What is the relationship between ancient Shu and Shu?

Ancient Shu was a country in the pre-Qin period of China, which was later destroyed by Qin State. Where the ancient Shu kingdom and ancient Shu people came from has always been a mystery. So it is difficult to determine the connection with Shu in the Three Kingdoms period. Liu Bei probably founded Shu State, and some people are descendants of ancient Shu people (personal opinion).

In ancient times, most ethnic groups in the southwest of China were the ancient Qiang people who lived in Gukang Qinghai-Tibet Plateau. Around the 5th century BC, they entered the plain eastward and merged with the local China people, which gave birth to China culture. One of them moved to the southeast, entered Minshan area, lived by the mountain, and took the rock as a hole. Later, he entered the Chengdu Plain along the river valley and began fishing and hunting, picking up wild silkworms and spinning. Later generations called these people who lived in Minshan Canyon Shushan people. Around 3000 BC, a woman of Shushan family married the Yellow Emperor as a princess, and her descendants were Can Cong, the originator of the ancient Shu kingdom.

Can Cong's family is Shu, and he was enfeoffed to Shu as Hou Bo. It is said that he often went to Tsing Yi when he visited the mountains in the countryside, so he was called "Tsing Yi God".

Before Can Cong, the ancient Shu people took animal husbandry as their main source of livelihood, and also engaged in hunting and breeding. Can Cong saw that dams in the middle reaches of Minjiang River and Ruoshui River Basin were suitable for mulberry leaf growth, so he suggested that farmers plant mulberry and raise silkworms everywhere. He led his people to continue their migration to the southeast. After passing through the Mao Wen Basin between Maoxian and Wenchuan, they gradually developed agriculture.

During the Xia and Shang Dynasties, the third generation of Shu Wang Yu became the king, and Shu people moved eastward again, from the southeast of Mao Wen Basin to the south, and entered Guanghan Plain through the northern end of Chengdu Plain. At this time, the ancient Shu kingdom had completed the transformation from the primitive clan commune system to slavery, and Yu Fan was the first ruler of this slavery regime.

There is no record of the war between the ancient Shu people and other countries handed down from ancient times, but archaeological objects clearly prove this. In the Yin Ruins and Oracle Bone Inscriptions, there are records of "Harvest Year in Shu", "Being in Shu" and "Going to Shu for something". It can be seen that there were many wars between the Shang dynasty and the ancient Shu kingdom at that time, so the king of the Shang dynasty would carry out divination and ask heaven for good and bad luck and countermeasures.

When Yu Fan was in power, it was the time when the Shang Dynasty was close to extinction. Due to the disharmony with Shang Dynasty, the ancient Shu kingdom joined Zhou Wuwang's alliance against Zhou Wang, and bravely advanced in the torrent of crusade. The ancient book Shangshu records: "When the King of Wu attacked Zhou, he was the master of Bashu.". In other words, the ancient Shu army played a very important role in the attack on Zhou. It is said that when the ancient Shu army went out to war, they all sang and danced, adding strength by whistling, and adding courage by inviting gods to possess themselves. And this kind of howling weird dance is undoubtedly a deterrent to the enemy.

Although there were frequent wars with Shang Dynasty at that time, the life of ancient Shu people was not affected. Because Bashu has unique geographical conditions, risks to follow, fertile soil, rich mineral deposits and groups of wild animals.

Ba people and witches living in the Three Gorges area of the Yangtze River are most closely related to the ancient Shu State. After the ancient Qiang people developed into Shu in Chengdu Plain, they encountered an unexpected big problem: the lack of salt in Sichuan Basin. It is speculated that the eyes of Can Cong, the first generation king of Shu, protrude forward like crabs, which may be caused by hyperthyroidism due to lack of salt. The pool salt of the Qiang nationality is thousands of miles away, so it is difficult to transport the mountain weight. It can only rely on witchcraft and Pakistani salt.

From Can Cong to Yufu era, ancient Shu people went to the Three Gorges area in eastern Sichuan to buy back salt. Witches and Ba people have been transporting salt upstream. Witches and Pakistan also have contradictions in the sharing of profits from salt sales. The output of witch salt is higher than that of Ba people, who are close to the Yangtze River. If there is a dispute between the two sides, regardless of the outcome, it will affect the salt supply in ancient Shu. Therefore, as the most powerful regime in southwest China, Yu Fu, the king of ancient Shu, sent a team to the west of Qutang Gorge to stop the dispute between Wu and Ba, ensure the smooth transportation of salt in the Yangtze River, and secretly collect salt himself to avoid the interruption of salt supply in ancient Shu caused by the dispute between Wu and Ba. The team camped on the floodplain west of Baidicheng. It is said that the stone foundation is 8 rows and 64 bases. Some people think that the camp in the ancient Shu kingdom was mistaken for an "eight-array map" designed by Zhuge Liang to stop Lu Xun's pursuers in Wu Dong.