Lijiashan Bronze Museum Of Jiangchuan County

Lijiashan Bronze Museum Of Jiangchuan County

Lijiashan Bronze Museum is in Dajie Township of Jiangchuan County. It houses most of the unearthed relics from Lijiashan, including ancient weapons, musical instruments, ceremony devices, production tools, weaving tools, living utensils, ornaments, horse decorations, and others. The materials for these articles are copper, iron, gold, silver, jade, stone, wood, and lacquer etc, most of which are bronze.

From January to May 1972, an archaeological team made up of Yunnan Provincial Museum and Jiangchuan Cultural Center conducted a 60-day excavation and unearthed 27 tombs in total. Tomb No. 21 was revealed to be about 2,500 years old by radiocarbon assessment. About 1,300 burial articles were excavated including the famous Bull-Tiger Bronze Table (Niu Hu Tong An).

In May 1991, villagers discovered new tombs and burials in their prospecting for mine; and the burials were identified from the Bronze Age. A second large-scale excavation was then conducted by Yunnan Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology, Yuxi Cultural Relics Administration Center and Jiangchuan Cultural Relics Administration Center from December 1991 to June 1992. 58 tombs were cleared within 1,100 square meters and 2,066 burials of copper, iron, gold, and jade were unearthed. Most of the burials were similar to those from the first excavation, but there were still many bronze relics that appeared for the first time. The excavation was selected as one of the ten greatest discoveries of the year in 1992, and some of the articles were exhibited in the “1993 Exhibition of China’s Greatest Cultural Relics” held in Shanghai. In the spring of 1994, another tomb was excavated as one program of the Sino-Japanese Cultural Exchange and about 100 bronze and iron wares were unearthed. 

The Bull and Tiger Bronze Table (Niu Hu Tong An) unearthed in 1972 is the representative of the Dian bronze relics. The table is made up of one tiger and two cattle. The major part is a standing bull with its hoofs as the table legs. A calf is under the belly of the bull. And a tiger is at the hinder hoofs of the bull, biting the tail of the bull. The bull is full of muscles and the tiger shows strength in biting. The combination of dynamic and static images reflects the struggling in the nature as well as the power of Dian King. The table, which has unique form and exquisite craft, is considered a rare treasure. Another bull-deer shell container is in cylinder shape with three feet that are in fact squatting human figures with head and hands supporting the body. The container has intaglio patterns of peacock and human figures. The lid has a bull in the middle, a tiger and three deer on the edge.

Among all the shell containers, the most impressive one is a sacrifice container. Its main body is in drum shape with four ears and three feet. Boating and dancing figures are carved around the body. There are 35 human figures on the lid, with some seated noble women, following servants, planting farmers and business people having deals on the sacrifice spot. There is a hole in the middle of the lid with a copper stick in it.

Yunnan is in the southwest of China. Due to its geographical location, natural environment and transportation restrains, it was cut off from the Central China for a long time. Therefore people in Yunnan got little influence from the Confucian tradition in the Central China. They worshiped nature and ethnic characteristics. In artistic design and presentation, it was seen with primitive patterns and rich imaginations. Though bronze crafts in the Central China was matured in the Shang and Zhou dynasties, the forms and patterns of the wares look dull and lifeless. For example, the ancient Ding (cooking vessels), Zun (wine vessels) and chimes that symbolize emperors and authority are large and heavy, and appear to be solemn without vitality. As to the material varieties, due to the scarcity of copper and tin in the Central China, bronze wares are mostly weapons, ceremony devices and court appliances which are used only by aristocratic class not only by ordinary people. In Yunnan, however, the production tools, articles for daily use, weapons, musical instruments and ornaments of all kinds are made from bronze. For instance, the bronze umbrella and bronze pillow that are common in the ancient Dian are not seen in the Central China.

Lijiashan Bronze Relics Museum started construction in January 1993 and was completed in October 1994. It is the first bronze museum at county level in China, covering an area of 2,343 square meters. (from: www.yuxi.gov.cn)