Chengdu Sanxingdui Museum – #2/5 The Capital of Ancient Shu

Ancient Shu left us with many exciting relics and they are now housed in the Sanxingdui Museum. The Comprehensive Hall 综合馆 is the permanent

In the Comprehensive Hall of the Sanxingdui Museum housed some of the pottery, stone, jade and bronzes excavated in the Sacrificial Pits No. 1 and 2 of the sites, as well as the different exploratory sites in the area.

A new round of archaeological excavations has begun in the Sanxingdui Ruins, and various exquisite cultural relics are being unearthed from the ancient Shu civilization. In addition to bronze wares and exquisite gold ornaments, pottery is also one of the important categories of the unearthed cultural relics from Sanxingdui.

Pottery in Archaeological Research

Pottery made of clay is one of the most common utensils in the ancient periods of time. It has the characteristics of large area of distribution, significant volume of find, and obvious regional characteristics of spatial distribution. It is widely seen in ancient regions, periods and ethnic cultures.

It is an important medium to understand ancient society. Different pottery and pottery colours are called different pottery systems, and different pottery systems reflect the materialised appearance of different eras and cities.

For example these pottery roof tiles found in the Moon Bay 月亮湾 sites. The presence of these tiles, as well as pipes and other relics, showed that in the Sanxingdui culture there were large clusters of buildings, and not just cottages or thatched buildings as previously thought. This finding pushed back the period of which palaces and communal buildings of such were found.

Ancient Shu 古蜀

In the vast area of Sichuan Province and its neighboring regions, there are many ancient sites where similar cultural remains have been unearthed. These sites constitute a regional cultural system -the “Shu culture”. The Shu culture underwent two phases: the early phase is known as the ancient Shu culture 古蜀which spans the Xia 夏, Shang 商 and Western Zhou 西周 Dynasties of the Central Plains region, and the later phase Ba-Shu culture which includes the Eastern Zhou 东周 Dynasty.`

Being located in the center of the Chengdu Plain of Sichuan Basin, Sanxingdui was the capital city of the ancient Shu stale. Its grand city walls and numerous architectural relics, tombs and sacrificial pits point to sophisticated urban planning. The Sanxingdui culture typifies the early phase of the Shu culture.

Belonging to the Bronze Age culture, the Sanxingdui civilisation existed from 2,800 B.C. to 600 B.C. and was divided into four periods in archeology. The first period started in the Late Neolithic culture and its second period continued into the age of civilisation.

The main parts of the Sanxingdui relics consisted of the remains of Periods II and III, which dated back to the Xia and the Shang Dynasty (2,100 B.C. to 1,100 B.C.) in the Central Plain. According to the ancient Shu legend, the Sanxingdui civilisation enjoyed its most prosperous time during the reign of King Boguan 柏灌 and King Yufu 魚鳧.

The whole site is about 12 km² and the ancient city per se measures 3.5 km², which was the site of the capital city of the ancient Shu state. With the plains on both sides of the river as the centre, the plan of the ancient city was trapezoidal and had an overall configuration of the outer outline city containing the inner outline city. The Moon Bay city (Yueliangwan 月亮湾) on the north site of the ancient city is believed to be the imperial palace.

Taking advantage of the river, the city layout functioned as both a bulwark against flood as well as traffic network. This kind of city planning and architectural style is distinctly regional, and represents the diversity of ancient cities in China.

Wine and Dine in Ancient Shu

The Chengdu Plain, known as the Land of Abundance, is the earliest and largest agricultural economic center in Sichuan Province. Rice, grain and millet were the main crops according to the analysis of excavated plant samples. Various kinds of pottery in different shapes indirectly reflect the diversity of agricultural production in ancient Shu.

陶盉 He (Wine Vessel)

商代晚期 公元前1200一前1000年 1986年三星堆第三发掘区出土 Pottery, The Late Shang Dynasty 1200 B.C. – 1000 B.C., Excavated al No 3 Excavation Area of Sanxingdui in 1980

He 盉 (wine vessel) is a kind of pottery unearthed in large quantities at the Sanxingdui site.

Apart from the tripod cooking vessel itself, other pottery artifacts were also discovered at the Sanxingdui Ruins site, including a tall and slender pottery vessel called a 豆 Dou, featuring a shallow plate on the top that experts believe was used as a food container.

Experts explained that the food container may serve as an indication that 3,000 years ago, when dining tables hadn’t yet been created in China, people would often sit on the ground while eating, as the vessel’s height was perfect for seated diners when sitting at ground level.

Modern plates and utensils are flat-bottomed. But these zhan 盏 excavated from Sanxingdui are sharp-bottomed. They could be used in salt making, but its exact use is not sure.

Hundreds of “bird head spoons” have been unearthed at the Sanxingdui site, which is one of the most distinctive pottery in Sanxingdui. It may be a tool for scooping water. Most of the spoon body parts are damaged, leaving only the “scoop handle”, most of which are bird shapes with exaggerated hooked beaks.

There were a large number of birds in the pottery, jade and bronze ware unearthed in Sanxingdui. Generations of ancient Shu kings were named after birds. The academic community generally believes that birds are part of the totem worship of the ancient Shu people. Many of the birds found in Sanxingdui are very similar to the osprey. Sanxingdui’s ancient Shu Kingdom may be closely related to the third generation of ancient Shu king named Yufu 魚鳧.

Also unearthed at the site were seashells and bronze shells, which were early currencies and were important in commodity exchange. In addition, a large number of potteries were necessary for daily life and religious rituals as well.

Sacrificial Rites

Some scholars believe that the bird-head-shaped spoons could not only have been daily necessities, but also a kind of sacrificial article used by the ancient Shu people in sacrificial rites.

As far as the ivories are concerned, researches have put an effort to find out where were these ivories from. Some claimed that these were the trade items from Southeast Asia states in ancient time. However, from the jade figurine that has the elephant cong suggested that the elephants were local.

The material remains from the two sacrificial pits suggest that the Sanxingdui culture must have possessed sophisticated jade-making and bronze-casting technology.

Jade in Sanxingdui

The ancient jade artefacts recently excavated from Rensheng village 仁胜村 traced jade making in the Chengdu Plain back to the late Neolithic age.

The jade artefacts of Sanxingdui are simple in design and special in shapes. In late Shang Dynasty, exquisitely fabricated jade artifacts became very important in ritual activities of the ancient Shu state.

Being counterparts to the ones in the Central Plain, Sanxingdui jade relics have inherited the local jade tradition and become, together with the beautiful Jinsha jade wares, the highlight of jade making in ancient Shu.

Bearing a strong influence of the Central Plain, the jade artifacts reflect innovation and development in terms of shapes, and many of them are unique in the country. In terms of the use of jade, it is also different from the combination of jade and ritual vessels in the Shang culture.

玉琮 Cong (Ritual Object)

商代 公元前1600一前1200年, 1929年燕家院子出土 Jade, Shang Dynasty 1,600 B.C. – 1,2000 B.C., Excavated at Yanjiayuanzi in 1929 (left)

玉璋 Zhang (Ritual Object)

商代晚期 公元前1250-前1100年 1986年三星堆一号祭祀坑出土 Jade, The Late Shang Dynasty 1250 B.C. – 1100 B.C., Excavated from No.1 Sacrificial Pit of Sanxingdui in 1986 (top-right)

石璋残片 Zhang (Fragment, Ritual Object)

商代 公元前1600一前1200年, 三星堆遗址采集 Stone, Shang Dynasty 1600 B.C. – 1200 B.C., Collected at the Sanxingdui Site (bottom-right)

For example, a large number of small jade hand tools are used as ritual vessels for sacrificial activities, reflecting the inheritance and development of local cultural traditions.

Of the large amounts of jade wares at Sanxingdui, jade zhang 玉璋 and jade ge 玉戈, with their varied kinds and exquisite workmanship, are the most special, representing the local characteristics at that time.

玉璋 Zhang (Ritual Object)

商代晚期 公元前1250-前1100年 1986年三星堆一号祭祀坑出土 Jade, The Late Shang Dynasty 1250 B.C. – 1100 B.C., Excavated from No.1 Sacrificial Pit of Sanxingdui in 1986 (top-right)

商代晚期 公元前1250-前1100年 1986年三星堆二号祭祀坑出土 Jade, The Late Shang Dynasty 1250 B.C. – 1100 B.C., Excavated from No.2 Sacrificial Pit of Sanxingdui in 1986

The jade zhang has the same pattern on both sides. The pattern is divided into two groups, with a symmetrical layout. Each set of decorations includes mountains, saw and cloud patterns and two rows of worship-like portraits. It is speculated that the image shows a grand sacrificial scene, that is, the so-called “Shanling (“mountain”) Sacrifice” “山陵之祭.

玉圭 Gui (Ritual Object)

商代 公元前1600一前1200年, 三星堆遗址出士 Jade, Shang Dynasty 1600 B. C. – 1200 B.C., Excavated at the Sanxingdui Site (left)

玉剑 Sword (Ritual Obiect)

商代晚期 公元前1250-前1100年 1986年三星堆一号祭祀坑出土 Jade, The Late Shang Dynasty 1250 B.C. – 1100 B.C., Excavated from No.1 Sacrificial Pit of Sanxingdui in 1986 (centre)

玉刀 Knife (Ritual Object)

商代晚期 公元前1250-前1100年 1986年三星堆二号祭祀坑出土 Jade, The Late Shang Dynasty 1250 B.C. – 1100 B.C., Excavated from No.2 Sacrificial Pit of Sanxingdui in 1986 (right)

玉管 Jade Tubes、玉戚形佩 Jade Axe-Shaped Pendant、玉串珠 Jade Beads (Ornament)

商代晚期 公元前1250-前1100年 1986年三星堆二号祭祀坑出土 Jade, The Late Shang Dynasty 1250 B.C. – 1100 B.C., Excavated from No.2 Sacrificial Pit of Sanxingdui in 1986

All in all the Sanxingdui site along with its cultural relics presents us a colourful social life of the ancient Shu people. A centralised, complex political organization must have existed to support the workshops and organise large-scale productions. Religion and ritual practices seem to have played a significant role in the society.

Stone Relics of Sanxingdui

There are also some stone relics found among the other relics in the Sanxingdui site.

The stone bi 璧 has an outer diameter of 69 cm, the inner diameter of 19 cm, and the thickness of 5 cm. The right side of bi is engraved with the word 燕三太 “Yan San Tai”, which was carved by the local farmers who first discovered it.

At its peak the Sanxingdui culture had expanded beyond its homeland on the Chengdu Plain to surrounding areas such as southern Shaanxi Province, the upper Han River valley, and western Hubei, where objects of typical Sanxingdui styles have been discovered.

Visited Dec 2021

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