Tree worship is a common cultural phenomenon among the world ancient religions and popular beliefs . Various legends and images associated with trees are widely distributed throughout the world. In general, the cultural phenomenon of tree worship in ancient Chinese and Western mythology and images of divine trees is of great significance to study cosmology in ancient times1
National Treasure 国宝
Divine Tree No. 1 铜神树
Bronzeware | The Late Shang Dynasty (1250 – 1100 BC) | Excavated from No.2 Sacrificial Pit of Sanxingdui in 1986 | Sanxingdui Collection. 铜器｜商代晚期 （公元前1250年-前1100年）｜ 1986年三星堆二号祭祀坑出土 ｜三星堆博物馆藏
Eight bronze trees, all broken, burned, and incomplete, were found in sacrificial pit No. 2 at Sanxingdui. The largest and the most complicated is Divine Tree No. 1, which has been restored, is most likely the representation of a Fusang tree, where the legend said that ten suns rose from it2. It serves as the best representative of the bronze trees.
There is one bronze bird standing on the top of each branch. In Chines legends, birds carry the sun on their backs, rising from a tree in the East and resting in a tree in the West. Therefore trees and birds are both symbols of the sun. Sanxingdui’s tall bronze tress sculpture is a reflection of their sun worshiping.
A closer look reveals a dragon at the base of the trunk that appears to be taking flight. This tree doesn’t seem to belong to this world. It certainly doesn’t represent the pragmatic understanding of nature evident in other bronzeware produced in the State of Shu 3,000 years ago. Perhaps it had religious significance, serving as a link between the mortal world and the heavens.
The Legend of the Fusang Tree and Ten Suns
The ten suns were the children of the solar deity Xihe 羲和 (aka Di Jun 帝俊). They lived in a place called Tanggu, a valley in the East where the sun rises, and would bathe in a nearby pool. After bathing, they would dry and rest on the branches of the enormous Fusang tree. The suns were meant to take turns traveling across the sky in a chariot driven by their mother, one each day, with one sun at the top of the tree getting ready for its journey while the other nine rested on the lower branches.
The suns grew tired of this monotonous routine and decided, one day, to appear in the sky all at once. The combined, intense heat scorched the earth, dried up rivers and lakes, and threatened all life with famine and drought. To save the world, the emperor Yao 尧 (or Di Jun, depending on the version of the myth) asked the divine archer Hou Yi 后羿 to discipline his sons. When the suns ignored Hou Yi’s warnings, he shot down nine of them with his magic bow and arrows, saving the world and leaving the single sun we see today in the sky.
Ladders to Heaven
The divine trees had various characteristics and functions, one of which was that it stood in the centre of the earth and functioned as a ladder to heaven. Various tree images suggest differences in meaning and function served in special occasions. Used in temples as instruments for communication with heaven, the Sanxingdui bronze trees are material expressions of the myths and cosmology of the ancient Shu people
Many trees are featured in classical Chinese myths, the most representative ones including the Fusang 扶桑 in the east where the sun rises, the Jianmu 建木 in the centre which extends up into the heavens, the Ruomu 若木 in the west where the sun sets, and finally Xunmu 寻木 in the north with roots that extend to all over the world. These trees are similar in nature to the cosmic trees of foreign myths, illustrating similar conceptions and the way of thinking about nature by early human beings. The trees at Sanxingdui should be the Fusang and Jianmu in these traditional myths.3
All photos taken at Sanxingdui Museum Dec 2021, unless otherwise noted.
About Chinese Treasure Series
中華國寶系列 Chinese Treasure series feature specific artefacts and relics from museums all around the world that are historically significant to be considered a National Treasure. The series covers the 5,000 years of Chinese civilisation from Neolithic periods before the Xia dynasty (c. 2070-1600 BC) to modern day.
Footnotes :
- 中西古代树崇 TREE WORSHIP IN ANCIENT CHINA AND THE WESTERN CULTURES
对树的崇拜是古代世界各宗教与民间信仰中共通的文化现象，关于树的种种神话传说与树形图像在世界范围内有广泛分布。“树”图像作为文化象征符号，主要有所谓“宇宙树”与“生命树”两类。前者以物质形式表达古人对宇宙、天象的认识，后者反映古人的吉祥观念井主张其生命意识，但二者界限有时井不明显，尤其在中国古代的神话传说中二者关系颇为密切。总的来说中西古代树神话、树崇拜及神树图像异曲同工这一文化现象，对研究人类早期的宇审观念具有重要意义。Museum information card, Dec 2021 ↩︎ - 羲和，中國神话人物。
傳說她是帝俊的妻子，與帝俊生了十個兒子，都是太陽（金烏）[1]，住在東方大海的扶桑樹上，輪流在天上值日[2]。羲和也是她兒子們的車夫——太陽的使者——日御。後來，十個兄弟不滿先後次序，十日並出，被后羿射殺其中的九個[3]。 屈原的《離騷》有：“吾令羲和弭節兮，望崦嵫而勿迫。”一句。https://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/羲和, accessed 8 Jan 2026 ↩︎ - 铜神树 Divine Tree
铜树由底座、树和龙三部分组成，采用分段铸造法铸造，使用了套铸、铆铸、嵌铸等工艺，通高3.96米，树干顶部及龙身后段略有残缺。在迄今为止我国发现的所有青铜文物中，三星堆神树是形体服大的一件。一般认为，铜树反映了“十日“神话，与传说中的“扶桑”、“建木”“若木”等神树极有关系。此树或是扶桑与若木，是“十日” 神话的实物写照？或是建木，具所谓“登天之梯”的性质？或是“社树”，具立杆测影、以定时刻之功能？或是多种神树的复合想产物，具综合性的特征与功能？Museum information card, Dec 2021 ↩︎
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