The ruins of Panlong City are the highest-grade and richest pre-Shang Dynasty sites in the Yangtze River Basin, with a history of about 3,500 years. In 1954, it was accidentally discovered by flooding, shattering the perception of the boundaries of the Shang Dynasty. It has advanced and superb bronze casting technology, which laid the foundation for the arrival of the peak of bronze civilization. On August 22, the exhibition "Panlong City - Bronze Civilization in the Yangtze River Basin" was officially opened in the palace exhibition area of the Nanyue King Museum, displaying more than 200 pieces of bronze, jade, stone and pottery unearthed from the ruins of Panlong City, presenting a magnificent picture of Panlong City's urban life, military sacrifice and labor production 3,000 years ago.
Located in the Panlong City Economic Development Zone in the northern suburbs of Wuhan, Hubei Province, the Panlong City site is the highest known pre-Shang Dynasty site in the Yangtze River Basin, with a history of about 3,500 years and is known as the "root of Wuhan City". The ruins include Miyagi District, Lijiazui, Yangjiawan, Yangjiazui, Wangjiazui and other sites, with a total area of 3.95 square kilometers, and more than 3,000 exquisite cultural relics such as Dayuge, bronze Dayuanding, bronze plutonium, turquoise inlaid gold plate ornaments have been unearthed. These relics and relics are of high research and ornamental value. Therefore, in 1988, the Panlong City site was announced by the State Council as a national key cultural relic protection unit, in 2017 it was included in the list of the third batch of national archaeological site parks, and in 2021 it was selected as China's "Top 100 Archaeological Discoveries in 100 Years".
This exhibition displays a total of 205 pieces (sets) of exquisite cultural relics, divided into three parts: Taoqi City, Zhuozhuo Shangyi and Ancient Cantonese Civilization, through the combination of cultural relics and documentary research, systematically displays the work process and important research results of archaeological excavations of Panlong City site over the past few years, outlines the historical context of Panlong City from prosperity to decline for 300 years, and shows the audience a magnificent picture of Panlong City's urban life, military sacrifice, and labor production. At the same time, the exhibition combines the historical relics of Lingnan region under the radiation of the Central Plains culture and the archaeological examples of advanced primitive porcelain manufacturing technology spreading to the north, fully demonstrating the collision and intermingling within Chinese civilization.
Exhibition view
Exhibition view
Exhibition view
Exhibition view
The Blue Wisp of the Road reveals the ruins of Panlong City
Panlong City is located in Huangpi District, Wuhan City, Hubei Province, located on the Panlong Lake Peninsula, once known as "Pantu City". In the summer of 1954, when Wuhan experienced severe floods, local migrant workers took soil from the Panlong City site in order to raise the embankments along the Yangtze River. During this period, migrant workers unexpectedly found tombs and bronzes. After the flood control was completed, cultural relics workers led by Mr. Lan Wei began field investigation, which unveiled the mystery of Panlong City's ancient eup.
Aerial view of the ruins of Panlong City
In 1963, the Yangtze River team of the Institute of Archaeology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences conducted the first scientific excavation of Louziwan, the site of Panlong City, and unearthed bronze ceremonial objects such as ding, staff, jue and yao, which clarified the consistency between the bronzes of Panlong City and the bronzes of the early Shang found in Zhengzhou. In 1974, Peking University and Hubei Provincial Museum jointly conducted the first large-scale archaeological excavation of the Panlong City site, and finally determined that the city site was dated to the Erligang period of the Shang Dynasty, about 3500 to 3200 years ago, belonging to the early and middle periods of the Shang Dynasty. The two large palace foundations found and excavated in the city are believed to have the pioneering status of the palace layout of the ancient Chinese "front dynasty and back dormitory". The excavation also led to the first academic realization, for the first time, that the Shang Dynasty's control over the south should have reached the middle reaches of the Yangtze River.
Floor plan of Panlong Castle Miyagi
With the progress of many archaeological excavations since then, the age span, site layout and cultural nature of the Panlong City site are basically clear. A large number of exquisite relics reflecting the activities of high-ranking people, such as bronzes and jade, have been unearthed at the site, illustrating the influence and control of the Shang Dynasty on the southern region, reflecting the prominent position of Panlong City in the middle reaches of the Yangtze River during the Shang Dynasty.
The discovery and excavation of the ruins of Panlong City is not only a continuous restoration of the history of the Xia Shang period, but also a witness to the gradual improvement and continuous development of the archaeological discipline in New China. Through the display of cultural relics and archaeological work records, this exhibition combines the cultural relics themselves with the archaeological process, leading the audience to immerse themselves in the historical restoration process of Panlong City.
Jingchu Shangyi forged bronze civilization together
In the past, many historians believed that the Shang Dynasty's activities were limited to the Yellow River Valley. The Yin Wu of the pre-Qin "Book of Poetry and Shang Song" depicts Wu Ding's feat of conquering Jing Chu, indicating that as early as the early years of the Shang Dynasty, Jing Chu, like the Fang tribes such as the Di and Qiang, had been included in the territory of the Shang Dynasty. The archaeological discoveries at the site of Panlong City provide empirical evidence for these verses.
The ancestors of Panlong City 3,500 years ago, in order to survive and develop, lived in harmony with nature with hard work, courage and wisdom, and opened up a new world in the Yangtze River Basin. Panlong City experienced a period of small-scale settlements, a flourishing period of building walls, palaces and making bronzes in large quantities, and a period of development with the increase of population and further expansion of cultural scope. Accordingly, the central area of Panlong City has also undergone changes from Wangjiazui to Miyagi District to Yangjiawan at different stages.
In the "Zhuozhuo Shangyi" unit of this exhibition, the development of the city is taken vertically as the time clue, and the material production and spiritual culture are taken horizontally as the starting point, relying on the rich excavated cultural relics, the development process of Panlong City civilization from its initial prosperity to prosperity is introduced in depth and comprehensively.
The people take food as the sky, and the ruins of Panlong City have unearthed a variety of food utensils and wine vessels, reflecting the diverse types of food and advanced cooking techniques of the ancestors. The labor tools of various materials and uses reflect the development level of social productive forces in Panlong City. A large number of locally made and cast jadeware, bronzeware, pottery and original porcelain all reflect the advanced and splendid material civilization of Panlong City. The exhibits cover a variety of types of living and production utensils, allowing visitors to glimpse the life of the ancestors of Panlong City from the aspects of food culture and material production.
String pattern copper pipe In 1974, tomb No. 1 of Lijiazui in Panlong City was unearthed in the collection of Hubei Provincial Museum
Animal face pattern copper cane Unearthed in 1974 Tomb No. 2 of Lijiazui in Panlong City, Hubei Provincial Museum
Animal face pattern copper guise In 1974, tomb No. 2 of Lijiazui in Panlong City was unearthed in the collection of Hubei Provincial Museum
Original porcelain statue In 1983, Panlong City Wangjiazui 82 Tanfang 8th floor unearthed Panlong City Site Museum
With the enrichment of material civilization, economic development and population growth making the city continue to expand, Panlong City shows a complex social hierarchy. Jade was an important ceremonial instrument in the Shang Dynasty, and the jade ware of Panlong City had a variety of functions such as worshiping gods, symbolizing status rank, serving as monetary wealth and decorative beauty. This exhibition exhibits the Great Yuge, a symbol of the power of the high aristocracy, which was the externalization of the Panlong Chengyi influenced by the ceremonial factors of the Shang Dynasty.
Yu Xuanji Tomb No. 6 in Louziwan, Panlong City, was unearthed in 1980 in the collection of Hubei Provincial Museum
Yuge 1989 Unearthed in Tomb No. 11 Yangjiawan in Panlong City, Hubei Provincial Museum
In recent years, archaeologists have found a large number of copper casting related relics and relics in Panlong City, which proves that Panlong City has the ability to independently produce bronze and shows a high level of smelting and casting. At the same time, it took the lead in entering the era of metal weapons. About one-third of the bronzes unearthed at the site are weapons. The entire Panlong City culture has a strong military color. It is worth mentioning that the local bronze casting process of Panlong City has influenced the Central Plains and promoted the high prosperity of Yinxu bronzes.
Bronze Bronze Bronze Tomb No. 11 unearthed in Yangjiawan in 1989 in the collection of Hubei Provincial Museum
In the more than 300 years of prosperity and development, Panlong City has created a bronze civilization comparable to the Central Plains, which is proof that the Yangtze River Basin and the Yellow River Basin are on an equal footing. Known as the "treasure of the town hall" of the Panlong City Site Museum, there are collared jade, turquoise gold-encrusted ornaments and bronze large round dings, which are basically consistent with the Central Plains culture in the Yellow River Basin in terms of modeling ornamentation and casting technology, proving that Panlong City and Central Plains culture are in a completely unified system, which is a continuation of the development of Central Plains culture, and the arrival of the peak period of Chinese bronze civilization has laid a solid foundation.
Turquoise gold-encrusted ornaments (restoration) Unearthed in 2014 from Tomb No. 17 Yangjiawan in Panlong City, collection of Panlong City Ruins Museum
In the south, ancient Guangdong civilization is integrated and diverse
As an important town in the middle reaches of the Yangtze River during the Xia Shang Dynasty, Panlong City played a pivotal role in the integration of the vast southern region into the Chinese civilization system centered on Xia Shang. Since Panlong City, the Shang Dynasty has continued to expand its territory southward, and its culture has gradually radiated to the southern China region.
In recent decades, a series of vivid pre-Qin archaeological discoveries in the Pearl River Basin have proved that Guangdong is not a marginalized miasma, but also has a long cultural context, and has a multi-level integration and interaction with the surrounding cultural circles. This exhibition displays a number of cultural relics excavated from Guangdong Shang sites, and introduces the new archaeological discoveries of the Zhuyuanling site in Huangpu, Guangzhou, adding new brush and ink to the depiction and restoration of prehistoric scrolls in the Lingnan region.
Zhang, Ge and Youling (Bi) rings are representative cultural relics of the Central Plains ritual culture, and many ritual artifacts influenced by the Central Plains Shang culture have been unearthed from the Yangtze River Basin to the Lingnan region, reflecting the strong penetrating power of Chinese civilization. Among the jade artifacts unearthed in Puning, Zhuhai and Xinhui in this exhibit is a historical witness of the gradual integration of merchant culture in the Yellow River Basin and Yangtze River Basin and Lingnan culture, allowing the audience to more intuitively feel the infiltration of Xia Shang Yuli cultural factors into South China. At the same time, the exhibition also brings a number of newly unearthed stone tools from the Zhuyuanling site in Huangpu, Guangzhou, which have gradually been transmitted to Southeast Asia through the Pearl River Estuary area, showing the location advantage of the Pearl River Estuary in cultural integration and dissemination.
This exhibition is jointly organized by the Nanyue King Museum (Western Han Nanyue National History Research Center), Panlong City Site Museum, Hubei Provincial Museum, Guangdong Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology and Guangzhou Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology, and is the "100 Years of Archaeological Discoveries Series" launched by the Nanyue King Museum on the occasion of the 70th anniversary of the discovery and excavation of the tomb of King Wen of Nanyue, aiming to display and commemorate the hard work of generations of archaeologists and cultural museum people, so that the public can better understand the long history of Chinese civilization. Experience the development context of Chinese culture's diversity and eclecticism.
The exhibition runs from August 22 to December 10, 2023.
Exhibition poster
(The graphic materials of this article are according to the WeChat public account of the Nanyue King Museum)