On January 25, “The Sixth Africa Lecture: The Ancient Civilization in Africa” was held online. The main venue of the lecture was located at the China-Africa Institute (CAI) in Beijing. Two distinguished scholars were invited to deliver keynote speeches via video applications. The first speaker was Professor Augustin Holl, distinguished university professor and director of the Africa Research Center at Xiamen University, and president of the International Scientific Committee for the UNESCO General History of Africa Volume IX-XI. His speech mainly focused on “Africa, Human Origins, and Expansion.” The second speaker was Professor Li Anshan, president of the Chinese Society of African Historical Studies, emeritus professor of African studies at Peking University, professor at Center of West African Studies at University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, and vice-president of the International Scientific Committee of the UNESCO General History of Africa Volume IX-XI, and his speech topic was “The Origin and Development of the Ancient Civilization in Africa.” More than 240 Chinese and African scholars and experts attended the lecture.

Li Xinfeng

Li Xinfeng, senior research fellow and executive president of the CAI, presided over the Lecture and indicated that the African continent is the origin of human beings and also one of the cradles of human civilizations. The splendid ancient civilization in Africa is an important integral part of human civilizations. Africa has not only nurtured rich and splendid ancient cultures, but also made important contributions to the development of human history. The ancient Egyptian civilization, the Aksum Kingdom, the Songhai Empire, the Swahili civilization, and the ruins of Great Zimbabwe are all outstanding representatives of the ancient African civilization. However, under the influence of colonialism and racism, Western historians didn’t recognize the position of the ancient history of Africa in the world history, and they didn’t believe that there were civilizations or histories in Africa. For the purpose of reinforcing the colonial rule in Africa, the western colonists even invented the Hamitic hypothesis and the Eurocentrism to ignore the authenticity of African civilizations. So the African history has once been deliberately marginalized by the West. Today, as an exchange platform, research base, talent platform and communication window between China and Africa, the China-Africa Institute has attached great importance to the academic research and exchanges in the field of African history. Just as President Xi Jinping stressed in his congratulatory letter to the establishment of the China-Africa Institute on April 9, 2019, China and Africa need to strengthen exchanges and cooperation, and enhance mutual learning among civilizations. Historical evidences have demonstrated that ancient African civilization is a precious heritage of human history. Understanding Africa's past plays an important role in correctly understanding contemporary Africa, and understanding Africa's history is an important starting point for promoting mutual understanding and friendship between the Chinese and African people.

Professor Holl

Professor Holl pointed out that the phenomenal recent development of Ancient DNA and paleo-genomic research provide powerful tools to probe the complex genetic history of humanity. In an evolutionary perspective, humans are an integral part of the natural world, submitted as all living organisms to the laws of evolution. In the mid- and late-19th century, very few hominids fossils were available then. In the Descent of Man in 1871, Darwin’s predictions that “it is somewhat more probable that our early progenitors lived on the African continent than elsewhere” were based solely on biological and environmental inferences. Besides the theory of “African Origin,” there was a competition or rivalry in European countries for the origin of humankind. Influenced by the Eurocentrism, European paleontologists have ignored Charles Darwin’s 1871 prediction for decades. Until 1959, Louis Seymour Leakey, born in Kenya, launched the Olduvai gorge project in Tanzania with Mary Leakey and discovered the Zinjanthropus bosei fossil. This episode marks the beginning of a profound transformation of methods and techniques of paleoanthropological research, and proves that Africa is the origin of humans. Starting in the 1960s, the search for the cradle of humanity shifted south to Eastern and Southern Africa. The acceleration of paleoanthropological research during the last three decades in Africa and other parts of the tropical world, particularly mid-latitude Europe and South Asia, has resulted in many important discoveries that are changing our understanding of the emergence and expansion of humankind. The earliest hominids on record date from 7 to 4.5 million years. They are confined to the eastern half of the African landmass, found in the Chad republic in north central Africa, Ethiopia, Kenya and Tanzania in East Africa, and in South Africa. They are divided in two groups, the Ardipithecines and the Australopithecines. The speciation events that presided over the emergence of the Homo genus and the evolutionary theatre then shifted to Africa and Eurasia with early Homo expansion out of Africa–also called “Out of Africa 1.” The Human Genome Project launched from 1990 to 2003 mapped all of the genes of the human genome, triggering the “genomic revolution” in the understanding of human deeper biological history. The exciting debate about the “Candelabra model,” the “Multi-regional evolution model,” the “Replacement model,” and the “Assimilation model” demonstrated the second dispersal of Homo sapiens and the spread of Homo sapiens to all major earth landmasses. Ancient DNA analyses suggest the modern human divergence to have taken place between 350,000 and 260,000 years ago. This result is supported by fossil evidence in different parts of the continent, which supports the “Out of Africa 2” model. Along with human evolution and expansion comes the rise of human civilization. Modern research methods and technologies can help us better understand the human origins and how humans invented tools, created art, and involved in creative activities.

Professor Li Anshan

Professor Li Anshan said that the contribution of African civilization to human history is immeasurable. The main contributions which are confirmed by the scientific research are as follows: First, the most complete series of human fossils are found in Africa, and Chadian, Ethiopian and Kenyan people are in the same cradle of mankind; Second, the recent 20 years of studies of molecular genetic genes have provided a variety of new evidences for the human origins in Africa; Third, the recent linguistic research has concluded that the world's languages originated from Africa. The continent is not only the cradle of the human origins, but also nurtures the diversity of civilizations. African indigenous civilization, Christian civilization and Islamic civilization are converged in Africa. Regional civilizations, such as Ethiopian civilization, Zimbabwean civilization and the ancient Egyptian civilization, show the vigor of the ancient African civilizations. The exchange and integration among different civilizations are vividly reflected in Africa. The concept of equality and leniency in terms of Ubuntu, and its implications of collective philosophy embody the vitality and perseverance of African indigenous civilization. Li Anshan elaborated his recent thinking about the studies of African history based on the ancient African civilization. Firstly, Chinese scholars should carry on the studies of African history from an African perspective. African studies and its agenda setting have been the West-oriented, which aimed to comply with Western countries’ interests, expansion and needs, and were the results of the West’s epistemology and influence. The studies of African history in China should break this academic tradition led by the West. For Chinese scholars, this is not only for satisfying their curiosity and knowledge accumulation, but also for objectively understanding African civilization, human history and learning from others’ experience. Secondly, the African history is indispensable to the world history, otherwise the human history would not be comprehensive. For the African people, the African history is not only a fundamental right of various peoples, but also a new recognition of their own past. Just as the historian J. Ki-Zerbo said, history is the source from which we should not only realize our own image, but also from which we should draw nourish and renew our energy in order to keep the wheel of human progress moving forward. Thirdly, African civilization has influenced the civilizations in Europe, America and Asia. In terms of human expansion, religious philosophy, literature, art and artifact culture, the cohesion of African civilization mixes various external factors together, including different religions. Fourthly, the African history has influenced the realistic issues in Africa in two ways. On the one hand, the African people are proud of their history of being the cradle of the human origins and the long history of civilizations. On the other hand, the African people have a sense of failure or inferiority that comes from the colonial rule. Finally, the basis of the shared values proposed by the African Union, including the philosophical foundation of the spread of African civilizations to the world, the social ethical values in terms of Ubuntu, the historical memories of African peoples and the practical needs of the Organization of African Unity/African Union which advocates solidarity and mutual assistance and wins a place in the international stage, is the lasting vitality of African civilization.

Professor Zhang Yongpeng

Professor Liu Naiya

Professor An Chunying 

Dr. Deng Yanting

Professor Zhang Yongpeng, Liu Naiya, Li Xinfeng, An Chunying and Dr. Deng Yanting interacted with two African lecturers in Q&A regarding topics of the ancient civilization in Africa.

Lecturers’ profiles:

Professor Augustin F. C. Holl: Earned his PhD at the university of Paris I– Pantheon-Sorbonne (1983) and his Habilitation Doctorate at the University of Paris-X Nanterre (1994). He was Assistant–and Associate Professor at the university of Paris-X Nanterre, Professor at the University of California, San Diego, Professor and Curator at the University of Michigan Ann Arbor, Visiting-Professor at the University Cheikh-Anta Diop, Dakar, Professor and Vice President in charge of international Relations at the university of Paris-Ouest, Nanterre-La Défense, Research-Associate at the Field Museum of Natural History, Chicago. Deputy Director of the Institute of Humanities and Social Science, CNRS, France, and now Distinguished University Professor and Director of the Africa Research Center at Xiamen University, (Fujian Province, China). He is President of the International Scientific Committee for the UNESCO General History of Africa Volume IX-XI. His research focuses mainly on the origins of food production and the emergence of social complexity in West Africa and the Southern Levant, the archaeology of rock art, and mortuary archaeology. He has conducted field work in the Negev in Israel, Northern Cameroon, Northwestern Burkina Faso, South central Senegal, and is currently directing the fieldwork on the Saloum Delta shell-middens Archaeological project in coastal Senegal. He has published 14 books, edited three volumes, and published numerous articles in peer-reviewed journals and collections of essays. His current research focuses on Global Comparative Archaeology.  

Professor Li Anshan: professor at Center of West African Studies, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, Emeritus professor of Peking University, and distinguished scholar of African studies. His research interests include African history, colonialism and decolonization, African nationalism, history of Chinese overseas and history of Sino-African relations. At present, professor Li holds many important academic positions, including president of the Chinese Society of African Historical Studies, vice-president of the Asia-Africa Association of China, and vice-president of International Scientific Committee of UNESCO General History of Africa Volume IX-XI. Professor Li also gave lectures on African history to President Jiang Zemin and the General Office of the CPC Central Committee.