The Sanxingdui civilization unearthed many bronze artifacts, among which the most striking one is the tall bronze sacred tree. There is no record of Sanxingdui in the historical records, and scholars can only rely on the basic principle that art comes from life and look for its prototype in reality. After unremitting efforts, scholars have found a horse mulberry tree, which resembles a bronze sacred tree in appearance, and is likely to be the inspiration for the bronze sacred tree.
Horse mulberry tree with bronze sacred tree
So why use the horse mulberry tree as a prototype to make a work of art like the bronze sacred tree? What is the point of this? The legend of the human origin of the Qiang people has the answer.
In the legend of the Qiang people, there are many people in the world. At the same time, there is a tall horse mulberry tree on the ground, which can be directly connected to the sky. One day a monkey climbed up the mulberry tree and came to heaven. The monkey naughtily touched the golden bowl in the sky, and the water in the golden bowl flowed down from the sky, forming a monstrous flood on the ground.
When the gods found out that something was wrong, there was only one pair of brothers and sisters left in the world. The gods saved the brothers and sisters and married them, so that humanity could continue.
Since then, the gods have ordered that the mulberry tree cannot be higher than three feet and three feet, and the horse mulberry tree can no longer reach the heavens.
The horse mulberry tree has a heavenly role in Qiang mythology. The bronze sacred tree was buried in the sacrificial pit as a sacrifice, and according to research, it is likely to carry the ancient people's desire to connect the heavens and the earth. Therefore, it is logical that the bronze sacred tree is based on the legendary masang tree.
Qiang and Sanxingdui civilization
The Qiang people lived in the Gansu region in ancient times, can they really influence the Sanxingdui civilization in the ancient Shu Kingdom? The answer is also in Qiang legends.
The Qiang worshipped Baishi and left many legends about Baishi. One of the legends is that the Qiang people traveled south from Gansu to the upper reaches of the Min River. In order to leave a sign of direction along the way, the Qiang people left white stones along the way.
This is also a possible reason why the Qiang people worship Baishi. The upper reaches of the Min River are the range where the Fish King lives. The migration time of the Qiang people also coincides with the era of the Yu King. It makes sense for the Qiang to bring their culture of the horse mulberry tree to Sanxingdui.
epilogue
In short, the bronze sacred tree of the Sanxingdui civilization is likely to be influenced by the Qiang culture brought by the Qiang people who went south, believing that the Ma Mulberry Tree is a sacred tree that can reach the heavens. Therefore, the Sanxingdui people used the horse mulberry tree as the prototype to make a bronze sacred tree in order to communicate with the heavens. This also shows that the Chinese civilization has influenced each other, thus creating more brilliant civilizations.