In 2021, with the unveiling of new archaeological discoveries at the Sanxingdui site in Sichuan, people's eyes are once again focused on this magical land. The six newly discovered sacrificial pits unearthed a large number of shocking but mysterious artifacts, but they still failed to completely unravel the many mysteries about Sanxingdui.
"Ancient Shu" mainly refers to the Shu civilization before the middle and early Warring States period. After the Qin dynasty destroyed Bashu in 316 BC, a large number of Qin immigrants moved into Shu land, and with the direct administration of Bashu by successive dynasties, the ancient Shu people gradually merged with other groups that migrated south to form the new Shu people.
By the end of the Ming Dynasty and the beginning of the Qing Dynasty, due to the tug-of-war between the Southern Ming Army, the Great Western Army and the Qing Army in the Sichuan area, the population of Sichuan had decreased sharply, and most of the people in Sichuan today were immigrants from Hubei, Jiangxi, Fujian, Guangxi and other provinces. This is the third ethnic "reset" in the history of Shudi.
It is precisely because of this ethnic change that the issue of sanxingdui's genus is becoming more and more complicated.
So who is the owner of Sanxingdui? Do the descendants still exist, and where are they now?
Scholars of Yi culture were the first to put forward conclusive propositions: there may be some kind of homology between the ancient Yi civilization and the Sanxingdui civilization, in other words, the Yi people can be regarded as descendants of the Sanxingdui people.
First of all, the bronze headdresses excavated from Sanxingdui are very similar to the headdresses of the Yi people in Liangshan today, and the copper cultural phenomenon shown by Sanxingdui is also similar to the copper worship custom of wearing copper bracelets and copper earrings in the social life of the Yi people.
Secondly, the golden staff and bronze sacred trees found in Sanxingdui are not reflected in the Central Plains civilization, but there are many descriptions of scepters and records of the contents of the golden dragon sacred trees in the Yi texts.
Third, including a small number of carved symbols unearthed from Sanxingdui
The "Bashu Tu language" is highly similar to the ancient Yi script, and Yi paleographers have even interpreted 100% of the 62 characters displayed in the Sanxingdui Museum.
Therefore, even anthropologist Fei Xiaotong believes that "this Sanxingdui culture is related to the Yi culture." ”
So can it be concluded that the Sanxingdui civilization is actually the ancient Yi civilization, and the Yi people are the descendants of the Sanxingdui people?
Don't jump to conclusions. Let's first look at a set of documents from Zhuge Liang's Southern Expedition.
When Zhuge Liang, the chancellor of the Shu Han Dynasty, was quelling the rebellion in Nanzhong, he once saw: "Yiren people are known as Kun, small seeds are known as Sorcerers, all are curved heads and wooden ears, and rings are wrapped in iron... Those who can speak and submit to the race are called 'old people', and they are the Lord. Discuss the good oracles, call them the 'Yi Jing'... Zhuge Liang is making a map for Yi."
When Zhuge Liang was in the south, the area around Nanzhong was relatively closed because of its relatively closed geographical environment, so it was not affected by the first Bashu ethnic group
The great impact of the "reset" can still maintain the distinctive characteristics of the "ancient Shu people". "Curved head" is a description of the vertebral bun, "wooden ear" is a wooden stick piercing ear and wooden earrings, and "iron ring" is an iron ring bracelet or collar, which is the same as the traditional dressing custom of the Yi people.
It can be seen that Zhuge Liang encountered the ancestors of the Yi people, and the so-called "Yijing" is the ancient Yi script with one of the six ancient scripts in the world. However, the ancient Yi script found so far has been confirmed to be 8,000 years old, and the upper limit of the use of the script exceeds the upper limit of the existence of the Sanxingdui civilization.
As we all know, the Sanxingdui civilization has not found any writing except for a small number of carved symbols. In addition, Nanzhong was still in existence until the Western Han Dynasty
The state of "no monarch" is obviously different from the "high priest" who holds the highest power in Sanxingdui.
Therefore, the Kun and Sou seen by Zhuge Liang are indeed the ancestors of the Yi people, but the Kun and So (ancient Yi) are not direct descendants of Sanxingdui.
Another strong piece of evidence is the tomb.
Tombs can reflect the real life of a people. The four small tombs found in Sanxingdui are all rectangular vertical pit burials, while the Yi burial method is boat coffins.
This shows that the Sanxingdui people living in the Chengdu Plain and the ancient Yi ethnic group living in the south together constitute the ancient Shu civilization, and in the process of civilization in which the two are eliminated, there may be some kind of cultural exchange and influence, but there is no so-called homology.