Scientists in northwest China’s Shaanxi province revealed last week the discovery of what they believe is the oldest ever Buddha statue found in the country. The two statues were excavated in a family tomb dated to the Eastern Han dynasty (25-220), about 200 years earlier than previous depictions of Buddha found in China. Before the recent discovery, the oldest representations.
The two statues date back more than 2,200 years and are made of copper. One is known as Shakyamuni and the other is for Five Tathāgatas, which highlights the five great Buddhas.
Top 10 archaeological discoveries of 2020 in China unveiled
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The photo provided by Guizhou Provincial Research Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology shows the relic site of Zhaoguo Cave site, Gui an New Area, southwest China’s Guizhou province. Dating back to 45,000 to 12,000 years, during the Paleolithic to Neolithic period, the findings here provides key clues to the early-stage usage of fire.(Photo provided by Guizhou Provincial Research Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology)
Top 10 archaeological discoveries of 2020 in China were unveiled on Tuesday. The findings were selected from a shortlist of 20 archaeological discoveries in 15 provincial-level regions, were announced by a 21-person judging panel featuring the country s top-tier archaeological scholars. The annual selection of China s top 10 archaeological findings has been held since 1990.
Tongwancheng was the capital of the Xia Kingdom, founded by the Xiongnu people at the southern edge of the Maowusu Sands of the Ordos Desert, in present-day Inner Mongolia.
The Xiongnu were a tribal confederation of nomadic peoples who emerged from the eastern Eurasian Steppe during the 3rd century BC. The Xiongnu developed a powerful state bordering the Chinese Han empire, demarcated by the Great Wall of China.
In AD 407, a branch of the Xiongnu established the kingdom of Xia during the Sixteen Kingdoms period. Xia was ruled over by Helian Bobo, a Tiefu Xiongnu who founded his capital in the heart of the Ordos region from AD 413, with the intention to be lord of 10,000 states (“Tong” means “unite,” while “wan” means 10,000).