A Society in Small Bronze Figures
Near Xingyun Lake, objects from a cemetery preserve animals, tools and human activity at the scale of a hand.
Yuxi.
Lijiashan in Jiangchuan is the findspot of bronzes now seen in Kunming, including the Cow-and-Tiger Bronze Table. In Yuxi, Nie Er’s ancestral house offers a different connection between a place and a remembered life. Tonghai’s streets, courtyards and inscriptions can be read beside Huaning’s pottery village. Chengjiang’s Cambrian fossils and Fuxian Lake’s watershed widen the view from objects and buildings to deep time and connected water.
Yuxi
How a Bronze Ox Becomes a Table
The Cow-and-Tiger Bronze Table joins animal bodies, an open space and a usable surface in one carefully assembled form.
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Nie Er’s Family House and Yuxi’s Musical Memory
A family house, a museum and a musical public square give Yuxi three different ways of remembering the composer Nie Er.
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An Open Sky Inside a Compact House
Tonghai’s compact courtyard houses place rooms, height and open sky within a tightly gathered architectural form.
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The Sea Preserved in Chengjiang’s Stone
Soft-bodied fossils make an early marine community visible in unusual detail, far beyond the familiar outline of a shell.
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Four Streets Meet at Tonghai’s Pavilion
Tonghai’s central pavilion makes a trading town legible through crossings, rebuilding and the daily use of old streets.
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The Colour on Huaning’s Clay
Glazed surfaces distinguish Huaning pottery, carrying local materials through shaping, coating and firing.
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Wanyao, a Village Named for Bowls and Kilns
In Huaning, the history of pottery is also the history of a village, its working spaces and its changing institutions.
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Words Among the Trees of Xiushan
Plaques, paired inscriptions and written traces on roof tiles connect Tonghai’s wooded hill with generations of reading and building.
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Fuxian Lake Begins Beyond the Water’s Edge
Rivers, fields, wooded slopes and settlements all enter the story of protecting Yuxi’s deep highland lake.
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Lijiashan in Jiangchuan
Lijiashan’s excavated bronzes include vessels, tools, ornaments and the Cow-and-Tiger Bronze Table. Tomb context and later museum care form different chapters in the objects’ histories.
Nie Er’s Ancestral House in Yuxi
Nie Er’s ancestral house in Yuxi connects a family building with local public memory. Its role is distinct from the composer’s birthplace in Kunming.
Zheng Family Courtyard in Tonghai
The Zheng family courtyard provides a named example of a Yike Yin house in Tonghai. Its orientation and enclosed court belong to the history of this particular residence.
Chengjiang Fossil Site
Chengjiang’s Cambrian fossils preserve traces of marine life more than 500 million years old. Their significance comes through specimens, rock layers and the work of interpreting early animals.
Tonghai
Tonghai’s streets meet around Jukui Pavilion, while courtyards and inscriptions add other layers of town history. Trade and movement can be followed through specific surviving spaces.
Wanyao Village in Huaning
Wanyao’s village name recalls bowls and kilns. Huaning pottery accounts follow forms, glaze and firing as connected parts of a local ceramic practice.
Xiushan in Tonghai
Xiushan’s temple buildings preserve plaques, couplets and inscriptions. Written texts remain part of the hill’s architectural and religious setting.
Fuxian Lake and Watershed
Fuxian Lake’s protection begins beyond its shoreline, in the catchment that brings water to it. Watershed rules and observed ecological conditions answer different questions.
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 15:40:40 · CC BY-SA 4.0 Photo source ↗ Rights information ↗ Resized without cropping or upscaling; converted to WebP.
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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 · 2018-02-25 16:19:09 · CC BY-SA 4.0 Photo source ↗ Rights information ↗ Resized without cropping or upscaling; converted to WebP.
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Nie Er’s ancestral house in Yuxi, photographed in August 2025.Kcx36 · 2025-08-10 14:54:42 · CC BY-SA 4.0 Photo source ↗ Rights information ↗ Resized without cropping or upscaling; converted to WebP.
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House entrances in Tonghai Old Town, at Wenxianli 34, Aijia Lane 5 and East Street 36.瑞丽江的河水 · 2023-08-18 13:28:38 · CC BY-SA 4.0 Photo source ↗ Rights information ↗ Resized without cropping or upscaling; converted to WebP.
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Chengjiang Fossil Site World Natural Heritage Museum, Yunnan.STW932 · 2022-08-16 12:05:19 · CC BY-SA 4.0 Photo source ↗ Rights information ↗ Resized without cropping or upscaling; converted to WebP.
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The central streets of Tonghai County town, Xiushan Subdistrict.User:Vmenkov · 2016-12-18 09:49:04 · CC BY-SA 3.0 Photo source ↗ Rights information ↗ Resized without cropping or upscaling; converted to WebP.
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Glazed Huaning ceramic objects pictured in the Huaning government tourism guide; capture dates are not specified.未注明摄影者 · 未注明；页面发布于2020-01-14 · Rights information Photo source ↗ Resized without cropping or upscaling; converted to WebP.
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Pottery making, kiln firing and kiln furniture pictured in the Huaning government tourism guide; photographer and capture date are not specified.未注明摄影者 · 未注明；页面发布于2020-01-14 · Rights information Photo source ↗ Resized without cropping or upscaling; converted to WebP.
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A displayed paper rubbing of Kan Zhenzhao’s Huayan Assembly Offering Stele, associated with Yongjin Temple on Xiushan, Tonghai.Kcx36 · 2025-08-07 · CC BY-SA 4.0 Photo source ↗ Rights information ↗ Resized without cropping or upscaling; converted to WebP.
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Fuxian Lake and its shore. Photographs show landscape, rather than measured water quality.Chensiyuan · 2018-06-21 19:45:16 · CC BY-SA 4.0 Photo source ↗ Rights information ↗ Resized without cropping or upscaling; converted to WebP.
