Jinsha Site Museum – most important archaeological places to visit in Chengdu

When talking about places to visit in Chengdu, there are so many places to go, as you know, Chengdu never lacks places: Giant Panda Base, Mt. Emei, Dujiangyan Irrigation System, etc. Of course as one of the Chengdu attractions, the most important Archeological discovery in 21th century — Jinsha Site Museum is also one of the must see places.

Jinsha Site, located in Jinsha Village, Chengdu, Sichuan Province, it is the central site in Shang and Zhou Dynasties, including sacrifice places, large constructions, residential area, burial ground, etc. To well protect the Jinsha site and open it to the public, Jinsha Site Museum was built in 2007 in the same site which Jinsha Site was discovered . Jinsha Site was discovered in 2001, it represents the glorious culture of Ancient Shu Kingdom during Shang and Zhou Dynasty. It is called the most important archeological discovery in the Twenty-First Century and is the National Relic Protection Unit in Chinese. It is just 5 km.(about 3 mi.) away from the downtown Chengdu, which is very convenient to visit.

The Culture Relics: The culture relics excavated from the Jinsha site mainly include Gold, Jade, Bronze, Stone, Ivory and Pottery items, etc. There are more than 5,000 relics unearthed at present. Among them, more than 1,200 pieces of bronze items were excavated, mainly with small items, the bronze statue, bronze dagger-axe, bronze ring, etc. The bronze statues are very similar to the unearthed Sanxingdui bronze portrait; More than 2,000 pieces of Jade, grand quantity and various shapes; More than 1,000 pieces of Stone, including stone statue, stone tiger, stone snake, stone tortoise, etc. 

One of the kneeling stone statue is very vivid, experts think that it is more likely the noble’s slave or prisoner, this shows the Shu Kingdom has already been powerful at that time. And another one to mention is The Sun Bird Gold, it is a circle and very thin, the design is hollow-up with 12 teeth-shaped sun-light rotation in the inner, outer layer is four god birds flying around the sun with head and feet connecting each another, this is called “Four Birds Around The Sun”. In Chinese, the Arabic Numerals ”4″ and “12” are frequent to use, such as Twelve months a year, Four seasons, Twelve Chinese Zodiac, Four directions,etc.This represents the ancestor’s profound understanding of natural law. Now, many places such as Tianfu Square and Wide and Narrow Valley use the sign of Sun Bird to reflect the connotation of Jinsha site.

Significance Of The Discovery Of Jinsha Site: Among all the excavated culture relics, most are from the late Shang Dynasty (about 17th century B.C. to 11th century B.C.) and Early West Zhou Dynasty( about 11th century B.C. to 771 B.C.), few are from the Spring and Autumn Period (about 770 B.C. to 476 B.C.). With the progress of excavation, there exists possibilities of greater discoveries.The discovery of Jinsha site aroused great attention of the society, especially the archeologists all over the world, experts said the excavation of Jinsha site is the most important discovery in the world in 21st century after the discovery of Sanxingdui site in Guanghan and it is significant to the study and research of China’s Ancient Shu Kingdom. It reappeared as a brilliant Ancient Shu Kingdom, resurrect a lost history and revealed a long deep sleeping ancient civilization over 3,000 years. 

When you come to Chengdu, among the many Chengdu attractions, don’t forget there is a glorious and classical Jinsha Site Museum awaiting for your visit. It can broaden your horizon and make you startle at the great wisdom of China’s Ancient Shu People thousands years ago. So Jinsha Site Museum should definitely be on your list of places to visit in Chengdu.

Related Tours:

• Chengdu Panda Base and Jinsha Museum 1 Day Tour
• Chengdu Panda Base and Mt. Emei 5 Day Tour
• 7 Day Sichuan Tour (Chengdu / Leshan / Mt. Emei / Zigong / Dazu / Chongqing)