China News Service, Meishan, Sichuan, March 8 (Shan Peng) "The stone dragon versus the stone tiger, gold and silver are worth millions. Whoever knows the difference can buy the Chengdu mansion." This treasure hunting song that has been circulated in Sichuan for hundreds of years has now become the opening preface of the Jiangkou Chenyin Museum. On the 8th, this museum located in Pengshan District, Meishan City, Sichuan Province opened to visitors by appointment for the first time.
On March 8, Jiangkou Chenyin Museum welcomed its first batch of reservation tourists. Photo by China News Service reporter Liu Zhongjun
Regarding the origin of these treasures, it is said that Zhang Xianzhong passed through the river mouth with gold and silver treasures when he was defeated and evacuated from Sichuan. He was defeated by Yang Zhan, a general of the Nanming Army, and a large number of treasures sank to the bottom of the river. For more than 300 years, the legend of Zhang Xianzhong's "treasure" has been preserved in historical documents, folk notes and nursery rhymes.
From 2017 to 2023, archaeologists built embankments at the Jiangkou Street cofferdam in Pengshan District and drained the river water, completely exposing the sand and gravel on the river bottom. After careful cleaning layer by layer, treasures that had been dormant for hundreds of years were finally revealed. After six phases of archaeological excavation, a total of more than 76,000 cultural relics were unearthed, proving that the "silver sinking at the mouth of the river" is indeed a historical fact.
The museum rises from the ground next to the Jiangkou Chenyin ruins. The exterior wall is designed with reference to the red sandstone bedrock of the ruins. The layered texture is like the natural form washed by the river. There are three basic exhibition halls in the museum, focusing on the themes of "silver falling from water", "unsolved mystery of silver falling from the water" and "silver story", with a total of about 7,000 cultural relics on display.
On the first day of opening, thousands of reserved visitors arrived one after another. Deep in the exhibition hall, 50 taels of gold ingots weighing 1805 grams from Changsha Prefecture's "Sui Gong Wangfu", the gold seal of "Shu Shizibao" with a gold content of up to 95%, the gold seal of "Yongchang Grand Marshal" in the shape of a tiger button, as well as rows of gold ingots, silver ingots, gold hat tops, gold beam crowns and other utensils are displayed in rows, shining under the light.
On March 8, tourists visited the Jiangkou Chenyin Museum. Photo by China News Service reporter Liu Zhongjun
These Shenjiang silver ingots also bear witness to the history of China's integration into the global trade network through the "Longqing Switch". In the middle and late Ming Dynasty, Chinese merchants transported silk and porcelain to Manila, Philippines, in exchange for silver shipped by the Spanish from the American colonies, and then imported it into the country through Yue Port, where it was recast into tax ingots such as "Autumn Grain Silver" and "Jingku Silver". In the exhibition hall, the actual tax money and the restored scene of the sailing ship are juxtaposed, showing the picture of globalization in the 16th century. (over)
