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 in 316 BC.
There are some mythical allusions to cultural heroes supposedly connecting Sichuan to the Yellow River area (i.e., heartland of ancient Chinese culture). But historical references to this region are rare before the annexation of Sichuan by the state of Qin in 316 BC, and prior to that date, the ancient annals treat Sichuan as quite marginal, contradicting the myths. [3]
The discovery of the Shu site of Sanxingdui in 1986, and Jinsha in 2001 places the Ba-Shu culture's age at over three to four millenia old; [4] [5] consequently, it is considered to be one of the cradles of Chinese civilisation and culture by historians. [6] [7] Ba-Shu culture has continued to the present day and is nowadays famous for aspects such as its cuisine and Sichuan opera. [8] [9] [10]
The 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. [13] 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. [14] [15] 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. [16] [17]
Ba culture and the State of Ba were historically centered around the Three Gorges area. [18] The Ba people worshiped the white tiger, which was their totem, and crafted many bronze artifacts based on its form and patterns. [19] [20] They had a rich tradition of performing arts, with distinctive instruments and rituals like the Bayu Dance. [21] [22] However, there is a lack of identifiable artifacts belonging to the Ba culture, as well as knowledge of the culture, as nearly all of them have been mixed with relics of nearby kingdoms, and there is an absence of written records about Ba culture made by its contemporary states or the Shang dynasty. [23]
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.
Chengdu is the capital city of the Chinese province of Sichuan. With a population of 20,937,757 at the 2020 census, it is the fourth most populous city in China, and it is the only city with a population of over 20 million apart from direct-administered municipalities. It is traditionally the hub of Western 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 12th-11th 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.
Jinsha is a Chinese archaeological site located in Qingyang, Chengdu, the capital of the Chinese province of Sichuan. The site is one of the major archaeological discoveries 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.
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.
Shu, also known as Ancient Shu 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.
Bazhong is a prefecture-level city in north-eastern Sichuan province, China. Its population was 2,712,894 at the 2020 census whom 1,064,766 lived in Bazhou and Enyang urban districts. As of the end of 2022, the resident population of Bazhong City was 2,658,800 people.
Sichuanese, also called Sichuanese Mandarin, is a branch of Southwestern Mandarin spoken mainly in Sichuan and Chongqing, which was part of Sichuan Province until 1997, and the adjacent regions of their neighboring provinces, such as Hubei, Guizhou, Yunnan, Hunan and Shaanxi. Although "Sichuanese" is often synonymous with the Chengdu-Chongqing dialect, there is still a great amount of diversity among the Sichuanese dialects, some of which are mutually unintelligible with each other. In addition, because Sichuanese is the lingua franca in Sichuan, Chongqing and part of Tibet, it is also used by many Tibetan, Yi, Qiang and other ethnic minority groups as a second language.
The Bo people are an ancient extinct people from the Yunnan and Sichuan provinces of Southwestern China. They are famous for their hanging coffins. They were one of the various now extinct peoples from Southern China known collectively in Chinese records as the Baipu.
Sichuan opera is a type of Chinese opera originating in China's Sichuan province around 1700. Today's Sichuan opera is a relatively recent synthesis of five historic melodic styles. Chengdu is the main home of Sichuan opera, while other influential locales include Chongqing, Guizhou, Yunnan, Hubei and Taiwan. Sichuan opera was listed among the first batch of the Chinese Ministry of Culture's "Intangible Cultural Heritage List", announced on May 20, 2006.
Jiange County is a county of Sichuan Province, China. It is under the administration of Guangyuan city. The history of Jiange County as a county division goes back around 1700 years. The county has historically been a junction between the north and south of Western China, through the Jianmen Pass. It is a popular tourist destination in Sichuan.
Chengdu East or Chengdudong railway station is a railway station in Chenghua District, Chengdu, the capital of Sichuan province, serving the Chengdu–Chongqing intercity railway, the Chengdu–Guiyang high-speed railway, the Dazhou–Chengdu railway and Xi'an–Chengdu high-speed railway. It is connected to Chengdu Metro Line 2 and Line 7.
Ba–Shu Chinese (Chinese: 巴蜀語; pinyin: Bāshǔyǔ; Wade–Giles: Ba1 Shu3 Yü3; Sichuanese Pinyin: Ba¹su²yu³; IPA:[pa˥su˨˩y˥˧]), or simply Shu Chinese (Chinese: 蜀語), also known as Old Sichuanese, is an extinct Chinese language formerly spoken in what is now Sichuan and Chongqing, China.
The Sichuanese people are a Han Chinese subgroup comprising most of the population of China's Sichuan province and the Chongqing municipality.
Jinli is a street in Chengdu, Sichuan, China. Its history can be traced back to the pre-Qin Dynasty era more than 1800 years ago. Jinli was ranked first in "the world's most beautiful streets" published by CNN Travel in 2019.
The Venerable Vyvyan Henry Donnithorne, MC, MA was Archdeacon of Western Szechwan from 1935 to 1949.
The joint tombs of boat-shaped coffins are tombs of the ancient kingdom of Shu discovered in Chengdu, Sichuan, China, coinciding with the Spring and Autumn period (770–476 BC) and the Warring States period (476–221 BC). and apparently also occurred during the Qin dynasty (221–206BC).
Sichuan embroidery or Shu embroidery, is a style of embroidery folk art native to Sichuan and Chongqing, particularly renowned for its brocade fabrics known as Shu brocade. This technique of embroidery originates from Chengdu, the capital of Sichuan, during the time of the Ancient Kingdom of Shu. An excavation of four tombs dating back to the Western Han dynasty, on Mount Laoguan located in Tianhui Town, Chengdu, has confirmed the use of patterning looms for weaving warp-faced compounds in that period.
Gospel Church is a Protestant church situated on Dabei Upper Street, in the county-level city of Guanghan, Deyang, Sichuan Province. Founded in 1902, it was formerly an Anglican church in the West Szechwan Diocese of the Church in China. It has been subjected to the control of the state-sanctioned Three-Self Patriotic Church since 1954. In 2003, a new church was built on Shuyuan Street, and renamed Grace Church.
Clothing in ancient Shu refers to clothing worn in the Ancient Kingdom of Shu. Archaeological finds in Sanxingdui and Jinsha sites have provided the best source of information on ancient Shu costume. Shu clothing's right over left lapel closing was considered "very strange" by Yang Xiong, a 1st-century BC author from Pi County, Chengdu, as in contrast to contemporary Chinese Western Han clothing's left over right lapel closing.