On Sanxingdui - Sands culture
Shi Jinsong (Institute of Archaeology, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences)
Keywords: Sanxingdui ruins, Jinsha ruins, knowledge system, value system
Abstract: The Bronze Age remains in the Chengdu Plain, represented by the Sanxingdui site and the Jinsha site, are the same archaeological culture, which is different from the previous Neolithic culture and the Bashu culture of the Eastern Zhou Dynasty. Examining this culture from the two aspects of knowledge system and value system can more deeply understand the culture and society of the Bronze Age and even the entire pre-Qin period of the Chengdu Plain.
First, the question is raised
Since the 1980s, a series of major archaeological discoveries have gradually revealed the cultural features of the pre-Qin period in the Chengdu Plain, the most important of which include the Sanxingdui sacrificial artifact pit, the Baodun Cultural City site and the Jinsha site. Due to the increase in archaeological discoveries and the deepening of research, the sequence of cultural development in the pre-Qin period of the Chengdu Plain has become increasingly clear and perfect. At present, the basic understanding is the Guiyuanqiao culture, Baodun culture, Sanxingdui culture, Twelve Bridges culture, and Bashu culture in the Eastern Zhou Dynasty, and the various cultures have continued and continued from the Neolithic Era to the Qin and Han Dynasties. Although each culture can be further subdivided into time periods, or there are different names for a certain culture, and there are differences in the age and nature of a specific site or remain, it does not affect this overall understanding.
The significance of constructing this sequence of cultural development is mainly that it connects various relics of the pre-Qin period in the Chengdu Plain with a coherent timeline, so that these relics show a relatively clear development context. But this sequence also has limitations. First of all, it is mainly based on a large number of studies of relics, especially pottery, so to a large extent it is only a sequence of development of pre-Qin pottery, which essentially only reflects the morphological evolution of pottery. Secondly, it is gradually constructed through important sites discovered in different periods, among which sanxingdui, twelve bridges and other sites are often considered to represent a relatively independent stage of development, so this sequence determines the relative age and articulation relationship of each site. Obviously, such a chronological sequence alone is not enough to reveal the overall face of culture and the development of society.
Cultural relics excavated from the Jinsha site Photo: Zhang Yan
In order to have a more comprehensive and in-depth understanding of the culture and society of the Bronze Age in the pre-Chengdu Plain, I believe that in addition to combing the time lines that run through various remains, it is more necessary to try to integrate archaeological materials and examine the Sanxingdui culture and the Twelve Bridges culture from another angle in order to obtain new understanding and understanding. The purpose of the integration is to explore the core content and social development of the Bronze Age culture of the Chengdu Plain from more aspects in addition to the development genealogy of pottery.
2. Comparison of Sanxingdui culture and Twelve Bridges culture
The Sanxingdui culture and the Twelve Bridges culture are the two most important archaeological cultures of the Bronze Age in the Chengdu Plain, and most of the academic research on the two focuses on pottery-based periodization and generation. The sanxingdui culture was proposed after excavations at the Sanxingdui site in the early 1980s.[1] Since then, the Sanxingdui site has been divided into four phases, ranging from the late Neolithic period to the late Shang dynasty and early Zhou Dynasty. Or the remains of the Sanxingdui site are divided into three phases, the second of which is the Sanxingdui culture, the era is equivalent to the Erlitou culture period to the first period of the Yinxu culture, and the third period is the Twelve Bridges culture, and the era is equivalent to the first to third phase of the Yinxu culture [3]. In the overall framework of the pre-Qin archaeological culture of the Chengdu Plain, the Sanxingdui culture is also divided into three phases, dating from about 3700 years ago to the second period of the Yinxu culture[4]; or 4000 to 3100 years ago[5].
The Twelve Bridges culture is named after the Chengdu Twelve Bridges Site, and the excavation report of the Twelve Bridges Site designates the 13th and 12th floors of the bottom as the early stage of the site, the era is equivalent to the third and fourth phases of the Yin Ruins, the 11th and 10th floors are the late stages of the site, and the era is set as the early Western Zhou Dynasty.[6] There are also studies that combine other adjacent sites to limit the age of the Twelve Bridges culture to the early Spring and Autumn Period.[7] The most important Jinsha site of the Twelve Bridges culture, the remains of various localities are also divided into six phases, from the 13th and 12th floors corresponding to the Twelve Bridges, that is, the late Shang Dynasty, to the late Spring and Autumn Period.[8]
Excavation site at the Jinsha site
Although these phased studies are numerous, there are also issues that need further consideration. For example, the evidence of the Bronze Age in the Chengdu Plain is currently only bronze artifacts excavated from two artifact pits in Sanxingdui[9], which may be equivalent to the first and second periods of Yin Ruins or the erligang upper culture period, but it is impossible to predate the Shang. Several bronze ornaments have also been found at the Sanxingdui site, which are likely to have been imported from other places, and have nothing to do with the bronze groups in the two pits of Sanxingdui, nor have they had an impact on the culture and society of the Chengdu Plain, so their introduction cannot be used as the beginning of the local Bronze Age. Scattered copper bells and miniature figures have also been found near the Moon Bay Terrace and Sanxingdui,[10] most likely belonging to the bronze group in the artifact pit. In this way, if the Sanxingdui culture began in the Erlitou cultural period, which is 3700 years ago, then the Sanxingdui culture spanned the Neolithic and Bronze Ages. When society moved from the Stone Age to the Bronze Age or even the emergence of early states, the archaeological culture may not remain unchanged. For example, the pottery excavated from many sites in the Chengdu Plain not only retains the characteristics of the Sanxingdui culture, but also has new factors of the Twelve Bridges culture, so it is mostly considered to be a transitional remnant between the two cultures [11]. Of course, pottery will gradually change when the two archaeological cultures alternate, but if the Sanxingdui culture is closely connected to the Twelve Bridges culture, morning and night, and may even overlap, then where is the "transition period" in the time period? Related to this phenomenon is that there are very few sites identified as the Sanxingdui culture in the Chengdu Plain, especially in many sites in the Chengdu area, the Baodun cultural formation is above the Twelve Bridges cultural formation, or only the pottery of these two cultures has been found. There are also many sites that only exist in the above-mentioned transitional "early remnants of the Twelve Bridges Culture". This is somewhat puzzling, since the Sanxingdui culture is highly developed, why are there few other sites except for the central city site of Sanxingdui?
Academic circles have also always had the view that the Sanxingdui culture and the Twelve Bridges culture are a culture, the most common of which is to refer to both the Sanxingdui and the Twelve Bridges culture as shu culture or early Shu culture. For example, Song Zhimin classified the remains of sanxingdui and the twelve bridge sites as the early Shu culture, which were different stages of development.[12] Even if the pre-Qin culture of the Chengdu Plain is classified as Shu culture without contacting ethnic groups, there are always scholars who believe that the Sanxingdui culture and the Twelve Bridges culture are the same archaeological culture. For example, Luo Erhu believes that the Sanxingdui culture passed from the late Neolithic period through the Erlitou culture period equivalent to the Central Plains to the late Spring and Autumn period of the Western Zhou Dynasty, and the sites include Sanxingdui and the Twelve Bridges [13]. Li Boqian regarded the Twelve Bridges as a stage of the Sanxingdui culture, and the strata of the Twelve Bridges site were classified as the second and third of the four periods of the Sanxingdui culture, which was roughly equivalent to the Yin Ruins Phase I to the early Western Zhou Dynasty, and the earliest 13th floor of the Twelve Bridges site was equivalent to the No. 1 pit era of the Sanxingdui site.[14] Xu Xueshu combined the two cultures into one and called it "Sanxingdui - Jinsha Culture", which began and ended from the Neolithic period to the middle and late Warring States period, about 2,000 years ago, of which the Sanxingdui site represents the early remnants of this culture and the Jinsha site represents the late remains.[15]
This paper does not consider that the culture of the Chengdu Plain from the Neolithic Period to the late Warring States period belongs to a culture, but believes that the Bronze Age remains of the Sanxingdui site and the Jinsha site represent two stages of the same culture, and agrees to call this Bronze Age culture "Sanxingdui - Jinsha culture". The various material remains of the Sanxingdui culture and the Twelve Bridges culture show a very similar or even identical appearance. This paper attempts to compare and analyze these remains from the perspectives of knowledge systems and value systems in order to better illustrate the relationship between the two cultures. In short, the knowledge system is the induction and summary of practical experience, and the value system is the establishment and selection of concepts. Through mutual influence and communication, different cultures can have the same body of knowledge, for example, they can make or use the same things, but they may belong to different cultures because of different values. But if two cultures not only have the same body of knowledge, but also have the same value system, then they are likely to be the same culture. Such comparative analysis is not limited to pottery or a certain type of relic, nor is it judged solely by the similarities and differences on the surface of archaeological materials.
The following is to describe the important contents of sanxingdui and twelve bridges according to the two cultures. Due to the extensive research and basically consistent understanding of pottery, this article will not deal with it specifically.
(1) Sanxingdui culture
1. City site: Sanxingdui culture has only one city site in Sanxingdui. The city wall was built about the second phase of the Sanxingdui site, and there are seven walls in the city in The Moon Bay, Zhenwu Palace, CangbaoBao and other places,[16] there may be functional partitions in the city, and the pattern is more complex than the site of the Baodun culture.
2. Sacrificial relics: The two sacrificial artifact pits excavated at the Sanxingdui site in 1986 are the most representative relics of the Sanxingdui culture. The bronze artifacts unearthed in the pit include human figures, human heads, masks, animal-shaped objects, go-shaped instruments, bi-shaped vessels, square-hole vessels, and containers, as well as artifacts with "mythological colors" such as sacred trees, altars, sun-shaped vessels, and eye-shaped vessels. Gold ware includes masks, strip ornaments, fish belt ornaments, fish-shaped ornaments, tiger-shaped ornaments, circular ornaments, zhang-shaped ornaments, quadrant and so on. Jade includes ge, sword, knife, axe, chisel, concave blade chisel, antimonitor, antimonitor, grinding stone, zhang, zhen, zhen, bi shaped, ring, jade box, jade, turquoise and so on. Stone tools include spears, goblets, axes, jin, shovels, chisels, chisels, bi-shaped tools, etc. In addition, ivory, bone and tooth ware, pottery, and sea shells have been unearthed. Other artifact pits have been found at the Sanxingdui site, unearthing jade-made bi, yao, axe, and chisel.
3. Housing sites: There are three types of housing sites that are classified into Sanxingdui culture, but they are not found much.
The first category is the large building of Qingguan Mountain in the northwest of Sanxingdui City Site.[18] The site has a two-level terrace with an area of 16,000 square meters and a maximum height of 3 meters, with the Yazi River in the north and the Mamu River in the south, and the east and west sides through detection or waterways. Three sites were found on the existing secondary terrace with an area of about 8,000 square meters. Among them, F1 is a rectangular red-burnt earth foundation site, northwest-southeast, 55 meters long and nearly 16 meters wide, with a corridor in the middle, 3 rows of 6 column holes on each side, and the rooms may be symmetrically distributed in two rows along the corridor. There are also densely arranged "cornice" column holes inside and outside the base of the wall. F2, which is about 3 meters north of F1, is in the same direction and may be slightly smaller in shape. Excavators believe that the Qingguan Mountain Tutai is likely to be the "palace area" of the Sanxingdui Kingdom.
The second category is wooden bone mud wall sites with base grooves. In 1963, three groups were discovered in Moon Bay at the Sanxingdui site. From 1980 to 1981, 18 were found in the Sanxingdui city site,[20] and 15 are believed to belong to the Sanxingdui culture, all of which are rectangular, northwest-southeast, or northeast-southwest, and appear to be distributed in groups. Nearly 30 rectangular sites were also found in the western part of the Wall of Moon Bay. There have also been discoveries outside the Sanxingdui site, such as the 2005 cleanup of two overlapping sites in Jinsha Langjia Village.
The third category is dry-column housing sites, such as F63[23] which was cleared in 2005 in Jinsha Langjia Village, with a square plan, northeast-southwest orientation, and 6 ovulatory pillars remaining. Sanxingdui Qingguanshan F1 column network is dense, and it is also speculated to be a dry rail - a pavilion-style building.
4. Tombs: There are also very few tombs in the Sanxingdui culture that are known so far. In 1963, six tombs were excavated in Moon Bay,[24] the earlier three were juvenile and minor tombs, with their heads facing northeast and no burial utensils or burial items; the later three tombs were unclear and buried with a small amount of pottery. From 1980 to 1981, four tombs were excavated at the Sanxingdui city site,[25] facing northeast, without funerary tools and burial items. In 1998, 29 tombs were excavated in Rensheng Village, west of the Sanxingdui city site,[26] the tomb pits, tomb bottoms and filled soil were rammed and there were no burial tools, and some tombs were buried with pottery, jade, and stone tools, but there were differences with the excavations from the Sanxingdui sacrificial artifact pit, and the era should be earlier. There are also some scattered tombs in the Chengdu Plain that may belong to the Sanxingdui culture, such as four tombs excavated in Zhuwang Village in xindu in 2010,[27] and five tombs excavated in Guangfu Village in Pixian County in 2008,[28] and individual tombs at the Jinsha site are also inferred to be within the chronological range of the Sanxingdui culture. These tombs have no burial tools, and only a few tombs have a very small amount of burial items.
(2) Twelve Bridges Culture
1. City site: The city site of the Twelve Bridges culture has not been found in the Chengdu Plain. The most important site of this culture is jinsha, and large architectural areas, general settlement areas, worship areas and cemeteries have been excavated, but no city walls have been found.
2. Sacrificial Remains: The most representative relics of the Twelve Bridges culture come from the sacrificial area of the "Meiyuan" site in Jinsha [30]. The bronzes produced are human figures, human heads, masks, eye shapers, animal shapes, go-shaped instruments, bi-shaped instruments, square holes, tapers, spirals, plate shapers, containers, etc. Gold ware includes masks, strip ornaments, fish belt ornaments, fish ornaments, frog ornaments, circular ornaments, ring ornaments, trumpets, triangles, boxes and so on. Jade includes ge, sword, qi, spear, knife, axe, chisel, concave blade chisel, antimony, tekidium, grinding stone, zhang, zhen, zhen, bi shape, ring shape, hoop shape, human face, beautiful stone, turquoise stone and so on. Stone tools include spears, goss, and bi-shaped tools, as well as many human figures, animals, cake-shaped vessels, zhang, gong, cymbals, and ring-shaped vessels. Ivory, bone and toothware, pottery, as well as wood, lacquerware, and armor have also been unearthed from Jinsha.
3. Housing site: The site of the Twelve Bridges culture is mainly a wooden bone mud wall with a base groove. The large-scale site was discovered in 1999 in the "Triple Garden" of Huangzhong Village, Chengdu,[31] with 4 upper floors and 5 lower floors, each in groups. It is reported that 5 sites have also been found in the adjacent Huangzhong Village "Jinsha Lang Yu Construction Site" and the Jinsha "Jinniu Urban-Rural Integration No. 5 A" site. Smaller sites have been found in Locations such as "Furong Garden South" [32] and "Orchid Garden"[33] in Jinsha. In addition to the Jinsha site, it has been found in Chengdu Minjiang Community[34], Gaoxin West District[35], Qingbaijiang District[36], Wenjiang[37], Pi County[38] and other places. The most important dry-column building of the Twelve Bridges culture comes from the site of the Twelve Bridges[39], and the building plan is roughly T-shaped, with the main building of the dry-column type in the west and the corridor of the ground beam structure in the east. To its northeast there are also 5 large square logs, which may also be the floor beams of the building. There are also small dry-column housing sites in Chengdu's Minjiang Community.
4. Tombs: The tombs of the Twelve Bridges culture have been found in a large number of places in Jinsha. According to the information that has been reported, more than 100 tombs have been excavated at the "Lanyuan" site[40], mainly in the northwest-southeast direction, most of which are upright burials on the back, with a small number of secondary burials, no burial tools, only a few tombs with burial pottery and a very small number of small bronze and jade tools. Fifteen tombs were excavated at the site of "Shufeng Garden City Phase II"[41], and the burial style was clearly defined, all of which were buried on their backs and straight limbs, and secondary burials seemed to be more popular, northwest-southeast direction, and a few tombs unearthed pottery and stone tools. 48 tombs were excavated at the "International Garden" site,[42] including 1 ship coffin and 9 tombs with burial pottery and stone tools. At the "Wanbo" site, 60 tombs were excavated,[43] mostly in the northeast-southwest direction, with one and two burials, three tombs possibly with wooden burial tools, and a few excavated one or two pieces of pottery. Seventeen tombs were excavated at the "Spring Rain and Flowers" site[44], mostly in the northwest-southeast direction, mainly buried on the back and with straight limbs, with 5 tombs with 1 or 2 pieces of pottery spinning wheels or small flat pots. Approximately 290 tombs were excavated at the Sunbelt Phase II site, of which about 21 were ship coffins. Most of them are northwest-southeast oriented. Most of the earth pit tombs are buried on their backs and straight limbs, and only a few tombs are buried with pottery and stone tools. At the "Galaxy Road" site, 24 were excavated[46], 18 were northwest-southeast oriented, all without burial tools, buried on their backs and straight limbs, and 3 tombs unearthed 1 to 2 pieces of pottery.
In addition to the Jinsha site, there are Twelve Bridges Cultural Tombs in Huangzhong Village[47] in Chengdu, Minjiang Community[48], and Hejia Village[49] in Jinniu District, as well as in Pi County, Pengzhou, Xindu, Wenjiang, and Xinfan.
(iii) Comparison of two cultures
1. Knowledge system
From the above list, it can be seen that the relics of the Sanxingdui culture and the Twelve Bridges culture, especially bronze, gold, jade, stone tools, etc., are very similar in type, shape and ornamentation, and a large part is even basically the same. This shows that the knowledge and techniques for making these artifacts are exactly the same. Bronze, in particular, had hammering techniques in both cultures except for cast products, which was rare among other bronze cultures of the same era. Similarly, hammered gold products are available in both places. There are also engraved and painted patterns on the hammered metalwork.
The types of houses in both cultures are basically the same, using the same construction techniques. In particular, the dry-column architecture of the same period is not found in the adjacent areas of the Chengdu Plain, but is shared by these two cultures. In the Twelve Bridges culture, there are no rammed city walls or large rammed earth platforms like Qingguanshan used to build houses, but there are large rammed earthen platforms in Chengdu's Yangzi Mountain. Nine pillar holes with a diameter of more than 50 centimeters were found in the sacrificial area of the "Meiyuan" site in Jinsha, distributed in three rows and three columns within a range of about 20 square meters, which may also be a high-rise building.
The large buildings, small houses and almost all tombs of the Sanxingdui culture and the Twelve Bridges culture are oriented in a northwest-southeast direction, or a northeast-southwest direction. This commonality is very obvious, and it is different from the direction of city sites, palaces, etc. of the Shang and Zhou culture in the same period. Some scholars believe that there is a special orientation system in ancient Shu, which is characterized by the four corners of the building pointing to the four directions, which is called the "four-dimensional" orientation system, which is different from the "four positive" system of the four sides and the four parallels of the Zhongyuan Shang culture, etc., and its establishment may be related to the geographical environment of the Chengdu Plain, that is, the Longmen Mountain in the northwest and the Longquan Mountain in the southeast are parallel, and the rivers in the plain are exactly northwest-southeast [50].
Both cultures have the same livelihood. According to current archaeological findings, rice has appeared in the earliest Shifang Guiyuanqiao site in the Chengdu Plain era, and since then, from the Baodun culture to the Twelve Bridges culture, the livelihood of the Chengdu Plain has been dominated by rice.[51] Some scholars have also proposed that the early Shu culture represented by the Sanxingdui culture and the Twelve Bridges culture is the fishing and hunting culture, and the later late Shu culture is the agricultural culture [52], which also believes that the economic forms of the two cultures are the same.
2. Value system
The Sanxingdui culture and the Twelve Bridges culture share the same value system, and the evidence that best demonstrates the consistency of the two comes from the two artifact pits and the Jinsha site sacrifice area of Sanxingdui.
Relics of different textures unearthed from the Sanxingdui artifact pit are basically used for religious beliefs. Golden rods, bronze dragon-shaped vessels, etc. may represent power; realistic bronze figures, symbolic sun-shaped vessels, eye-shaped vessels, and sacred trees are sacrificial objects; altars and other sacrificial scenes are expressed; other bronze vessels, go-shaped vessels, square-hole vessels, as well as jade, ivory, and sea shells, may all be sacrificial vessels. The religious beliefs revealed by these sacrificial artifacts were ancestor worship and sun worship, and the society of the time was likely to have coexisted with kingship and theocracy. The ruling class controls the technology and products of making bronzes, and valuables such as bronzes, gold, jade, and ivory are collectively occupied by the upper echelons of society, and they may be displayed in shocking ways in temples and temples to strengthen social domination and enhance social cohesion.
The burial background and types of artifacts unearthed in the Jinsha Sacrifice Area are the same as those of Sanxingdui, and whether they are completely identical or different in shape, they undoubtedly have the same function and convey a common belief. The sun-shaped crown, the gold ornament of the sun god bird, the bronze eye-shaped vessel, etc. on the bronze statue of Jinsha still prominently express the worship of the sun, and the gold crown ornament that is exactly the same as the pattern of the golden staff of Sanxingdui still represents the royal power. It is only possible that due to the lack of copper materials, most of the bronzes in Jinsha have become smaller and replaced by more stone statues, wooden statues and so on. In addition, the relics scattered in the Jinsha sacrifice area should no longer be used for display, more like the remnants of the sacrifice activities.
In short, judging from the remains of the sacrifices of the two cultures, even if some specific ritual acts vary according to the differences of the times, the beliefs and concepts have not changed from Sanxingdui to Jinsha.
Another aspect that illustrates the common values is the funeral customs. Regardless of the tombs of Rensheng Village, which may have been earlier in the era, the tombs of the Sanxingdui culture are all vertical pit tombs, and the tombs are mostly northeast-facing, and most of them have no burial products, which is in stark contrast to the rich variety and large number of valuable items excavated from the sacrificial artifact pits. The Twelve Bridges culture has appeared large-scale cemeteries, the tombs in addition to the northeast - southwest to the outward, more for the northwest - southeast direction, some tombs have wooden burial tools, a small number of tombs with the burial of a very small number of pottery containers, pottery spinning wheels, jade strips, grinding stones and pebbles. However, the commonality with the Sanxingdui culture tombs is more prominent, that is, although the Twelve Bridges culture has a large number of tombs, there are no large tombs, the vast majority of tombs do not have burial goods, and valuable items, including bronzes, are also not used as burial utensils. This commonality of tombs shows that although there was social stratification at that time, and even early states may have been formed, the theocracy was dominant, the wealth of society may have been owned by the entire ruling group rather than individuals, and the whole society concentrated valuables on religious activities rather than individual funerary activities. There is no thick burial custom, no valuables to reflect the identity and status of the individual, and there is no social differentiation from the tomb, which is completely different from the Shang and Zhou culture of the same period. The root of difference lies in different ideas.
3. Sanxingdui - Sands Culture
With almost identical knowledge systems and value systems, the Sanxingdui culture and the Twelve Bridges culture are actually an archaeological culture. Some of the differences between the two are in the different stages of development, which include changes in pottery. In the course of the development of a culture over hundreds of years, pottery as a daily life will naturally change, but this change does not always mark the change of culture or the change of society. In the Bronze Age Chengdu Plain, the political and cultural center was originally in Sanxingdui and then moved to Jinsha. During this period, some unknown change may have occurred, leading to the abandonment of the temple, the temple, and the formation of a pit of sacrificial artifacts. However, from the archaeological materials, it is not clear that there was an invasion by foreign forces or civil unrest at that time. Because the culture has not been interrupted or substantially changed since the center was relocated. There are no practical weapons in the tombs of both cultures, and there are no signs of war or other violence. According to new archaeological findings, Sanxingdui was not abandoned after losing its central position, while the sharp increase in the number of sites and large-scale cemeteries in the Jinsha area indicates that the population growth and social peace and stability at that time were recorded.
Given that the most important sites and most representative archaeological discoveries of this culture are from Sanxingdui and Jinsha, and the two stages before and after the two stages are also used as cultural, political and religious centers, so calling it "Sanxingdui - Jinsha culture" may best summarize this culture by name.
Since "Sanxingdui - Sands Culture" is a culture, it needs to be compared with other cultures to show that it can be self-contained. A large number of studies over a long period of time have fully revealed the differences between this culture and the Zhou neighbor culture and the Shang Zhou culture of the Central Plains. It should be noted that, measured in terms of both knowledge systems and value systems, this culture is also completely different from the culture in the same region at an earlier and later stage.
Prior to this, the culture of the Chengdu Plain was the Baodun culture, and there may be transitional remnants between the two, such as the "Yuji Village Culture" from 4000 to 3700 years ago. The difference between "Sanxingdui - Sands Culture" and them is mainly the difference between the two eras. There was no bronze-making technology before, the level of productivity was low, there was no multi-layered differentiation in society, the early state had not yet been formed, and there was no sign of royal power and sun god worship at all from archaeological materials.
This was followed by the Bashu culture of the Eastern Zhou Dynasty. During the Eastern Zhou Dynasty, the culture and society of the Chengdu Plain underwent tremendous changes. The first is that the kind of bronze, gold, jade, ivory and other sacrificial artifacts that exist in large quantities from Sanxingdui to Jinsha have all disappeared, most of the settlements and cemeteries have been abolished, and the culture seems to have been interrupted. But then, the local culture quickly took on a whole new look.
During the Eastern Zhou Dynasty, a variety of more advanced techniques appeared, such as the ability to make huge wooden coffins, and the large number of exquisite lacquerware that appeared indicated that this process had a new development. Bronze production has shifted to various types of practical or bright tools, some bronze ware uses new technologies and new processes such as inlaying and wire engraving, and in recent years, there have been copper cups cast by the lost wax method in the ship coffin tomb excavated in The Shuangyuan Village of Qingbaijiang in Chengdu. Of course, these bronzes using new technologies may also be foreign products.
What has changed even more is the values. After all the religious utensils of Sanxingdui and Jinsha disappeared, a large number of bronze containers, weapons, tools and seals appeared, and the "Bashu symbol" appeared on the bronze ware. Similarly marked are the tombs, which began to appear in large-scale or abundant burials from the late Spring and Autumn Period, such as the Chengdu Commercial Street Tomb[54], where there are 17 single-wood burial tools in the tombs, some of which are huge in shape. Large tombs in the Warring States period are also not uncommon, such as tomb No. 10 of Baihuatan in Chengdu in the early Warring States period[55], which unearthed more than 40 pieces of bronze artifacts, including more than 20 weapons. More than 150 pieces of bronze artifacts and 70 or 80 weapons were unearthed from the single wooden coffin tomb of Mianzhu Qingdao.[56] Both tombs have beautifully crafted inlaid bronzes. In the middle of the Warring States period, the New Capital Majia Tomb [57] has a rafter room, a coffin chamber and eight side boxes, and 188 bronze artifacts are produced in the waist pit. Until the late Warring States period, there were still tombs with abundant burials, such as Tomb No. 172 of Yangzishan in Chengdu[58]. Large-scale cemeteries also appeared in the Chengdu Plain, which extended from the Spring and Autumn Warring States period to the Western Han Dynasty, such as the Shifang Chengguan Cemetery[59], the Deyang Luojiang Zhoujiaba Cemetery[60], the Zhangjiadun Cemetery on Qingjiang East Road in Chengdu [61] and the Qingbaijiang Shuangyuan Village Cemetery.
From the late Spring and Autumn Period to the Warring States period, the size of tombs in the Chengdu Plain and the number of burial items with them were seriously differentiated, so as to distinguish the status and identity of the individual tomb owners, and at the same time, large cemeteries that may belong to different ethnic groups or political forces also appeared. A large number of weapons were common in tombs, and the society was clearly in turmoil. Archaeological materials from this period reveal that beliefs such as sun worship no longer exist, and the function of bronzes has changed from sacrificial or religious objects to practical utensils and funerary supplies. The way in which social wealth is appropriated and the forms in which power is ruled have changed markedly, and it is no longer theocracy that governs society but secular political and military forces. All of these changes reflect a more fundamental difference, and that is the difference in value systems. This new value system did not arise completely naturally from the original culture and society of the Chengdu Plain, but was related to the decline of local culture in the Eastern Zhou Dynasty and the westward expansion of Chu culture and Central Plains culture. New values and new copperware and lacquerware making techniques may have originated in the middle reaches of the Yangtze River.
It can be seen that the "Sanxingdui - Jinsha Culture" is completely different from the Neolithic culture represented by the Baodun culture and the Bashu culture of the Eastern Zhou Dynasty, and the social form of this period also has its own uniqueness.
Finally, let's go back to the chronological sequence mentioned at the beginning of the article. I think that "Sanxingdui - Jinsha culture" as a bronze culture should be distinguished from the neolithic culture. From the various existing periodization opinions, it is not certain that the beginning of the Bronze Age in the Chengdu Plain was confirmed. Based on current material, it is also difficult to determine the point at which this culture began and ended.
The bronzes of the Sanxingdui site, excluding several bronze plaques mentioned above, are basically from two sacrificial artifact pits. Among them, the only vessels that can be compared with bronzes in other regions to determine the age are zun, 罍, plates, and urns. Similar artifacts have been unearthed in the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River and southern Shaanxi, similar to similar artifacts in the early Yin Ruins. If we consider that the Dragon and Tiger Zun in Pit No. 1 is similar to the Dragon and Tiger Zun in Funan, Anhui Province, and if the age of the latter is the upper culture of Erligang, then the earliest age of the Sanxingdui bronze container can only be at this time. The other bronzes in the artifact pit have no contrasting vessels, but there are kneeling figures with round figures on their heads, and "altars" with square statues on the top, which also have the style of the early Circles and Fangs of yin ruins. In this way, other bronzes in Sanxingdui may also be roughly the same as the container. Buildings and tombs believed to belong to the Sanxingdui culture are uncertain that they are all remnants of the Bronze Age. Qingguanshan F1 has jade, stone and ivory buried in the wall base, "cornice" and indoor rammed earth, and the two artifact pits also have such relics, so F1 is likely to be at the same time as the relics in the artifact pit. The excavation report of the Sanxingdui Sacrificial Artifact Pits sets the stratigraphic dating of Pit No. 1 and Pit 2 as the late period of the third phase and the first period of the fourth phase of the Sanxingdui site, respectively, the third period is equivalent to the first and second phases of the upper layer of Erligang to the early Yin Ruins (Yin Ruins Phase I and II), and the fourth period is equivalent to the late Yin Ruins (Yin Ruins Phase III and IV) to the early Western Zhou Dynasty.[62] "Sanxingdui - Jinsha Culture" may start from a certain period of time in the third phase of the site, and the two pits are the same age and belong to the fourth period of the site.
It is also difficult to determine when the Jinsha site was completely abandoned, and when those sacrificial utensils disappeared completely. One way to determine is to refer to the appearance time of tombs containing bronze containers of the Eastern Zhou Dynasty, the end of the "Sanxingdui - Jinsha culture" and the rise of the Bashu culture in the Eastern Zhou Period, and there should not be too long an interval between the two. New discoveries such as the Qingbaijiang Shuangyuan Village Cemetery may indicate that large-scale ship coffin tombs and Chu-style bronzes appeared in the mid-to-late Spring and Autumn Period. The lower limit of "Sanxingdui - Jinsha Culture" can be tentatively set as the lower limit of the original inferred Twelve Bridges culture, that is, the early Spring and Autumn Period.
Compared with other regional bronze cultures in the Yangtze River Basin, the "Sanxingdui-Jinsha Culture" began in the same age as the Wucheng culture in the Ganjiang River Basin and the bronze culture in the Xiangjiang River Basin, but lasted longer. If we are not limited to constructing chronological sequences, but delve deeply from knowledge systems and value systems, from culture to society, and compare with other related or adjacent cultures, then "Sanxingdui - Sands Culture" will show its unique connotation more clearly.
Sichuan Provincial Cultural Relics Administration Committee, Sichuan Provincial Museum, Guanghan County Cultural Center. Guanghan Sanxingdui Site[J].Journal of Archaeology,1987(2).
Chen Xiandan. Overview and Preliminary Staging of Excavations at Guanghan Sanxingdui Site: On the Characteristics and Development of "Early Shu Culture"[C]//Southern Ethnic Archaeology (Vol.2).Chengdu:Sichuan Science and Technology Press, 1990.
SUN Hua. On the Staging of the Guanghan Sanxingdui Site[C]//Southern Ethnic Archaeology (Vol.5).Chengdu:Sichuan Science and Technology Press, 1993.
Jiang Zhanghua,Wang Yi,Zhang Qing. A Preliminary Discussion on pre-Qin Culture in Chengdu Plain[J].Journal of Archaeology,2002(1).
[5] Wan Jiao, Thunderstorm. Guiyuanqiao site and the development of Neolithic culture in Chengdu Plain[J].Cultural Relics,2013(9).
Sichuan Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology, Chengdu Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology. Chengdu Twelve Bridges[M].Beijing:Cultural Relics Publishing House,2009.]
[7] Same[4].
Jiang Zhanghua. Preliminary analysis of Jinsha site[J].Cultural Relics,2010(2).
Sichuan Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology. Sanxingdui Sacrifice Pit[M].Beijing:Cultural Relics Publishing House,1999.]
Ao Tianzhao. Several Pieces of Shang Dynasty Bronze Artifacts Excavated from Sanxingdui Cultural Site[J].Cultural Relics, 2008(7).
Zhang Wenyan,Wu Chaoming,Zhang Yuying. A Review of the Research on the Early Remains of the Twelve Bridges Culture[J].Sichuan Cultural Relics, 2018(5).
[12]a.Song Zhimin.Re-discussion on the Staging of Early Shu Culture[J].Archaeology, 1990(5).b.Song Zhimin.Several Issues in the Study of Shu Culture[C]//Southern Ethnic Archaeology (Vol.7), 2011.
Luo Erhu. On the ethnic genus of sanxingdui cultural residents[C]//Bashu history, ethnicity, archaeology and culture. Chengdu:Bashu Book Society,1991.]
Li Boqian. Understanding of Some Problems of Sanxingdui Culture[C]//Archaeological Research (III).Beijing:Science Press,1997.]
Xu Xueshu. On "Sanxingdui - Jinsha Culture" and Its Relationship with the Pre-Qin and Shu States[C]//Exploration and Practice of Archaeological Ethnology. Chengdu:Sichuan University Press,2005.]
Ran Honglin, Thunderstorm. A brief analysis of the changes in the characteristics of city sites in the pre-Qin period of Chengdu Plain[J].Sichuan Cultural Relics, 2014(3).
[17]a.Lin Mingjun.Discovery and Excavation of Ancient Relics of Guanghan and Han[J].Shuowen Monthly, 1942,3(7).b.Sanxingdui Workstation of Sichuan Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology, Guanghan Municipal Institute of Cultural Relics Management.Briefing on the Investigation of Zhenwucang Baobao Sacrifice Pit at Sanxingdui Site[C]//Sichuan Archaeological Report Collection. Beijing:Cultural Relics Publishing House,1998.]
[18] Thunderstorm. New archaeological harvests from 2012 to 2013 at the Guanghan Sanxingdui site in Sichuan[C]//2013 Important Archaeological Discoveries in China. Beijing:Cultural Relics Press,2014.]
Ma Jixian. Posthumous Excavations at the Guanghan Moon Bay Site[C]//Southern Ethnic Archaeology (Vol.5).Chengdu:Sichuan Science and Technology Press,1993.]
Tong[20]Tong[1].
Wang Lin. A Preliminary Discussion on Architecture in the Pre-Qin Period of the Western Sichuan Plain[J].Chengdu Cultural Relics, 2010(3).
Chengdu Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology. Briefing on the excavation of the site of "boutique house" in Langjia Village, Jinsha Ruins, Chengdu[C]//Archaeological Discoveries in Chengdu (2004).Beijing:Science Press,2006.]
[23]Same[22].
[24] Same[19].
[25] Same[1].
[26] Sanxingdui Site Workstation, Sichuan Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology. Tukeng Tomb in Rensheng Village, Sanxingdui Site, Guanghan City, Sichuan Province[J].Archaeology,2004(10).
[27] Chengdu Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology, Xindu District Cultural Relics Administration. Excavation report of Zhuwangcun site in Xindu District, Chengdu[C]//Chengdu Archaeological Discovery (2011).Beijing:Science Press,2013.]
Chengdu Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology. Briefing on the excavation of the ancient ruins of Lijia courtyard in Guangfu Village, Pixian County, Sichuan Province[C]//Chengdu Archaeological Discovery (2009).Beijing:Science Press,2011.]
Chengdu Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology, Chengdu Jinsha Site Museum. Excavation report of Jinsha Site-Sunshine Zone Phase II[M].Beijing:Cultural Relics Press, 2017:422.The report infers that some tombs at this site are 3400-3100 years old.
Chengdu Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology. Briefing on the excavation of the "Meiyuan" site in Area I of Chengdu Jinsha Site[J].Cultural Relics, 2004(4).
Chengdu Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology. The main harvest of the 1999 excavation of the Huangzhongcun site in Chengdu[C]//Chengdu Archaeological Discovery (1999).Beijing:Science Press,2001.]
Chengdu Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology. Briefing on the excavation of the southern site of Furongyuan at the site of Jinsha Village[C]//Chengdu Archaeological Discovery (2003).Beijing:Science Press,2005.]
Chengdu Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology. Briefing on the excavation of the "Lanyuan" site at the Jinsha site in Chengdu[C]//Chengdu Archaeological Discovery (2001).Beijing:Science Press,2003.]
Chengdu Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology. Excavation of the first issue of the Minjiang Community Site in 1999[C]//Chengdu Archaeological Discovery (1999).Beijing:Science Press,2001.]
Chengdu Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology. Briefing on the Trial Excavation of the Shangzhou Site of "Wan'an Pharmaceutical Packaging Factory" in Chengdu High-tech West District[C]//Chengdu Archaeological Discoveries (2003).Beijing:Science Press,2005.]
Chengdu Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology, Qingbaijiang District Cultural Relics Protection and Management Institute. Briefing on the excavation of the ancient ruins of Hongfeng Village, Qingbaijiang District, Chengdu[C]//Chengdu Archaeological Discoveries (2005).Beijing:Science Press,2007.]
Chengdu Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology, Wenjiang District Cultural Relics Protection and Management Institute. Briefing on the excavation of the Shangzhou site of "Tibet Geological Garden" in Wenjiang District, Chengdu[C]//Archaeological Discoveries in Chengdu (2014).Beijing:Science Press,2016.]
Chengdu Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology, Pixian Wangcong Ancestral Museum. Excavation report of Shangzhou ruins in Boluo Village, Pixian County, Chengdu[J].Journal of Archaeology,2016(1).
[39] Same[6].
[40] Same[33].
[41] Chengdu Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology: Briefing on the Trial Excavation of the Second Phase site of Shufeng Garden City at jinsha site[C]//Chengdu Archaeological Discovery (2001).Beijing:Science Press,2003.]
Chengdu Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology. Briefing on the excavation of the "International Garden" site at jinsha site[C]//Archaeological discoveries in Chengdu (2004).Beijing:Science Press,2006.]
Chengdu Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology. Archaeological Exploration and Excavation Harvest at Wanbo Site, Jinsha Site, Chengdu[C]//Chengdu Archaeological Discovery (2002).Beijing:Science Press,2004.]
Chengdu Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology. Briefing on the excavation of the site of "Spring Rain and Flowers" at the Jinsha Site in Chengdu[C]//Archaeological Discoveries in Chengdu (2004).Beijing:Science Press,2006.]
[45]Same[29].
Chengdu Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology. Briefing on the excavation of the western extension of Xinghe Road at the Jinsha site[C]//Chengdu Archaeological Discovery (2008).Beijing:Science Press,2010.]
[47]a.Tong[31].b.Chengdu Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology.Briefing on the Trial Excavation of Huangzhongcun Trunk Road Planning Route B Site in 2001 at Chengdu Jinsha Site[C]//Chengdu Archaeological Discovery (2002).Beijing:Science Press,2004.]
[48] Same[34].
Chengdu Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology. Excavation report of Shangzhou site at Site 2 of Chengdu Zhonghai International Community[C]//Chengdu Archaeological Discovery (2010).Beijing:Science Press,2012.]
Wang Renxiang. Four Positive and Four Dimensions: Archaeological Insights into The Two Directional Systems of Early China: From the Orientation System of the Ancient Shu Dynasty. [J].Sichuan Cultural Relics, 2011(5).
Jiang Zhanghua. Analysis of the change of pre-Qin settlements in Chengdu Plain[J].Archaeology,2015(4).
Cai Jingquan. The socio-economic and cultural development of the pre-Qin dynasty in chengdu plain reflected in archaeological findings[J].Jianghan Archaeology, 2006(3).
Li Mingbin. On the Nature of the Cultural Remains of the Third Phase of the Wenjiang YujiaoCun Site[J].Huaxia Archaeology, 2011(1).
Chengdu Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology. Chengdu Commercial Street Ship Coffin[M].Beijing:Cultural Relics Publishing House,2009.]
Sichuan Provincial Museum. Excavation of Tomb No. 10 of Chengdu Baihuatan Middle School[J].Cultural Relics, 1976(3).
Wang Youpeng, Sichuan Provincial Museum. Ship coffin tomb in Mianzhu County, Sichuan[J].Cultural Relics,1987(10).
Sichuan Provincial Museum, Xindu County Cultural Relics Administration. Sichuan Xindu Warring States Wooden Tomb[J].Cultural Relics,1981(6).
Sichuan Provincial Cultural Relics Administration Committee. Excavation report of Tomb No. 172 in Yangzishan, Chengdu[J].Journal of Archaeology,1956(4).
[59] Sichuan Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology, Deyang Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology, Shifang Museum. Shifang Chengguan Warring States Qin and Han Cemetery[M].Beijing:Cultural Relics Publishing House,2006.]
Liu Zhangze,Zhang Shenggang,Xu Wei. Zhoujiaba Warring States Ship Coffin Cemetery in Deyang, Sichuan[C]//2012 Important Archaeological Discoveries in China. Beijing:Cultural Relics Press,2013.]
Yi Li,Yang Bo. Qin and Han Cemetery of the Warring States of Zhangjiadun, Chengdu, Sichuan[C]//2016 Important Archaeological Discoveries in China. Beijing:Cultural Relics Press,2017.]
Sichuan Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology. Sanxingdui Sacrifice Pit[M].Beijing:Cultural Relics Publishing House,1999:424~432.
*This paper is the phased result of the third sub-project of "Bronze Production and Early Civilization in Southwest China" of the key project of the National Social Science Foundation of China "Investigation and Research of Metallurgical Sites in the Pre-Qin and Han Dynasties in Southwest China" (approval number: 15ZDB056).
Originally published in Archaeology and Cultural Relics, No. 5, 2020