Around 70 scholars from home and abroad yesterday kicked off
their new probe into ancient Chinese civilization along the Yangtze
River in Deyang, a city in northern Sichuan
Province, southwest China.
The International Academic Seminar on Sanxingdui
and Yangtze River Civilization which opened yesterday, has drawn
senior researchers from the Chinese mainland, Taiwan, Sweden, the
United States, the Republic of Korea and Japan.
Focusing on the Sanxingdui Ruins and the Yangtze civilization,
participants have presented papers on relations between Sanxingdui
and ancient Sichuan culture, between Sanxingdui and ancient Chinese
civilization, between Sanxingdui and civilizations in other parts
of the world, and on Sanxingdui and tourism development in western
China.
The participants are also exploring the bronze culture of the
Yangtze River Delta, development of the regional economy in ancient
Sichuan and the archaeology of Sanxingdui and its significance in
the field of fine arts.
The three-day forum is sponsored by the Sichuan Provincial
Academy of Social Sciences, Sichuan University, the Sichuan
Provincial Department of Culture and the Deyang government.
It is the third international seminar on Sanxingdui, said Hao
Yuenan, director of the organizing committee of the seminar. The
first two were held in 1992 and 2000 in Guanghan, where the
Sanxingdui Ruins are located.
Before the excavation of Sanxingdui, it was believed that
Sichuan had a history of about 3,000 years.
Thanks to the excavation, "it is now generally believed that
civilized culture appeared in Sichuan 5,000 years ago and has
continued uninterrupted until today," said Chen Xiandan, deputy
curator of the Sichuan Provincial Museum.
The Sanxingdui Ruins, located on the upper reaches of the
Yangtze River, also serve as convincing proof that the origins of
Chinese civilization are diverse.
Archaeologists previously held the Yellow River was the sole
origin of Chinese civilization.
"They now believe that Sanxingdui is representative of the
ancient Yangtze civilization," Chen said.
The Sanxingdui Ruins were discovered accidentally in 1929 when a
local farmer was digging a ditch in his fields. Since the first
formal excavation in 1933, the ruins have witnessed the unearthing
of more than 10,000 relics dating from 5,000 BC to 3,000 BC. The
relics include bronze, gold, jade and marble artifacts, pottery,
bone implements and ivory objects.
The excavations have yielded what are considered to be some of
the most significant archaeological discoveries in China in the
20th century and have changed the face of Chinese history.
(China Daily October 10, 2003)