The Dawn of Civilization

As autumn deepened and winter approached, the valleys of the Fire Tribe did not fall silent due to the drop in temperature. Instead, they were brimming with vibrant life and orderly activity. After solving the most basic problems of population and food, the tribe's animal husbandry industry experienced explosive growth. Wang Yan also began to carefully introduce another cornerstone of civilization—writing—to this primitive land.

The various areas responsible for raising livestock are now among the most reassuring places in the tribe.

• The cattle herd has grown significantly: Through continuous trade with the Bison Tribe and their own successful domestication and breeding, the Fire Tribe's cattle herd has reached seventy head! These strong livestock are the tribe's most valuable asset, and not a single one has been slaughtered for food. Their main tasks are pulling plows and clearing land, and towing vehicles; they are an indispensable force in agricultural production and transportation. Watching them leisurely ruminating in their pens brings peace of mind to the tribespeople.

• Pigs in full bloom: The pigs have reproduced at an astonishing rate, with their numbers exceeding two hundred. Besides keeping the necessary strong boars for breeding and some superior sows for reproduction, some surplus boars have been slaughtered, their meat cured or dried, providing the tribe with a large amount of fat and meat. The glistening white fat and thick layers of lard bring smiles to the faces of the tribespeople responsible for the slaughter.

• Sheep flocks have grown to a considerable size: The number of sheep has steadily increased to around one hundred. They provide meat and fur, and more importantly, sheep milk has become an important source of nutrition for children and the elderly in the tribe.

• The deer park is tranquil: There are more than sixty deer in the park. They are relatively delicate, but their blood is extremely valuable. They are carefully kept in a special woodland.

• Rabbit sheds are overflowing: Rabbits have an incredibly high reproductive rate, with their numbers approaching two thousand! They take up little space and have a high feed conversion rate, making them one of the easiest sources of meat for the tribe. Wang Yan has ordered that a batch of rabbits be slaughtered in the winter to improve the diet, control the population, and collect the rabbit skins to make small items.

• Abundant poultry and eggs: The number of chickens and ducks exceeded three thousand, and a large number of eggs were harvested every day, providing a stable source of protein for the tribe. Some roosters and ducks that were no longer productive or were surplus were also included in the winter diet.

Looking at this scene of thriving livestock, Jianshi was filled with emotion. "Who could have imagined that our Fire Tribe would one day have so much food to sustain life!"

Wang Yan reminded him, "Father, the more livestock we have, the more hay and feed we'll consume in winter. We must stockpile enough hay, straw, and rice chaff before it snows, and make sure to mix them properly to ensure all the livestock can safely get through the winter."

With his material foundation becoming increasingly solid, Wang Yan began to push forward with something he had long considered—the creation and transmission of written language.

On a clear evening, he gathered his father Jianshi, uncle Jianya, Dali, Dazhuang, Wu, and his mother Qingye, Shibang, and a group of core members and intelligent young people.

He took out several smooth bamboo boards with simple patterns drawn on them in charcoal.

"Father, everyone, I've been thinking that relying solely on our brains or tying knots in rope makes it easy to forget or misexplain many things. For example, how many cows do we have? Which plot of land do we need to cultivate tomorrow? What kind of grain is stored in which warehouse? Wouldn't it be more convenient if there were a way to record these things in a way that everyone could understand?"

Wang Yan picked up the first piece, which had a simple drawing of a blade of Xiaocao on it. "We call this 'grass'." He then picked up another piece with the outline of a tree. "This one is called 'tree'." Next came the sun, the moon, flowing water, flames, mountains, and fields...

He also used simple dots and circles to represent numbers, for example, one vertical line represented "1", and two vertical lines represented "2".

"These drawings represent things we see every day," Wang Yan explained. "We can draw them on bamboo slips or carve them on pottery to record things. For example, if we draw the character for 'rice' and three vertical lines on the outside of a pottery jar for storing rice, we know that it contains three baskets of rice. We can use these symbols to record hunting harvests, who had a baby, and the rules we set."

The shaman was the first to become excited. "This... this is an ancestral revelation! It can record events and pass on knowledge! Yan, you are leaving an indelible memory for our Fire Tribe!"

Jianshi picked up a bamboo board with a Bison pattern drawn on it, pondering deeply. "If Hunting Team discovers a large Bison and sends someone back to report, just saying it might not be clear. If they bring back a board like this with a bison drawn on it and lots of vertical lines, I'll immediately know what happened! Good! This is good!"

Jianya immediately realized its immense usefulness in management. "That's right! From now on, we can use this to assign tasks, inventory supplies, and record contributions! It's much more reliable than relying on a few people to remember everything!"

Seeing that the core members understood the importance of writing and expressed their support, Wang Yan explained his plan, "This winter, I would like to invite everyone, along with some selected bright children, to learn these symbols together. We will start with the most common ones, recognizing a few each day. I, along with Shibang and the others who learn quickly, will teach us."

He understood the importance of proceeding step by step. In the initial stage, mastering only a few dozen of the most commonly used hieroglyphs and basic numbers would be enough to greatly improve the tribe's management efficiency and knowledge transmission capabilities.

Some of the men continued to cultivate the paddy fields, while others reinforced the houses, cut and stored firewood, ensuring that every shack was warm and cozy.

The women, meanwhile, busied themselves with needlework, using the abundant animal hides and linen to make winter clothes and prepare pickled foods.

After completing their chores, the children had an additional, novel task: sitting around the fire pit, clumsily but earnestly carving symbols representing "sun," "moon," "water," and "fire" on the ground with twigs or on pieces of wood or bamboo with knives.