At the Spring Festival Gala of the Year of the Tiger, the largest bronze artifact unearthed in the world, the Sanxingdui bronze mask, appeared on CCTV, showing the unique charm of the Sanxingdui bronze civilization.
The bronze mask shocked the audience and also aroused the attention of the whole people, and some netizens shouted: "When will the Sanxingdui bronze mask go home?" When will I get a glimpse? "On February 14, the bronze mask was transported back to the Sanxingdui Museum and completed the point delivery. On February 15 (Lantern Festival), the bronze mask that had just "returned home" was officially displayed for the first time in the Cultural Relics Protection and Restoration Hall of Sanxingdui Museum, sending the Lantern Festival exhibition "Easter Eggs" to the majority of tourists.
Sanxingdui bronze large mask
The largest bronze mask at the Sanxingdui site was unearthed
Since 1986, when Sanxingdui "woke up to the world", 8 "sacrificial pits" have been discovered at the Sanxingdui site, and a large number of exquisite bronzes, jade, gold, ivory and other cultural relics have been unearthed. Among them, the bronze mask is the most characteristic typical artifact in the Sanxingdui culture, and it should be an artifact placed in the temple for worship. More than 3,000 years ago, the ancient Shu people used them to communicate with the gods.
On June 23, 2021, the No. 3 sacrifice pit at the Sanxingdui site, a large bronze mask was unveiled under the careful care of archaeologists. Due to the large specific amount, in order to extract safely, cultural security experts carefully formulated a plan, scientifically developed a reinforcement body, and carefully implemented hoisting, and finally succeeded.
Large bronze masks were unearthed for hoisting
This bronze mask is 131cm wide, 71cm high, 66cm deep, weighs 131 pounds, its width is wide, the face is exaggerated, the eyebrows, eyes, nose, lips, ears and other lines are smooth, angular and distinct, which is called "bronze mask" by archaeologists.
"This is a large bronze mask with the most complete shape, the largest volume and the best preservation excavated from the Sanxingdui site." Lei Yu, director of the Sanxingdui Ruins Workstation and director of the Sanxingdui Museum, introduced that the bronze mask was excavated from the Sanxingdui No. 3 sacrifice pit, buried in the south-central part of the pit, the mask face down, which was superimposed with ivory, and after more than three months of careful cleaning, it was finally released. "I was really overjoyed when I took it out, and it was such a state when it was unearthed." "It has a lot of attachments to its right eye and other parts, such as sea shells under its nostrils, and a lot of jade residue on its right eyeball, and we were pleasantly surprised to find silk fabric residue on the right eyeball."
Lei Yu introduced, first of all, the specific amount of large surfaces is large; secondly, the bronze mask of Sanxingdui itself is also the most personal and aesthetic features of a work of art in the world during the same period; third, the casting technology of large masks is also relatively complex, and it is the same as the Central Plains, mainly a kind of casting method. "At present, we are studying the mask with about 4 parts of casting, and then casting them together. This casting technology comes from the Central Plains region of the Yellow River Basin, and its casting technology, including its core components, is almost exactly the same as that of the Central Plains, which also proves that our ancient Shu civilization is an inseparable part of Chinese civilization. ”
After the large mask was extracted, the cultural security personnel conducted an analysis and study of its casting process, and the production was first divided into moldings, cast by the face, the back of the cheek, the eyes, the ears and other parts, and then welded and combined into one, which is not only the perfect combination of bronze technology and art, but also the unique expression of the spiritual world of the ancient Shu people. The cultural security personnel also found silk textile residues with warp and weft organization in the right eyebrow, right eyeball and right corner of the eye, and the combination of silk and mask with the function of "heaven and theosophy" highlighted the meaning of sacred sacrifice.
The national treasure went to Beijing to "walk" for 3 days and 2,000 kilometers
In November 2021, the Sichuan Provincial Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology, which is responsible for the archaeological excavation of the Sanxingdui Sacrifice Area, received a call from the CCTV Spring Festival Gala program group. They hope to invite Sanxingdui archaeologists to the stage of the CCTV Spring Festival Gala to tell the story of the archaeological excavations of Sanxingdui that have exploded throughout the year, and bring a typical cultural relic for on-site release. This cultural relic is the bronze mask that was finally selected from several candidate national treasures.
In order to ensure the absolute safety of the display of the bronze mask Spring Festival Gala and the back and forth, under the careful organization and guidance of the State Administration of Cultural Heritage, Sichuan organized relevant cultural institutions to form a special class, carefully formulated a cultural relics safety guarantee plan, and carefully implemented the cleaning, packaging, transportation, unloading, exhibition, security, protection and other work of cultural relics.
To meet the people of the whole country, the "national treasure" cannot be "unkempt." Ren Junfeng, a staff member of the Cultural Protection Center of the Sichuan Academy of Cultural Relics and Archaeology, and Yu Jian, director of the Cultural Protection Center of the Sanxingdui Museum, are cultural protection experts who entered Beijing with cultural relics this time.
Yu Jian introduced that the newly excavated bronze mask has rust and soil and other attachments on the surface, so it looks particularly "vicissitudes". According to the results of the previous research and analysis, the cultural security personnel formulated a cultural relics reinforcement protection plan, targeted the surface mud stains, mud covers, indurations, and rust (unstable rust and corrosion that affected cultural relics information) to be removed; following the principle of least intervention, the stainless steel structure bracket was used for complete physical reinforcement to ensure that the status of cultural relics met the requirements of transportation display. The large bronze mask with the characteristics of Sanxingdui was selected in one fell swoop after being "groomed and dressed".
Staff packing large bronze masks
To transport such a "big man" safely to Beijing and then return home safely, there must be no mistake, otherwise it will cause irreversible harm to cultural relics. In the end, Huaxie International Treasure Freight Service Co., Ltd., which has professional qualifications and rich experience in the packaging and transportation of international and domestic cultural relics, was entrusted to be responsible for "escorting".
Before departure, according to the shape, size, shockproof, temperature and humidity and other indicators of the cultural relics, the staff tailor-made suitable special packaging and transportation boxes for cultural relics, and use professional cultural relics transport vehicles with constant temperature and humidity for cultural relics transportation. In addition, the vehicle has an air cushion "shock absorption" system, which can reduce the number of vibrations in the body and prevent the occurrence of car rolls and shaking.
"There are more than 2,000 kilometers from Guanghan to Beijing, and it took us 3 days. In order to ensure the safety of cultural relics, we all transport them during the day and stop overnight at museums along the route at night. Ji Dapeng, an escort of the Huaxie Company, introduced that the cultural relics transportation process, routes, and security are strictly operated in accordance with the norms to ensure that nothing goes wrong. The "specifications" of this appearance are not small. On the way from the "borrowed" museum to the CCTV live broadcast room, the transport company applied to the local public security bureau to enforce the third-level security to ensure the smooth and safe transportation of cultural relics.
After the cultural relics arrived in Beijing, the State Administration of Cultural Heritage attached great importance to it, and the relevant responsible persons checked the details of safety and security on the spot, and compacted the safety responsibility of cultural relics one by one. Starting from the need for the safe display of cultural relics, the CCTV Spring Festival Gala program sets up an exclusive stage type to ensure professional operation time and ensure that cultural relics are safely and statically displayed at the Spring Festival Gala.
The stunning debut of the Spring Festival Gala has aroused the attention of the whole people
Sanxingdui bronze mask debuted at the Spring Festival Gala, showing boundless prestige, shocking the audience and attracting the attention of the whole people.
According to the data provided by the Sanxingdui Museum, the average rating of the CCTV Spring Festival Gala live broadcast reached 21.93%, and the number of Weibo topics such as Weibo #Sanxingdui Bronze Mask Spring Festival Gala Debut # exceeded 135 million times.
After the program was broadcast, the audience not only called and praised Sanxingdui on the self-media platform, but also arranged the itinerary immediately, and went straight to Sanxingdui during the Spring Festival holiday, wanting to have a close contact with the same big mask as the Spring Festival Gala. Some netizens even shouted: "When will the Sanxingdui bronze mask come home?" When will I get a glimpse? ”
During the Spring Festival Gala, 83,700 people visited Sanxingdui, and the sales revenue of cultural and creative culture increased by 339.01% year-on-year. The latest artifacts excavated from the sacrificial pits at the Sanxingdui site, such as bronze statues of birds standing and kneeling with their heads turned, are also displayed with visitors in the Museum of Cultural Relics Conservation and Restoration. In addition to watching the bronze longitudinal masks of the "Mask Family", the bronze crown longitudinal masks, and the bronze man masks, visitors can also immerse themselves in the cultural relics restoration process, and can also purchase cultural and creative products such as "Tiger Leap Samsung".
Safe "homecoming" Lantern first exhibition to meet with the public
On February 14, after the bronze mask was transported back to the Sanxingdui Museum Cultural Protection Center, the point was successfully completed. Ji Dapeng and the others were relieved: "We finally sent it home safely." At this point, the netizens who "broke their hearts" for the bronze mask can also rest assured.
"In order for it to meet the audience, we tailored a showcase for it." Yu Jian introduced that the 208cm185cm 110cm display case weighs 500 kg, and in order to make the public see more clearly, low-reflection double-layer laminated glass is used. "We're worried that tourists are too engaged and hit the glass."
Sanxingdui bronze mask "home", the staff is unpacking
In order to respond to the viewing needs of the majority of audiences and netizens, the bronze masks that have just arrived home are unboxed and transported to the Cultural Relics Protection and Restoration Hall for exhibition.
"This is just a temporary exhibition, a response to the expectations of the audience for the bronze mask of the Spring Festival Gala." Zhu Yarong, director of the Planning and Construction Department of the Sanxingdui Museum Scenic Area Management Committee, introduced that the bronze mask can meet with the public during the "Lantern Festival", which fully reflects the concept of protection and utilization of the Sanxingdui site "sharing the fruits of protection" and the "people-oriented" concept of the Sanxingdui Museum.
"But this bronze is not yet a final restoration state, at present has formulated a specific cultural relics restoration plan, is going through the approval process, and after the adoption, we will carry out a formal restoration of this cultural relics." Zhu Yarong introduced that after the start of the restoration, in the process of restoring the large mask, visitors can pay attention to a process of its restoration in the Cultural Relics Protection and Restoration Museum, and after the restoration is completed, it will be officially exhibited in the new sanxingdui museum that will soon start construction.
In the next step, Sanxingdui Museum will also further carry out the restoration and research of cultural relics such as bronze masks and other cultural relics by the first-class technical team in the United Nations, and share more research results on the protection of Sanxingdui cultural relics with the public through auxiliary display methods such as excavation, restoration and introduction videos, so that the masses can more deeply understand the Sanxingdui bronze culture, appreciate the brilliant and colorful ancient Chinese bronze civilization, and stimulate cultural self-confidence.
Red Star News reporter Wang Mingping
Edited by Zhang Li
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