ACCIDENTAL discoveries have often opened the door to beauty and wonder. The rock paintings in France that date back 15,000 years, for example, were discovered by two boys who were looking for shelter from the rain. The paintings later became the "find of last century".
Or, the Sanxingdui Ruins, known by historians as the "Ninth Wonder of the World", were discovered in Sichuan Province by a farmer.
In the spring of 1929, Yan Qingbao, then a 43-year-old farmer, discovered a circular piece of jade while digging a hole. Driven by curiosity, he dug deeper and found a group of about 400 colourful jade pieces.
At the time, he had no idea his discovery would be as important as other wonders of the world such as, China's Great Wall and Egypt's pyramids.
Since then, more than 10,000 relics, dating back to between 5,000 and 3,000 BC have been unearthed at Sanxingdui.
These relics include gold, pottery, bone tools and ivory objects.
They prove that Sanxingdui contains the ruins of an ancient city that was once the political, economic and cultural centre of the ancient Shu Kingdom — the old name for Sichuan.
It has helped modern historians realize that Sichuan's human history goes back more than 5,000 years. And, located on the upper part of the Yangtze River, the site challenges the common idea that Chinese civilization rose from a single source — the Yellow River valley.
Sanxingdui was named the Scientific Education Base for China's Youth in March this year.
But still, only four of the Sanxingdui Ruins' 12 square kilometres have been uncovered. Who knows what other big surprises are waiting to be shown to the world?
翻譯
偶然的發(fā)現(xiàn)常常會(huì)打開美妙與奇跡之門。例如，有15,000年歷史的法國巖畫就是兩個(gè)男孩在躲雨時(shí)發(fā)現(xiàn)的。后來，這些巖畫成了“上世紀(jì)最偉大的發(fā)現(xiàn)”。
無獨(dú)有偶，被史學(xué)家譽(yù)為“世界第九奇跡”的三星堆遺址也是四川省一位農(nóng)民發(fā)現(xiàn)的。
1929年春，當(dāng)時(shí)43歲的農(nóng)民閻清寶（音譯）在鋤地時(shí)發(fā)現(xiàn)一塊圓形玉。出于好奇，他進(jìn)一步挖掘，最終發(fā)現(xiàn)了一批約400件色彩各異的玉器。
當(dāng)時(shí)他并沒想到，自己的發(fā)現(xiàn)竟可與中國長城、埃及金字塔等世界奇跡齊名。
隨后，三星堆還出土了10,000多件文物，其歷史均可追溯到公元前5,000到3,000年。
這些文物包括金器、陶器、骨制工具和象牙制品。
這些都表明三星堆是歷蜀國（四川舊稱）政治、經(jīng)濟(jì)、文化中心的遺址。
這些文物還使史學(xué)家認(rèn)識(shí)到5,000多年前四川就有了人類。而且，這個(gè)遺址位于長江上游，對“黃河是中華文明的起源”這一理論提出了質(zhì)疑。
今年三月，三星堆遺址被指定為中國青年科教基地。
然而三星堆遺址12平方公里總面積中，至今僅有4平方公里被開發(fā)。誰知它還將呈現(xiàn)給世界怎樣的驚喜呢？
Or, the Sanxingdui Ruins, known by historians as the "Ninth Wonder of the World", were discovered in Sichuan Province by a farmer.
In the spring of 1929, Yan Qingbao, then a 43-year-old farmer, discovered a circular piece of jade while digging a hole. Driven by curiosity, he dug deeper and found a group of about 400 colourful jade pieces.
At the time, he had no idea his discovery would be as important as other wonders of the world such as, China's Great Wall and Egypt's pyramids.
Since then, more than 10,000 relics, dating back to between 5,000 and 3,000 BC have been unearthed at Sanxingdui.
These relics include gold, pottery, bone tools and ivory objects.
They prove that Sanxingdui contains the ruins of an ancient city that was once the political, economic and cultural centre of the ancient Shu Kingdom — the old name for Sichuan.
It has helped modern historians realize that Sichuan's human history goes back more than 5,000 years. And, located on the upper part of the Yangtze River, the site challenges the common idea that Chinese civilization rose from a single source — the Yellow River valley.
Sanxingdui was named the Scientific Education Base for China's Youth in March this year.
But still, only four of the Sanxingdui Ruins' 12 square kilometres have been uncovered. Who knows what other big surprises are waiting to be shown to the world?
翻譯
偶然的發(fā)現(xiàn)常常會(huì)打開美妙與奇跡之門。例如，有15,000年歷史的法國巖畫就是兩個(gè)男孩在躲雨時(shí)發(fā)現(xiàn)的。后來，這些巖畫成了“上世紀(jì)最偉大的發(fā)現(xiàn)”。
無獨(dú)有偶，被史學(xué)家譽(yù)為“世界第九奇跡”的三星堆遺址也是四川省一位農(nóng)民發(fā)現(xiàn)的。
1929年春，當(dāng)時(shí)43歲的農(nóng)民閻清寶（音譯）在鋤地時(shí)發(fā)現(xiàn)一塊圓形玉。出于好奇，他進(jìn)一步挖掘，最終發(fā)現(xiàn)了一批約400件色彩各異的玉器。
當(dāng)時(shí)他并沒想到，自己的發(fā)現(xiàn)竟可與中國長城、埃及金字塔等世界奇跡齊名。
隨后，三星堆還出土了10,000多件文物，其歷史均可追溯到公元前5,000到3,000年。
這些文物包括金器、陶器、骨制工具和象牙制品。
這些都表明三星堆是歷蜀國（四川舊稱）政治、經(jīng)濟(jì)、文化中心的遺址。
這些文物還使史學(xué)家認(rèn)識(shí)到5,000多年前四川就有了人類。而且，這個(gè)遺址位于長江上游，對“黃河是中華文明的起源”這一理論提出了質(zhì)疑。
今年三月，三星堆遺址被指定為中國青年科教基地。
然而三星堆遺址12平方公里總面積中，至今僅有4平方公里被開發(fā)。誰知它還將呈現(xiàn)給世界怎樣的驚喜呢？