Sanxingdui

Sanxingdui - Ancient Shu Civilization

The culture of the ancient Shu, a unique civilization, grew alongside the cultures of the central plains during the Shang and Zhou dynasties. Large numbers of relics have been unearthed from Guanghan (central region of Sichuan province) Sanxingdui. The bronze figures and masks are most distinctive. The styles are different from those of the central plains and have their characteristics, which display the regional differences of Chinese civilization.

Sanxingdui culture

Sichuan Province was called Shu in ancient times. In the pre- Qin period, this land was home to several local tribes. They established the Kingdom of Shu but also the mysterious culture of the ancient Shu. According to the legends, several powerful tribes established a dominating position and an early kingdom.

The character "蜀”(shu) first surfaces in the inscriptions on bones or tortoise shells from the Shang Dynasty. The history of this kingdom remains a puzzle, but the discovery of the Sanxingdui Ruins confirmed the existence of the civilization of the ancient Shu Kingdom.

The word Sanxingdui, which means "three-star mounds," is composed of three clay piles shaped like stars. According to the Hangzhou Annals-Mountain Annals of Jiaqing Reign of the Qing Dynasty_there is a land of mystery in the southwest where three star-shaped clay piles shine with the moonlight. As early as the Qing Dynasty, the annals describe Sanxingdui's landform.

The three clay piles are the walls of the Shu's capital made during the Xia and Shang dynasties (2070-1046 BC). After long weathering, the old walls become clay piles.

The mysterious culture lasted for more than 2,000 years from the late Neolithic Age to the late Shang and early Zhou dynasties. The ruins cover an area of around 1,200 hectares and are one of the most important and largest cultural relics in Sichuan Province. Large numbers of pottery, jade, bronze and gold wares have been unearthed there. They have distinctive characteristics from the local culture. In contrast to the bronze cultures of the central plains, the objects are unlike any made in any other period of Chinese civilization. The ruins form a unique cultural system, called Sanxingdui culture.

The most important archaeological discoveries of the Sanxingdui culture were unearthed from the famous No.l and two pits in Sanxingdui Ruins. Most objects were burnt, scorched, destroyed, cracked, melted, or destroyed before the burial customs. Some bronze heads and masks had red mouths and dark eyes when they were found. The use of color paint was popular among many ancient civilizations, such as the ancient Greeks, who used color paint that faded over time.

Besides some bronze, jade, and pottery wares common in the central plains, most objects from the two pits were not seen before, including groups of bronze figures and masks, and gold scepters and masks. The unearthed objects are not only vast in quantity but also of various types with complicated and mysterious cultural features. The objects and sculptures, which are unique in shape and superior in techniques, obviously belong to the upper class of the ancient Shu. The ancient Shu had developed bronze casting techniques, along with unique aesthetic consciousness and religious belief.

Standing bronze figure with multiple identities

In contrast to bronze sculptures from other regions, the bronze figures from Sanxingdui have more of the features of standalone sculptures, especially the bronze figure standing on a pedestal, which is similar to the memorial sculptures of modern and contemporary times and is dominated by strong religious meaning. The bronze figures from Sanxingdui also present a unique spirituality by their stylized features, besides the unique majestic feeling of the Shang and Zhou's bronze sculpture.

The facial casting techniques, in particular, produce a mysterious feeling and tickle the imagination. There is still a huge gap between the cultural characteristics of this mysterious culture and the bronze-age culture of the central plains. Some have even suggested that these civilizations are of extraterrestrial origin. Certainly, archaeological excavations prove that the Sanxingdui culture was indeed established by the Shu people.

Among the bronze sculptures from Sanxingdui, the tallest and best-preserved standing bronze figure is 260.8cm high. It consists of a 180cm figure and an 80.8cm base. It had been cast in separate components with a hollow body. This sculpture is important regardless of clothing, image, or stature. It is wearing a flower-shaped high crown and gorgeous short- sleeve robe engraved with dragons, birds, and exotic animal patterns. It has extraordinary ring-shaped big hands, arms in embracing gesture in front of its chest, and its bare feet are wearing anklets. Under the feet is a high base decorated with various patterns. 

The figure looks very solemn. The casting technique is exquisite. Academic circles regard this monumental standing figure as the image of a king from Shu, who was also the high priest. In ancient Shu, the king holds the leading position in political and religious stages. The kingdom was similar to a theocracy. So, this figure presents both priests presiding over a worship ceremony and a representative of deities accepting worship. The figure once held something in its ring-shaped hand, which has been lost but we can use our imagination to fill the gaps.

Suspected alien bronze heads

Besides the standing bronze figure, most unearthed bronze sculptures from Sanxingdui are independent bronze heads or masks, some of which have gold foil masks. Because those bronze heads look strange, some people say they are alien objects.

For example, a 45.8cm bronze head with around vertex and gold foil mask was unearthed from the No.2 pit. Given the facial contour, a bronze mask has already covered its face and head. It is apparent that the gold foil mast was attached to the bronze mask afterward. The gold foil mask is very thin and has been damaged. A hairpin with damaged ends decorates the back of the head.

Another bronze head with a gold mask from the same pit is a little different. It has a flat vertex with hair plaited at the back and put up with a broad hair plaited at the back and put up with a broad hair lace at the top. It presents profound cultural features of the local people and the way local people dressed.

The sizes and shapes of the gold masks are in line with the facial features of the bronze head. Especially, the eyebrows of the mask are exquisitely holloed out and produce a sense of authority and sanctity. It is generally thought that the bronze heads with gold masks represent top-level figures who could communicate with.

Another two bronze heads unearthed from the No.2 pit are also very distinctive but without the gold masks. One hatchet-faced bronze head is 13.6cm in height with knife-shaped eyebrows, big eyes, typical snub nose, wide mouth, and big ears. The facial features are very common with today's Qiang and Tibetan people in Sichuan Province. The Shu people highlight such facial features with exaggeration and show a kind of stylized features. On top, the head has a plait-and-band-shaped decoration, which may be plaited hair or decoration to secure a crown, which is also similar to the dressing style of some areas in today's Sichuan. The bronze head has a dear shape and an honest and sincere face full of local characteristics.

The other 51.6-cm-high bronze head wears a hair stick without a gold mask. It is an integral piece made by the whole casting technique. It has around a vertex and looks like it is wearing a helmet. There are butterfly-shaped hair ornaments at the back of the head. Its hair is put up with a broad hairband in the middle. It also shares similar facial features, including the snub nose, wide mouth, and straight ears. It has an apparent black painting on eyebrows and nostrils and a red painting on the earholes and nostrils and between the lips.

A unique bronze head widely regarded as a female image was unearthed from the No.l pit of Sanxingdui. The top of the head is damaged, and there could have been hair ornaments or a crown on top. The hairline at the back of the head is clear. It also has vertical eyes and a snub nose, but its ears are a little smaller than those of other sculptures. Its lips are sealed. Its mouth is more natural and narrower than others. There is a smile on its face. Its facial features are full of fluency with a fruity face and a wide jaw. It reflects a mild and quiet temperament. It is more practical among other bronze heads, and most likely to present the image of a witch of the ancient Shu.

Large bronze masks with vertical eyes and straight ears

Besides the standing bronze figure and bronze heads, some large bronze masks from Sanxingdui are also very striking. The most distinctive and imposing is the bronze mask with vertical eyes and straight ears. This mask has bulging eyes and monstrously protruding eyeballs like two cylinders. A total of three bronze masks with vertical eyes are unearthed from No.2 pit of Sanxingdui and reflect two styles, A and B. They have similar shapes and two major differences.

The first is the forehead. The mask of kind A has a fine frontlet, several dozen centimeters in height. The mask of B kind has a square hole in the center of the forehead (used to install subsidiary ornaments that no longer exist).

Second, is the size and shape of the ears. The B kind has a pair of fully expanded ears with a peach tip-shaped top. The ears of the B kind produce a feeling of flying. Although the ears of the A kind are similar to those of B, they are not too much exaggeration and in a straight and flat shape.

The representative B kind is a bronze vertical mask, whose eyes and ears are extremely exaggerated. It is called "clairvoyant" and "clairaudient." According to ancient Chinese legends, there are two deities. One possesses the power of clairvoyance. The other possesses the power of clairaudience. The exaggerated look of the mask is suggestive of these two deities. However, there are no records to prove these masks are their embodiment. This huge bronze mask is 138cm wide and 66cm high. Its brow tips rise upward. Its eyes are crossed, and the eyeballs are extremely exaggerated, bulging forward to 16 cm. The upper parts of its square-shaped ears expand outward like peaches. Its nose is short and the mouth large and wide. The mouth comers are lifted upward as if smiling. There is a square hole in the forehead, for a fine frontlet. It would be more exquisite and majestic if they were complete. It delivers a charm of surrealism, and its shape produces a strong deterrence.

Why were objects with eerie looks made in ancient Shu? They were likely connected with images of deities and ancestors. It is said that the ancestor of the Shu people was the Can Cong, whose facial features are similar to the mask. According to the ancient Chinese legend, there is a deity called Zhu Long, who has a pair of "straight eyeballs" like the bulging eyes on the mask. Therefore, the mask may be closely associated with the ancestor and deity worship of the Shu people.

Another distinctive mask with a frontlet is 82.5cm high and has similar extremely exaggerated eyeballs, which bulge forward to 10cm. On its forehead, a 70cm high Kui-shaped frontlet is castled. This shaped pattern is different from those of the central plains and of the Shu style. This bronze mask has a black painting on the eyes and eyebrows and a red painting on the lips. It is mysterious in shape and eerie and beautiful in style. Its eyes are in line with the recorded features of the eyes of Can Cong. The Kui-shaped frontlet suggests a close connection with Zhu Long, a legendary deity with straight eyeballs, the head of a human, and the body of a dragon.

The bronze figures from Sanxingdui give us a majestically stylized feeling and an unusual sense of dimension. All figures have extremely exaggerated facial features and can inspire the imagination. Particularly the huge mask with bulging eyes and exaggerated ears, which displays different religious influences. The mysterious Shu culture has faded away, but can still feel the cultural shock from those silent and stately bronze sculptures.

In March 2021, over 500 new items unearthed