????Ruins
of a grand ancient architectural complex with certain city functions
were recently found in Fuxian Lake of Yuxi, Yunnan Province,
and are believed to be a site of the ancient Yunnan Kingdom
that disappeared under the lake waters 2,000-3,000 years ago.
They have been dubbed China's "Pompeii Ruins".
????Fuxian Lake is located in the suburbs
of Yuxi City in central Yunnan, 60 km from the provincial
capital Kunming, with a water surface of 211 square meters.
The area has been frequently jolted by earthquakes throughout
history, giving rise to many legends about an "ancient
Yunnan Kingdom" that disappeared,
????On March 13 and 15, a team headed by
the famous archaeologist Yu Xixian, a professor of Peking
University, and two journalists from the Yunnan Daily, used
the "Blue Whale" submersible to explore the lake
bottom. Through photography, inspection and taking samples,
as well as a comprehensive study of hydrological data, they
reached a preliminary conclusion on the location, scale and
formation of the underwater ruins.
????The architectural structure of the ruins
is similar to the ridges of the ancient Great Wall in central
Yunnan. The buildings were all built of stone. From the processing
method of the stones and the architectural scales, one can
see that the settlement had reached a high level of civilization.
????The building base, flagstones and complete
wall, which are rarely seen in other ancient buildings, show
it had functioned as a city. The video cameras have recorded
such images as 20-30 meter long stone walls, 2-3 meter wide
flagstones, 3-4 meter long stone stripes and stones with holes
or grooves.
????The ruins are composed of eight stone
buildings, scattered within an area 2-km long and 1.2-km wide.
The buildings are in different sizes, of which the five at
the center are connected with each other. Nos. 1, 2 and 3
have been confirmed as being part of an architectural complex,
but the other five need to be investigated further.
????The ruins are believed to have been
formed during a great natural disaster. The mountains they
sat against show obvious fracture and subsidence tracks. Whether
they sank directly into water or were inundated after a water
mouth became blocked by a landslide needs further study.
????Professor Yu believes that the inspection
of the ruins provides further proof that an important civilized
period prevailed in ancient Yunnan. Exploring, sifting and
publicizing the civilization of the ancient "Yunnan Kingdom"
will exert a tremendous influence on China's underwater archaeological
study.
????(CIIC by Xiao Li 03/22/2001)
