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The significances of the divining tortoise shells excavated from Jinsha Ruins

admin — Sun, 07 Dec 2008 08:27:21 +0000

In the central excavating area, where some sacrificial objects like ivory ware and jade ware were found, archaeologists unearthed 19 divining shells, all of which were made of the ventral and dorsal shells of tortoises. In every tortoise shell, there is a small burned hole. The largest tortoise shell found here is a 59-centimeter long ventral shell, which is also the biggest divining tortoise shell that has ever been found. These shells represent the supreme power of the rulers of the ancient Shu State. Archaeologists believe that these tortoise shells were used by sorcerers in ancient times when they made their divinations. Inscriptions have often been found on bones or tortoise shells in the Central Plains, but no inscriptions were found on these shells. The discovery of the tortoise shells here just matches with those that have been found in Chengdu before, and confirms the unique divining custom of the ancient Shu State culture.

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The archaeological discoveries in jinsha Ruins enlighten us

admin — Thu, 27 Nov 2008 15:08:51 +0000

There were some precious materials unearthed in Jinsha Ruins that had never been discovered before. The time when Chengdu was founded will be pushed back another 700 years, from 2,300 years ago to 3,000 years ago. This will rewrite the history of Chengdu and even the history of ancient Sichuan, and place the ancient Shu culture in the spotlight again. Some experts infer that the formation of Jinsha might have been closely connected with the transferring of the political, economic and cultural center of the ancient Shu state. From the over 1,000 relics excavated here, we can see that Jinsha Ruins are closely related to Sanxingdui Ruins in term of the origin, yet each has its own characteristics. The jade articles discovered here show that the Jinsha civilization was profoundly influenced by the Yellow River civilization and the Liangzhu civilization on the lower reaches of the Yangtze River. It can be concluded that Jinsha, as the cultural center of the ancient Shu state during the Shang and the West Zhou dynasties, is a product of different civilizations. From this we can conclude that Chinese civilization originated and became integrated from diverse sources.

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The ivory ware of Jinsha Ruins from

admin — Wed, 01 Oct 2008 01:19:48 +0000

The over 40 pieces of ivory ware are all pillar-shaped articles with one dot in the middle, surrounded by six dots on one end of each piece. Numerous elephant tusks were excavated from Jinsha Ruins with the total weight of about one ton. Some of them were from the southern part of the ancient Shu State, but most were from the neighboring provinces of Yunnan, Guizhou and so on. They are said to have been tributes paid to the rulers of the ancient Shu State by ethnic groups in southwest China. All these discoveries indicate that Jinsha by that time had already become the most important political, economic and cultural center in southwest China.

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The characteristics of the jade ware in Jinsha Ruins

admin — Thu, 18 Sep 2008 15:28:37 +0000

The over 400 jade articles, including the jade cong, jade bi, jade zhang, dagger-axes, jade spears, jade axes, jade chisels, jade jin, jade bracelets, jade rings, jade plates, jade hanging adornments, jade beads, jade materials and so on, are all delicately and carefully made. What amazes people is that the style of the jade articles unearthed here bears a strong resemblance to that of the jade ware found at Liangzhu on the lower reaches of the Yangtze River. This indicates that the ancient Shu State was engaged in frequent, active communication and trade with the outside world at that time.

The jade articles found in Jinsha Ruins are not only large in number but also delicate in design, of which the biggest one is an emerald jade cong (a long hollow piece of jade with rectangular sides) of about 22 centimeters high. The workmanship of this jade cong, especially the miniature carving on its surface, is really breathtakingly exquisite and its design and style are quite similar to those that represent the Liangzhu civilization. Great numbers of gui-shaped jade chisels and jade plates bear the special traits of the ancient Shu culture, and large quantities of Jade zhangs are carefully designed with beautiful lines on the surface; some of them are dyed a distinctive red. The jade articles discovered in Jinsha Ruins show some traces of the Central Plain civilization and the Liangzhu civilization on the lower reaches of the Yangtze River. The jade cong and jade zhang may well have been transported here by way of the Yangtze River. The characteristics of the jade articles unearthed in Jinsha also show that the ancient Shu State was actively engaged in communication and trade with the outside world.

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The stone kneeling figure found in Jinsha Ruins

admin — Wed, 17 Sep 2008 16:07:25 +0000

One hundred and seventy stone articles, including the stone bi, stone zhang(a kind of jade alticle), stone spears, stone axes, stone kneeling-figure, stone tigers, stone tortoises and stone snakes, make up the earliest and the most exquisite group of stone ware. the stone tigers are realistic and vividly carved. The stone kneeling figure, bound with both hands behind has back, and rouge on his lips, wears a square hat with two sides raised upward and a long plait of hair that reached to his waist. Archaeologists believe that the kneeling figure might be the statue of a prisoner or a slave who belonged to some nobleman. This shows that the ancient Shu State was already strong and prosperous.

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The gold ware and bronze ware found in Jinsha Ruins

admin — Tue, 16 Sep 2008 14:00:08 +0000

More than 30 pieces of gold ware of great variety and exquisite craftsmanship were excavated from Jinsha Ruins: gold masks, gold straps, circular gold adomments, frog-shaped gold adornments and bugle-shaped gold adornment. Among these gold pieces, the gold masks are quite similar to the bronze masks found in Sanxingdui, from which we can infer that there was some relationship between them with regard to its origin. Except for the gold masks, all other gold pieces are indigenous to Jinsha, especially the fine and marvelous gold foil with phoenix patterns which resembles the mark of the Phoenix TV Station of Hong Kong.

More than 400 pieces of bronze ware have been found in the ruins, most of which are small in size, including a bronze standing figure, bronze yuan, bronze dagger-axes, axe-shaped bronze bi (round flat piece) with a square-hole in the middle, bronze bells, bronze hanging adornments, bronze plates, remnants of bronze ritual object and more. The modeling style of the bronze standing figure is very similar to that of the bronze standing figure found in Sanxingdui. Although relics like the large-sized bronze masks and holy trees unearthed from Sanxingdui have not yet been found in Jinsha, we can see from the exquisite bronze ware that Jinsha had a highly developed bronze culture.

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Sichuan China the Jinsha Ruins

admin — Mon, 15 Sep 2008 02:22:50 +0000

Sichuan China Jinsha Ruins lie in the Jinsha Village of Supo Town in the west of Chengdu. The central area of the ruins covers more than 3 square kilometers. Next to the excavation of Sanxingdui Ruins in Guanghan City, Jinsha Ruins are the most important archaeological discovery in Sichuan. Many archaeologists believe that Jinsha Ruins might well have been the political, economic and cultural center of Chengdu after the decline of the Sanxingdui civilization. Since the location of Jinsha Ruins was once the capital city of the ancient Shu State between the end of the Shang Dynasty and the beginning of the West Zhou Dynasty, the excavation of the ruins plays a key role in the study of the history and culture of the ancient Shu society. Therefore, China National Cultural Relics Bureau has decided that Jinsha and Sanxingdui ruins will jointly apply for a World Cultural Heritage Site.

The incomparably exquisite cultural relics discovered here have astounded the world and the mysterious sacrificial culture has made people to ponder deeply over the spiritual world of our ancestors. The unanswered questions posed by timeless cultures remind us of the Egypt pyramids, the Maya civilization and the mysteries of Sanxingdui Ruins. The ancient Shu culture has greatly enhanced the splendor of Chinese culture. Since its discovery in February, 2001, archaeologists have basically affirmed that the site of ancient Shu State was divided into three parts: the sacrifice section, the living section, and the workshop section. The distribution of these sections in Jinsha Ruins shows that the place had already become a large-scaled and mature capital city by that time. A great number of exquisite gold ware, jade ware, bronze ware, stone ware, ivory ware, and countless elephant tusks and pottery have been excavated from the ruins.

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The national cultural relies in Baoguang Temple

admin — Fri, 05 Sep 2008 15:14:12 +0000

More than 1,300 cultural relics, dating from the Han Dynasty, are kept in the temple, such as the sariras, Buddhist scriptures, pottery, paintings, works of calligraphy and tablets, 157 of which have been identified by experts as national cultural relies. The typical relics include a bronze tripod made 1,700 years ago, a tablet with one thousand Buddhas carved on it made 1,400 years ago, and the Tripitaka of over 6,000 valuable paintings and works of calligraphy are also stored here, such as Parrots painted by Emperor Song Huizong of the Song Dynasty, and Preface to Huayan Scriptures written by Monk Zhu Chan in the style of Jiufen Buddhist Calligraphy, Monkeys by Zhang Chuanshan in the Qing Dynasty, Guanyin by Zhang Daqian, the largest picture of horses ever painted by Xu Beihong, Letter to the Throne Before an Expedition embroidered in Hunan style by Zhuge Liang, and those by Tang Yin, Wen Zhengmin, Zhu Zhushan, Zheng Banqiao, Weng Tonghe, and Kang Youwei. They all contribute to the sightseeing value of Baoguang Temple.

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The artistic achievements of Arhat Hall in Baoguang Temple

admin — Fri, 05 Sep 2008 14:52:16 +0000

Noted for its ingeniously crafted clay sculptures, Arhat hall is an outstanding building in Baoguang Temple. The hall is about 10 meters high, covering an area of 1,600 square meters, supported by 100 stone pillars. It was constructed during Emperor Xian Feng’s reign of the Qing Dynasty. The venerable monk Miao Sheng collected Buddha, Bodhisattva, arhats and masters. Each of the statues is about 2 meters high except those of the Buddha and Bodhisativa, which are much taller. All the statues are gilded and painted colorfully. Extremely lifelike, they have various facial expressions, which show the perfect craftsmanship of the clay sculpture. A Guanyin (Avalokitesvara) Bodhosattva with one thousand eyes and one thousand hands is enshrined in the center, facing four directions. It took nine years for Li Guangxiu, the sculpture master of Sichuan and his apprentices to complete it. It is known as a shining pearl of the sculpture are of the Orient.

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The implication of the couplet written by He Yuanpu in Hall of Sakyamuni Buddha

admin — Tue, 02 Sep 2008 14:46:31 +0000

The magnificent Hall of Sakyamuni Buddha built in the 9th year (1859) of Emperor Xian Feng in the Qing Dynasty is main hall, covering an area of 700 square meters, which was supported by 42 stone pills. The statue of Sakyamuni is enshrined in the middle while Kasyapa and Ananda stand on each side. Behind the niche of the hall site the statue of Amitabha Buddha with a lotus flower in his palm. It is a great and spacious hall, in which exquisite ceremonial vessels and instruments like bells, drums, and wooden fish are set out in order. With smoke curling up from burning incense and streamers fluttering in the wind, the monks chant scriptures and worship Buddha here. Among so many couples, the one written by He Yuanpu in the Qing Dynasty is the best known. It claims that the monks know that everything in the world is constantly changeable, one thing disappears, while the disappearance is another form of existence. Something seems to be settled up, but it has not been settled yet. One might as well end it up with nothing definite.

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