Sanxingdui Tour Guide (6)

Sanxingdui Tour Guide

The top of the high-handled bean is a plate-shaped body, which is mainly used to hold (cheng2) food. The lower part is a trumpet-shaped ring foot, and the tubular bean handle connects the two. (ba4), some bean handles are as long as more than 70 centimeters. This is a very clever and practical living utensil designed by the ancients who sat on the floor to facilitate their lives. There is also an eye engraved on the base of this high-handled bean. The eye graphic appears frequently on Sanxingdui cultural relics and must have a profound meaning.

The three-legged cooking utensil may be an appliance used by the ancients to steam and cook food. The three legs stand in a tripod shape, and the feet can be used to light a fire for heating. The three legs are hollow and connected with the mouth. They can hold a large amount of water and are wide. The plate can be used to hold water or place food. Its huge shape and unique shape are very rare.

The shapes of the pottery Gai Niu unearthed at Sanxingdui are lifelike, lively and lovely. In terms of shape, there are lotus-shaped, cockscomb-shaped, and some are like the roof of a mosque, and the cover part is made of wheels. The buttons are hand-kneaded, fully demonstrating the rich imagination and superb skills of Sanxingdui's unknown craftsmen.

Hundreds of "bird-head handle (ba4) spoons" were unearthed from the site. Most of the spoon bodies were damaged, leaving only the "spoon handle (ba4)" with a bird's head shape. The bird's curved hooked beak is very similar to that of an osprey. Academic circles believe that the ancient Shu Kingdom of Sanxingdui may have a close connection with the legendary third-generation King of Shu, Yufu. This large number of bird-headed spoon handles is one of the very important evidences.

With its unpretentious qualities, the Sanxingdui pottery reproduces the vivid animation of the daily life of the ancient Shu people, and played a huge role in the dating of the Sanxingdui site and the staging of the Sanxingdui culture.

Unit 4: Using jade to communicate with gods—Sanxingdui jade artifacts

Jade artifacts have a unique position in the history of the Chinese nation. Since the late Neolithic Age, my country's jade industry has been very developed. During this period, the jade wares of the Liangzhu Culture were the most famous. The spectacular jade artifacts draw people's attention to the mysterious ancient Shu Kingdom of Sanxingdui.

The ancients believed that "beautiful stones are jade." These stones from the Duck River in the north of the site were all raw materials used by the ancients to make jade tools. Most of the Sanxingdui jade stone materials come from Maoxian, Wenchuan and Dujiangyan in Sichuan.

The smooth cutting marks on the surface of the stone are probably the handwriting left by our ancestors thousands of years ago. Jade is hard and the molding process is complicated. In the Sanxingdui site, we have not found any tools left behind for making jade wares. So what tools did the ancient Shu people use to process jade wares in the Bronze Age?

The exquisite set of jade ware in Sanxingdui fully illustrates the superb skills, great patience and perseverance of the skilled craftsmen. The ancient Shu Kingdom in the Shang Dynasty already had a certain scale of jade processing workshops.

"The Rites of the Zhou Dynasty" states: "Use jade to make six utensils to honor the four directions of heaven and earth; use green jade to honor the sky; yellow cong (cóng) to honor the earth; use green gui to honor the east; red canopy to honor the south; According to the record "White Hu (hǔ) worships the west, Xuanhuang (huáng) worships the north", it can be seen that jade tools were widely used in ancient China to worship gods (shen2) and worship heaven and earth. Most of the jade wares in Sanxingdui are ceremonial items with strong religious and sacrificial colors.

The chisel is originally a tool, and the jade chisels in Sanxingdui are made of carefully selected materials, beautifully processed, and have no traces of use. In particular, the "chisels" in Pit No. 2 were all placed on copper when they were unearthed. Lei (léi) proves that these jade tools are ritual vessels dedicated to the gods in sacrifices.

A large number of finely processed tools and weapons were unearthed from the site, including spears, pounds, axes, knives, swords and other utensils that also have no practical value. The blades were as sharp as new when they were unearthed, and they were mostly used for sacrifices. In the pit, it should also be used as a ritual vessel. Ritual jade weapons and tools are important features of Sanxingdui jade culture.

Although the front part of this jade sword is broken, it is still very precious. In ancient times, a bronze dagger was popular in Sichuan, which was called "Willow Leaf Sword" because it resembled a willow leaf. In the past, people always believed that it became popular late and originated from other regions. However, the unearthing of the Sanxingdui jade sword proved that the willow leaf sword probably originated from Shu. Now, some scholars have put forward a novel opinion: they believe that although "Willow Leaf Sword" has been called "Liu Ye Jian" for many years, its correct name should be "Bamboo Leaf Sword". To be honest, the shape of this sword looks more like a bamboo leaf than a willow leaf. Judging from the lush bamboo forests all over Sichuan, perhaps the ancient Shu ancestors modeled this sword on the shape of a bamboo leaf.

Among the jade ritual vessels in Sanxingdui, Ge and Zhang (zhāng) have the largest number. "Ge" is originally a weapon, but these Ges made of jade are finely processed, extremely thin, and have no lethality. When they were unearthed, the blades were intact and had no traces of use. They should be used for ceremonial purposes. Utensils can enhance the momentum in religious ceremonies or performances, and are used to exorcise evil spirits and suppress demons in activities such as worshiping ancestors and calling on gods to come.

The ancients believed that "the sky is round and the earth is round", and this concept was embodied in ritual vessels. The main purpose of this kind of cong, which is square on the outside and round on the inside, is to worship the earth. Cong is a typical artifact of the Liangzhu culture in the lower reaches of the Yangtze River. Its appearance in Sanxingdui shows that the two places had cultural exchanges very early.

There are many round objects in Sanxingdui jade, namely: Bi, Yuan and Huan. These artifacts with the characteristics of the Central Plains culture indicate that the Sanxingdui culture and the Central Plains culture were closely connected at that time. The most well-known of these three artifacts is bi. In the minds of ancient people, bi is the symbol of the sky. In "The Rites of Zhou", bi is listed as the first of the "six vessels", which shows that bi is one of the most important ritual vessels in ancient Chinese rituals.

This is the largest stone jade found nationwide. It has a diameter of 70 centimeters, a thickness of nearly 7 centimeters, and a weight of more than 100 kilograms. It is shaped like the cover of a well. There are obvious traces of pipe drilling.

This group of stone biscuits, the larger ones are more than ten centimeters in diameter, and the smaller ones are only two or three centimeters in diameter. When they were unearthed, they were found stacked like stalagmites from large to small in the pit, symbolizing the mountains and mountains. It has the meaning of reaching heaven. Archaeologists have discovered that some living tools such as spinning wheels were made from the stone cores taken from the middle of the stone bis, which can be said to be used to their best advantage.

"Zhang" is the most distinctive and abundant type of jade artifact in Sanxingdui. The jade objects in Sanxingdui are divided into Bianzhang and Yazhang. is called Bian Zhang. This piece of tooth zhang is made of carefully selected materials and is shiny black. It is 90.8 centimeters long and only 5 millimeters thick. Although the cutting edge is thin, it is as sharp as new. There are finely processed multi-toothed edges and hollow patterns on both sides of the lower handle. , solemn and elegant.

This is the largest Zhang found in the country so far, with a residual length of 1.59 meters. It is estimated that the original length should be more than two meters. Both ends are engraved with exquisite patterns, with smooth lines and as thin as a hair. The processing difficulty of the entire artifact is quite high. Just cutting a piece of jade that is more than two meters long is something we can hardly imagine now.

The "fish-shaped jade Zhang" is a unique artifact of the Sanxingdui culture. It is named because its overall shape resembles a fish. A large number of fish- and bird-shaped artifacts were discovered at the Sanxingdui site, which may be related to the totem and nature worship at that time. The fish-shaped jade Zhang is an artifact closely related to the Yufu Dynasty.

The exquisite craftsmanship and wide variety of jade ritual vessels at Sanxingdui are enough to prove that the ancient Shu Kingdom in Sanxingdui had a relatively complete religious sacrificial system by the late Shang Dynasty at the latest.

Unit 5: Fiery Fire Melts Gold—Sanxingdui Smelting

The earliest bronzes discovered in China are cultural relics from the Xia Dynasty around 4,000 years ago, and the most glorious period of Chinese bronze culture was the Shang Dynasty. During the Zhou Dynasty, the bronzes from Sanxingdui are typical representatives of the bronze culture of southwest China during this period.