Ancient Culture in Sichuan

　　Ⅲ. Importance of Ancient Sichuan Culture

　　Sanxingdui Ruin, capital of ancient Shu in the age of Yin and Shang (what are Yin and Shang? Explain for the readers), is located in Guanghan, Sichuan Province, China. It is one of the 10 most important archaeological discoveries in China.

　　Thousands of years ago, the history of ancient Shu was like something hidden magically in the clouds and hard to understand. A great poet in Tang Dynasty - Li Bai - was shocked and composed many poems to describe the mystery of ancient Shu. It seems that the history of ancient Shu has gone with the wind. Towards the end of the 1920s, a series of jade vessels were excavated in the Sanxingdui ruins, capturing a good deal of attention.

　　In the 1930s and '40s, archaeologists from all over the world set out to explore the mystery and research the subject. Especially in the 1950s and '60s, local archaeologists worked unremittingly. In the '80s, with the massive exhumation of the cultural relics, it had been proven that the region had been home to a complex ancient kingdom 3,000 years ago, in the southwest of China.

　　During July to September of 1987, discovery of two huge sacrificial tombs -- the most important discovery in the past 50 years -- uncovered a large amount of cultural relics, and made the site world famous. There were many intricate bronzes in the treasure, such as a 2.62 meters high statue, a 1.4 meters wide mask and a nearly 4 meters high tree, which was considered to be one of a kind. Other unique items included a gold plate, a gold mace, and jade pieces.

　　The discovery of the Sanxingdui ruin and the excavation of the cultural relics proved the existence of ancient Shu undoubtedly. The mysterious legends of ancient Shu then became history, and the origin and the center of the ancient Shu civilization were also validated for a site known as Three-star.

　　As a "hyper-tribal, stable and independent political entity" the site of the ancient Shu is one of the most representative of "ancient country " in the rimlands surrounding the central area of ancient China. As an eximious representation of Chinese ancient civilization in zone of upriver Yangtse Rive, it has proved multi-aspect of the origin of Chinese civilization firmly again. As a representation of ancient Chinese civilization in the upper Yangtse River area, the site proves the multi-aspect origins of Chinese civilization.