Cover news reporter Dai Zhuxin photo report
"It's too big, it's really shocking." On February 15, tourists from Baoji, Shaanxi Province, saw the sanxingdui bronze mask that had just returned to Sichuan on a "business trip" in the Sanxingdui Museum Cultural Relics Protection and Restoration Hall. Not long ago, this large mask appeared on the spring evening of the Year of the Tiger and repeatedly appeared on the hot search, causing national concern.
A large bronze mask in a showcase
On the day of the Lantern Festival, the bronze mask "home", officially exhibited for the first time in the Sanxingdui Museum Cultural Relics Protection and Restoration Hall, the large mask in the low-reflection glass display cabinet, incomparably majestic, attracted many tourists to stop and watch. It is understood that this exhibition is a temporary exhibition in response to the needs of the majority of tourists. In the next step, Sanxingdui Museum will also further carry out the restoration and research of bronze masks with a first-class technical team within the United Nations.
Witnesses reveal the secrets
The excavation of the large bronze mask is a delight
This bronze mask is 131 cm wide, 71 cm high, 66 cm deep, and weighs 131 pounds, which is the largest bronze mask with the most complete shape, the largest volume and the best preservation excavated from the Sanxingdui site. Its wide forehead, exaggerated face, eyebrows, eyes, nose, lips, ears and other lines are smooth and angular.
Large bronze mask according to Sanxingdui Museum
Lei Yu, director of the Sanxingdui Ruins Workstation and director of the Sanxingdui Museum, is a witness to the excavation of the big mask, and he introduced that this large bronze mask should be the largest humanoid bronze mask found so far, unearthed in the third pit of the Sanxingdui site sacrifice area.
When unearthed, it was face down, and the entire abdominal cavity was piled with ivory. "At that time, we first saw the ears, and when we saw that the ears were still in good condition, we expected that the mask should be relatively complete." Lei Yu said that after slowly cleaning up the ivory, the archaeologists found that the mask was hardly cut or burned, and the preservation was better, and they were overjoyed.
Large bronze mask
The most surprising discovery was the attachment on the large mask. On the right eyeball of the large mask, archaeologists found the remains of silk fabrics with warp and weft tissue. "Previously, we had not found silk fabric in pit three, and the residue on the large mask allowed us to be sure that there were silk fabrics in pit three and pit four. Moreover, the silk fabric on the eyeball of this large mask is better preserved than that of Pit Four. Thunderstorm said that after more than three months of meticulous cleaning, the bronze mask was finally unveiled. The large masks currently on display are only preliminary restorations, and will continue to be inspected and repaired.
"Today I was really lucky to catch the first exhibition of the bronze mask." Tourist Mr. Li also saw the program of bronze masks at the Spring Festival Gala. "The feeling of witnessing it is still different, it is very shocking." He also had some doubts, such a large mask, how did the ancients whose production technology was not developed make it successfully?
In The view of Thunderstorm, the casting technology of the bronze mask of Sanxingdui is also more complicated, which is the same as the bronze casting in the Central Plains, and mainly adopts the sub-casting method. "At present, we are studying the mask with about 4 parts of casting, and then casting them together. This casting technology is almost identical to that of the Central Plains, and it also proves that our ancient Shu civilization is an inseparable part of Chinese civilization. ”
Respond to public expectations
The museum is curated non-stop
"After the Sanxingdui bronze mask was on the Spring Festival Gala, we received a lot of public questions, when will we be able to see the big mask at the Sanxingdui Museum?" Yu Jian, director of the Cultural Relics Protection Department of Sanxingdui Museum, said that in order to respond to the needs of tourists, better display the results of Sanxingdui archaeological excavations, so that everyone can more intuitively understand the ancient Shu culture, the staff is non-stop planning the exhibition back to Sichuan.
After various preliminary work such as transportation preparations, the big mask departed from Beijing on February 10 and returned to Sanxingdui after three days of transportation. In order to allow visitors to have a better viewing experience, the museum has customized special display cabinets. Yu Jian introduced that the display cabinet specifications are 208cm× 185cm×110cm, weighing 500 kg, using low-reflection double-layer laminated glass, very transparent, bronze mask details can also be seen at a glance.
Picture according to Sanxingdui Museum
"In order to respond to the exhibition needs of the masses, Sanxingdui Museum mobilized professional logistics and exhibition companies, specially customized the display cabinets, adjusted the exhibition hall display, and finally ensured that the bronze masks could meet the public during the 'Lantern Festival'." Zhu Yarong, director of the Planning and Construction Department of the Sanxingdui Museum Scenic Area Management Committee, said.
In the next step, Sanxingdui Museum will also further carry out the restoration and research of bronze masks with 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 general public can more deeply understand the bronze culture of Sanxingdui and appreciate the brilliant and colorful ancient Chinese bronze civilization.