On the afternoon of June 7, 2026, at the invitation of the School of History and Archaeology, Nanjing Normal University, Professor Sheng Zhihan, Deputy Director of Nanjing Museum and Director of the Jiangsu Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology, delivered a lecture titled "Analysis of the Jiangsu Regional Civilization Exploration Project and Civilizational Reconstruction" in Lecture Hall 108, Building 200, Suiyuan Campus. This lecture was the 174th in the Archaeology Series Lectures of Nanjing Normal University and the first in the Regional Civilization Forum. The lecture was hosted by Professor Wang Zhigao, with more than one hundred teachers and students from both inside and outside the university, as well as members of the public.
Jiangsu is situated at the confluence of the Yangtze and Huai Rivers, in a unique geographical location where the river and sea interact, boasting a rich prehistoric cultural heritage and a continuous historical legacy. Professor Sheng has long been dedicated to archaeological excavations and research in Jiangsu, as well as museum management. During the lecture, Professor Sheng systematically introduced the exploratory work conducted since the official launch of the “Jiangsu Regional Civilization Origins Project” in July 2022, focusing on nine major research areas: the lower reaches of the Huai River; the western area of Taihu Lake Basin; the northern area of Taihu Lake Basin; the Ningzhen region; the Wu culture and the State of Wu; the city sites and tombs of the prefecture and state in the Han Dynasty; the cities and civilization of the Six Dynasties; the port and foreign exchange during the Tang, Song, Yuan, and Ming Dynasties and the archaeology of the salt industry in Jiangsu. He noted that after five years of dedicated effort, the Jiangsu Regional Civilization Origins Project has achieved preliminary breakthroughs in archaeological discoveries, advancements in academic research, and significant progress in conservation and utilization, thereby demonstrating the unique contributions of Jiangsu’s regional civilization within the diverse yet unified structure of Chinese civilization.