Throughout its prehistory and early history, the region and its vicinity in the Yangtze region was the cradle of unique local civilizations which can be dated back to at least the 15th century BC and coinciding with the later years of the Shang and Zhou dynasties in North China. Sichuan was referred to in ancient Chinese sources as Ba-Shu (巴蜀), an abbreviation of the kingdoms of Ba and Shu which existed within the Sichuan Basin. Ba included Chongqing and the land in eastern Sichuan along the Yangtze and some tributary streams, while Shu included today's Chengdu, its surrounding plain and adjacent territories in western Sichuan. 

The existence of the early state of Shu was poorly recorded in the main historical records of China. It was, however, referred to in the Book of Documents as an ally of the Zhou. Accounts of Shu exist mainly as a mixture of mythological stories and historical legends recorded in local annals such as the Chronicles of Huayang compiled in the Jin dynasty (265–420), with folk stories such as that of Emperor Duyu (杜宇) who taught the people agriculture and transformed himself into a cuckoo after his death. The existence of a highly developed civilization with an independent bronze industry in Sichuan eventually came to light with an archaeological discovery in 1986 at a small village named Sanxingdui in Guanghan, Sichuan. This site, believed to be an ancient city of Shu, was initially discovered by a local farmer in 1929 who found jade and stone artefacts. Excavations by archaeologists in the area yielded few significant finds until 1986 when two major sacrificial pits were found with spectacular bronze items as well as artefacts in jade, gold, earthenware, and stone. This and other discoveries in Sichuan contest the conventional historiography that the local culture and technology of Sichuan were undeveloped in comparison to the technologically and culturally "advanced" Yellow River valley of north-central China. The name Shu continues to be used to refer to Sichuan in subsequent periods in Chinese history up to the present day. QUESTIONS:

Q1:
1. What did not receive sufficient documentation?
2. What was there little information about?
3. What wasn't documented in the proper fashion?
Q2:
1. Does anywhere refer to Shu?
2. Does Shu appear in any documents?
3. Are there any texts that discuss the early state of Shu?
Q3:
1. What text discusses the early state of Shu?
2. In what book does the early state of Shu appear?
3. Where can one find information about the early state of Shu?
Q4:
1. How is the early state of Shu seen?
2. What can Shu be described as?
3. What does the book of Documents call Shu?
Q5:
1. Which region was the cradle of unique civilization?
2. What location served as a cradle for unique civilization?
3. What was the home of unique civilizations?
Q6:
1. When did people settle in the Yangtze region?
2. When did the Yangtze region become a cradle for civilizations?
3. In what year did settlements appear in the Yangtze region?
Q7:
1. Who ruled over the Yangtze region?
2. Who was in charge of the peoples of the Yangtze region?
3. Who were the people in the Yangtze region ruled by?
Q8:
1. Where were the Shang and Zhou dynasties?
2. What was the location of the Shang and Zhou dynasties?
3. Where could the Shang and Zhou dynasties be found?
Q9:
1. What is discussed in ancient texts?
2. What do ancient documents talk about?
3. What subject is brought up in extremely old texts?
Q10:
1. What is one source for accounts of Shu?
2. What's one place that accounts of Shu can be found?
3. Where do accounts of Shu appear for example?
