CCTV News
More than 2,000 years ago, there was an ancient kingdom called "Yun" in the southwestern border of the mainland, and Sima Qian once described it as "fertile thousands of li" in the "History". Shortly after Sima Qian entered it in the canons, the ancient Dian kingdom gradually disappeared.
Where is the mysterious ancient Dian Kingdom located? And how to create a civilization that will amaze future generations? Recently, the documentary "Ancient China, Ancient Dian Ji" was broadcast, following the footsteps of archaeologists and unveiling the mystery of the ancient Dian Kingdom together.
01
How advanced was the aesthetics of the ancient Dian people 2,000 years ago?
Since the 50s of last century, archaeologists have successively unearthed tens of thousands of ancient Dian cultural relics in Shizhai Mountain, Lijia Mountain, Tianzi Temple, Yangfutou and other places around Dianchi Lake in Yunnan, including 15,000 bronzes, which are unique.
The Ox Tiger Bronze Case is one of the ritual vessels used for sacrifice, it is 43 cm high, 76 cm long and 36 cm wide, the back naturally falls into the shape of the case, the tail of the tiger crawls, the mouth bites the tail of the ox and pulls back, and a leisurely calf stands under the belly of the big cow, skillfully showing the combination of strength and beauty.
As a ritual vessel for placing meat sacrifices, the Niuhu copper case reflects the appearance of the ritual of sacrifice in the Central Plains, representing that during the Warring States period, Yunnan and the Central Plains had a high degree of consistency in ritual culture.
02
When it was unearthed, it contained a large number of sea shells, what kind of artifact is this?
This bronze shell storage vessel used to store precious sea shells is the "piggy bank" of the ancient Dian Kingdom. According to historical records and archaeological research, the unearthed shell storage vessels were more used as a ritual vessel and were buried in the noble tombs with higher specifications.
The bronze shell storage vessel, the pillar of the murder sacrifice, women sat in rows and rows, and inside the basket it can be seen that the main food they exchange is fish and chicken.
The shellfish storage vessel reflects the lively market scene of the ancient Dian Kingdom. The most striking is the palanquin carried by four people, on which sits a woman with a gilded body and a silver bun and a serious demeanor, as if she were a noblewoman or a leader, indicating that at that time, women could also enjoy a noble status.
The different shapes of shell storage vessels allow us to glimpse all aspects of the social life of the ancient Dian people more than 2,000 years ago. Although the ancient Dian people did not have writing, they used bronze shell storage vessels to spell together a lively and vivid ancient Dian "Qingming upper river map".
03
Why is there a mountain of snails hidden under the seemingly ordinary mound?
The ruins of Gucheng Village by Dianchi Lake in Kunming, Yunnan Province, are the most complete preserved annular shell mound sites in Yunnan during the Pre-Dian period.
Under this seemingly ordinary mound, there are buried snail mountains. The shell covers an area of more than 90,000 square meters, equivalent to the size of 13 standard football fields. The snail shells buried deep in the ground, alternately stacked with the gray soil layer, are 6.5 meters thick.
Looking closely, the tail of each snail shell has traces of knocking. The archaeological staff analyzed, "After people at that time ate the snail shell, they would throw it here, and over the years, this site formed a hill-like snail shell mound." ”
According to the strata of the shell mound site in Gucheng Village, experts judge that the ancient Dian people have settled around Dianchi Lake since at least the Shang Dynasty on the mainland and created their own civilization.
Dianchi Lake has been rich in snails since ancient times, and people who live around Dianchi Lake now also come to Dianchi Lake to catch snails to eat. Although it is not the same variety as the ancient Dian people, through the small snail shell, there seems to be a clever connection between the present and the ancients.
04
A small gold seal
How is it strong evidence for the existence of the ancient Dian Kingdom?
In the 50s of the 20th century, a gold seal less than one inch caused a sensation in the archaeological community at home and abroad, it is the snake button gold seal unearthed at the site of Shizhaishan in Kunming.
This gold seal weighs 90 grams, has a side length of 2.4 centimeters, a height of 2 centimeters, and is intact on all four sides. The gold seal is clearly and prominently engraved with 4 Han Dynasty seal characters - "The Seal of the King of Dian ".
The "Records of History" records that Emperor Wudi of Han once "gave the king seal of Dian Wang". The excavation of the snake button gold seal found archaeological evidence for the "Dian King Seal" recorded in the classics, and also confirmed the existence of the ancient Dian Kingdom.
05
This first disclosed sealing mud has witnessed the Southern Silk Road!
At the site of the river mooring on the southeast bank of Dianchi Lake, more than 1,300 simple swords with characters and more than 800 sealing mud have been unearthed. Among them, archaeologists for the first time asked the film crew to photograph a "Buwei Cheng Seal" seal, which was the seal of the official in charge of the paperwork and archives of Buwei County at that time.
Buwei County, which is today's Baoshan City in Yunnan Province, was once equivalent to Yangguan on the Northern Silk Road. The sealing mud of the "Buwei Cheng Seal" is a powerful testimony of this history.
The sealing mud was sealed with mud at the tied bamboo simple knots in order to prevent the simple muck from being stolen and peeked at by the people at that time.
After thousands of years, how have these seals survived? Experts speculate that the site of the river park is most likely the center of the official centralized treatment of the simple mou at that time, and after the simple mound was burned, the sealing mud on it was tempered by fire, and it was lucky to survive for thousands of years.
Thousands of years have passed, and the ancient Dian Kingdom has long been hidden into the past
But ancient Dian culture
As an important part of Chinese civilization
It still continues the legend of the past