Wushan Daxi Cultural Ruins

Wushan Daxi Cultural Ruins

The Wushan Daxi Cultural Ruins are a cultural tourism attraction.

The Daxi cultural ruins are located in Daxi Town, on the bank of the Daning River’s broad valley at the eastern mouth of the Qutang Gorge. They are one of the birthplaces of ancient civilization in China’s Yangtze River basin and an important site of the matrilineal society from China’s Neolithic Age. Guo Moruo referred to it as the 'Daxi Culture.' Daxi Town in Wushan County has a creek to the west that flows into the Yangtze River. Its waters are dark blue in color, hence the name “Dark Creek” (Dai Xi). During flood season, the water surges mightily, which is why it is also called the Big Creek—hence “Daxi.” The cultural ruins date back approximately five to six thousand years and belong to the late stage of the matrilineal clan and the early budding stage of the patrilineal clan. It is one of China’s famous ancient cultural ruins of primitive society.

From 1959 to 1975, the Sichuan Museum and other institutions formed a joint expedition team that carried out three excavations, uncovering a total area of 570 square meters. They cleared 208 tombs and unearthed over 1,250 cultural relics. These mainly included production tools such as stone axes, stone adzes, stone pestles, stone sickles, spinning wheels, bone needles, shell sickles, and net sinkers. Pottery was primarily red pottery, followed by black and gray pottery, with very few tripod vessels. Colored pottery decorations and stamped patterns were quite distinctive. The vessel shapes included beans, curved-belly cups, bowls, jars, plates, bottles, basins, and bowls, among which the cylindrical bottle, high-ring-foot deep-belly bean pot, and curved-belly cup were representative artifacts of the Daxi Culture. Decorative items were made from jade, stone, bone, ivory, and animal teeth, mainly including earrings, necklaces, and armbands. There were also artworks such as hollow stone balls with relief carvings of human faces. In the Daxi site tombs, the deceased were all buried in communal clan burial grounds, generally facing due south. Early burials were predominantly supine and extended, but there were also prone and lateral burials. The vast majority of graves contained burial objects, with those of female graves generally richer than male ones, with up to 30 or more items. Some stone bracelets and inlaid-tooth bracelets were found still worn on the arm bones of the deceased. In several graves, whole fish skeletons and tortoise shells were also discovered. The practice of burying fish as offerings is relatively rare in China’s Neolithic cultures.

Additionally, there were sacrifices involving dogs. The social nature reflected by the early and late period tombs of the Daxi site shows significant variation. The early Daxi Culture represents the prosperous stage of the matrilineal clan commune, while the late period marks the budding stage of the patrilineal clan commune. The Daxi Culture and the Yangshao Culture of the Central Plains are both important types of cultural remains from different regions during the Neolithic period, and there is evidence of mutual exchange and influence between them. Currently, the academic community generally believes that the Daxi Culture and the Qujialing Culture are two different developmental stages of the same cultural type, with the Qujialing Culture evolving from the foundation of the Daxi Culture.

In mid-May 2007, the Daxi cultural ruins were discovered for the first time in southeastern Chongqing. Typical mid-period Daxi Culture double burial tombs and other valuable relics and remains were unearthed. This discovery of Daxi Culture ruins is located in the reservoir area of the Youchou Hydropower Station project in Youyang County, Chongqing, where tomb sites and architectural remains such as postholes were cleared.