In ancient times, the Kunming tribe (the ancestors of today’s Yi people) lived in the Dianchi Lake area. Before the Han Dynasty, the ancient Dian Kingdom was established in the Dian Lake 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 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. 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 a generation of Yunnan clearly recorded in historical materials. King, it is impossible to verify whether there was a Dian king 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 went barefoot. However, there does not seem to be anything left in the Dian tombs that he brought with him. There are many traces of Chu culture in 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 Han Dynasty envoy. 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. 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.
Edit this paragraph: Mysterious hills reveal the top secrets of the ancient Dian Kingdom
In 1953, not long after the Yunnan Archaeological Team was established, some rust appeared here and there in the waste collection stations on the streets of Kunming Spotted 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 tombs of the ancient 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 stone tablets or mounds of earth here. It is so plain that nothing could trigger the greedy fantasies 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 hill is a huge group of tombs, and the artifacts and artifacts that are constantly being unearthed are coming one after another. The surprises that come one after another not only make archaeologists excited, 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, which was given to the King of Dian by Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty in the second year of Yuanfeng. Sima Qian said in "Historical Records" that there was a country called "Dian" in Yunnan, but there were no records about 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.
Ancient Dian bronzes are quite different from other frontier cultures in my country. Not only do they include weapons such as daggers, spears, forks, swords and other bronze weapons that were obviously influenced by the Shang and Zhou bronze civilizations in the Central Plains, but more of them reflect the social life of the Dian Kingdom. The shell storage vessels and copper buckles clearly have the unique regional cultural characteristics of the Dian Kingdom.
Edit this paragraph: The Golden Seal of the King of Dian and the Mystery of the Ancient City of Yu Yuan
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 from this period, and more than 4,000 cultural relics were unearthed, most of which are bronze vessels, indicating that the owners of the tombs lived during 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 Yuyuan in the Han Dynasty is a mystery. In history, even if the place name was changed under the establishment of Yuyuan, it should be recorded. However, after the Southern and Northern Dynasties, the information about the ancient city of Yuyuan was interrupted. Where did Yuyuan City 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." The boundary of Yu Yuan County is now Chengjiang, Jiangchuan, Hongta, Shilin (Lunan) and other counties and districts, such a large and powerful county, its county seat, Longchizhou, should be a prosperous and large city. This city is definitely not the current Chengjiang City. 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 the people say, "There is a sunken city in Chengjiang Lake." It was destroyed by the earthquake. Sunk to the bottom of the lake, it is the remaining ancient city under the Fuxian Lake that is currently being explored.
Edit this paragraph The imperial capital of the ancient Dian Kingdom - Jincheng Ancient Town
Jincheng Town, Jinning County, is located on the east bank of Dianchi Lake, surrounded by mountains on three sides and lakeside hilly plains on one side. Here, there are crisscrossed streets. The fields are intertwined and there are thousands of acres of fertile land. About 5 kilometers west of the ancient town is the famous national key cultural relics protection unit Shizhai Mountain. This is the final place of the Nth generation of Dian kings and their families and servants. It is the capital of the ancient Dian Kingdom in Jincheng Town. , is the birthplace of Yunnan culture. Jincheng Town has been the political, economic and cultural center of Yunnan from the old China period to the Tang Dynasty. When Emperor Wen of the Sui Dynasty ruled China, Jincheng served as the seat of Ningzhou County. Liang Bi, the governor, once "expanded seven miles of the city and built nine gates and twelve thoroughfares." This shows the grand scale of the city at that time. In the 22nd year of Chenghua in the Ming Dynasty (AD 1486), a brick city was built, an Weng city was built in the southeast, northwest, and four city gates: Longxiang, Nanxun, Fengzhu, and Gongcheng. They were either repaired or destroyed in the following hundreds of years. By 1954 AD During the on-site survey in 2010, it was found that the remaining ancient city wall was 4,100 meters long and 4 meters high. It was completely demolished in 1958 due to urban construction needs. In the ancient town, most of the residential and public buildings from the Ming and Qing Dynasties are well preserved. From this, people can still imagine the prosperity of the ancient town back then. "Kunming Daily" reported on May 20, 2003: "The ancient town's long history, unique ancient residential courtyards, unique patterns of streets and lanes and exquisite architectural sculpture art have attracted the attention of experts from the Zurich Municipal Cultural Relics Protection Bureau in Switzerland. They paid great attention to it, and a group of 20 of them visited the ancient town three times. They were amazed by the scenes of lost civilization in the imperial capital of the ancient Dian Kingdom. "The ancient town of Jincheng has a special status in the history of architecture and urban construction. The well-preserved urban layout of the Ming and Qing dynasties covers an area of ??more than 600,000 square meters. It consists of 8 streets in the old city, including Shangxi Street, Xiaxi Street, and Guanjing Street, forming a field shape, and is accompanied by dozens of alleys. This architectural style has been preserved since the Wanli period of the Ming Dynasty. Most of the residential courtyards preserved in the streets and alleys are of the "ganlan type" or "one-yin type" structure, adopting the "three rooms and four ears" or "two rooms and two ears" courtyard layout, with lifting beams passing through the bucket-type roof trusses. The combination of double eaves and mountain tops, carved lattice doors and windows, painted dragons and phoenixes, flower and tree reliefs, are exquisite and sophisticated, and have received extremely high prices from Chinese and foreign experts! Wipe away the thick dust on the houses, and the dazzling glory of national art will appear in front of people's eyes in an instant.
Edit this paragraph about the establishment of the Ancient Dian Kingdom
About the establishment of the Ancient Dian Kingdom: Some scholars believe that the Ancient Dian Kingdom was a political power established by the local Yi people. 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 a generation of Yunnan clearly recorded in historical materials. King, it is impossible to verify whether there was a Dian king before him. However, in the years before Zhuang Qi entered Yunnan, the bronze culture of the Yunnan people had entered its peak period, but there did not seem to be much trace of the Chu culture he brought into Yunnan in the Yunnan tombs.