Animals in Bronze: Power Cast into Dian Objects
A cow, a tiger and a smaller calf turn a bronze table into an encounter between object and image. The find belongs to a tomb at Lijiashan, while the surviving piece is displayed in Kunming.
Kunming.
A bronze table in Kunming’s provincial museum leads back to a tomb in present-day Yuxi. Beyond the collection, Yunzi stones in Guandu and dough sculpture in Songming reveal different kinds of making. Dianchi’s shore brings another scale into view: wetlands, water connections and the methods used to count birds. The municipality also reaches the karst landscapes of Shilin and Jiuxiang, while Green Lake and Guandu hold distinct layers of urban history.
Kunming
Oxen and Weaving on Dian Bronze Lids
A large ox surrounded by seven smaller ones crowns a bronze container in Shanghai. A separate weaving scene from Lijiashan gives another use for the sculpted lid.
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The Yike Yin Courtyard and Kunming’s Provincial Museum
A square courtyard house is a building people use, not just a pattern on a plan. In Kunming, the name Yike Yin points toward a compact courtyard form whose rooms and thresholds organise everyday life.
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How a Museum Displays Yunnan’s Cultural Diversity
A museum does more than collect objects: it places them into categories and tells visitors how to look. At the Yunnan Nationalities Museum, the listed displays range from clothing and scripts to instruments, masks, crafts and pottery.
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The Making of a Yunzi Go Stone
A Go stone is small enough to disappear between two fingers, yet making one involves carefully selected minerals, heat, timing and a controlled drop. The craft is recorded across both Kunming and Baoshan, with different local names retained.
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When Dough Becomes a Figure
At a teaching studio in Songming, flour becomes a figure through colour, pressure and small adjustments. The work connects hand skill with the subjects an artist chooses to model—and with the students who learn to look closely.
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The Many Histories of the Name Kunming
The name Kunming first referred to people in historical records before it became the name of a city beside Dianchi. Following that shift requires separating an old ethnonym, changing political geography and later explanations of the word.
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What Bird Counts Can Tell Us About Dianchi’s Wetlands
A bird count is a record made at a time, along a route and with a method. At Dianchi, field observers and camera or drone systems are being used together; understanding the numbers begins with understanding how they were gathered.
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The Wetland Edge Between Kunming and Dianchi
At Dianchi’s southwestern edge, wetland is not a single strip of reeds. A government account describes water, river mouths, shallows and planted vegetation connected into a managed landscape—one with a date, a boundary and an ecological purpose.
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Around Green Lake, How Kunming Holds Its Urban Memory
Green Lake is a small body of water with an unusually dense urban archive around its edges.
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Guandu Jingang Tower: A Sandstone Passage
Built of sandstone, the Ming tower lets people pass through four arched openings in its square base.
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The Stone Forest Is Not One Shape: Karst at Different Scales
The Stone Forest’s drama comes from variation: limestone breaks into towers, corridors and clustered forms rather than a repeated silhouette.
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Ashima as a Story Sung: Sani Language and Memory
Ashima belongs to the Sani people of Shilin as a narrative told and sung. Its verse, changing tunes and family teaching carry a life beyond a single printed story.
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Below Jiuxiang: Rock Chambers and Human Traces
Jiuxiang’s cave landscape includes a record of human activity. At Zhangkou Cave, a published excavation connects rock chambers, layered deposits and stone tools.
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Yunnan Provincial Museum
The provincial museum in Kunming holds the Cow-and-Tiger Bronze Table and other Dian objects. Collection location and archaeological findspot remain distinct parts of their histories.
Yunnan Nationalities Museum
A museum beside Dianchi presents clothing, written materials, instruments and other collections. Its exhibition categories shape how different cultural practices are introduced to the public.
Guandu District
The Kunming part of the Yunzi and Yongzi heritage record is located in Guandu District. Go-stone making connects mineral preparation, high heat and controlled handwork.
Songming County
A college visit documents Liang Junli’s dough-sculpture studio in Songming. Materials, small-scale modelling and teaching give the craft a specific local setting.
Dianchi Lake and Wetlands
Dianchi’s shore includes connected wetlands, river mouths and managed water routes. Bird surveys and restoration accounts describe different aspects of this lake-edge landscape.
Green Lake and Its Neighbourhood
Ruan and Tang Causeways divide Green Lake’s water, while nearby educational and memorial sites add urban history. Their proximity makes the lake part of a connected civic landscape.
Guandu Old Town and Jingang Pagoda
Guandu’s Ming-period Jingang Pagoda combines an open base with five upper towers. Its passages, stone carving and inscriptions connect religious architecture with movement through the town.
Shilin Karst
Shilin’s limestone landscape contains more than one stone form. Geological and heritage descriptions place individual pillars and surfaces within a wider karst history.
Shilin Yi Autonomous County
Ashima belongs to a Sani oral-literary setting. Language, performance and local cultural protection give the familiar story a broader community context.
Jiuxiang Gorge and Cave Region
Jiuxiang’s caves and underground waters form a local geological landscape in Yiliang. Geopark records provide a regional frame for investigating its rock and water history.
Photo credits and rights
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The Bronze Table with Tiger and Oxen: views and animal details. Excavated at Lijiashan and held by Yunnan Provincial Museum.Cangminzho · 2018-03-07 15:40:08 · CC BY-SA 4.0 Photo source ↗ Rights information ↗ Resized without cropping or upscaling; converted to WebP.
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A Dian cowrie container in Shanghai Museum, as identified in the source record.怪怪～鱼 · 2019-03-03 15:09:18 · CC BY-SA 4.0 Photo source ↗ Rights information ↗ Resized without cropping or upscaling; converted to WebP.
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The copper-toned exterior and entrance forecourt of Yunnan Provincial Museum in Kunming.Kcx36 · 2025-09-17 · CC BY-SA 4.0 Photo source ↗ Rights information ↗ Resized without cropping or upscaling; converted to WebP.
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Double-convex Yunzi Go stones and their woven baskets on a board.Ralph Unden · 2008-02-23 13:10 · CC BY 2.0 Photo source ↗ Rights information ↗ Resized without cropping or upscaling; converted to WebP.
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East Street in Songming County, photographed in 2025; the county-town setting of the dough-sculpture story.瑞丽江的河水 · 2025-10-31 · CC BY-SA 4.0 Photo source ↗ Rights information ↗ Resized without cropping or upscaling; converted to WebP.
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Yunrui East Road in Kunming Old Street, photographed in August 2019; a present-day street scene in the city.瑞丽江的河水 · 2019-08-03 · CC BY-SA 4.0 Photo source ↗ Rights information ↗ Resized without cropping or upscaling; converted to WebP.
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The northeastern shore of Dianchi Lake, photographed in February 2026.Ngguls · 2026-02-22 13:21:32 · CC BY-SA 4.0 Photo source ↗ Rights information ↗ Resized without cropping or upscaling; converted to WebP.
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Dianchi Lake, Kunming.Ngguls · 2026-02-22 13:34:37 · CC BY-SA 4.0 Photo source ↗ Rights information ↗ Resized without cropping or upscaling; converted to WebP.
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Cuihu Park in Kunming.xiquinhosilva · 2013-04-14 10:44:50 · CC BY 2.0 Photo source ↗ Rights information ↗ Resized without cropping or upscaling; converted to WebP.
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The Vajra Throne Pagoda at Miaozhan Temple, Guandu, Kunming.Zhangzhugang · 2025-08-12 17:35:27 · CC BY-SA 4.0 Photo source ↗ Rights information ↗ Resized without cropping or upscaling; converted to WebP.
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Limestone formations at Shilin, Yunnan.CEphoto, Uwe Aranas · 2012-03-28 · CC BY-SA 3.0 Photo source ↗ Rights information ↗ Resized without cropping or upscaling; converted to WebP.
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The rock formation named Ashima at Shilin. This landmark is distinct from a photographed oral performance.Cs california · 2008-08-30 · CC BY 3.0 Photo source ↗ Rights information ↗ Resized without cropping or upscaling; converted to WebP.
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Jiuxiang Scenic Region, Yunnan.Deadkid dk · 2011-02-23 · CC BY-SA 3.0 Photo source ↗ Rights information ↗ Resized without cropping or upscaling; converted to WebP.
