Mysteries also abound among the relics excavated at Sanxingdui. Take the bronze artifacts for example. Qiu Xueqing says the features on some of the bronze portraits are way beyond what many people would have imagined. Facial features such as big eyes and high-bridged noses don't quite reflect those of Asian people. She points out that the most symbolic artifacts in this museum are bronze masks. Such masks are considered to reflect the actual facial appearance of the first king of the ancient Shu kingdom.
"This is the largest bronze mask in the world. It's also one of China's national treasures. The mask is really special, its facial features in particular. It has a pair of cylinder-shaped bulging eyes and a pair of widely-stretched ears."
Another wonder is the sacred bronze tree. Measuring nearly four meters tall, the tree has nine branches extending from the trunk. There are three kinds of fruits on every branch, including peaches. The ancient Chinese people believed a tree was the reincarnation of the universe, and the fruits on the tree symbolized the sun, the moon and the stars in the universe. Qiu Xueqing tells us that the sacred tree from Sanxingdui is believed to represent a connection between Heaven and Earth.
"This bronze tree is the most refined bronze artifact, representing a very high level of craftsmanship. It's unique in the world, and the moulding techniques are also unprecedented. Such a large bronze artifact must have been made piece by piece, because it's not possible that it could be built all at once. We have altogether eight bronze trees here at Sanxingdui, but we've only completed the restoration of two of them. It took us three years to restore this largest one."
Ao Tianzhao from the Sanxingdui Museum has been studying the Sanxingdui culture for half a century. He says the large number of bronze artifacts at Sanxingdui indicates that this site used to be a mecca for pilgrims.
"Judging from the numerous bronze human images and funerary objects, the ancient Sanxingdui kingdom had unified and ruled the people through primordial religion. They worshiped nature, totems and their ancestors. The ancient Shu kingdom probably often held grand sacrificial activities to attract tribes with different religious beliefs to come from far and near to worship."
It's reasonable to believe that the bronze artifacts are the most representative of all the relics unearthed at the Sanxingdui site. They exemplify the high level of craftsmanship of the Shu people. At the same time, the large amount of ivories and seashells discovered at the site prompted even more curiosity from researchers. Our guide Qiu Xueqing says elephants did not live in Sichuan during the time of the Shu Kingdom.
"Some scholars say these ivories were transported here via the southern Silk Road. Besides, the nearly 5,000 seashells, which cannot originate in inland areas, suggest the trade road of the ancient Shu kingdom was long enough to reach Western and Southern Asia. You can see from this how developed trade and commerce was at that time."
Mysteries remain and guesses still abound at Sanxingdui. Countless visitors have been drawn to this famous archeological site.
Well, that concludes our trip to Sanxingdui, a mysterious civilization in Sichuan province. I¡¯m YF, see you next time.
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