International importance of China's ancient past highlighted

Framing the ancient Hongshan culture through the lens of global history is key to deepening cross-cultural exchange and highlighting China's contributions to human civilization, said China Daily Publisher and Editor-in-chief Qu Yingpu at the 2026 Conference on Hongshan Culture in Chaoyang, Liaoning province, on Wednesday.

Qu said that from the perspective of world civilization, Hongshan stands as a bright eastern star at dawn. Originating around 6,500 years ago, it emerged at a time close to the early stages of ancient Egyptian and Mesopotamian civilizations, making it an indispensable eastern chapter in prehistoric human civilization.

"Over thousands of years, Chinese civilization has embraced openness, inclusiveness and mutual exchange," he added.

Qu cited ancient transcontinental journeys, such as Zhang Qian's envoys, Xuanzang's pilgrimage, Omani trade routes and Zheng He's voyages, as evidence that "generations of ancestors crossed mountains and oceans to connect China with the rest of the world, writing vivid stories of exchanges and mutual learning between civilizations".

The publisher called on media professionals, scholars and young people worldwide to deepen research into Hongshan culture, expand cross-border academic exchanges, implement the Global Civilization Initiative, and help countries better understand each other and achieve shared development.

From the perspective of Chinese civilization, Qu said that Hongshan culture represents the prehistoric dawn of Chinese heritage.

He detailed that recent archaeological discoveries have expanded the understanding of Hongshan culture's duration and reach. Together with the Yangshao, Lingjiatan and Liangzhu cultures, Hongshan stands as one of the major prehistoric jade culture centers of China. Cultural symbols nurtured by ancestors along the basins of the Yellow, Yangtze and Liaohe rivers — such as dragon-scale patterns, rose patterns and octagonal star patterns — bear witness to the exchange and fusion of civilizations across different regions.

"The early Chinese cultures of different regions interacted across vast distances and eventually formed a diverse yet unified Chinese civilization," Qu said.

From the perspective of the new era, Hongshan culture holds the original genes for a new form of human civilization.

After visiting the Niuheliang site in Chaoyang, Qu said he was deeply impressed by its altars, temples and stone tombs, as well as the ancient beliefs in dragons and jade, and reverence for heaven and Earth — elements that shaped the unique cosmology, worldview, social and moral values of Chinese people.

Qu said the essence of fine traditional Chinese culture carried by Hongshan culture serves as a profound foundation for China's modernization, empowering Chinese civilization to transform itself for the modern era and nurture a new form of human civilization.

"China in the new era will continue to draw wisdom and strength from its profound traditional culture, always stand on the right side of history and human progress, and while tirelessly working for the wellbeing of the Chinese people, offer the world China's opportunities and solutions," he said.