Valuable Relics from Sanxingdui in Southwest China to Be Exhibited

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Friday, November 30, 2001

Valuable Relics from Sanxingdui in Southwest China to Be Exhibited

Over 200 valuable relics, mainly bronze and jade excavated from the Sanxingdui Site in southwest China's Sichuan Province, will be exhibited later this year, which has great significance in the study of the civilization in the Yangtze River Valleys, or southern China, which used to be considered less civilized in ancient times than the northern region.

Jade Relics from Sanxingdui

A proof of of the diverse origins of Chinese civilization

Over 200 valuable relics, mainly bronze and jade excavated from the Sanxingdui Site in southwest China's Sichuan Province, will be exhibited later this year, according to a press conference Thursday in Chengdu.

The Sanxingdui site, which gives strong evidence of the diverse origins of Chinese civilization, contains the oldest and largest ruins from the ancient Shu Kingdom in the southwest China region, which dates back 3,000 to 5,000 years.

Chen De'an, an archaeologist with the Sichuan provincial archaeological team in southwest China, said that the ruins were home to three different but consequently developed ancient cultures.

Jade ware featured with unique characteristics and processed with advanced technology for the times, suggests that the Sanxingdui culture in the first phase had interacted with the cultures of the lower reaches of the Yangtze River about 3,700 to 5,000 years ago.

The second phase culture in Sanxingdui represented by bronze, which occurred afterwards, had been dominant in the Shu Kingdom, and extended influence on other cultures while also being influenced by civilizations from the central region and the middle reaches of the Yangtze River.

Chen said the ancient kingdom of Shu located in Sanxingdui was a stable, independent political entity that was more advanced than tribe culture. The kingdom was a typical "ancient kingdom" bordering the ancient hinterland.

Great significance in the study of Yangtze River Valleys civilization

Xiao Xianjin, curator of the Sanxingdui Museum, said at the conference that the two new exhibition halls built on the original archeological site will house the world's tallest bronze tree and a large collection of jade pieces.

The discovery of the archeological site has great significance in the study of the civilization in the Yangtze River Valleys, or southern China, which used to be considered less civilized in ancient times than the northern region.

The museum was opened in 1997 and has some 1,200 relics. It has been visited by about two million Chinese and foreign visitors.

Sanxingdui and the Sanxingdui Museum

Sanxingdui, the ruins of the capital of the ancient Shu A Kingdom over 4.000 iears ago, is located in Guanghan City, 39 km apart from Chengdu. Among the relics excavated, six pieces are evaluated as national treasures. The ancient casting art of bronze was found to be on a par with that unearthed in Terra-Cotta warriors and Horses pit of Qin shihuang Mausoleum.

It is recognized as the most important ancient remains of the Sichuan region for its vast size, long lasting period and enriched cultural contents. The site was ranked by the State Council of PRC among the Top National Culture-Preservatory Bases in January 1988.

The Sanxing dui Museum sits in the river-sided space northeast of the site. It started, as scheduled, to be built in August 1992 and completed for being open to public in May 1997. The Museum, including auxiliary facilities, covers approx. 80,000 sq.m, of which an area of 7,000 sq.m serves as an exhibition centre, and it comes to be one of major historical museums in China.

The building of the Museum freely blends primitive artistic style with modern vogues. Architecturally a full use of curve and are elements symbolizes the mound-like remains of Sanxingdui, yellow-coloured outer walls representing the earth, and the arch-rising building like the site-mound with a soaring steeple as its grotesque roof.

The exhibition hall of the Museum, with the coverage of some 4,000sq.m, serves as the key place for the display of the Ancient Shu (Sichuan) Culture centered on the Sanxingdui findings.