Li Ji (archaeologist)

Li Ji was a great worker.

He was born in a rich family. He went to school in the United States. He studied how people live.

Then he went back to China. He dug in the dirt to find old things.

He found a palace and many graves. He found old bones with writing on them. This showed that an old group of people was real.

He taught many other people how to dig. He helped us learn about the past. It is very cool!

Li Ji was a famous man who studied the past.

He was born in 1896 in China. Later, he went to the United States to study. He earned a PhD from Harvard University in 1923.

Li Ji returned to China to teach. He led big digs at a place called Yinxu. He used new ways to dig in the dirt. He looked at layers of earth to find old things. These layers showed how culture changed over time.

His work found a royal palace and over 300 graves. He found old bronze items and oracle bones. Oracle bones have some of the oldest Chinese writing. These finds proved that the Shang dynasty was real. This was a big deal for history.

After a war, Li Ji moved to Taiwan. He led many departments at a university there. He also taught many new students. These students became great experts too. Li Ji died in 1979. He helped start modern archaeology in China.

Li Ji was a very important archaeologist from China.

He helped people understand the ancient past. His work proved that the Shang dynasty really existed. Before his discoveries, many people debated if it was real. He used modern ways to study the earth. This helped change how scientists look for history. He wanted to find the true roots of Chinese culture.

Li Ji used a special way to dig in the ground. He focused on the different layers of soil. These layers are called strata. He looked at how these layers piled up over time. In 1931, he found three different cultural layers at Yinxu. These layers were named Xiaotun, Longshan, and Yangshao. They showed how Chinese culture changed and grew. This method made his work very scientific.

Li Ji had a long journey of learning. He was born in 1896 in Zhongxiang, Hubei. He studied at Tsinghua University in Beijing first. Then, he moved to the United States in 1918. He studied at Clark University in Massachusetts. Later, he went to Harvard University for more study. He earned his PhD there in 1923. He also wrote a book about Chinese people in 1928.

Between 1928 and 1937, Li Ji led big digs at Yinxu.

This site is near a place called Anyang. His team found a royal palace there. They also found over 300 graves. Some of these were royal graves. They found many bronze items and oracle bones. These bones had the oldest Chinese writing on them. These finds were a huge success for history.

Li Ji's work helped many other people learn. He taught at Nankai University and Tsinghua University. After a war, he moved to Taipei, Taiwan. He led departments at National Taiwan University. He mentored many new archaeologists like Xia Nai. He also taught Kwang-chih Chang and Guo Baojun. He died on August 1, 1979. His ideas still help us study the past today.

Li Ji was a highly influential Chinese archaeologist.

His work changed how scientists study the ancient past. He is considered a founding figure of modern archaeology in China. Most importantly, his research proved the historical truth of the Shang dynasty. Before his discoveries, many scholars debated if this dynasty was real. His findings turned these debates into historical facts.

Li Ji began his academic journey in China. He was born in 1896 in Zhongxiang, Hubei province. After graduating from Tsinghua University in Beijing, he moved to the United States. In 1918, he studied psychology at Clark University in Massachusetts. He later moved to Harvard University to study anthropology. He studied under scholars like Alfred Tozzer and Earnest Hooton. He earned his PhD in 1923. In 1928, he published his dissertation, *The Formation of the Chinese People: an Anthropological Inquiry*.

Upon returning to China, Li Ji held several important teaching roles. He taught at Nankai University and Tsinghua University. In 1925 and 1926, he excavated the Yangshao culture in Shanxi province. This work led to him joining the Freer Gallery of Art as a field worker. In 1928, he became the first director of the archaeology department at Academica Sinica. This position allowed him to lead major scientific projects.

From 1928 to 1937, Li Ji led excavations at Yinxu near Anyang.

These excavations were the first in China to use modern archaeological principles. He did not just look for writing; he treated all objects with equal importance. His team studied pottery, animal bones, and bronzes as scientific specimens. In 1929, he even asked Zhang Weiran to create a detailed topographic map. This showed that the spatial location of objects was vital to his method.

Li Ji used a specific technique called horizontal stratum excavation. Strata are the different layers of soil that build up over time. By studying these layers, he could see how history unfolded. In 1931, his team excavated the Hougang area of Yinxu. They discovered three superimposed cultural layers: Xiaotun, Longshan, and Yangshao. This proved the sequence of ancient Chinese cultural evolution. This method moved archaeology away from just studying inscriptions toward true field science.

The discoveries at Yinxu were massive in scale. The team uncovered a royal palace and more than 300 graves. Among these were four royal graves. They found many early bronze casts and a large number of oracle bones. These bones contained the earliest significant body of ancient Chinese writing. These artifacts provided the physical proof needed to validate the Shang dynasty. This connection between archaeology and history helped reconstruct the ancient past.

Li Ji held complex views on how to study civilization. He wanted to find the origins of Chinese culture. However, he was careful not to fall into the trap of nationalism. He criticized Western scholars for having a "cultural centralism" prejudice. He also criticized Chinese scholars for ignoring cultural exchanges in East Asia. He believed in studying the unique nature of Eastern civilization while remaining objective.

After the Second Sino-Japanese War, Li Ji moved to Taiwan. He led the archaeology and anthropology departments at National Taiwan University in Taipei. Throughout his career, he mentored a new generation of experts. These included archaeologists like Xia Nai, Kwang-chih Chang, and Guo Baojun. Li Ji died on August 1, 1979, in Taipei. His legacy lives on through the modern scientific methods he established in China.