The mighty Yangtze River, which has been carved into mountains and split rocks, has flowed for thousands of years, which not only created the magnificent Three Gorges, but also left a splendid civilization and long history that can be called a colorful movement.
As a result, the Three Gorges of the Yangtze River has become an important source of human civilization in the upper reaches of the Yangtze River. In the Three Gorges Cultural Relics Protection Project, the world's largest cultural relics protection project so far, 183,000 cultural relics have been unearthed in the Three Gorges Reservoir area in Chongqing. On the occasion of the "May 18" International Museum Day, on the evening of May 17, the opening ceremony of the representative exhibition "Magnificent Three Gorges" of the China Three Gorges Museum in Chongqing was held as scheduled.
At the scene, the thick smoke and fire of the ancestors of Bayu came through history; Through the treasures of the museum, we can clearly "touch" the glittering Bayu cultural context like the mighty Yangtze River......
Here, the "Magnificent Three Gorges" are within reach
As we all know, it has been nearly 20 years since the China Three Gorges Museum in Chongqing was completed and opened.
Since 2023, the renovation has taken "rooted in Bashan Shushui and inheriting the Yangtze River culture" as the main tone of the narrative, and through rich and diverse cultural relics, the origin, formation, derivation, integration and changes of the Three Gorges culture and its changes in the times have been vividly and carefully presented to the audience.
A total of 321 cultural relics (703 single pieces) were used in the renovation of "The Magnificent Three Gorges", including 37 first-class cultural relics, 27 second-class cultural relics, and 93 third-class cultural relics. Precious cultural relics account for about 50%, and the renewal rate of exhibits reaches 60%.
Walking into the preface hall, the composition of the corridor alone has a great origin. The black-looking stones are actually waterfall stones and black stones cut in Qutang Gorge before the Three Gorges Project was impounded. In it, the magnificent landscape of "the sky opens a line, the gorge opens a gate" seems to be around.
Looking a little further, the large-scale three-dimensional digital exhibition "The Formation of the Three Gorges" in the "Natural Wonders" section can be said to be overwhelming. The giant LCD screen, together with the canopy extending to the top floor, realistically restores the representative climate characteristics of the Three Gorges, such as "Wushan Cloud Rain", "Bashan Night Rain" and "Foggy Chongqing", as if they are within reach at the scene.
The treasure of the town hall shows the pride and ambition of the children of the Three Gorges
For more ordinary citizens, the more eye-catching label of the "Magnificent Three Gorges" exhibition hall is undoubtedly to enjoy the six treasures of the Three Gorges Museum at one time.
Six of the ten treasures in the collection of the Three Gorges Museum are gathered in this exhibition hall, namely the fossil left mandible of the "Wushan Man" in the Paleolithic Age, the bronze statue of Shang Sanyang, the bronze tiger button of the Warring States Period, the bronze bird-shaped statue of the Warring States Period, the golden seal of the "partial general seal" of the Eastern Han Dynasty, and the Jingyun tablet of the Han Dynasty.
The reason why these treasures can be called "the treasures of the town" is that they are rare is of course an important reason. What cannot be ignored is that through them, the Bayu culture that has been inherited for thousands of years has been clearly displayed in front of us:
Fossil left mandible of Paleolithic "Wushan Man".
Open a new chapter in the 2 million years of human history in East Asia
In the "Historical Scroll" section of the "Magnificent Three Gorges" exhibition hall, the first treasure that the audience saw was the Paleolithic "Wushan Man" left mandible fossil found at the Wushan Keelpo site in 1985. It is the earliest human fossil found in China, and the Wushan ape-man has also opened a new chapter in the two-million-year human history of East Asia.
More importantly, in the view of Huang Wanbo, a researcher of vertebrate paleontology and paleoanthropology at the Chinese Academy of Sciences, who has dealt with the Wushan Longkepo site for most of his life, "Wushan people" is one of the important parts of Chongqing's prehistoric civilization, and it proves that as early as ancient times, Chongqing has been a paradise for prehistoric humans in the upper reaches of the Yangtze River.
Warring States bronze tiger button Yu
Witness the courage and skill of the ancient Ba people
The Warring States Bronze Tiger Button that followed into view should not be underestimated.
On the surface, many people thought it was a jar. In fact, it is a military instrument unique to the Ba people. Among the more than 280,000 pieces in the collection of the China Three Gorges Museum in Chongqing, Hu Niu Qian Yu has always been regarded as the most outstanding representative of Ba culture.
According to historical records, the Ba people were in the middle of the big country and had a treacherous living environment, so all the people were soldiers and fought for a long time. When the tiger button is struck, the sound is like thunder, deterring the enemy's courage; It can also lift the spirit and deter ghosts and spirits in daily life. It has always been the embodiment of the heroic nature of the Ba people, who are brave and brave, upright and righteous.
More importantly, many Bashu-style bronzes, including the Tiger Button Qianyu, constitute an important style of the broad and profound Chinese bronze civilization, enriching the "diverse" elements of Chinese culture.
Shang Dynasty Sanyangzun, Warring States bird-shaped bronze statue
Highlight the strong local character
The cloud and thunder patterns, the crest patterns and the animal face patterns are all as delicate as ever...... In the display cabinet not far from the tiger button, the life experience of Sanyangzun of the Shang Dynasty, who is also the treasure of the town hall, is also quite good. Judging from its size, its diameter reaches 43 centimeters, and its overall height is also 41.2 centimeters. According to reports, this piece in 1980 in Wushan County, Dachang Town, Daning River on the bank of the Li Jia Tan unearthed bronze statue is a self-made heavy weapon under the strong influence of the Ba people under the strong influence of Shang culture, it is also the earliest large bronze container seen in the hometown of the Ba people so far.
The whole body of the Sanyang Zun is based on the cloud and thunder pattern, decorated with the pattern and the animal face pattern, and the shape and decoration generally show the characteristics of the end of the Shang Dynasty of the Central Plains culture, and the vague ground pattern and rough casting style show strong local characteristics. It has important academic value for the study of the mining and metallurgical technology, cultural process and the relationship between Shang culture of the ancient Ba people.
Among the many treasures in the collection of the Three Gorges Museum, if the audience is the most familiar, the Warring States bird-shaped bronze statue must be in the forefront.
The whole bird-shaped bronze statue has the characteristics of fish beak, eagle beak nose, animal ears, phoenix crown, pigeon body, duck feet and so on. Its shape and ornamentation are extremely exquisite, and its body is light, thin-walled, hollow, and extremely difficult to cast. Because it was unearthed in the aristocratic cemetery of the Ba people in Xiaotianxi, Fuling, it is a rare artistic masterpiece for the study of the aesthetic taste, craftsmanship level and casting technology of the Ba people.
The Eastern Han Dynasty "partial general seal" gold seal
Testimony of the ancient official seal system
The wheels of history roll forward. The golden light of the Eastern Han Dynasty's "partial general's seal" gold print is enough to make the audience look sideways.
This gold seal is engraved with the five characters of "partial general seal", which is arranged in three rows. According to the literature, the partial general was the assistant of the general, and this official system was established in the Spring and Autumn Period, usually by the emperor, but also by the general. The official seal of the gold system was popular in the Han and Jin dynasties, and the number found in the whole country was not much.
Jingyun stele
It provides important reference materials for the study of the Three Gorges area
In the exhibition hall of the "Magnificent Three Gorges" after this renovation, the last treasure of the town hall to meet you is the Jingyun stele of the East Han Ba County Qu Ren Ling unearthed from the old county Ping site in Yunyang in 2004.
The whole Jingyun stele is simple in shape, look carefully and you can find that the stele is carved in the middle of the statue of a woman leaning on the door, the left and right are the portraits of the red bird and the rabbit head, and the side of the stele is embossed with the green dragon and the white tiger. The inscription of Lishu, a total of 13 lines and 367 characters, describes that Jingyun's ancestors moved from Chu to Hanzhong, Guanghan and other places, and Jingyun was an official "as politicalized as a god" and won the love of the people. The monument is the Eastern Han Dynasty Qu Ren (now Yunyang) Ling Yongzhi in the second year of Xiping (AD 173) to commemorate 70 years ago Qu Ren Ling Jingyun erected.
It is understood that it is not only the only Han monument unearthed in the Three Gorges area at present, and the quality is excellent, and it is also extremely rare in the national Han monument. The content of the inscription provides an important reference material for the study of politics, geography and migration in the Three Gorges region, and has important historical and cultural value. And the calligraphy is beautiful, the carving is fine, it is the fine product in the Han monument, and it is of great artistic value.
One hour to return the magnificent Three Gorges written by Li Bai
In the "Humanities and Monuments" part of the exhibition hall, the addition of various ground cultural relics and monuments has unveiled the inner world of the children of the Three Gorges. They advocate heroes, love landscapes, harmony and tolerance. Tushan Temple, Huangling Temple, and Zhang Fei Temple carry people's admiration for historical heroes; The White Emperor City, Dianyi Cave, and Sanyou Cave have left the footprints of countless literati and expressed their pride; The majestic Goddess Peak has long been endowed with a strong humanistic color, representing the mysterious and romantic witch culture, and its connotation also has many commonalities with the world's great river civilizations.
Interestingly, if you look closely, you can walk through the exhibition hall in about an hour in ancient times. In other words, walking into the magnificent natural scenery of "The Magnificent Three Gorges", the magnificent historical picture scroll slowly unfolds, and the magnificent cultural monuments reappear one by one; Li Bai's "Imperial Speech White Emperor Caiyun, Thousands of Miles of Jiangling One Day" is right in front of you.
Upstream News Reporter Qiu Jinyi Photography Zhang Jinqi Intern Zhang Sha