Wuyao Legacy - A Collection of Fine Cultural Relics of the Baiyue Culture in Guangxi

Author: National Museum of China, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region Museum
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2006-02-01
Features: This book is also part of the "Ancient Civilizations of China's Border Provinces and Regions Series." It features 120 important artifacts from Guangxi's ancient Western Ou and Luoyue cultures, provided by Guangxi's archaeological and cultural heritage institutions. These artifacts include bronze, jade, iron, and pottery, aiming to showcase the diverse cultures and unique historical landscapes of ancient Baiyue in Guangxi from multiple regional perspectives due to historical and geographical factors. This book further reveals the gradual unification and integration of the Chinese nation throughout history. The exhibition "Treasures of Ou and Luoyue—Exquisite Cultural Relics of Guangxi Baiyue" jointly organized by the National Museum of China and the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region Museum is another significant display in the series of ancient cultural exhibitions in China's border regions. "Baiyue" was the ancient term for numerous tribes and ethnic groups in southern China, and the Baiyue people made significant contributions to the development of southern China, especially the Lingnan region. The Western Ou and Luoyue, primarily distributed in Guangxi, were important branches of the Baiyue. Generally, Baiyue studies focus on the Yu, Dong Ou, Min Yu, and Nan Yu, with the Western Ou and Luoyue often being part of Nan Yu research. This exhibition on Guangxi Baiyue cultural relics highlights the cultural characteristics and features of the Western Ou and Luoyue, revealing their diverse cultural colors and unique historical processes shaped by historical and geographical factors. We hope this exhibition can comprehensively showcase the achievements of Ou-Luo archaeological research and, from one perspective, reveal the process of the Chinese nation's unification and integration.
[Editor's Recommendation] Ou-Luo refers to the two major branches of the "Baiyue" people active in the Lingnan region during the Warring States and Qin-Han periods—the Western Ou and Luoyue. As the main force of the Baiyue army, they inflicted heavy casualties on the Qin forces during Qin Shi Huang's southern campaign, forcing the emperor to open the Lingqu Canal, wage a decade-long struggle, launch three campaigns in the Lingnan region, and lose 300,000 Qin troops before finally subduing the Baiyue and unifying the Lingnan, establishing the three commanderies of Nanhai, Guilin, and Xiang. What factors allowed the Baiyue tribes, who were at a clear disadvantage in both troop strength and equipment, to sustain such a long resistance? Were the Baiyue truly as barbaric and backward as the Central Plains believed? What was their way of life? How did the Baiyue tribes, unified by Qin and later ruled by the Nanyue Kingdom, experience cultural collisions and integration? Why did unique primitive porcelain, geometric-patterned pottery, and Yue-style tripods flourish there? Many of these questions will be answered in the exhibition.