The archaeological discoveries of Sanxingdui's Hundred Schools of Assistance Program reveal the magnificent prosperity of the Bashu civilization. It is like a seed buried in the ground for a long time, and it will see the sky again after the baptism of time. When we talk about ancient Shu, we can't ignore the precious document "Shu King Benji". However, for many people, the initial understanding of ancient Shu stems from Li Bai's touching "The Difficulty of Shu Dao".
The poem covers two outstanding monarchs of ancient Shu - silkworm cong and yufu, but their real existence has been submerged in the long river of history. The "4800 years" mentioned in Li Bai's poem is only to express a long time. As we described, the distance is so far away that we would say "1,800 miles away", and it cannot be interpreted as the ancient Shu civilization is 4,800 years old.
For a deeper understanding, we need to take advantage of Yang Xiong's "Shu King Benji" in the Western Han Dynasty. This book accurately records the great deeds and legends of the monarchs of the ancient Shu Kingdom.
It is said that the silkworm, the first monarch of ancient Shu, brought silkworm raising and silk weaving technology to Shu. This statement has been verified in the newly unearthed silk in Sanxingdui, proving the important position of ancient Shu in the history of ancient Chinese silk development. In the Huayang National Chronicles, he is recorded as the first monarch with vertical eyes. The initial explanation was that he may have had a vertical third eye, like the god Erlang. However, the appearance of vertical masks unearthed in Sanxingdui has changed our cognition.
In many historical legends, the image of silkworms is very eye-catching. His face seems to have a mysterious and powerful power, especially those very prominent eyes, which cannot be ignored. Some believe that this feature may stem from the silkworm's own physical condition, such as hyperthyroidism, and that the mask's artistic creators show this feature in an exaggerated way, making it even more striking.
However, another view is that the image of the King of Shu may have a deeper connection to the bird totem. Take the silkworm's mask, for example, which has a nose that looks like an eagle's hooked nose, but its ears that look like a bird's wings. Thus, silkworms may actually be a totem for eagles and other birds. His eyes looked so sharp, as if they could pierce through the fog and the truth. Many also believe that the portrait mask is a mystical totem that symbolizes farsightedness and windy ears.
The blood of the silkworm continued in his offspring cypress, and then passed on to Yufu. Yufu was a farmer who cultivated in Jianshan and eventually became an immortal man. His image is also deeply depicted in people's beliefs, and Jianshan has become his place of worship. If we understand it from the perspective of a bird totem, Yufu actually symbolizes the osprey, a type of water bird that is good at fishing.
In the long river of history, a man named Du Yu appeared. He seems to have fallen from heaven and landed in the Juti region. At the mouth of Jiangyuan Well, a woman named "Li" appeared, and she became Du Yu's partner. Du Yu proclaimed himself emperor.
The emperor's lifespan was amazing, more than 100 years. However, at that moment in his world, the body of a turtle spirit in Jingzhou disappeared inexplicably. The most mysterious thing is that his body seems to be flowing downstream. When he arrived at Pi, he survived again and was regarded as prime minister by the emperor.
In the long history of the river, the contest between Qin and Shu has been passed down to this day. It was the reign of King Qin Hui. The king of Shu was moved to the bustling city of Chengdu. Chengdu's gates were sturdy, and the towering mountain barriers prevented Qin Tieqi from seeing it in its entirety. The king of Shu vigorously resisted Qin's rule, and Qin had difficulty entering Shu because of the steep Shu road.
One day, the kings of the two countries met unexpectedly while hunting. King Qin Hui gave the King of Shu a basket full of gold as a sign of kindness. However, the gift of the King of Shu shocked the King of Qin Hui. He opened the box and found it full of ordinary soil.
An enraged King Qin Hui prepares to fight the Shu Kingdom, but his advisors explain another meaning. The land symbolizes the land, and the land of Shu will belong to the Qin state. Therefore, King Hui of Qin began to plan to occupy Shu.
The first problem is crossing the Shu Road. With an ingenious strategy, the Qin State carved five stone oxen to fill the **, lured the King of Shu to send a strong man to drag the cattle back to Chengdu, and opened up the road to the Shu State.
However, there were five strong men who became an obstacle to entering the Shu Kingdom. King Qin Hui learned that the King of Shu loved beauty, so he sent five beauties as gifts. The king of Shu gladly accepted and ordered five strong men to lead the beauties. The five of them came to Zitong and suddenly encountered a giant snake burrowing into the cave. The strong Hercules grabbed the snake's tail and tried to pull out the big snake. In desperation, everyone worked together, causing the mountain to collapse.
The landslide took the lives of five Hercules, and the five beauties and the rest of their entourage were turned to stone. King Hui of Qin immediately sent Zhang Yi and Sima Cuo to successfully occupy Shu by taking advantage of the road that had just been opened, and Chengdu was also included in the map by Qin, marking the end of the ancient Shu civilization.
In ancient history, rumors about the mysterious connection between Sanxingdui and alien civilizations have been circulating among the crowd. This suspense often comes from the exquisite bronzes unearthed in Sanxingdui, whose superb technology is incredible, and is even considered to surpass the existence of that era. Some people are surprised to say that the Sanxingdui people 4,500 years ago could make such advanced bronzes, which is like a story in a myth.
However, this understanding may stem from a misunderstanding of the historical stage of Sanxingdui. Sanxingdui is not a short historical site, but a long historical period. It contains more than 2,200 years of history between now and 2,200 years.
In fact, those stunning bronzes are mainly found in the early stages of the third and fourth phases of Sanxingdui. Compared with the outline of ancient history, this stage coincides with the later period of the Shang Dynasty, which is known as the Yin Shang period. This period was a period of prosperity for Chinese bronze manufacturing technology.
To put it simply, although the ancient Shu ancestors of Sanxingdui came here in 4800, they formed their own unique culture 4100 years ago, began to build city walls, and began to make bronze objects 3300-3000 years ago. At the same time, the Shang Dynasty Siyang Fangzun unearthed in Hunan also demonstrated the same excellent bronze technology, which is enough to prove that the bronze technology of Sanxingdui did not exceed the technical level of the time, but met the standards of the time.
Therefore, although Sanxingdui's connection with extraterrestrial civilizations has various mysterious legends circulating among the folk, we should still treat them with a rational attitude. If we really want to explore history, we shouldn't be so easy to explain the unknown with aliens. Because aliens can explain all the mysteries, this explanation becomes meaningless. We can only consider this possibility if there is strong evidence to support this view.