The mountains in the southeast of the lake, the sound of rocks and ravines, the hanging Dou Ling, there are stones and Xiao Erxian, standing shoulder to shoulder, and the flat boat is far away, looming. According to legend, Shi and Xiao Erxian mu "Hushan Qingsheng", forgot to return to the Heavenly Court, and became two boulders holding hands side by side, standing in the southeast of the lake. Driving a boat on the lake, it is still faintly visible. There are the remains of this immortal, so it is called Fuxian Lake. Source Chengjiang "Fu Zhi"
Fuxian Lake, the second largest deep-water lake in China, has an area of 212 square kilometers, a basin area of 1,084 square kilometers, and a water storage capacity of 18.5 billion cubic meters, which was formed 3.2 million years ago due to the movement of the Earth's crust.
In 1992, Fuxian Lake in Chengjiang, Yunnan Province, was found to have ancient architectural remains at the bottom of the lake. In 2001, after a scientific expedition, it was found that these were the urban ruins of the ancient Dian Kingdom, which unveiled a mysterious ancient country.
The ancient Dian Kingdom is located around dianchi Lake, which is a relatively rare large plain on the Yunnan-Guizhou Plateau, with suitable water and soil, so ancient civilizations have arisen very early. Presumably, at least in the 7th century BC, a large-scale, state-like group was formed.
Historians have not yet formed a conclusive theory on the ethnic composition of the ancient Dian people, and there are various theories such as the Qiang, Pu, and Yue people, and some people believe that the ancient Dian people are independent and have nothing to do with other ethnic groups. The more unified view is that the ancient Dian people should be the ancestors of the Dai and Thai peoples. The abbreviation of Yunnan Province, "Dian", is also derived from the ancient Dian State.
During the Spring and Autumn Period, the State of Chu knew about the existence of the ancient Dian State for a long time, but because of the long distance, there were few trade links. At the beginning of the 3rd century BC, the State of Qin became more and more powerful, seizing large areas of land from the State of Chu.
In order to make up for the loss of land and population, the King of Chu sent the general Zhuang Qiao to attack the State of Dian and establish a rear base against Qin. In 278 BC, Zhuang Qiao led the elite Chu army south, armed with advanced bronze weapons and Central Plains tactics, quickly defeated the State of Dian, and completed the tasks given by the King of Chu.
What is embarrassing is that Zhuang Qiao took away the main force of the Chu army for the sake of The Dian, but let the Qin State exploit the loophole and seize the passage between the State of Dian and the State of Chu, cutting off Zhuang Qiao's hope of returning to Chu. The State of Chu not only did not increase its national strength through the logging of Dian, but further lost its military strength and national strength.
Zhuang Qiao could not go back when he saw that he could not go back, so he simply established himself as the King of Dian in the homeland of the ancient Dian kingdom. Since then, the State of Qin has been busy unifying the Six Kingdoms, and has no time to manage the State of Dian, making it a happy land outside the Central Plains.
Zhuang Qiao and his descendants brought advanced culture and technology to the Dian Kingdom, making it more and more like the Central Plains. At its peak, the Kingdom of Yunnan was the largest country in Yunnan with a radius of more than 400 miles. Agriculture is mainly based on the cultivation of rice, with developed bronze smelting technology.
The unification of the Six Kingdoms and the struggle for hegemony between Chu and Han did not affect the Central Plains wars and chaos in the Dian Kingdom, and the people lived and worked in peace and contentment. Even after Liu Bang established the Han Dynasty, the State of Dian quickly submitted to it, effectively remaining independent.
Emperor Wu of han was a generation of male lords, and posterity only knew that he attacked the Xiongnu in the north and managed the western region, but did not know that the southern half of the country was also truly unified by him. At that time, there were many regimes in the south at the same time, such as Yelang, Nanyue, Minyue, and Dianguo, but only superficially maintained clan relations with the Han Dynasty.
In particular, the Kingdom of Nanyue, founded by Zhao Tuo, a widow of the Qin Dynasty, claimed to be emperor internally, and did not regard the Han Dynasty as Zhengshuo. Through a long war with the Xiongnu, Emperor Wudi of the Han Dynasty trained a very elite army, which had an overwhelming advantage over the southern states.
Compared with the South Vietnamese state, the Yunnan state is still relatively obedient. In 109 BC, Emperor Wu of Han sent troops to the border of the State of Dian, and the King of Dian, knowing that he was powerless to resist, surrendered the whole country. Emperor Wu of Han established Yizhou Commandery here and gave him the "Seal of the King of Dian", allowing the King of Dian to continue to rule the people of Dian.
Since then, there has been no record of the Dian kingdom in the history books. According to the style of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, although the King of Dian was retained, I am afraid that there would not be much real power, at most some basic guards, the imperial court gave him enough food every year, and the power to manage the local area was transferred to Yizhou County.
Now archaeology has found that the Dian people may have used shells as currency, and the textile industry, mining, and handicraft industry have considerable technical standards and scale. Especially on some portraits of the ancient Dian Kingdom, rope loop stirrups were found, which can be said to have set a historical record.
The world's earliest bronze stirrups appeared in the Jin Dynasty, and after the stirrups, the cavalry had the ability to impact and began to dominate the battlefield. Some scholars believe that stirrups of non-metallic materials should have appeared before the Jin Dynasty, after all, the item itself is very simple, and the wood and rope ring can fully meet the needs of use. It's just that it can't be preserved like a stirrup, so it's not known.
The stirrup discovery of the Dian Kingdom strongly proves this view. Unfortunately, although the Dian kingdom has always been a horse production area, the size of the Dian horse is small and can only be used to pull carts and carry goods, otherwise the Dian state may be able to train a strong cavalry.
The area of the ancient Dian ruins under Fuxian Lake is twice as large as that of Pompeii, and the buildings with various functions are also complete, which shows that the ancient Dian kingdom has a fairly high level of civilization. Legend has it that this site is the county seat of Heyang, which sank to the bottom of the lake for some reason.
It is said that when diving archaeology found a large number of corpses in the site, if this is the case, then the city is not slowly flooded, may be due to earthquakes, lake water breaches and other natural disasters and suddenly sink.
In addition, some people say that they have seen oversized fish in the lake, and they do not know whether they are rare or ancient species. In short, there are many legends about the ruins of Fuxian Lake, and perhaps we will not be able to learn the truth until the archaeological excavations are complete.