Lost Silver Reappears: Exhibition of Archaeological Discoveries from the Jiangkou Battlefield
In the afternoon of July 4, 2019, the “Lost Silver Reappears: Exhibition of Archaeological Discoveries from the Jiangkou Battlefield” opened at the Guangdong Museum. The exhibition is jointly guided by the Cultural Heritage Administrations of Guangdong and Sichuan Provinces and the People’s Government of Meishan Municipality, co-hosted by the Guangdong Museum and the Sichuan Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology, and organized by the Pengshan District Cultural Heritage Conservation Office of Meishan City. The opening ceremony was held in the museum’s second-floor atrium.
Showcasing the excavation results of the site of Jiangkou Battlefield—one of the “Top Ten Archaeological Discoveries in China in 2017”—the exhibition is one of the Museum’s major domestic cultural exchange programs in 2019. It also marks another significant collaboration between Guangdong and Sichuan following the success of “Treasures of Ancient Shu: Exhibition of the Essence of the Cultural Relics of Sichuan” in 2018. The exhibition is structured into three parts. The first part, “The Enigma of the Sunken Silver,” traces the transformation of the story of "Jiangkou Sunken Silver" from legend to archaeological fact. The second part, "Jiangkou Sunken Silver" is divided into The Daxi Regime, Treasury of Gold and Silver, and Battle of Jiangkou, presenting the historical context from the late Ming through the establishment of the Daxi regime. The third part, “Underwater Archaeology” features A New Attempt—Cofferdam Excavation, New Approaches—Science and Technology in Archaeology, and Public Archaeology, highlighting excavation processes and the new techniques applied. In total, 421 artifacts related to the site of Jiangkou Battlefield are on display, mainly gold and silver objects recovered from the riverbed, supplemented by items collected during engineering works and four first-grade cultural relics recovered from the “5·1 Major Cultural Relics Looting and Trafficking Case” in Pengshan District. A small number of bronze, iron, wood, and other materials are also included.
Jiangkou Town is located in Pengshan District of Meishan City, Sichuan Province, where the Fu River flows into the Min River. Some texts of Qing dynasty recorded that this was the place where Zhang Xianzhong, leader of the late-Ming peasant army, sank large quantities of silver; related legends have circulated locally for generations. For more than 300 years, the “Jiangkou Sunken Silver” story has never faded from public memory. In late 2015, experts from multiple national cultural institutions convened in Pengshan. After extensive research and discussion, they concluded that the site of Jiangkou Battlefield in Pengshan corresponds to one of the core zones described in historical accounts. Following scientific surveys, formal excavations began in early 2017. A large number of gold and silver artifacts were successively unearthed. Items such as “Xiwang Reward Medallions” and “Dashun Tongbao” coins confirmed that the site was indeed the central area of the sunken treasure. A centuries-old legend was finally verified, and the Jiangkou Sunken Silver reappeared before the world. The discovery earned the Site of Jiangkou Battlefield a place among the “Top Ten Archaeological Discoveries in China in 2017.”
The exhibition is held in the Painting and Calligraphy Hall on the 3rd floor of the Guangdong Museum and runs until November 3, 2019. Please stay tuned for updates on the Museum’s WeChat official account, Weibo, and website.
Highlights of the Exhibition
