Revolutionizing China's history

The Simuwu Ding

The Sanxingdui find revolutionizes the history of ancient China, suggesting that over thousands of years ago a previously unknown culture existed far away from the Yellow River Valley, the commonly held cradle of Chinese culture. It has also pushed back the history of Chinese culture, marked by the beginning of the Xia Dynasy (about 2,100-1,600 BC), by over 700 years.

The established view that the Bronze Age in China was the Shang Dynasty (about 1,600 to 1,100 BC) has been challenged by the discovery of lots of fascinating bronze sculptures at Sanxingdui. A typical Shang bronze object was the Simuwu Ding, a four-legged bronze vessel that was found in the ruins of the Shang capital, today's Anyang in C. China's Henan Province . Yet the bronze techniques displayed at Sanxingdui reveal that ancient Sichuan was as advanced, if not more, as its contemporary, the Shang Dynasty.

 A civilization perishes

For almost two millennia the ancient civilization at Sanxingdui prospered. But all of a sudden it perished, burying the whys about its death as well birth in the depths of historical mystery.

Just as its origin has given rise to controversy, the disappearance of Sanxingdui has also led to competing hypotheses. Some attribute its death to floods because the Sanxingdui finds are located on a river. Others blame war as many of the buried objects were either broken or burned. Yet there is evidence to disprove either theory.

Presently, there are more question marks than answers concerning Sanxingdui and the history of the ancient Sichuan civilization behind it. Its truth still waits to be deciphered.

Author: Lency

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