Yunnan, a fascinating place, delights visitors with its beautiful natural sceneries and amazing ethnic cultures. The culture of ancient Dian Kingdom is especially attractive and for generations people have been trying to discover its historic traces. Relics unearthed from this period are splendid and they open a window for people to learn about the culture of ancient Dian Kingdom and also expose the mysterious Dian Kingdom from Southwest China to the world. In the Qin and Han dynasties, a large tribe named Dian dwelled around the Dianchi Lake area in Yunnan. The soil was fertile and the climate was mild in the area at the time and tribal residents mainly engaged in farming with supplements of livestock rearing, fishing and hunting. The Dian people had well-developed handicraft industry of which bronze casting and manufacturing of gold, silver and jade articles were especially famous. Archaeological evidences in recent years prove that by the end of Spring and Autumn Period and the beginning of Western Han Dynasty bronze industry was thriving in the Dian Kingdom. The bronze culture around Dianchi Lake area is represented by the Shizhaishan Mountains in Jinning County and the Lijiashan Mountains in Jiangchuan County. A great number of ancient cultural sites scatter around the Dianchi Lake, the Fuxian Lake, and the Xingyun Lake in central Yunnan. Relics excavated from the Shizhaishan Mountains and the Lijiashan Mountains were manufactured with exquisite crafts and in unique styles of strong ethnic flavors. They demonstrate the magnificence of the culture of ancient Dian Kingdom and occupy a special position in the bronze culture of China.
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