relics back then seemed to tell the world that a distant history
00:03:22was buried on the high Huangcheng Terrace , waiting for people to
00:03:26explore . In 2012
00:04:00, because on the northeast corner
00:04:04of the eastern wall of Huangcheng Terrace that we named, there was
00:04:08actually a section of the wall still exposed. I couldn't believe it had been four thousand
00:04:11years, and I could still see such well-preserved stones
00:04:14. Archaeological excavations show that the history of Shimao
00:04:18dates back more than 4,000 years.
00:04:22The years have blurred too many traces of that time, but in the ruins
00:04:26of the core area, in the towering stone walls on Huangcheng Terrace
00:04:30, rows of horizontally interlocked side wooden beams are completely
00:04:34intact. They are equivalent to wooden and steel bars, providing strong support
00:04:37for the solid walls of Huangcheng Terrace . In the
00:04:41Northern Song Dynasty's "Yingzao Fashi" (Treatise on Architectural Methods) , there was a record: when building
00:04:45a city, each pillar is five chi high, and one
00:04:48horizontal wooden beam is used. Who would have thought that the city building technique recorded
00:04:52by the Northern Song Dynasty's master builders had already been applied in the Shimao ruins, more than three thousand years
00:04:56earlier than them ?
00:06:504,000 years ago, the Shimao people, located in the agro-pastoral transition zone , built their city with stone
00:06:54, perhaps also out of defensive needs
00:06:57.
00:07:01The city gate is a key defense line for protecting the city
00:07:04. Entering this gate means entering a core area
00:07:08of centralized rule .
00:07:18A majestic city gate reappeared before the eyes
00:07:21of the world . The east gate ruins are
00:07:24located in the northeast of the outer city of Shimao , in a commanding position
00:07:28.
00:07:35In front of the gate, there is a wall about 21 meters long. Together with two
00:07:39platforms, it formed an outer Wengcheng (barbican) . Behind it
00:07:43, only one city wall connects to the south platform, forming
00:07:46an inner Wengcheng. The two platforms, north and south, are about
00:07:506 meters high, and their areas both reach 300 square meters
00:07:54, capable of stationing over a hundred soldiers . The double Wengcheng
00:07:58and platforms provide a double insurance layer
00:08:01. In addition to these defensive facilities, the appearance of another
00:08:05structure came as a surprise to archaeologists
00:08:07. On both sides
00:08:11of ancient city gates , high platforms often protrude
00:08:15outwards. Because they resemble a horse's face, they are called
00:08:18"Ma Mian" (horse face) . The main function of "Ma Mian"
00:08:22is to eliminate blind spots in the defense of the city gate
00:08:26. Because a city gate in a straight line is limited by vertical angles, it cannot
00:08:30effectively attack enemies who have approached the city wall
00:08:34. However, with the protruding "Ma Mian" complementing each other, they can form
00:08:37crossfire
00:08:38.
00:08:51Inside the protective wall of the East Gate ruins, archaeologists also excavated many fragments of murals
00:08:55scattered around . They were once covered with dazzling
00:08:58colors and painted on the walls , welcoming everyone who entered
00:09:02the city gate . The content
00:09:05of the murals is difficult to reconstruct, but the traces of red and yellow
00:09:09and other colors can still make people feel it
00:09:42, "It is important that it's not made just of
00:09:45stone, but also made of Hangu, of
00:09:48Lois, and this is unusual, there is
00:09:52other country in the world where you have
00:09:56this geological environment, and
00:09:58also there's other country in the world that has this
00:10:02long history of building monuments with
00:10:06many tears, here you see the tears, and then you
00:10:09see the stone holding the terraces." back, anything you
00:10:13see in the west is not like this, and it's
00:10:17technically very
00:10:18complicated. 400 years
00:10:24.
00:11:25Pursuing a kind of spiritual protection, it is not ruled out that it comes
00:11:29from some lower-class people of Shimao
00:11:32, who voluntarily put their most precious
00:11:35things from their small groups
00:11:39into the city walls , to pray for peace
00:11:55. Different regions on the earth were all building various
00:11:58cities without prior arrangement . When a city-state
00:12:02grew strong, many smaller city-states gathered around this central
00:12:05settlement , forming a gravitational
00:12:09center. And the cultural group with Shimao as its core
00:12:13was undoubtedly the ruling center at the intersection of Shaanxi and Inner Mongolia
00:12:17. Why did they need such thick
00:12:20walls? Why did they need such tall walls? Why
00:12:24were they inside the wall?
00:13:29Then the large platform we see today, with concentrated
00:13:33buildings , appeared. We followed
00:13:36the south wall of the large platform
00:13:40. When we traced it for a few meters, another
00:13:44problem appeared
00:13:46.
00:13:50During the excavation of the south protective wall, mysterious and
00:13:54exotic stone carvings appeared again , numbering over a hundred
00:13:57pieces .
00:14:00Early in the discovery of the Shimao ruins
00:14:04, various stone carvings had brought much contemplation
00:14:07to people.
00:14:11Today, quietly lying in the museum , with their exaggerated
00:14:15facial expressions and unique forms, they always attract
00:14:19viewers to stop and appreciate them.
00:14:22What do these faces tell? What kind of existence
00:14:26was their concentrated location 4,000 years ago
00:14:30? This time , archaeologists came up with a bold
00:14:32conjecture .
00:14:36So, would there be subsidiary facilities next to such a platform? For example
00:14:40, would there be corridors or other such buildings
00:14:43? With this idea , they extended it to a 10-meter
00:14:47width. As a result, at the 9-meter wide position, on the south side
00:14:51of the south wall and parallel to it, another wall appeared
00:15:25And various natural creatures formed a solemn intimidating
00:15:28power, guiding people to a sacred
00:15:32place . What exactly did the Shimao people want to express with these stone
00:15:36carvings
00:16:11of their inner world? After thousands of years, the Huangcheng Terrace, once buried by loess
00:16:15, once again basked in the sunlight . However,
00:16:19facing the solemn stone carvings on the stone walls
00:16:23are no longer the owners and soldiers of this city
00:16:27, but archaeologists and spectators who want to understand their glorious
00:16:31past.
00:16:39Who once held power on this high platform and ruled
00:16:43a region? After the excavation of the Huangcheng Terrace core area
00:16:46came to an end, in 2022 , the archaeological team turned its attention
00:16:50to the burial area on the west side of Huangcheng Terrace . And in January
00:16:54of the following year, high-level burials were discovered . The former owners
00:16:58of the ancient city of Shimao were buried here
00:17:01. What kind of people were they, and what
00:17:05secrets are still hidden in them?
00:17:08One afternoon in October 2024 , the excavation of an important
00:17:12object made the Shimao archaeological team
00:17:16feel deeply shocked
00:17:17.
00:17:20Jade yues (axe-like objects) often indicate the noble status of the tomb owner. Countless
00:17:24jade yues have been unearthed from Shimao. However,
00:17:27the discovery of this jade yue astonished all Shimao archaeologists
00:17:31. This jade yue is 12.9 centimeters high
00:17:35and 10.7 to 1
00:17:47. Why is this jade yue so different? What information is hidden behind the intricate patterns
00:17:51? And what kind of person brought it into the underworld
00:17:55? This newly unearthed jade yue
00:17:58is translucent and warm , covered with patterns
00:18:02. Multiple
00:18:05corners are distributed
00:18:17. Shao Jin, after receiving
00:18:28the pictures sent by the archaeological team at the site , confidently and firmly replied
00:18:32with one word: "I'm not on the front line. They sent it to me immediately
00:18:36to see. At that time
00:18:47, after carefully examining the patterns of this jade yue , people clearly
00:18:51saw a fierce eagle with its head raised, soaring
00:18:54upwards, as if trying to break through the clouds
00:18:57.
00:19:00This is not the first time the image of an eagle has appeared on
00:19:04artifacts unearthed from Shimao. In the Shimao Museum, a jade
00:19:07eagle seems to be ready to fly .
00:19:11There is also another more complete jade eagle
00:19:15preserved in the Shaanxi Provincial Institute of Archaeology
00:19:16.
00:19:20In ancient people's observation and understanding of nature, heaven
00:19:24is the source of wind, rain, and snow , and earth is the
00:19:27reliance for clothing, food, and shelter . While the eagle, flying between heaven
00:19:30and earth, was often regarded as the messenger
00:19:34connecting heaven and earth .
00:20:08There are similar patterns to those found in Shimao. Previous
00:20:12scholars' research often called it "eagle gripping human
00:20:16head," which is the feeling of an eagle's talons grabbing a human head
00:20:20. My interpretation is that this is the totem
00:20:24of the Shimao King of this generation . It is his
00:20:27own belief. He believes that his power comes from
00:20:29the eagle.
00:20:51These burial objects are usually in pairs, symbolizing
00:20:55yin and yang .
00:20:57And the research results on animal bones can also help us
00:21:01reveal a side of the Shimao people's diet and life
00:21:05. In the artifact pits below Huangcheng Terrace, a large number
00:21:09of animal bones such as sheep bones and cattle bones were unearthed
00:21:12. The archaeological team observed , identified, and recorded
00:21:16these bones, obtaining astonishing data. Through
00:21:20some information from animal bones to explore what
00:21:23the Shimao people ate , how they ate
00:21:27, and how they utilized it after eating. Now, the sheep
00:21:31from the animal wall on Huangshan Mountain, based on the calculations I am currently making, plus
00:21:35the remaining parts, its individual number might be around
00:21:39one hundred thousand . Such a huge
00:21:42consumption of meat makes one think of the Tang Dynasty poet Li Bai's
00:21:46poem. "Boiling sheep and slaughtering cattle for pleasure."
00:22:05Until today , cattle and sheep are still the main
00:22:08domesticated animals in the border area of Shaanxi and Inner Mongolia. But more
00:22:12than four thousand years ago, they were not native to this land
00:22:15, but originated thousands of kilometers away
00:22:18. This area is located exactly in the transitional zone
00:22:22between the Eurasian Steppe and our country's agricultural area. Because the Eurasian Steppe is flat
00:22:26and open, it is very convenient for cattle , sheep, and horses to enter. It should be a large
00:22:30window for this region . How could cattle
00:22:34and sheep, which originated from the grasslands and traveled a long way
00:22:37, reproduce and thrive in the crisscrossing mountains
00:22:39?
00:22:43In this regard, the introduction of archaeobotany has given people a more vivid
00:22:46understanding of the environment in the northern Shaanxi region 4,000 years ago
00:22:50. In addition to discovering crops, we also discovered
00:22:54many, many kinds of weeds, such
00:22:58as legumes, goosefoot plants, and Asteraceae plants. These
00:23:02are similar to common plants today, like sweet clover
00:23:06and bush clover. These two types of plants are also the main
00:23:09grass resources consumed by cattle and sheep.
00:23:13The large presence of leguminous plants like sweet clover ensured that cattle
00:23:16and sheep obtained abundant food . Thus, here
00:24:15, because there were simply too many, counting them one by one was impossible. So they came up with a method: weighing
00:24:18the ancient needles.
00:24:21By weighing a single needle and a group of ancient needles, they estimated the total
00:24:25quantity. Finally , an astonishing number was obtained
00:24:28: a total of more than seventeen thousand
00:24:30pieces . What is even more perplexing
00:24:34is that, judging from the unearthed locations of these ancient needles
00:24:38, their manufacturing site was located on Huangcheng Terrace
00:24:42. Why could the craftsmen who made ancient artifacts live alongside
00:24:46the nobility? Were all these ancient needles made by the Shimao people ?
00:25:10The tips of these bone needles are extremely sharp and can directly pierce animal skins. The smallest needle eye at the tail can even pass
00:25:14through only a single strand of hair . How
00:25:17did the craftsmen back then make such fine and exquisite bone tools
00:25:21? Through experimental research, we can roughly
00:25:25restore how they were made . Craftsmen would remove
00:25:29the joints and other parts of larger sheep or cattle bones
00:25:33, and then trim them into regular bone pieces using methods like scraping
00:25:37. Then they would cut the bone pieces into thin strips
00:25:40and polish them repeatedly . Finally, they would use sharp
00:25:44stone tools to drill holes at the tail of the needles , creating a bone
00:25:46needle . These bone needles.
00:26:40This also means that the ancient city of Shimao, located in the agro-pastoral transition zone , in addition to bearing the holy city status
00:26:44of a kingdom, was very likely also a hub for trade
00:26:48. Today's archaeological research allows us to see
00:26:51the network of foreign exchanges and interactions of the Shimao people
00:26:55. To the east, it extended to what is now Shandong
00:26:59; to the west, as far as Gansu and Qinghai. To the south
00:27:03, it reached the Jianghan Plain . Cattle
00:27:06and sheep came in. You can say it was cultural exchange. But I prefer
00:27:10to believe that behind this was a kind of open-minded
00:27:14and innovative spirit of the Shimao people. They first willingly accepted these. Only then could these things
00:27:18take root and grow here . I believe that the upper class
00:27:22of Shimao possessed these excellent qualities. Only then
00:27:25could they create such an extremely brilliant
00:27:29civilization on the Loess Plateau.
00:27:33Below Huangcheng Terrace, the Wuding River flows peacefully day
00:27:37by day. Years have passed. The four
00:27:41seasons of labor and harvest continue on this land
00:27:45nourished by the river, never ceasing. More than four thousand
00:27:49years ago, the glory and splendor of the ancient city of Shimao
00:27:52transformed into the majestic eagle in the jade yue, overlooking
00:27:56the Huangcheng Terrace and the solemn stone carvings.
00:28:00Overlooking those who came and went.
00:28:32Passed down for thousands of years . What is left on Huangcheng Terrace
00:28:36is not only the story of the Shimao people , but also all the unremitting
00:28:39efforts of the Chinese ancestors on their path to find their ideal homeland
00:28:43. They traveled through hardships, seeking nothing more
00:28:47than to take root in the land , with their hearts
00:28:50burning brightly .
00:28:54The memory of glory may have sunk into history, but it is like
00:28:58a fleeting shadow, ever flowing and vibrant
00:29:00.
00:29:32These are the scattered sparks on the earth
00:29:36, eventually converging into a raging flame, illuminating
00:29:40the entire sky of Chinese civilization
00:29:43.
00:30:02'
00:33:38Hello everyone, welcome to a new day. Good morning everyone. This is CCTV Channel.
00:33:42Welcome to watch. Today is Sunday, August 9, 2026. It is 6:00 AM Beijing time. Let's look at the detailed report. Data released yesterday by the State Administration for Market Regulation shows:
00:33:58欢 迎 您 的 收 看 。 今 天 是 2026 年 8 月 9 号 星 期 日 , 现 在 是 北 京 时 间 早 上 6 点 。 来 看 详 细 报 道 。 市 场 监 管 总 局 昨 天 公 布 的 数 据 显 示 :