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Concept
Shu (kingdom)
Summary
Shu (; Sichuanese Pinyin: Su^2; former romanization: Shuh), also known as Ancient Shu () in historiography, was an ancient kingdom in what is now Sichuan Province. It was based on the Chengdu Plain, in the western Sichuan basin with some extension northeast to the upper Han River valley. To the east was the Ba tribal confederation. Further east down the Han and Yangtze rivers was the State of Chu. To the north over the Qinling Mountains was the State of Qin. To the west and south were tribal peoples of little military power.
This independent Shu state was conquered by the state of Qin in 316 BCE. Recent archaeological discoveries at Sanxingdui and Jinsha thought to be sites of Shu culture indicate the presence of a unique civilization in this region before the Qin conquest.
In subsequent periods of Chinese history the Sichuan area continued to be referred to as Shu after this ancient state, and later states founded in the same region were also called Shu.
Before 316 BCE the Sichuan Basin was isolated from what was then, Bronze Age civilization that was centered in the Yellow River basin to the northeast. The discovery of Sanxingdui in 1987 was a major surprise since it indicated a major culture in Neolithic China that was previously unknown. Circa 2050–1250 BCE the site of Sanxingdui 40 km north of Chengdu appears to have been the center of a fairly extensive kingdom. Objects found in two treasure pits are in a style distinct from objects found from further north. This culture is suggested by many archaeologists to be that of the Shu kingdom.
There are very few mentions of Shu in the early Chinese historical records until the 4th century BCE. Although there are possible references to a "Shu" in Shang Dynasty oracle bones inscriptions that indicate contact between Shu and Shang, it is not clear if the Shu mentioned refer to the kingdom in Sichuan or other different polities elsewhere. Shu was first mentioned in Shujing as one of the allies of King Wu of Zhou who helped defeat the Shang in 1046 BCE at the Battle of Muye.
Official source
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