On July 19, 2018, an exhibition titled The Splendid Ancient Shu Civilization – A Glimpse of Cultural Relics of Sichuan opened for visitors at the west hall of the National Museum of China (NMC). The exhibition is co-hosted by the NMC, Sichuan Provincial Department of Culture and Sichuan Province Bureau of Cultural Relics. The opening ceremony was attended by Luo Shugang (CPC Secretary and Director of Culture and Tourism), Yin Li (Deputy Secretary of the CPC Sichuan Provincial Committee and Governor of Sichuan Province), Wang Chunfa (NMC Director), Guan Qiang (Deputy Director of State Administration of Cultural Heritage), Yang Xingping (Deputy Governor of Sichuan Province), Fang Fang (Executive Vice Director of Publicity Department of CPC Sichuan Provincial Committee), Luo Jing (Inspector of the Department of Museum and Cultural Relics of the State Administration of Cultural Heritage), Zhou Siyuan (CPC Secretary and Director of Sichuan Provincial Department of Culture, and Director of Sichuan Province Bureau of Cultural Relics), Li Tianman (Director of Sichuan Provincial People’s Government in Beijing), and Wang Qiong (member of the CPC Committee and Deputy Director of Sichuan Provincial Department of Culture), among others. Luo Shugang declared the exhibition open. The ceremony was presided by Chen Chengjun (NMC Deputy Director).
As Mr. Wang Chunfa pointed out in his speech, the Ancient Shu civilization is one of the origins of Chinese civilization that are named after clans. The discovery of two sacrificial pits of the Three-Star Piles site in the 1980s uncovered the mysterious veil of Ancient Shu civilization. Unearthed bizarre-shaped bronze ware includes portraits, head statues, altars and sacred trees. Exquisite gold-foil artifacts include masks and animal-shaped ornaments. All of these relics caused a stir in China and abroad. This exhibition titled The Splendid Ancient Shu Civilization – A Glimpse of Cultural Relics of Sichuan co-hosted by the NMC, Sichuan Provincial Department of Culture and Sichuan Province Bureau of Cultural Relics is a specific measure to implement the important instruction by General Secretary Xi Jinping on “making cultural relics come alive”. It is also the opening exhibition of the domestic exchange series by the NMC, which is our nation’s top institution in charge of the collection, protection, research, display and interpretation of representative objects that fully embody excellent traditional Chinese culture, revolutionary culture and advanced socialist culture. The museum is obliged to fully play its role as the leading museum in revitalizing cultural resources, promoting cultural exchanges and carrying forward excellent traditional Chinese culture.
Mr. Yang Xingping, Vice Governor of Sichuan People’s Province delivered a speech at the opening ceremony.
This exhibition serves as a comprehensive display of the Ancient Shu civilization spanning from the Three-Star piles site to Jinsha Ruins and to the discovery of multiple Shu Tombs during the Warring States period. It not only streamlines different stages of vertical development of the Ancient Shu civilization, but also highlights how the splendid Bronze culture made a unique contribution to the forming of Chinese civilization, and how it was fully integrated into Chinese civilization after “Qin Annexing the Ba-Shu Kingdom” in 316 BC, along with the construction of a series of development projects such as the Dujiangyan Irrigation System. The exhibition is available for visitors until September 19, 2018.