Mysterious Kingdom

Author: Sun Hua, Su Rongyong / Country: Mainland China
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2003-01-01
Features: Let us broaden our perspective and look beyond the Sichuan Basin to the basin's periphery. Then, in terms of the mineral resources available to the Sanxingdui culture, we will find that the Sanxingdui culture area is not far from the Chinese geochemical gradient zone, especially the Huaxia-Yangtze geochemical boundary. Professor Zhu Bingquan has conducted research on the distribution patterns of large and ultra-large ore deposits and large ore districts from a new geochemical boundary perspective, proposing that ultra-large ore deposits are closely related to geochemical gradient zones. He has also derived the main characteristics and patterns of large and ultra-large ore deposits produced in geochemical gradient zones. On Professor Zhu's geochemical provincial map, the Huaxia-Yangtze geochemical boundary controls over 90% of ultra-large ore deposits in southern China. These deposits include copper, tin, lead, zinc, and gold, which were usable resources during the Bronze Age. Among them, the Jinsha River mineral belt and the Dongchuan-Huizhou large ore district in the east of the Kangdian block are not far from the Sanxingdui culture area. When Sanxingdui people searched for mineral resources, they might have explored these mining areas or purchased raw materials from people in this region.
Professor Jin Zhengyao, through his study of lead isotope ratios in Sanxingdui bronze artifacts, concluded that the lead isotope ratios of bronzes from Pits 1 and 2 of Sanxingdui are identical, indicating that they were produced in a relatively short time span and that they extensively used materials from the same mineral source. Professor Jin also observed that Sanxingdui bronzes, as well as those from the large tomb of Daoyuan in Xinggan County, Jiangxi, exhibited abnormally high radiogenic lead. Notably, all Sanxingdui bronzes contained this high radiogenic abnormal lead. The few known mines with such high radiogenic lead are located in the northeastern Yunnan region, suggesting that the mineral raw materials of these bronzes included inputs from polymetallic ore deposits in southwestern China.
According to Professor Zhu Bingquan's research, the possible sources of the raw materials for these bronzes with high radiogenic abnormal lead include several regions, with the northeastern Yunnan area being the most likely. These studies, if reliable, suggest that the activity space of the Sanxingdui culture may have been much broader than our current understanding. Based on the lead isotope ratio results of bronze artifacts, bronzes from the Middle Yangtze region during the Shang Dynasty, as well as those from the Central Plains, also show evidence of raw materials originating from southwestern China. In southwestern China, the only known bronze culture associated with the Jiangxi Wucheng culture and the Central Plains Shang culture is the Sanxingdui culture. Therefore, it is plausible that the people of Sanxingdui played a significant role in supplying certain raw materials for the Wucheng and Shang cultures. Of course, this speculation remains somewhat speculative at present.
The Sichuan Basin is surrounded by mountains. The towering ranges of the Daba Mountains, Micang Mountains, Wu Mountains, and Qin Mountains to the east of the basin have given people a significant misconception. Many believe that since the establishment of the Shu state under the (a legendary ruler), the Sichuan Basin has been isolated from the outside world, with the state of Shu only establishing contact with the Qin state before the Qin conquest of Ba and Shu. The story of the Five Ministers Opening the Road has been widely circulated since the Han and Jin dynasties.