Ba–Shu culture

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Pattern of the Golden Sun Bird discovered at Jinsha site, a symbol of the Ba-Shu culture and believed to be a totem of the ancient Shu people. It has been designated a symbol for the Chinese culture as a whole by the Chinese government. Tai Yang Shen Niao Jin Shi Golden Sun Bird.png
Pattern of the Golden Sun Bird discovered at Jinsha site, a symbol of the Ba–Shu culture and believed to be a totem of the ancient Shu people. It has been designated a symbol for the Chinese culture as a whole by the Chinese government.

Ba-Shu culture (Chinese :巴蜀文化; pinyin :Bāshǔ wénhuà) refers to a regional culture centered around Sichuan province and Chongqing city, also encompassing parts of Yunnan, Guizhou, southwestern Shaanxi (particularly Hanzhong [2] ) and neighboring regions which speak Southwestern Mandarin. Historically centered around the Yangtze River, it emerged as an amalgamation of the cultures of the Shu and Ba kingdoms after their conquest by the State of Qin. The discovery of the Shu site of Sanxingdui in 1986 and Jinsha in 2001 places the Ba-Shu culture's age at nearly four millenia old; [3] [4] consequently, it is widely considered to be one of the cradles of Chinese civilisation and culture. [5] [6] [7]

Contents

The continuous use of the name Shu to refer to the Sichuan region throughout history has contributed to the Ba-Shu culture's survival (even today, one of the official names of Sichuan is Shu). [8] As a result, the Ba-Shu culture continues to the present day and is famous for aspects such as its cuisine and Sichuan opera.

Origins

Shu culture

The Bronze Sacred Tree, one of the artifacts unearthed at Sanxingdui Bronze Sacred Tree.jpg
The Bronze Sacred Tree, one of the artifacts unearthed at Sanxingdui

The Ancient Kingdom of Shu originated from the Sanxingdui culture and thrived from the 2nd millennium BC until its destruction by the State of Qin in 316 BC, coinciding with the not fully substantiated Xia dynasty in the Zhongyuan region, which lasted a total of one or two millenia. [9] The Shu culture had a rich tradition of metalworking (especially with bronze) and manufactured numerous notable artifacts, hundreds of which were unearthed at sacrificial pits at Sanxingdui and Jinsha; these include bronze statues, heads and masks, several bronze trees (one of which, the Bronze Sacred Tree, has been restored), daggers, hundreds of pieces of pottery, and the Golden Sun Bird. [10] [11] Additionally, the Shu culture is noted for its resistance to external influences, and was more or less unaffected by other nearby cultures until its conquest by the State of Qin in 316 BC. [12] [13]

Ba culture

Ba culture and the State of Ba were historically centered around the Three Gorges area. [14] The Ba people worshiped the white tiger, which was their totem, and crafted many bronze artifacts based on its form and patterns. [15] [16]  Additionally, they had a rich tradition of performing arts, with distinctive instruments and ritual dances like the Bayu Dance. [17] [18] However, there is a lack of identifiable artifacts belonging to the Ba culture because nearly all of them have been mixed with relics of other nearby kingdoms. Additionally, there is an absence of written records about Ba culture made in the same time period by the Shang dynasty or any other states. As a result, not much is known about ancient Ba culture. [19]

Ancient writing system

Ba-Shu pictographic scripts Pa-Su pictographic scripts 4.png
Ba–Shu pictographic scripts

Traditional language

Architecture

A Taoist temple at Huanglong. Huanglong Sichuan China Multicolored-ponds-04.jpg
A Taoist temple at Huanglong.

Sichuanese architecture

Sichuanese garden

Visual arts

"Five stars rising in the East" armband, a 3rd-century Sichuan brocade armband. "Five stars rising in the East" armband.jpg
"Five stars rising in the East" armband, a 3rd-century Sichuan brocade armband.
A bronze altar unearthed at Sanxingdui, dating back to the ancient kingdom of Shu Ancient Altar, Bronze, Sanxingdui 2.jpg
A bronze altar unearthed at Sanxingdui, dating back to the ancient kingdom of Shu

Performing arts

Clothing

Tea culture

Food culture

Others

See also

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Sichuan is a province in Southwestern China occupying the Sichuan Basin and Tibetan Plateau between the Jinsha River on the west, the Daba Mountains in the north and the Yungui Plateau to the south. Sichuan's capital city is Chengdu; its population stands at 83 million. Sichuan neighbors Qinghai to the northwest, Gansu to the north, Shaanxi to the northeast, Chongqing to the east, Guizhou to the southeast, Yunnan to the south, and Tibet to the west.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chengdu</span> Prefecture-level and sub-provincial city in Sichuan, China

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sanxingdui</span> Bronze Age culture in Sichuan, China

Sanxingdui is an archaeological site and a major Bronze Age culture in modern Guanghan, Sichuan, China. Largely discovered in 1986, following a preliminary finding in 1927, archaeologists excavated artifacts that radiocarbon dating placed in the twelfth–eleventh centuries BC. The archaeological site is the type site for the Sanxingdui culture that produced these artifacts, archeologists have identified the locale with the ancient kingdom of Shu. The artifacts are displayed in the Sanxingdui Museum located near the city of Guanghan.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sichuan Basin</span> Basin in Sichuan, China

The Sichuan Basin, formerly transliterated as the Szechwan Basin, sometimes called the Red Basin, is a lowland region in southwestern China. It is surrounded by mountains on all sides and is drained by the upper Yangtze River and its tributaries. The basin is anchored by Chengdu, the capital of Sichuan province, in the west, and the direct-administered municipality of Chongqing in the east. Due to its relative flatness and fertile soils, it is able to support a population of more than 100 million. In addition to being a dominant geographical feature of the region, the Sichuan Basin also constitutes a cultural sphere that is distinguished by its own unique customs, cuisine and dialects. It is famous for its rice cultivation and is often considered the breadbasket of China. In the 21st century its industrial base is expanding with growth in the high-tech, aerospace, and petroleum industries.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nanchong</span> Prefecture-level city in Sichuan, Peoples Republic of China

Nanchong is a prefecture-level city in the northeast of Sichuan province, China, with an area of 12,479.96 km2 (4,818.54 sq mi). At the 2020 census it was home to 5,607,565 people, of whom 1,936,534 lived in the built-up area made of three urban districts. It is the second most populated city of Sichuan Province, after Chengdu. The administrative center is Shunqing District.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jinsha site</span> Archaeological site in Chengdu, China

Jinsha is a Chinese archaeological site located in the Qingyang District of Chengdu, the capital of China's Sichuan Province. Along with Sanxingdui, the site is the first major discovery in China during the 21st century. It is listed on the UNESCO World Cultural Heritage Tentative List and Major Sites Protected at the National Level. The Chinese Internet Information Centre ranked Jinsha 5th on the Top 10 Archaeological Discoveries in 2001.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ba (state)</span> Ancient state in eastern Sichuan, China

Ba was an ancient state in eastern Sichuan, China. Its original capital was Yicheng, Hubei. Ba was conquered by Qin in 316 BC. The historical Bo people and the modern Tujia people trace some of their origins back to the people of Ba.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Shu (kingdom)</span> Ancient kingdom in modern-day Sichuan

Shu (Chinese: 蜀; Sichuanese Pinyin: Su2; former romanization: Shuh), also known as Ancient Shu (Chinese: 古蜀) in historiography, was an ancient kingdom in what is now Sichuan Province. It was based on the Chengdu Plain, in the western Sichuan basin with some extension northeast to the upper Han River valley. To the east was the Ba tribal confederation. Further east down the Han and Yangtze rivers was the State of Chu. To the north over the Qinling Mountains was the State of Qin. To the west and south were tribal peoples of little military power.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Clothing in ancient Shu</span> Clothing of the Ancient Kingdom of Shu

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