Are Colorful Yunnan and the Ancient Dian Kingdom the same place?

1. Poems about the ancient Kingdom of Dian

Poems about the ancient Kingdom of Dian 1. Did the ancient Kingdom of Dian have its own language?

Not sure.

More than two thousand years ago, there was an ancient country on the banks of Fuxian Lake in Yunnan. Sima Qian called it the "Dian Kingdom" in "Historical Records". The Dian Kingdom (278 BC - 115 BC) was an ancient kingdom established by ancient ethnic groups in the southwestern frontier of China. Its territory was mainly in the central and eastern areas of Yunnan centered on the Dian Lake. The main ethnic groups in the territory were the ancient Dian tribes. Historians usually They are called the Dian people. According to documentary records and archaeological discoveries, the Dian Kingdom existed in Yunnan history for about 390 years, appearing in the middle of the Warring States Period and disappearing in the middle of the Eastern Han Dynasty. After more than half a century of archaeological excavation, more than 40 Yunnan cultural sites discovered in central and northeastern Yunnan outline the outline of the territory of the ancient Dian Kingdom: from Luliang and Luxi in the east to Anning and Yimen in the west. , reaching Zhaotong and Huize in the north, Yuanjiang, Xinping, and Gejiu in the south, with a length of about four to five hundred kilometers from north to south and a width of more than two hundred kilometers from east to west. According to archaeological discoveries, today's Shizhai Mountain on the bank of Fuxian Lake is a royal cemetery, today's Lijiashan is a cemetery for nobles, and today's Jinlian Mountain is a civilian cemetery. More than two thousand years ago, in this triangular area, there was a highly developed bronze civilization that shocked future generations. There was also a happy life in which men farmed and women weaved, and fishermen sang late in the night. A sudden plague, The market towns near Jinlian Mountain were destroyed, and the entire ancient Dian Kingdom gradually accepted the civilization of the Central Plains in its subsequent development, and eventually merged into the long river of the Chinese nation.

2. Guide words for the famous cultural tourism city of the Ancient Dian Kingdom

"Colorful Yunnan Ancient Dian Cultural Tourism City" is one of the "Twenty Key Projects" in 2015 determined by the Yunnan Provincial Party Committee and the Provincial Government "One of the projects that the National Tourism Administration focuses on and supports, and is also an important project for the improvement of the Dianchi Lake governance environment. This project is constructed and operated by Kunming Nostar Enterprise Group.

Colorful Yunnan Ancient Dian Cultural Tourism City is located in Jincheng Town, Jinning County, Kunming City, backed by Liangwang Mountain, facing Dianchi Lake, and 35 kilometers away from the main city of Kunming. The project will focus on displaying Yunnan's multi-ethnic culture and ancient Yunnan history and culture, integrating cultural tourism, leisure vacations, ecological environment demonstrations, elderly care and health care industries, livable community construction, and coordinated urban and rural development. It will give full play to Yunnan's tourism resources and strive to complete the project It is a national 5A-level ecological civilization tourism demonstration scenic spot.

It is reported that the first phase of the public construction projects of Colorful Yunnan·Ancient Dian Cultural Tourism City includes the Ancient Dian Art Sea Wharf, Ancient Dian Boutique Wetland Park, Wetland Resort Hotel, Colorful Yunnan·Happy World Theme Park, Ancient Dian Grand Theatre, Ancient Dian King’s Banquet Food World, Ancient Dian Museum, Dian King’s Forest Garden, Colorful Yunnan Hot Spring Tourist Resort, Ethnic Tribes, Ancient Dian Hotel, Colorful Yunnan Hotel, etc. After three years of construction, the project is expected to have a total investment of 22 billion yuan, and a total of 8 billion yuan has been invested so far. The two main projects that were first opened are the Ancient Dian Art Sea Terminal and the Ancient Dian Boutique Wetland Park.

3. Unearthing of the Seal of the King of Dian from the Ancient Dian Kingdom

In 1953, shortly after the Yunnan Archaeological Team was established, some rusty seals appeared sporadically in the scrap collection stations on the streets of Kunming. Bronze. These mysterious artifacts have nothing in common with the Bronze Age civilization in the Central Plains known to scholars. They reveal the mysterious atmosphere of an independent ancient world.

After three years of hard work, in 1956, archaeologists finally revealed the greatest discovery in the history of Yunnan archeology on a small hill on the east bank of Dian Lake: a kingdom that had disappeared for thousands of years—the ancient kingdom. The tombs of the Dian Kingdom.

The hill is very ordinary, 200 meters wide from east to west and 500 meters long from north to south. It is located on the shore of Dianchi Lake. From a distance, it looks like a whale lying quietly on the seashore.

This small hill is called Shizhai Mountain. There are no monuments or mounds of earth here. It is so plain that nothing could trigger the greedy imagination of tomb robbers, so it has been peaceful for two thousand years.

In the autumn of 1956, formal excavations began, and a new, unknown and mysterious culture emerged.

The hillock is a huge group of tombs, and artifacts are constantly being unearthed. The surprises that come one after another not only excite archaeologists, but also surprise historians.

A gold seal was unearthed in Tomb No. 6 - "The Seal of the King of Dian". "Historical Records" has an unmistakable record of this gold seal. It was given to the King of Dian by Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty in the second year of Yuanfeng. of.

Sima Qian said in "Historical Records" that there was a country called "Dian" in Yunnan, but there is no record of it since then. Except for the later "Book of the Later Han" and "Huayang Guozhi" which quoted Sima Qian's records again, no one mentioned it again. This ancient Dian kingdom disappeared. There is no trace, no legend, and no one knows where its subjects have gone. If it hadn't been for this discovery, no one might have ever known what a glorious historical era lay behind this short record in "Historical Records".

4. Ancient Dian culture of the ancient Dian Kingdom

Dian culture must be defined in time and space.

In fact, there are two clues connecting all these ancient mysteries with modern times. One is the Huayao Dai and the other is the bronze drum. If we continue to study along these two lines, the study of Yunnan culture may produce some new results. ”

Bronze drums are an important piece of evidence of ancient Dian culture, and the world recognizes Yunnan, China as the place of origin. Bronze drums gradually evolved from practical instruments to ritual and heavy weapons, and finally rose to a symbol of power and strength. .

Bronze drums spread from Yunnan to Guangxi and Southeast Asia. Archeology found that the influence of bronze drums had spread to Pakistan in South Asia. How to understand the origin, casting, evolution and development of bronze drums based on in-depth research. Restoring the entire process of communication and reproducing it in front of the world is a major issue that needs to be done at present.

From this, we can also connect to the famous Southern Silk Road and the ancient Tea Horse Road that we are very familiar with. Judging from the amber beads and shell coins unearthed in the Lijiashan Cemetery, it further proves that there were trade routes with Myanmar at that time. This information reflects the direct penetration and influence of the ancient Dian Kingdom's long-distance trade. The Dongshan Culture of Vietnam... The Lijiashan Bronze Culture and the Sanxingdui Culture have similarities.

The Sanxingdui Culture has now risen to the level of the origin of the Yangtze River Civilization, while the bronze culture of northern China and the Central Plains has evolved due to exchanges. Frequent, so there is a drawback, that is, the phenomenon of inbreeding is quite prominent, which is reflected in the similar styles and shapes of the unearthed cultural relics. Only the Lijiashan bronzes are so unique and have almost no intersection with the northern culture before the Eastern Han Dynasty. Regardless of the shape, decoration, or theme, it has strong local ethnic characteristics. It can be regarded as the most lively and agile composition in the Chinese Bronze Age. It has high artistic attainments and imagination, and is an important symbol of ancient civilization in Yunnan.

Facing such works can give people an inexplicable impulse to create. Especially the shell containers and buckles are exquisite in craftsmanship and are known as the essence of Chinese bronzes.

There is also the lost (eroded) wax method used in the bronze smelting process (this type of casting process probably started in Yunnan). It is extremely difficult and the casting is exquisite. It can be said to be the pinnacle of process technology at that time. It once used for aircraft engines. Precision manufacturing has had an impact. As a Yunnanese, we can be proud of these glorious achievements of our ancestors.

According to research, the ancient Dian Kingdom was a slave empire established by ancient ethnic minorities in Yunnan. It flourished on the shores of Dian Lake and flourished from the Warring States Period to the Western Han Dynasty.

Because it is located in the southwest corner, far away from the cultural perspective of the Central Plains, the ancient Dian Kingdom has been lost in the dust of history for a long time, making it appear mysterious and bizarre. A unique bronze culture existed in the seventh century BC.

The ancient Dian people at that time were rarely bound by the traditional ethics of the Central Plains, and their artistic conception and expression techniques were more sophisticated. Open and creative. In terms of utensils and types, no matter production tools, daily utensils, weapons, musical instruments or decorations, everything is made of bronze, while the bronzes in the Central Plains are mostly limited to weapons and ritual instruments.

In particular, the decorative patterns on bronzes are mostly images of animals and plants in nature and typical scenes from people's daily lives, which are lifelike. In terms of decorative themes, animal images often appear on bronzes from the ancient Dian Kingdom. There are more than 40 species, ranging from tigers and leopards to beetles, and they are painted very delicately and realistically.

Ancient Yunnan bronzes are quite different from other frontier cultures in my country. Not only are there weapons such as daggers, spears, forks, swords and other bronze weapons that are obviously influenced by the Shang and Zhou bronze civilization in the Central Plains, but more of them reflect the The shell storage vessels and copper buckle ornaments with the theme of social life in the Dian Kingdom obviously have the unique regional cultural characteristics of the Dian Kingdom.

5. The history of the ancient Dian Kingdom

Dian is an ancient kingdom established by ethnic minorities in the southwest border of China. The Dian Kingdom appeared no later than the middle and late Warring States Period. It was in its heyday from the end of the Warring States Period to the middle of the Western Han Dynasty. It declined in the late Western Han Dynasty and was replaced by counties and counties set up by the Central Plains Dynasty from the late Western Han Dynasty to the early Eastern Han Dynasty. Since then, the Dian Kingdom and Dian culture have disappeared forever in the history of my country’s southwest frontier.

In the 1950s, a group of ancient tombs that were later proven to be the royal family cemeteries of the ancient Dian Kingdom were discovered on a small hill called Shizhai Mountain in Jincheng Town, Jinning County, on the east bank of Dian Lake. A gold seal with four seal characters - the Seal of the King of Dian - was found in a tomb. Snake button.

The bronze culture of the ancient Dian Kingdom has exquisite art and distinct regions. Such as the ox-tiger bronze case, bronze shell storage vessels carved with war scenes, bronze figurines holding umbrellas, etc.

Archeology in recent decades, combined with ancient documents. The territory of the Dian Kingdom was not vast, and roughly included all of present-day Kunming and Dongchuan cities, most of Qujing and Yuxi areas, Zhaotong and Honghe, and parts of Wenshan Autonomous Prefecture. Dian was a very small kingdom in the southwestern barbarians at that time. "Historical Records of Southwest Yi Biography" says: "The king of Dian has tens of thousands of people... The small towns of Dian are the most favored

Yan."

The agricultural production of Dian Kingdom Developed, fishing, hunting and animal husbandry production also have a certain scale. The handicraft production in Dian Kingdom is very developed, especially the bronze casting technology, which is comparable to any bronze culture.

Excerpted from "Chinese Archaeological Mysteries".

6. How did the ancient Dian Kingdom disappear?

In ancient times, the Kunming tribe (the ancestors of today’s Yi people) lived in the Dianchi Lake area.

Sima Qian called it "Dian" in "Historical Records". However, not long after Sima Qian included her in the classics, the Dian Kingdom disappeared. There is no trace or legend. No one knows where its subjects have gone. It is like an eternal mystery.

In Before the Han Dynasty, the ancient Dian Kingdom was established in the Dianchi and Fuxian Lake areas.

In the second year of Yuanfeng in the Western Han Dynasty (109 BC), Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty came to the Dian Kingdom with troops. The Dian King surrendered and invited officials to join the court. So Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty gave the king of Dian his seal to rejuvenate his people (this seal of the king of Dian, made of pure gold, was unearthed from Shizhai Mountain two thousand years later).

After that, Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty established Yizhou County in Yunnan, and the power of the Dian King was replaced by the county governor. From then on, he was subject to the county system of the Han Dynasty. By the 1st century AD, the glorious bronze culture of Yunnan was completely integrated into the iron culture.

7. The mystery of the Dian King of the ancient Dian Kingdom

From 1955 to 1960, archaeologists excavated artifacts from the Warring States Period to the Western Han Dynasty at Shizhai Mountain in Jinning County on the shores of Dian Lake. There are 50 ancient tombs and more than 4,000 cultural relics unearthed, most of which are bronze vessels, indicating that the owners of the tombs lived in the heyday of Yunnan's bronze culture. In 1956, a discovery was made in Tomb No. 6 of Shizhaishan that shocked scholars: a gold "Seal of the King of Dian" was dug out, which confirmed the historical fact in "Historical Records" that Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty "granted the Seal of the King of Dian" , which fully proves that the ancient Dian Kingdom did exist, and its capital was in the Jinning area.

Historians have always believed that the disappearance of the ancient city of Yu Yuan in the Han Dynasty is a mystery. In history, even if the Yu Yuan establishment changed the place name, it should be recorded. However, after the Southern and Northern Dynasties, the information about the ancient city of Yu Yuan was interrupted. What happened to Yu Yuan City? Where did it go?

"Hanshu Geography" records: "Yu Yuan's pool is in the south, and the bridge water comes out..." "The bridge water carries Yu Yuan's South Pool, and the county is Longchizhou, seventeen miles away from Thursday." "The boundaries of Yuyuan County include the present counties of Chengjiang, Jiangchuan, Hongta, and Shilin (Lunan). For such a large and powerful county, its county seat, Longchizhou, should be a prosperous and large city.

This city is definitely not the Chengjiang City we are talking about. So, where was Yuyuan County in the Han Dynasty? Has this city sunk into Fuxian Lake?

The inner city of the ancient underwater city of Fuxian Lake may be the Palace of the King of Dian, and the Palace of the King of Dian may be the Yuyuan County that was later renamed. Yuyuangu County is also true as people say, "There is a sunken building in Chengjiang Lake." "City" sank to the bottom of the lake due to the earthquake. It is the remaining ancient city detected under Fuxian Lake.

8. The humanistic history of the ancient Dian Kingdom

In ancient times, the Kunming tribe (the ancestors of today’s Yi people) lived in the Dianchi Lake area.

In the 21st century, archaeologists have discovered people living and culturally similar to the people of the ancient Dian Kingdom among certain ethnic minorities in remote areas of present-day Yunnan. In particular, a tribe called the Bada people was discovered in Sumatra, Indonesia. The houses, living culture and customs of this tribe are very similar to those of the ancient Dian Kingdom.

Before the Han Dynasty, the ancient Dian Kingdom was established in the Dianchi and Fuxian Lake areas. In the second year of Yuanfeng in the Western Han Dynasty (109 BC), Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty came to the Dian Kingdom. The king of Dian surrendered and invited officials to join the court.

So Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty gave the King of Dian his seal to rejuvenate his people (this seal of the King of Dian, made of pure gold, was unearthed in Shizhai Mountain two thousand years later). After that, Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty established Yizhou County in Yunnan, and the power of the Dian King was replaced by the county governor. From then on, he was subject to the county system of the Han Dynasty.

By the 1st century AD, the glorious bronze culture of Yunnan was completely integrated into the iron culture. Regarding this period of history, Sima Qian has a crucial record.

Around 339 BC, the Chu State wanted to expand its sphere of influence to the southwest and sent Chu general Zhuang Qi into Yunnan. Soon, the Qin State destroyed the Ba State and the Shu State, and Zhuang Qi lost contact with the Chu State, so he "followed the kings of Yunnan and obeyed its customs to grow up."

This is There is a generation of Dian kings clearly recorded in historical materials. It is impossible to verify whether there were Dian kings before him. But in the years before Zhuang Qi entered Yunnan, the bronze culture of the Yunnan people had entered its heyday.

Archaeologist Professor Li Kunsheng said that apart from the factors of artistic achievement, the Chu culture at this time should be more advanced than the Dian culture. At least, the Chu people wore shoes while the Dian people were barefoot, but it seems that the Dian tombs There are not many traces of the Chu culture he brought into Yunnan, and some scholars have questioned this record. Around the 1st century BC, this isolated kingdom finally came to an end.

A Dian king who dominated Dian Lake asked a serious question to the envoy of the Han Dynasty. He asked: Who is greater, the Han Dynasty or me? In his eyes, the world is not much larger than the territory of Dian Kingdom.

However, not long after, this lovely King of Dian and his paradise disappeared from history. The world is much larger and more complex than he imagined.

In the second year of Yuanfeng in the Western Han Dynasty (109 BC), Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty came to the Dian Kingdom with troops. The Dian King surrendered and invited officials to join the court. So Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty gave the King of Dian his seal to rejuvenate his people. This seal of the King of Dian, made of pure gold, was unearthed in Shizhai Mountain two thousand years later.

After that, Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty established Yizhou County in Yunnan, and the power of the Dian King was replaced by the county governor. From then on, he was subject to the county system of the Han Dynasty. The immigration of the Han people allowed mainland culture to enter Yunnan on a large scale. In just 100 years, the culture of the Yunnan people has undergone rapid changes. By the 1st century AD, the glorious bronze culture of Yunnan was completely integrated into ironware. within the culture.

9. Composition on the Wetland Park of the Ancient Dian Kingdom

Jincheng Ancient Dian Cultural Square is a bright pearl embedded in the land of ancient Dian. It is a good place for people's leisure, entertainment and fitness. place. The square has three cultural relics representing the ancient Dian culture: the "Golden Seal of the Dian King", the "Ancient Dian Divine Pillar" and the "Four Bull Knights Shell Storage Vessel". They are sculpted using symbolic techniques, condensing and displaying the mysterious charm of ancient Dian.

When you walk into the Ancient Dian Cultural Square, it feels like you are attending a large party. The square is bustling with people, full of people and people coming to play. Many children are playing and playing here. Some are roller skating, riding bicycles, flying kites, and playing games. I really want to join them. Occasionally, when I see the children I know, they are even more excited and excited. Yelling hello and talking loudly about happy things.

The busiest thing is the central square, which has become a huge stage, with people dancing ballroom, folk dancing, aerobics, and even Yangko dancing. There was also a group of people singing lanterns at the top of their lungs, amusing themselves, and were extremely happy. In this way, many people met here, became good friends, and chatted happily.

What I like most is the green area with green grass, flowers everywhere, and green trees everywhere. There are rugged rocks, winding bridges and flowing water, and the green trees are swaying in the mirror's water surface. Reflecting the white clouds, there are various vibrant and lush trees. The most eye-catching thing is the colorful hydrangeas, which bloom in all kinds of colors. The slopes are covered with evergreen plants such as sweet-scented osmanthus, pine and cypress, dieffenbachia, and ivy, making it green and full of life all year round. Looking at this harmonious situation between man and nature, I couldn't help but think of the ancient poem "Man swims in the painting", which gave rise to infinite reveries.

This is our beautiful Ancient Dian Cultural Square. How happy the people living here are!