Chengdu Sanxingdui Museum – #4/5 Where it all started

It was the year 1929, and like all archaeological discoveries of that century, it was all coincidental. A peasant in Sichuan province uncovered jade and stone artefacts while repairing a sewage ditch located about 40 km from Chengdu. But their significance wasn’t understood until 1986.

In the Bronze Pavilion 青铜馆 is the permanent exhibition of the bronze artefacts uncovered in Sacrificial Pit No.2

Bronze Age and Sanxingdui Civilisation

In 1986, archaeologists unearthed two sacrificial pits (K1 and K2) of Bronze Age treasures, such as jades, about 100 Asian elephant tusks and stunning 8-feet-high (2.4 meters) bronze sculptures that suggest an impressive technical ability that was present nowhere else in the world at the time. This pits became known as the Sanxingdui ruins, and came from a lost civilisation now known as the Sanxingdui, a walled city on the banks of the Minjiang River.

青铜纵目面具 Mask with Protruding Pupils

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

According to historical records, the Sanxingdui civilisation started in the Sichuan basin around 4,000 BC and the first tribal leader was Cancong 蚕丛, whom purportedly taught his people the cultivation of silkworms called cán 蚕. And he was said to have cóngmù 縱目 or protruding pupils like this bronze mask unearthed from the sacrificial pit.

This mask, which is particularly majestic and mysterious, is the biggest one unearthed. It is 138cm long, 85 cm wide, 66cm high and weighs 71.1kg. Its protruding eyes and huge ears reminds people of two deities of ancient Chinese legends “千里眼，顺风耳”; One (千里眼) possesses the power of clairvoyance, the other (顺风耳) possesses the power of clairaudience.

青铜眼泡 Eye-Shaped Objects

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

Fragments of these protruding pupils can be found in the pits. Most of these where simple bronze studs that were attached to larger mask like objects.

And some of these were more complex and were made up for four parts to form a trapezoidal eye that represents the eyes of the sun god.

Here Comes The Sun

The religion features mythology involving a sunbird taking off from a mulberry tree in the east and landing on a willow in the west. This concept first emerged in the Hemudu Culture and the Liangzhu Culture in the southeastern coastal areas of China. Such cultural phenomena and concepts found in the Sanxingdui Kingdom represent physical evidence of cultural exchange between eastern and western China as well as between the lower reaches and the upper reaches of the Yangtze River.

青铜太阳轮 Sun-Shaped Wheel

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

Overall diameter 84cm, diameter of central roundel 28cm, height of central roundel 6.5cm.Six of these wheels were found, and originally it was thought to be the wheels of a chariot or vehicle due to the holes around the wheel. But it was later suggested that these were used to hang or attached the wheels, which represent the sun in an altar.

Sacrificial Worship in 2,000 BC

And unlike the Mayans, Sanxingdui did not present any evidence of human sacrifice. Instead the artefacts, especially the bronze items had been broken and buried as if they were sacrificed.

青铜神坛（研究性复原）Altar ( Research-Based Restoration, Replica)

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

For example this bronze altar that was recovered from Pit No.2 in 1986. Most part of the altar was missing, and researchers tried to replicate the entire altar by reproducing some of the missing parts.

And then in 2022, they found the remaining parts in Pit No.8 discovered in 2020. The final complete altar can now be seen in its entirety and proved the theory of purposely breaking the bronze items into parts during a sacrificial rite.

青铜鸟脚人像 (残部) Hybrid Figure Standing On Birds (Fragment)

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

Here’s another example, a bird shaped fragment that researchers could not fathom what it was part of. This was found in Pit No.2, which was adjacent to Pit No.8.

A human figure (left) with a serpent-like body and a ritual wine vessel known as zūn 鐏 on its head is among the relics that were recently unearthed in Pit No.8. The figure is part of a larger statue (right); the part featuring a man’s curving lower body joined with a pair of bird’s feet (middle) was unearthed in Pit No.2 in 1986. The statue was restored in Jun 2022 after the parts were reunited in the Restoration Hall.

青铜神殿（残件）Altar ( Fragments)

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

The people of the Sanxingdui had sophisticated ideas on cosmology and worship systems. They practiced a primitive religion worshipping the sun as the supreme god and flavoured with symbols of birds and eyes related to the sun.

青铜人身形牌饰 Human-Body-Shaped Plaque

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

Bronze body-shaped plaque is are one of the stranger artefacts unearthed in Sanxingdui. The whole body is 46.4 cm high, and the overall shape is like a headless human body. The upper part of this device is like a person in a robe, with legs underneath, the front of the legs is concave, and the lower end is decorated with convex strings. The body is full of decorative patterns, depicting the scene of a worship in the mountains.

Mystical Beasts and Where to Find Them

The Sanxingdui culture extensively absorbed the bronze casting techniques, ritual systems, decorative aesthetics and jade tradition from the Xia (c.2070BC-c.1600BC) and Shang dynasties in the Yellow River Basin. 

A variety of figurative and abstract animal images have been unearthed at the Sanxingdui site, depicting real, legendary, local, and exotic creatures. 

Of all the figurines found, birds were the most common. Legends states that two of the first kings of the Shu state were named after birds. The mouth and area around the eyes on the large bird head are coated in vermillion. There are three small holes at the bottom of the neck, suggesting that this was initially attached to something else.

青铜鸟头 Bird-Head-Shaped Objects

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

This bird has round eyes, pointed beak, and crest streching like a flag, which is not a typical Sanxingdui style but much similar to Shanxi and Henan’s bronze birds of the same era. It could be seen as a proof of Ancient Shu trading with other districts. 

青铜大鸟头 Bird-Head Shaped Object

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

The museum label identifies this bird as an osprey (“fish hawk”). It is not at all clear what that sea bird is doing in the middle of land-locked Sichuan, unless he flew a thousand miles up the Yangzi, all the way from the Pacific Ocean. The oversize (40 cm tall) bronze head would originally have been fixed on the end of a pole. The museum label suggests this was a totem object of the Shu people, and mentions in particular one Shu king (date not given) who was named Yufu 魚鳧(fish-hawk). 

青铜兽面面具 Bronze Masks with Kui Face

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

“状如牛，苍身而无角，一足，出入水则必有风雨，其光如日月，其声如雷，其名曰夔”

《山海经》

The bronze masks with kui face are about 21 cm, and can be divided into three types according to its shape. The downward curve at the corners of its mouth is a typical feature of Sanxingdui style, so that the plaque was probably cast in Sanxingdui; i.e. it is an imitation of an import, rather than an import itself.

The A-type beast’s face is in the shape of a pair of kui dragons 夔龙 unfolding on both sides, with a winding locks and dragon’s tail, long eyebrows straight to the end of the dragon’s tail, big eyes, long straight nose, wide mouth, open teeth, dragon-shaped ears. There is a small round hole under the corner of the head and on both sides of the jaw.

The shape of the B-type beast face is the same as that of the A-type, but there is a pair of facing dragons under the collar to support the beast’s face; the second dragon’s head is scrolled down, and the dragon’s tail is upturned, with big eyes and single feet.

The C-type shape is simplified, with no ears and wide mouth, and the teeth are outlined in black colour at the seam of the mouth. The beast’s face is still composed of a pair of dragons facing each other. The dragon’s tail is rolled up, the eyes are big, and the outer corners of the eyes reach the end of the dragon’s tail. There are small round holes on both sides of the dragon’s tail and on both sides of the jaw.

青铜龙柱形器 Dragon-Shaped Pillar

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

The small bronze dragon perches, whimsically but fiercely, on the end of an upright pole. The entire assembly, dragon + remaining part of the pole, is only 41cm (16in) in height. This might have been the end of a standard, or some other kind of object; we cannot know for certain.

青铜蛇 Snake Shaped Object

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

As the major element that forms the image of dragon, snakes is seen as “little dragon” in China and is widely used as decorations for bronzes. This snake is composed of different sections with scales scattered on its body. The hollowed knife-shaped wings on its head and back might suggest it can fly. The circle buttons on its neck and abdomen could be a proof that this snake was originally a decoration on a certain object. 

People in Worship

There were many face masks and bronze busts that were unearthed from the first two sacrificial pits.

This bronze figurine that looks like wearing a Flash mask was one of the six that were found with the gold mask still on. New bronze has a gold colour, and so it is not understood by the scholars why the effort to let the figurines wear a gold mask.

青铜人头像 Bronze Head Portraits

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

These faces are much alike, although their heads are shaped differently. Most of the heads found at Sanxingdui are rectangular, with a few being thumb-shaped as in the example of Figure 10. Regardless of head shape, the characteristics of all the faces are quite similar. Schematic and abstract, they seem human-like rather than conventionally human, as if belonging to an order of reality that is separate from everyday life.

The heads, most of them approximately life-size, were evidently mounted on supporting posts or armatures of wood, now lost. Some were smaller and more elaborate, like Figure 8 and 9. Figure 6 showed fire damage with the collapsed neckline.

青铜面具 Masks

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

It is not known why some bronzes were cast as face masks only, and others as full heads; the same kind of face appears on both. The masks would have been easier to cast, so practical considerations may be part of the reason.

青铜兽首冠人像 Portrait with Beast-Head Helmet

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

The lower half of this standing figure is missing or absent. When complete, it would have been about half the size of the large standing statue discussed earlier. Due to their position, the right and left hands of this figure must have held two separate objects, whether elephant tusks or something else.

There is an evident difference between the right and left sides of its face. It’s not clear whether this is due to the original casting, or to later damage such as partial melting, etc. when it was buried; it is not known what might have been attached to them.

青铜跪坐人像 Kneeling Figures

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

Wearing a gill-shaped decoration on the head (a popular headdress in the Shang Dynasty), long-sleeved clothes, and belt around the waist, the kneeling bronze figure on the left puts his hands on his thighs and sits upright. He may be participating in some serious ceremony. The bronze figure on the right kneels on one leg, puts his hands on his right leg, wears a crown on the top of his head, and his eyebrows, eyes and mouth are painted black.

青铜跪坐人像 Kneeling Figure

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

His expression and hairstyle are very strange. He may have been riding on the body of a monster that looks like a tiger, and a person with divine power. Also what is special about this figurine is that it was excavated from Pit No.1.

青铜持璋小人像 Kneeling Figure Holding A Ritual Blade

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

The bronze figurine kneels down on his knees and holds the zhang 璋 in both hands performing a sacrificial rite. Head missing. The figure is only 4.7 cm tall and 1.8 cm wide. There were many of these figurines in the pits, like little green toy soldiers.

顶尊跪坐人像 Kneeling Figurine with Zun

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

Overall height 15.6cm, height of base 5.3cm, diameter of base 10cm, weight 236g. This is a very rare example of woman in worship; although not as supple as in other female figurine, this is the only bronze figure that has been uncovered so far with depiction of nipples/breasts. This object may be the scene of the ancient Shu people offering the sky with wine.

And It All Disappeared One Night

Archaeologists now believe that the culture wilfully dismantled itself sometime between 3,000 and 2,800 years ago. The current explanations for why it disappeared were war and flood, but both are not very convincing. Earthquake? Chengdu is on one of the most active fault lines in China and a major quake happened every century, but again there’s not evidence from the digs.

But about 14 years ago, archaeologists found the remains of another ancient city called Jinsha near Chengdu. The Jinsha site, though it contained none of the impressive bronzes of Sanxingdui, did have a gold crown with a similar engraved motif of fish, arrows and birds as a golden staff found at Sanxingdui, Keller said. That has led some scholars to believe that the people from Sanxingdui may have relocated to Jinsha. 

But why has remained a mystery.

Visited Dec 2021

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