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The Jinsha Ruins lie in the west of Chengdu. The central area of the ruins covers more than three square kilometers. Archaeologists believe that Jinsha Ruins might have been the political, economic and cultural center of Chengdu after the decline of the Sanxingdui civilization.
• It is a national monument approved by the State Council in 2006.
• It is inscribed on the candidate list of the World Cultural Heritages by UNESCO.
• It is a 4-star China National Resort.
• The Holy Sun Bird is the emblem of the Chinese Cultural Heritage.
The location of Jinsha Ruins was once the capital city of the ancient Shu state between the end of the Shang Dynasty (1600 B. C. —1046 B. C.) and the beginning of the West Zhou Dynasty (1046 B. C. —771 B. C.). Archaeologists have basically affirmed that the site of ancient Shu state was divided into three parts: the sacrifice section, the living section, and the workshop section. The distribution of these sections in Jinsha Ruins shows that the place had already become a large-scaled and mature capital city by that time. A great number of exquisite gold ware, jade ware, bronze ware, stone ware, ivory ware, and countless elephant tusks and pottery have been excavated from the site.
The Jinsha excavation provides us with an invaluable legacy left to us by the ancient Shu people. Most of these relics were made at the end of the Shang Dynasty and in the early years of the West Zhou Dynasty, while the rest were made during the Spring and Autumn Period(770 B. C— 476 B. C ). The incomparably exquisite cultural relics discovered here have astounded the world and the mysterious sacrificial culture has made visitors reflect on the spiritual world of the Chinese ancestors. The unanswered questions posed by timeless cultures remind people of the Egypt pyramids, the Maya civilization and the mysteries of Sanxingdui Ruins. The ancient Shu culture has gready enhanced the splendor of Chinese culture.
More than 30 pieces of gold ware of great variety and exquisite craftsmanship were excavated from Jinsha Ruins: gold masks, gold straps, circular gold adornments, frog-like gold adornments and bugle-shaped gold adornments. Among those gold pieces, the gold masks are quite similar to the bronze masks found in Sanxingdui, from which people could infer that there was some relationship between them regarding its origin. Except for the gold masks, all other gold pieces are indigenous to Jinsha, especially the fine and marvelous gold foil with phoenix patterns which resembles the mark of the Phoenix TV Station of Hong Kong.
More than 400 pieces of bronze ware have been found in the ruins, most of which are small in size, including a bronze standing figure, bronze yuan, bronze dagger-axes, axe-shaped bronze bi with a square-hole, bronze bells, bronze hanging adornments, bronze plates, remnants of bronze ritual objects and more. The modeling style of the bronze standing figure is very similar to that of the bronze standing figure found in Sanxingdui. Although relics like the large-sized bronze masks and holy trees unearthed from Sanxingdui have not yet been found in Jinsha, we can see from the exquisite bronze ware that Jinsha had a highly developed bronze culture.
One hundred and seventy stone articles, including the stone bi, stone zhang, stone spears, stone axes, stone kneeling-figure, stone tigers, stone tortoises and stone snakes, make up the earliest and the most exquisite group of stone ware. The stone tigers were vividly carved, looking simple and unsophisticated. The stone kneeling figure, bound with both hands behind his back, and rouge on his lips, wears a square hat with two sides which curls upward and a long plait of hair that reaches to his waist. Archaeologists believe that the kneeling figure might be the statue of a prisoner or a slave who belonged to some nobleman. This shows that the ancient Shu State was already strong and prosperous.
The over 400 jade articles, including the jade cong, jade bi, jade zhang, jade dagger-axes, jade spears, jade axes, jade chisels, jade jin, jade bracelets, jade rings, jade plates, jade hanging adornments, jade beads, jade materials and so on, are all delicately and carefully made. What amazes people is that the style of the jade articles unearthed here is just the same as that of the jade ware found at Liangzhu on the lower reaches of the Yangtze River. This indicates that the ancient Shu state was engaged in frequent, active communication and trade with the outside world at that time.
The jade articles found in Jinsha Ruins are not only large in number but also delicate in design, of which the biggest one is an emerald jade cong ( a long hollow piece ol jade with rectangular sides) of about 22 centimeters high. The workmanship of this jade cong, especially the miniature carving on its surface, is really breathtakingly exquisite and its design and style are quite similar to those that represent the Liangzhu civilization. Great numbers of gut-shaped jade chisels and jade plates bear the special traits of the ancient Shu culture, and large quantities of Jade zhangs are carefully designed with beautiful lines on the surface; some of them are dyed a distinctive red. The jade articles discovered in the Jinsha Ruins show some traces of the Central Plain civilization and the Liangzhu civilization on the lower reaches of the Yangtze River. The jade cong and jade zhang may well have been transported here by way of the Yangtze River. The characteristics of the jade articles unearthed in Jinsha also show that the ancient Shu state was actively engaged in communication and trade with the outside world.
The over 40 pieces of ivory ware are all pillar-shaped articles with one dot in the middle, surrounded by six dots on one end on each piece. Numerous elephant tusks were excavated from Jinsha Ruins with the total weight of about one ton. Some of them were from the southern part of the ancient Shu state, but most of them were from the neighboring provinces of Yunnan, Guizhou and so on. They are said to have been tributes of the ethnic groups in southwest China to the rulers of the ancient Shu state. All those discoveries indicate that Jinsha by that time had already become the most important political, economic and cultural center in southwest China.
In addition to the relics mentioned above, a great deal of pottery was also excavated from the Jinsha Ruins, such as the sharp-bottomed pottery goblets, sharp-bottomed cups, and high-necked plates. They are in some respects similar in style to those found in Sanxingdui. As far as their dating is concerned, most of them were made at the end of the period of the Yin Ruins and the early period of the West Zhou Dynasty, while a few of them were made in the Spring and Autumn Period.
In the central excavating area, some sacrificial objects like ivory ware and jade ware were found, as well as 19 divining shells, all of which were made of the ventral and dorsal shells of tortoises. In every tortoise shell, there is a small burned hole. The largest tortoise shell found here is a 59-centimeter long ventral shell, which is also the biggest divining tortoise shell that has ever been found. These shells represent the supreme power of the rulers of the ancient Shu state. Archaeologists believe that these tortoise shells were used by sorcerers in ancient times when they made their divinations. Inscriptions have often been found on bones or tortoise shells in the Central Plains, but no inscriptions were found on these shells. The discovery of the tortoise shells here just matches with those that have been found in Chengdu before, and confirms the unique divining custom of the ancient Shu state.