It is speculated that the bronze large mask or sacrificial artifact represents the image of the gods in the hearts of the ancient Shu people

Cover news reporter Dai Zhuxin

Wide and wide, exaggerated face, angular... At the Spring Festival Gala of the Year of the Tiger, the bronze mask of Sanxingdui was officially unveiled. With a width of 131 cm, a height of 71 cm, a depth of 66 cm and a weight of 131 kg, it is the largest bronze mask with the most complete shape and the largest volume excavated from the Sanxingdui site.

After taking a look at its style, netizens have speculated that this bronze ware that is larger than a person, what did the ancient Shu people use it to do? Ran Honglin, the publisher of cultural relics at the Spring Festival Gala and director of the Sanxingdui Archaeological Research Institute of the Sichuan Provincial Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology, talked about his views.

Ran Honglin believes that the Sanxingdui mask reflects the image of the gods in the minds of the ancient Shu people, and the characteristics they have should be the characteristics of the objects of sacrifice of the ancient Shu people. In particular, the bronze mask, because of its huge size, cannot be a "practical" mask used to wear in reality, but the image of the ancients after the personification of the sacrificial object, which is an artifact used for sacrifice.

What is the magic of the square hole in the forehead of the large mask? Ran Honglin believes that there are two possibilities. "Perhaps it is the hole left by the mortise structure used to fix the mask elsewhere, or it may be that there was originally an ornament in the forehead, which was used to fix the decoration."

Among sanxingdui's many "strange" cultural relics, in addition to the bronze mask that appeared on the Spring Festival Gala, Sanxingdui also has a "twin brother" that can be called "twin brother" - it is a large mask excavated in Pit No. 2 in 1986. Compared with the newly excavated large masks, the specific amount of large surfaces excavated in Pit No. 2 is slightly smaller, the shape is almost exactly the same, and its use may be the same.

In addition, in the Sanxingdui Museum, there is also a rather peculiar convex large mask. Its eye depictions are extremely exaggerated, with a columnar outward bulge of more than ten centimeters, and its ears are stretched, and it is named "Bronze Longitudinal Mask". In response to this mask, Ran Honglin said that its exaggerated appearance may be the ancient Shu people expressing their inner appeal. "I want to see far and hear far." In addition, some scholars combined with the first generation of Shu kings "silkworm bush longitudinal" speculated that this may be the silkworm bush god image that people worship.

Sanxingdui cultural relics are splendid, in addition to these two large masks, but also unearthed a large number of various small masks. Some experts speculate that masks similar in size to human faces may have been used in sacrificial activities, worn on faces, representing the characters of priests. But in Ran Honglin's view, this possibility is not very likely. "The mask is still relatively heavy, and it should be more difficult to wear it, which I personally think is unlikely."