The Origin of Yunnan Golden Seal

/kloc-in the autumn of 0/953, an antique dealer surnamed Wang wanted to sell five or six bronze weapons to the museum. At that time, Mr. Sun Taichu of the Provincial Museum carefully looked at these weapons and found that their shapes and ornamentation were different from those of ancient bronze weapons unearthed in the Central Plains. Sun Taichu, who has a good knowledge of bronzes, immediately realized sensitively that behind these bronze weapons, there may be a major discovery in the archaeological history of Yunnan. So after obtaining the consent of the leaders, he did not hesitate to buy all the bronze weapons in the hands of the merchant Wang, but he didn't know whether the antique dealer didn't want to talk about it, or he really didn't know where these bronze weapons were purchased. Sun Taichu never asked the source of bronze weapons, which became a knot that Sun Taichu urgently needed to solve. By chance, Sun Taichu learned another important clue related to bronze weapons when talking about this matter with Mr. Fang of the Provincial Museum of Literature and History. Fang said that in his hometown of Xiaoliangwangshan, Jinning County, a large number of bronzes were unearthed in early War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression, but he only heard rumors and never saw the real thing with his own eyes. This incident made Sun Taichu more concerned.

In June 5438+the following year 10, at the suggestion of Mr. Sun, the Provincial Museum sent Cai Youfen to Jinning County for a field trip. The investigation results prove that what Mr. Fang said is true, but the excavation site is not in Wangshan, but in Shizhai Mountain, not far south of Wangshan. Xiong Ying and other comrades also collected several bronze weapons and a polished ancient stone plow from farmers in Shizhai village. Comparing them with the bronze weapons in the collection, it is found that there are many similarities in shape and decoration. According to the old people in the village, this hill is also a treasure trove of geomantic omen in the village, where most villagers are buried after their death. Over the years, villagers in Shizhaishan often dig up various bronzes when they dig graves on the mountain. But they don't understand. Most of them are sold to Kunming as scrap metal. It is said that they have been bought by the French stationed in Kunming. In view of these important investigation clues, the provincial museum decided to immediately report to the superior for approval to clean up and excavate, so as to find out the cultural relics under Shizhai Mountain and completely uncover the mystery of bronze weapons. No one expected that a secret more than 2,000 years ago was buried in such a rocky, overgrown and ugly hill. This hill protruding from the ground in the southeast corner of the vast Dianchi Lake is shaped like a jujube pit, with two sharp ends in the north and south and a wide middle. The rocks in the west are steep and the east is relatively flat. The highest point is only more than 30 meters from the ground, about 500 meters long and about 200 meters wide. There is a small village in front of the mountain named Shizhai Village, which belongs to Niulian Township, Jinning County.

After the news came out, urban and rural residents near Shizhai Mountain rushed to tell each other. For several days, the mountains around the whole construction site were filled with people who heard the news, sometimes as many as thousands. Even farmers from several nearby counties flocked to the archaeological site. They all wanted to see the treasures unearthed from the tomb of King Dian. Later, after careful investigation, the gold seal unearthed at the bottom of the lacquer coffin of Tomb No.6 was "as good as ever". Printed as a flat snake clasp, the snake has scales on its back and its head is held high to the upper right. Each side of the printing surface is 2.4 cm long, the printing body is 0.7 cm thick, the button is 2 cm high and weighs 90 grams. The button and seal are cast separately and then welded. The characters are chiseled, and the chisels on both sides of the strokes are still recognizable. Seal script is written in white, which is called "Yunnan Wang Yin". According to Sima Qian's Historical Records of Southwest China, in the second year of Yuan Dynasty in Liang Wudi, the king of Dian tasted Qiang and surrendered to Han, and the Han Dynasty "gave Wang Yin, the king of Dian, to restore his people". The records of this document, together with many luxurious funerary objects unearthed, confirm that Shizhai Mountain is the tomb of a generation of Dian kings and their families.

In archaeology, it is rare that such unearthed cultural relics are consistent with literature records. Therefore, the excavation of Wang Jinyin in Yunnan shows its uniqueness and high archaeological value. During the Western Han Dynasty, in order to rule the frontier, the central dynasty often adopted the strategy of "controlling foreigners with foreigners". As long as you are obedient and don't confront the central dynasty, you usually exercise the rule and management of the border areas by granting seals and appointing officials. In the Western Han Dynasty, Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty established Yizhou County in Jinning today. According to archaeological excavations, the gold seal of the Han Dynasty recorded in the literature includes the gold seal of "King Wonu of China" unearthed from Shiga Island in Hakata, Japan in 1784, the gold seal of "King Yunnan" unearthed from the Han Tomb in Shizhaishan, Jinning, Yunnan in 1 year, and the gold seal of snakes near Yangzhou, Jiangsu Province in1year. The excavation of these golden seals fully proved the rule of the central dynasty in Han Dynasty over these areas, and also confirmed the authenticity and credibility recorded by Sima Qian in the historical records more than 2,000 years ago. It is precisely because of the excavation of these golden seals that archaeologists have aroused great interest, such as the search for "Yelang Wang Yin" organized by Guizhou Province. People are also looking forward to digging up the gold seal of "Yelang Wang" which is also recorded in Sima Qian's Historical Records one day earlier.