Master Archaeologist

Compared with gold leaves, Chen Han and the others paid more attention to those silk fabrics at that time.

The exact age of these silk fabrics is unknown because no dating has been done.

But according to the age of Sanxingdui, it must be later than Yangshao Culture.

There are two famous products in the Sichuan Basin, one is Shu brocade and the other is Jiaozi.

Jiaozi is a thing of the Song Dynasty, and has nothing to do with Sanxingdui.

But the birth of Shu brocade is very long ago.

Even now, archaeologists don't know when the Shu brocade first appeared.

According to historical records, at least during the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, Shu Brocade was already well-known far and wide.

In the late Warring States period, after the Qin State annexed Bashu, Shu brocade was the high-grade silk that only the upper-class princes and nobles of the Qin State could enjoy.

Its exquisiteness is not inferior to that of Qi State silk which was widely praised by the six Shandong countries at that time.

Yes, in the Spring and Autumn and Warring States period, to be precise, before the Song Dynasty, the Shandong region has always been the largest producer of silk fabrics in China.

In the Spring and Autumn Period, Lu Xun was widely sold in Zhuxia.

Onyx is a kind of white thin silk, which was the thinnest and thinnest produced in Lu State in ancient times, so it is called Lu Onyx.

Later, the silk in Qi quickly caught up and became the most famous silk supply area during the Warring States period.

At that time, Shu brocade was as famous as the silk of Qi, which shows how deep the silk culture of Shu is.

However, when the Shu brocade was developed is still a mystery in the academic circle.

During the Warring States period, Shu brocade had already become the famous silk in Zhuxia.

The development of the silk culture in the Shu region must have a complete process, and it is impossible to be so powerful all of a sudden.

But when did it start to develop, history books have not written, and archaeological objects have not appeared.

Among the bronzes unearthed in Sanxingdui, many of them were clothed.

The back of the bronze standing figure in Sanxingdui is obviously wearing clothes and is equipped with a ribbon.

So at least it was confirmed before that the Sanxingdui people must have mastered the silk weaving technology.

This is because the birth of silk culture in Shu was pulled back 3000 years ago.

And this discovery confirms this fact even more.

As I said before, Li Ji, the father of Chinese archeology, found half a silkworm cocoon at the Yangshao Cultural Site in 1926, which is estimated to be 6000 years ago.

This discovery, in fact, should have become the most important physical evidence in the history of Chinese silk.

However, due to the weak state of China at that time, there was no right to speak in the world archaeological circles, so there have always been various disputes.

However, silk products dating back 5000 years were discovered again at the site of the Yangshao Culture.

The reason why it can be preserved until now is in the urn coffin.

Urn coffin, this is a kind of burial.

The carbonized textiles found in the urn coffins are quite large, and they are not original silkworm cocoons, which thoroughly proves that Chinese silk textiles can be traced back at least to the Yangshao Culture period!

At least the legend in the literature that the Yellow Emperor’s wife Lei Zu taught the Chinese people to raise silkworms, even if it is not correct, it is absolutely correct in terms of time.

The discovery of silk fabrics in Sanxingdui is undoubtedly exciting news. This is not a competition with Yangshao culture for the birthplace of Chinese silk, but that we are one step closer to the source of Shu brocade.

And what's even more exciting.

Cinnabar was previously found in pits 1, 2, and 4.

And the silk fabric residue found in Pit No. 8 this time was attached to a bronze piece.

Is that possible.

People in Sanxingdui used cinnabar as a writing material to write words on silk fabrics in the pit?

It is very possible that the characters or symbols of Sanxingdui people may be attached and written on lacquerware, woodware, silk, etc.

That is to say, silk or the material carrier of ancient characters.

This is not nonsense. Chinese people have had the habit of using silk fabrics as text carriers since ancient times.

Silk books appeared very early.

It is even certain that, at least during the Shang and Zhou dynasties, in addition to bamboo slips, people at that time would also use expensive silk as writing materials to record text messages.

It's just that because of the age, it's hard to preserve this kind of silk script.

Also because these discoveries are too shocking.

Therefore, the 7 pieces of broken stones that were unearthed together were hardly cared about when they were unearthed.

Later, Chen Han and the others simply sent them to the Sanxingdui Cultural Relics Restoration Institute.

But unexpectedly, these stone slabs that no one cares about are actually very simple.

After these stone slabs were sent to the Cultural Relics Restoration Institute, the experts did not ignore or pay no attention to them because they were just some stone tools, but carefully inspected them.

After careful observation, they found that the cracks of the seven broken stones basically matched, so they tried to splice them together.

After some pondering, the experts successfully spliced ​​7 pieces of broken stones.

However, it was found that there were still a few pieces missing, and the spelling was not complete.

After measurement, its residual length is about 98.6 cm, width is about 52.4 cm, thickness is about 4.1 cm, and the surface is polished and smooth.

At the beginning, facing this strange stone tool, the experts also wondered, what is it?

It doesn't look like a utensil, nor does it look like a ritual vessel.

Until, someone found an incomplete round hole on the left side of the stone slab, with a diameter of about 2 cm.

In addition, some experts tap the stones with their hands, and they can still hear crisp sounds, which are completely different from other stones.

Therefore, some experts speculate that this is a huge musical instrument, Shi Qing!
Chime is a musical instrument that China has been using for a long time, and it has always been made of stone.

In previous archaeological discoveries in other places, all kinds of stone chimes were unearthed from time to time.

The so-called stone chime is a stone percussion instrument and ritual vessel suspended by a rope.

Later other musical instruments, including chime bells and the like, continued the use of stone chime, hanging on a wooden stand, and then struck with tools to make music.

It can be said that Shiqing is the originator of traditional Chinese ritual vessels.

It is generally used on very solemn occasions.

For example, on important occasions such as the enthronement of the emperor, the canonization of heirs, and the sealing of borders by various lands, there will be stone chimes to play music with chime bells.

Discovering musical instruments is an amazing thing!

You must know that in the past academic circles, the ancient Shu people had no etiquette and rites and music, that is to say, they were an ignorant nation without etiquette system.

Yang Xiong of the Western Han Dynasty wrote in "The Chronicle of the King of Shu": "The first king of Shu was named Cancong... he did not know words, and he did not have rituals and music...", which means that the ancestors of ancient Shu had neither words nor rituals and music.

According to the excavation results of Sanxingdui and Jinsha ruins, this "Shu King Benji" seems to be correct.

Neither writing nor any ritual musical instruments similar to chime bells or stone chimes were found in these two sites dating from 3000 to 600 years ago.

However, an incomplete stone chime has been unearthed now, so it can no longer be said that the ancestors of ancient Shu had no rituals and music.

It can be seen that not only do we not understand the ancestors of ancient Shu, but also the people of the Han Dynasty.

It is also possible that the culture of the ancient Shu Kingdom experienced a fault during the period from the end of the Shang Dynasty and the beginning of the Zhou Dynasty to the end of the Warring States Period!