Wucheng site

Wucheng site

Wucheng site is located in Zhangshu City, Jiangxi Province. The Wucheng site was discovered in 1973 and began to be excavated in the same year. This is the earliest Shang Dynasty site found in the south of the Yangtze River in China. Its discovery and excavation marks a new stage of Jiangxi's early civilization and opens a new chapter of Shang Dynasty Archaeology in the south. Wucheng site is a large-scale capital site of the middle and late Shang Dynasty in southern China, with a total area of about 4 square kilometers. Pottery kiln area, smelting area, residential area, tomb area and sacrificial square were found in the site. Thousands of pottery, primitive porcelain, bronzes, stone tools and other relics have been unearthed. Among them, the discovery of the original celadon with exquisite firing proves that this area is one of the birthplaces of celadon.

At the Wucheng site, many ceramic objects are also marked with characters. The cultural relics unearthed from Wucheng site not only have their own strong local characteristics, but also are deeply influenced by the bronze culture of Shang and Yin dynasties in the Central Plains. Professor Li boqian of Peking University named it "Wucheng culture", which laid the foundation for the study of Wucheng culture.

geographical position

Wucheng site is located in Wucheng village, Shanqian Township, Zhangshu City, Jiangxi Province.

The Wucheng site was discovered when the Wucheng reservoir was built in the autumn of 1973. From the 15th century BC to the 11th century BC. Wucheng site is a large-scale capital site of the middle and late Shang Dynasty in southern China, with a total area of about 4 square kilometers. There are pottery kiln area, smelting area, residential area, tomb area and sacrificial square in Wucheng site. Thousands of pottery, primitive porcelain, bronzes, stone tools and other relics have been unearthed. Among them, the discovery of the original celadon with exquisite firing proves that this area is one of the birthplaces of celadon.

Many ceramic objects are also marked with characters.

After six scientific excavations, the site covers an area of more than 2000 square meters, with cultural accumulation ranging from 2 to 3 meters thick. It is divided into seven layers and is divided into three cultural periods. A total of 2 house foundations, 12 kiln sites, 55 ash pits and 16 tombs were cleared. More than 900 pieces of complete stone tools, pottery, bronzes, jades, tooth carvings, etc. have been unearthed, especially the unearthed pottery inscriptions, primitive porcelain and cast copper tools, which is a major new archaeological discovery in Jiangxi Province. Significance: Wucheng Shang Dynasty site has become the practice base for archaeology majors of Peking University, Xiamen University, Sun Yat sen University and other universities. Jiangxi Provincial Museum has established an archaeological station in Wucheng, which is the first rural archaeological station in Jiangxi Province. The discovery of Wucheng site is of great significance for understanding the emergence and development of the indigenous bronze culture in the Yangtze River Basin.

unearthed relic

In the upper reaches of the ancient Xiaojiang River, Wucheng village, Shanqian Township, 44 kilometers southwest of Zhangshu City, has a famous Fangguo (capital), which is the Shang Dynasty site of Wucheng. Some experts believe that the legendary Taibo ran to Wu. This was the place where he used to pass. Taibo first ran to jingman, then went down to Ganjiang River and then to Wuyue.

According to the genealogy of Huangcun village in Wucheng, there was a temple of the king of Wu in the early years of Wucheng, which was later abandoned.

Since the discovery of the Wucheng site in September 1973, under the guidance of the leaders and experts from the State Administration of cultural relics and the Institute of Archaeology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Peking University, Xiamen University and Sun Yat sen University have successively carried out nine large-scale excavations and reorganizations together with the provincial and municipal departments in charge of cultural relics. It covers an area of more than 6000 square meters. It has cleaned up 3 house foundations, 12 pottery kilns, 92 ash pits and kiln caves, 20 tombs, 2 wells, a copper casting relic, 1 road and a complete and grand religious sacrificial site. It has unearthed more than 1100 pieces of relatively complete stone tools, pottery, primitive porcelain, bronzes, jade and ivory carvings.

The discovery of pottery inscriptions, primitive porcelain, cast copper relics and dragon kiln in Wucheng site is an important discovery in the archaeological history of Jiangxi Province, which indicates that Wucheng area has entered the era of human civilization as early as 3500 years ago, and denies the assertion that "the Shang culture is no more than the Yangtze River".

Yin Shang period

A large number of materials such as pottery inscriptions and symbols demonstrate that Ganpo area was not a "wasteland of clothing", but a highly civilized area during the Yin and Shang Dynasties. The unearthed bronze relics, tools and exquisite bronzes show that as early as 3000 years ago, like the Central Plains, Ganpo area was able to skillfully grasp the casting technology and produce high-quality bronzes, which solved the problem of whether it could be cast during the Yin and Shang Dynasties in southern China The important academic problems of bronze ware.

A large number of complete artifacts, especially more than 40 kinds of printed pottery patterns, are a "key" and a "ruler" of chronology for the study of Jiangnan ancient culture, ending the long-standing cultural disorder in Jiangnan archaeology.

Wucheng site is the first large-scale residential site of Shang Dynasty discovered in the south of the Yangtze River. It is also the only site in Jiangxi Province with more elements of Central Plains Shang culture. Now it has been named Wucheng culture. It is still a hot topic in the field of Archaeology and historiography at home and abroad. It has important historical, artistic and scientific research value.

Shang Dynasty bronze cup Shang Dynasty bronze Ding Xi Zhou Yong Zhong

Bronze spear of Shang Dynasty

Bo Le Xiang Ma's pen holder and gold hairpin

Jade frog Western Zhou Yongzhong lotus petal handle pot

Primitive porcelain beans

Characters on the bottom of pottery

Stone Dao fan pottery face

Bronze cup

Saddle shaped pottery knife

Cultural Studies

As an important part of the three major cultures of the Chinese nation, the birthplace of Wu culture has always been concerned by the historians and cultural circles, and is more valued by the Wu clan at home and abroad.

As early as 1907, Cai Yuanpei, Wu Mei, Liu Yazi, Tian Han and others began to study Wu culture; in 1937, Cai Yuanpei, Wu Mei, Gu Jiegang and others initiated the establishment of the "Wu Yue history and Geography Research Association" and began to publish "Wu Yue culture treatise", which set off a climax of Wu culture research. In 1984, under the initiative of Wu Ze, a famous historian, member of the Academic Degrees Committee of the State Council and professor of History Department of East China Normal University, the Chinese Wu Culture Research Association was established in Suzhou, which re mentioned the research and construction of Wu culture.

Wucheng site in Zhangshu City is the first large-scale Shang Dynasty site discovered in Jiangnan. Through eight excavations by the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, the State Administration of cultural relics, Peking University, Sun Yat sen University, Xiamen University, provincial and municipal cultural workers, important relics such as dragon grottoes, water wells, tombs, cast copper, "corridor style" road, religious sites, and unearthed stone tools and pottery were found In particular, the discovery of the Shang Dynasty dragon kiln is the first discovery of China's early dragon kiln, which has pushed forward the history of China's dragon kiln for nearly a thousand years. It has become a "key" to the study of Jiangnan ancient culture, and has aroused great interest in the field of history and culture More than 100 papers have been published in important journals at home and abroad.

Not only that, the Zhuwei city site in Zhangshu City and the Shang Dynasty tomb in Xingan County also attracted the attention of many experts and scholars. In the 1930s, Guo Moruo and Gu Jiegang, famous historians in China, studied 11 pieces of "zhe Jian Zhong" unearthed from the 15th King's palace of the state of Wu in Jiangxi Province during the Qianlong period of Qing Dynasty. They pointed out: "in the early spring and Autumn period, the ancient city of Wu was far away in Jiangxi Province." Linjiang Fu now governs Qingjiang county (now Zhangshu City). On the west side of Ganjiang River, there is Wu Town 180 miles north of Xinjian County in Jiangxi Province The entrance of the Ganjiang River to the lake is believed to have been the capital of Wu at that time. It was close to Poyang Lake. After moving to the Soviet Union, it was close to Taihu Lake. "

In 1991, Mr. Lu Shuishi, executive vice president and Secretary General of China Wu Culture Research Association, formally put forward the view that the birthplace of Wu culture was in Jiangxi in the social science journal published in Shanghai; in 1992, Yuan Jin, the former Jiangxi Provincial Museum, published the "Wu theory of Wucheng culture family" in the southern cultural relics, whose main view was that Wucheng culture was pre Wu culture, earlier than Taihu Lake Culture Wu Culture in the river basin.

Where is the birthplace of Wu culture? Jiangxi, known as "Wu tou Chu Wei", has become a "hot spot" concerned by experts and scholars.

Bronze ritual vessels

Led by the Jiangxi Academy of Social Sciences, Lu Shuishi and Zhang Fuyu, two Wu culture research experts, visited Zhangshu and inspected the Shang Dynasty and zhuweicheng sites in Wucheng, and visited various cultural relics unearthed in Zhangshu. At the "seminar on the development strategy of Wu culture and economy" held later, researcher Chen Wenhua, vice president of the Provincial Academy of Social Sciences, and Mr. Lu Shuishi, after studying the archaeological discoveries of more than half a century, believed that the inscriptions and bronzes of the state of Wu found in Anhui and Jiangsu were all from the 19th century after King Shoumeng of Wu. So far, no one of the bronzes of the state of Wu was found in the eastern part of Taihu Lake before the late spring and Autumn period National heritage.

The "zhe Jian Zhong" unearthed in Jiangxi Province is still the earliest bronze ware of the state of Wu. At the same time, hundreds of bronze ritual vessels of the Western Zhou Dynasty have been unearthed in the Ganpo valley. In particular, a large number of cultural relics unearthed from the "Wu Culture" site in Zhangshu City, the Shang Dynasty Tombs in Xingan and the lieding tombs of the Western Zhou Dynasty show that the "Wu City Culture" is a combination of the pre Zhou Culture in Shanxi and Shaanxi, the jingman culture in the Hanshui valley and the Yiyue culture in the Ganpo valley As a bronze culture of its own system, it belongs to Ju Wu. The essence of Wu city culture is the early culture of Wu state. Zhangshu and Xingan in the middle reaches of Ganjiang River are the birthplace of the state of Wu (GuJu Wu) and the birthplace of Wu culture. At this seminar, the participants unanimously agreed with this view that this research achievement is not only a major breakthrough in the study of history, but also will lead to the development of history

Chinese PinYin : Wu Cheng Yi Zhi