Explore the origins of the ancient Shu civilization, providing solid evidence of the diversity within the unified Chinese civilization!

The Sanxingdui site, representing the ancient Shu civilization, is part of the cradle of Chinese civilization and is hailed as the 'source of the Yangtze River civilization'. The Sanxingdui site is located on the southern bank of the Yazi River in Guanghan, Sichuan, and its cultural aspects range from the Baodun culture, the Fish and Bird Phase III culture, the Sanxingdui culture, to the Shierqiao culture. There is not only the Cancong culture represented by the bronze figure with protruding eyes, characteristic of the gathering and hunting era, but also the Fish and Bird culture represented by the image of an osprey, typical of the fishing and hunting era, as well as the Du Yu culture of the agricultural era, represented by the image of a hawk-headed cuckoo. The gold artifacts of Sanxingdui, represented by gold staffs, gold masks, and gold face covers, display a gold craftsmanship that is astonishing. The phenomenon of a large number of ivory and seashells being buried together is very rare in the history of world bronze civilizations. The bronze human figures express different statuses and hierarchical power structures through their crowns, hairstyles, and clothing. Eventually, the secular royal power, represented by braided hair, replaced the divine authority represented by hairpins. The ancient Shu people worshipped the sun, moon, mountains, rivers, and believed in dragons, tigers, snakes, and birds, and revered their ancestral deities. Sun worship and sacred tree worship were at the core of the ancient Shu civilization's belief system. In mythology, the sacred trees were 'Fusang' in the east, 'Jianmu' in the center, and 'Ruomu' in the west. The sacred tree was a material carrier that embodied the ancient Shu's cosmological views, reflecting their concept of communicating between heaven and earth. The titles of the successive Shu kings throughout the ancient Shu kingdom were Cancong, Baiguan, Fish and Bird, Du Yu (the Watchful Emperor), and Bie Ling (the Enlightened King). After the Enlightened King succeeded Du Yu, the throne was passed down for 12 generations until 316 BC, when Qin conquered the Shu kingdom.