Recently, the Shizhaishan Archaeological Site Park in Jinning District, Kunming City, Yunnan Province, has seen a surge in educational tours. Through the ancient Dian artifacts on display, visitors are tracing the historical trajectory by which China’s southwestern frontier became integrated into the community for the Chinese nation.
The Shizhaishan Grand Site consists of the Shizhaishan Ancient Tomb Complex and the Hebosuo Site. It was the core settlement of the ancient Dian culture, the capital of the ancient Dian Kingdom, and the seat of the Yizhou Commandery during the Han Dynasty. The “Seal of the King of the Dian Kingdom,” clay seal impressions of Yizhou Commandery officials, and tens of thousands of bamboo and wooden slips—unearthed alongside large numbers of pottery and bronzeware in the Central Plains style as well as artifacts of Dian culture—vividly attest to the historical trajectory of the southwestern frontier’s incorporation into the jurisdiction of the central government and its deep integration with the institutions and culture of the Central Plains.
In the exhibition hall, 3D videos recreate historical scenes from the ancient Dian Kingdom to the Yizhou Commandery, while the depictions of people from various ethnic groups engaged in production and daily life in the decorations on bronze vessels provide concrete evidence of how, during the Han Dynasty, the peoples of the Central Plains and the southwestern regions lived side by side along the shores of Dianchi Lake—coexisting, prospering together, and developing in unity.
Zhou Zhongquan, Director of the Cultural Relics Protection Center of the Shizhaishan Grand Site in Jinning District, explained that the site park has consistently made fostering a strong sense of community for the Chinese nation the guiding thread throughout its protection, research, exhibition, and utilization efforts, thereby turning the park into a vivid medium through which people of all ethnic groups can perceive the historical foundations of the community of the Chinese nation. From its opening in May this year through October 23, the park received 320 group visits, totaling approximately 20,000 visitors.
Zhou Zhongquan, Director of the Cultural Relics Protection Center of the Shizhaishan Grand Site, Jinning District
First, through the historical significance of the transition from the Southwestern Yi to the Yizhou Commandery, and from the “Seal of the King of the Dian Kingdom” to the “Seal of the Premier of Dian,” we illustrate the process by which Yunnan was integrated into the unified multi-ethnic country. Second, throughout the construction of the site park, we have embedded the effort to foster a strong sense of community for the Chinese nation into every stage of artifact exhibition and utilization, using exhibition layouts to comprehensively interpret the value of the cultural relics in the process of fostering this sense of community. Third, through educational tours and outreach—especially now that our park is a Provincial Base for Ethnic Unity and Progress Education in Yunnan—we aim to help the broader public better understand the entire process of the site park’s development.