Archaeological Sites of the Ancient Shu State: Site at Jinsha and Joint Tombs of Boat-shaped Coffins in Chengdu City, Sichuan Province; Site of Sanxingdui in Guanghan City, Sichuan Province 29C.BC- 5C.BC

Site at Jinsha - Chengdu City N 30 41, E 104 0 40

Joint Tombs of Boat-shaped Coffins - Chengdu City N 30 41, E 104 01

Site of Sanxingdui - Guanghan City N 30 59 01-31 00 55, E 104 10 34-104 13 10

Jinsha Site, Joint Tomb of Boat-shaped Coffins and Site of Sanxingdui are three major discoveries in archaeological research on ancient Shu State in Sichuan, also they are the top archaeological discoveries for the whole China. They are of great significance in providing key material information for looking into the history and culture of ancient Shu State. The rich cultural remains existed in these three spots tell the world that Sichuan Basin is not only one of origins of civilization in upper reaches of the Yangtze River, but also and indispensable phase in development of Hua Xia Civilization. Meanwhile, their possessed historical, cultural, scientific and artistic value will certainly facilitate a bright page for history of bronze civilization of remote ancient Shu State.

1. Site at Jinsha

Jinsha is an archaeological site, which is located in the northwest city proper of Chengdu City, Sichuan Province, China. It is the central site following Sanxingdui Civilization, and the ruin land of the capital city of ancient Shu Sate during 12BC~7BC. Jinsha Site occupies a floorage of about 500 hectares. Within its protected site with an area of 30 hectares, scientific excavation has been done only to a small part called the Sacrifice Area, where a large number of unique and fine-fabricated cultural relics have been unearthed. Out of the currently protected site, some historically meaningful remnants such as palace building, tomb yard and residential housing have been discovered together with tens of thousands pottery wares, bronzed wares and jade wares unearthed. Jinsha Site presents us a unique bronze civilization which totally differs from cultures revealed in China's the Yellow River Reaches as well as any other places in the world. Jinsha Site is proud to announce that it is the site where ancient ivories buried in large number and in one spot underground have been unearthed in the world, also it is the site where the unearthed gold wares and jade wares exceeded other places in China in terms of quantity unearthed. Excavation of Jinsha Site is of great significance in providing important scientific evidences for the research on philosophy, science & technology and art of the Shang and Zhou Dynasties; furthermore, it offers abundant material information for looking into the ancient Shu Sate, which was once an important country in this region.

2. Joint Tombs of Boat-shaped Coffins

Joint Tomb of Boat-shaped Coffins is located in No.58, Shangyejie Street, Chengdu City, Sichuan Province, right in the center of Chengdu City. It was discovered on July 29, 2000, and Chengdu Archaeological Institute had conducted comprehensive archaeological excavation and research on it during August~ December, 2000. Tomb age is in early Warring State Period. Joint Tomb of Boat-shaped Coffins is a large size rectangle earth-pit vertical-cave multiple coffin co-buried tomb. It is large in tomb size and unique tomb design. The entire tomb is identical as two parts namely of tomb pit and aboveground structure. The tomb pit has a length of 30.5m, width 20.3m, remained depth of 2.5m and an area of 620 m2, tomb direction 240°. There are 15 rows of crossties orderly arranged in the tomb pit bottom. The crossties are nearly identical each other. On the crossties, boat-shaped and box-shaped coffins and other shaped coffins are arranged. Currently, there are 17 coffins, of which 4 are large-sized coffins, and other 13 are small. All coffins have same direction with that of tomb pit and laid in parallel arrangement in the tomb pit. Judging from the pit earth backfill, all coffins were put into the tomb pit orderly in one time. Some marks and signs carved in coffins are still visible now. The aboveground structure remained has a total length of about 38.5m, width about 20.5m, and can be divided into front part and rear part. Abundant funerary objects have been unearthed from the tomb of various types such as potteries, bronze wares, lacquers, bamboo and wooden articles, etc. The boat-shaped coffin unearthed in Joint Tomb of Boat-shaped Coffins which was made by chiseling in an entire tree has a length up to 10m and maximal diameter up to 1.7 m. This sort of coffin is undoubtedly ranking first found in China in terms of its rich design, existence in quantity and in volume. Some big sized fine-art lacquers found inside the large-sized coffin is shining in color and pattern ornamentation, showing their rareness and preciousness among lacquers produced in the Warring State Period; the large-scale base stands used for serial bells and stone-chime unearthed in No.1 and No.2 large coffins reveal the ultimate social ranking of the tomb owner as the King of Kai Ming State, in addition, they also tell us the highly developed ritual system in that period.

3. Site of Sanxingdui

Covering an area of 1200ha, the Site of Sanxindui is a large site of ancient culture. It lasted from late Neolithic Age to the late period of the Shang dynasty, dating from 4800 to 3000 years ago. Within the Site, the most important remains are Sanxingdui (lit. The Three-Star Mounds) in the south, Yueliangwan (Moon Bay) and Zhenwugong in the center, Xiquankan in the north, Shizinao in the east, Hengliangzi in the west, as well as Rensheng Cun, Dayan Cun westwards. The unearthed large quantities of relics such as bronzes, jades, pottery, and gold artifacts, possess evident local characteristics, forming a unique cultural system, what was named Sanxingdui culture by Chinese archaeologists.

There are many cultural remains at the Site, including city walls, moats, sacrificial pits, storage pits, dwelling sites, cemetery and so on. In 1929, vast quantities of jades were discovered by a local farmer at Sanxingdui. The modern archaeological excavations in this area began in the 1980s. Thereafter the archaeological finds, the large city site, cultural layers lasting nearly 2000 years, and rich cultural remains of which the unearthed relics from sacrificial Pit Ⅰ and Pit Ⅱ are the most representative, display China's dazzling civilization in antiquity on the upper reaches of the Yangzi River during the period from late Neolithic Age to the late Shang or early Zhou dynasties, establishing the significant position of the Sanxingdui Site which is characterized by the ancient culture, ancient city and ancient kingdom.

Justification of Outstanding Universal Value

As for the criterion (i):

Gold wares, jade wares and stone sculptures unearthed in Jinsha Site reflect the peak achievements in art of ancient Shu State. All gold wares were designed with graphical patterns dominated by bird and fish, while gold mask, gold crown belt and frog-shaped gold ware are all shining with super artwork and extraordinary imagination. Above all, the design pattern of the Sun and Immortal Bird gold ornamental, which has been designated to be Logo of Chinese Cultural Heritage, is really the rarest one that hardly to be found in history of human art.

Joint Tomb of Boat-shaped Coffins possessed rich cultural contents reflect the significant advancement of China's art and science & technology, also the masterpiece in history of human civilization. First of all, the tomb is huge in scale with two parts of tomb pit underground and building structure aboveground. Its structure is well designed, where many coffins are arranged in parallel in a big pit with 20m and 30m length and width. The biggest coffin has a length up to over 10 m and maximal diameter of 1.7m which is made by chiseling in an entire tree. This coffin ranks the first in terms of existence of quantity and volume, showing its unique and peak craftwork. Secondly, a large number of fine fabricated lacquers unearthed in boat-shaped co-buried tomb are well preserved, varied in types, elite in design. All fabrication of these lacquers are complicated and contained with highly developed know-how. The discovery of these lacquers tells us that lacquer fabrication craftwork was highly developed as early as the early Warring State period.

The relics unearthed at the Site of Sanxingdui, represent a unique example of the ancient Shu people's creative genius and their artistic achievement. The bronze vessels unearthed are of perfect combinations of science and art, sculpture and painting. The gold artifacts reflect the extraordinary technical accomplishment, distinctive and unique artistic style in the period of Bronze Age of China. The jades display high level of technical accomplishment and strong creative power, forming unique artistic style.

As for the criterion (iii):

The abundant cultural remains in these three sites reproduce the glory bronze civilization of ancient Shu State, giving us material evidence to explore the disappeared ancient Shu State civilization.

According to ancient literal record, ancient Shu State was one of eight allied countries in "King Wu' crusading against King Zhou", revealing it was once a powerful country. The highly developed bronze civilization of ancient Shu State was unfortunately faded away and buried underground as time marched forward. Ancient Shu State experienced three Chinese dynasties namely of Xia, Shang and Zhou. After 316BC when Qin State wiped out Ba and Shu State, ancient Shu culture began to be mixed with Han culture. Literal record about the history of ancient Shu state are only found few. Together with Jinsha Site, Joint Tomb of Boat-shaped Coffins and Site of Sanxingdui, they are respectively represented three important historical periods in of ancient Shu Civilization, replicating its faded glory and representing us a full episode of history of ancient Shu State.

As for the criterion (iv):

Joint Tomb of Boat-shaped Coffins reveals the well designed aboveground building structure. Though, we have no way to see it whole, its magnificence and grandness still can be felt. Such kind of tomb with aboveground building structure is rarely seen in the whole country. Checking the aboveground building material in similar tombs such as Fuhao Tomb and Dasikongcun No.311 Tomb in An'yang of Shang Dynasty, Zhongshanwang Tomb and Weiguo Tomb of the Warring Period, we find some soil compacted premise and foundation stones. We assume that this arrangement also has something to do with Chinese ancient mausoleum system, therefore, it can be determined that this system was inherited from the Shang Dynasty but further developed in this period. In addition, the layout of aboveground building is much similar to that of temples and buildings for worshiping ancestors: it has "court" in front part and "bedroom" in rear part, as well as two small rooms respectively in east and west side. This design is unique compared to the above mentioned similar tombs. The discovery of the aboveground building structure in Joint Tomb of Boat-shaped Coffins presents a material evidence illustrating the concept of "court in front and bedroom in back" noted in ancient literal records.

The remains of ancient city and buildings at Jinsha and the Site of Sanxingdui are an outstanding example of the early buildings on the upper reaches of the Yangzi River in China. The ancient city at the Site of Sanxingdui was surrounded by city walls in the east, south and west. There were moats outside the city walls. Within the city were inner city walls and moats, dividing the ancient city into several areas. In addition, the city walls were built in the method of layers of rammed earth. The top of the East Wall was built with unfired bricks. The wall-constructing technique of using local clays became the mainstream, representing the advanced technology on the upper reaches of the Yangzi River at that time. Similarly, the daub-and-wattle dwelling houses also became the mainstream on the upper reaches of the Yangzi River in ancient times, especially in the plains.

Satements of authenticity and/or integrity

Jinsha Site was once the capital city of ancient Shu State during late Shang Dynasty to early Spring and Autumn Period; since it was withdrawn from historical stage, Jinsha was abandoned. Before 1995, this site was mostly in a wild and farmland environment, where some villages were scattered amongst. Since 1995, through several scientific researches and excavations, its range, cultural deposit and lamination, distribution have been gradually identified, while its continuity both in stratum and spatial space has proved. In order to protect Jinsha Site, Chengdu Municipal People's Government defined its protected area with a floorage of 30 hectares, together with re-planning the areas related to Jinsha Site. Currently, areas within Jinsha Site subject to the scope of world cultural heritage application are located on green land under which cultural relics are well preserved, except for sheds used for archaeological excavation, exhibition hall and cultural conservation center used for displaying cultural relics. Out of the scope of protection, all cultural deposit remains unexcavated except for those archaeological excavation forced by capital construction. Cultural relics unearthed in Jinsha Site currently stored in warehouse, which are especially for relics conservation. Therefore, Jinsha Site is maintained with high level of authenticity and integrality.

Majority of archaeological discoveries of ancient Shu Culture in Sichuan in the Warring State Period are tombs. Among them, Joint Tomb of Boat-shaped coffins represents an most important tomb of that period in terms of integrity, scale and social ranking, which is undoutable to this point. Therefore, it was listed into 5th Batch Historical Monuments and Cultural Relics under State Protection in July 2001. In order to offer good protection to this culture treasure, approved by State Administration of Cultural Heritage, Sichuan Provincial People's Government and Chengdu Municipal People's Government made their decision of on-site protection plan together with establishment of Joint Tomb of Boat-shaped coffins Site Museum. Hence, a team consisting of archaeologists and chemical conservation experts are assigned to be responsible for the conservation and research on this site.

Through scientific testing and long-term study, the age and value of the relics unearthed from Site of Sanxingdui are proved to be authentic and reliable. Except for some villages and country lanes, the rest of the Site is farmlands and greenbelts. The primary environment and historical features of the Site of Sanxingdui were basically preserved. In January 1988, the Site of Sanxingdui was included in the list of Historical Monuments and Cultural Relics under State Protection.

Comparison with other similar properties

Compared with other world ancient civilization, ancient Shu Civilization also is natured of uniqueness. Ancient Shu Civilization represented by these three sites is the significantly typical representative of China Xian Qin regional bronze civilization, also is the typical example proving the theory of diversified but integrated Hua Xia Civilization. Its uniquely possessed large sized dedicated sacrifice activity area and unique sacrifice ways are rarely can be found in human urban civilization in the same period. With its profound cultural contents and abundant historical remains and relics of various kinds, Archaeological Sites of the Ancient Shu State is highlighted with expression for all Chinese ancient civilizations which are characterized by unique regional cultural and civilization.