Chapter 39 Section 6 Bronze Culture in Yunnan

According to archaeological discoveries since 1949, red bronze and bronze wares appeared in Yunnan as early as the late Shang Dynasty and early Western Zhou Dynasty.From the late Spring and Autumn period to the middle period of the Warring States period, the bronze culture had developed to a high degree and had strong local characteristics.For example, the 79 tombs excavated in Wanjiaba, Chuxiong in 1975 were generally buried with bronze spears.A few large tombs were buried with a large number of bronze vessels.For example, 110 bronze vessels were unearthed from Tomb No. 1, including a bronze drum.This kind of bronze drum is different from the bronze drum of Shang Dynasty in Central Plains.The bronze drum unearthed from Wanjiaba Tomb No. 1 in the late Spring and Autumn Period is the earliest Southwest bronze drum discovered so far.Until today, this kind of bronze drum has been used by all ethnic groups in the southwest region. It is not only the most characteristic musical instrument, but also a symbol of power, status and wealth.In addition, tomb No. 1 unearthed a set of six brass bells with horn buttons, which is also a unique bronze musical instrument in Southwest China.A large number of bronze tools were unearthed from this tomb, totaling 28 sets.Each set consists of a copper axe, a rectangular hoe, and a square hoe.It shows that bronze tools have been widely used at this time.Another example is Tomb No. 23, which contained 577 bronze wares, most of which were bronze spears. In addition, there were also axes, daggers, swords, arrowheads, arm armor and shield ornaments, etc., indicating that the production of bronze weapons was also very developed.In addition, bronze production tools such as hoes, axes, chisels and four-sided bronze drums were also unearthed.However, there are a large number of small tombs with very few burial objects, or even no burial objects, which shows that the gap between the rich and the poor was already very serious at this time, and the class difference was already very clear.

In 1961, a tomb in the middle of the Warring States period was excavated in Xiangyun Dabona, and a rectangular house-shaped copper coffin with a length of 2 meters, a width of 0.62 meters and a height of 0.64 meters was unearthed.The top of the coffin is sloped on both sides, and the body of the coffin is composed of seven copper plates, which are fastened by bolts and can be disassembled.The sides are cast with animal patterns such as eagles, swallows, and tigers.There are bronze drums, bronze bells, bronze sheng and copper gourd sheng, as well as stilted copper house models and pigs, dogs, chickens, sheep, cows, horses and so on.It is worth noting that a bracelet made of pure tin was also unearthed, which may have a certain relationship with the rich tin mines in Yunnan.

The bronze tools and weapons unearthed in the above tombs also have distinct local characteristics.For example, the body of a copper hoe is rectangular, square or peach-shaped, the ax is boot-shaped, the spear is mostly ridged in the middle, the battleaxe is a half-moon-shaped blade, and the sword is mostly flower-shaped. pattern etc.However, the copper ge and willow-leaf-shaped swords unearthed at the same time are similar in shape to those unearthed in the Central Plains, indicating that the Yunnan area had a relatively close relationship with the Central Plains bronze culture at this time, and was somewhat influenced by the Central Plains bronze culture.

In the middle period of the Warring States period, when King Wei of Chu sent his general Zhuang Yu (juejue) to lead his troops to attack Ba, west of central Guizhou, and reached Dianchi Lake in Yunnan.In the eighteenth year of King Qingxiang of Chu (280 B.C.), the State of Qin captured Qianzhong County of the State of Chu and blocked Zhuang Yu's return, so Zhuang Yu "reported his kings Dian" ("Historical Records·Biography of Southwestern Yi") ").Since then, in the Han Dynasty, the bronze culture in Yunnan has further developed. A large number of bronze drums, bronze shell containers, and various human and animal-shaped buckles unearthed from the tombs of the Dian king and his family officials in Shizhai Mountain, Jinning vividly reflect the The scenes of agriculture, animal husbandry, weaving, hunting, war, music and dance, and sacrificial activities of the Dian people show that Dian culture has achieved a high degree of development and outstanding artistic achievements at this time.