Where are the historical and cultural heritage, museums, heritage parks, books? The Chengdu Jinsha site seems to provide an answer: historical and cultural heritage and urban civilization coexist and exist in all aspects of people's lives.
The spark of modern sports is lit at the Sands site
On February 25, 2022, the welcome ceremony for the handover of the tinder of the 31st Summer Universiade, which will open in Chengdu in June this year, was held at the Jinsha Site Museum, which is also the 21st anniversary of the excavation of the gold ornaments of the museum's "town hall", the Golden Jewelry of the Sun God Bird in Jinsha. After arriving in Chengdu, the Great Luck Fire from Turin, Italy, made its debut in a heritage park, tracing the history of Chengdu and greeting each other with the sun god bird, about to compose the music of life and movement, harmony and unity.
Chengdu Dong'an Lake Sports Park
"Although the gold ornament of the Sun God Bird is a relic from 3,000 years ago, the connotation it reflects is in line with the modern sportsmanship of 'higher, faster, stronger and more united'." Zhu Zhangyi, director of the Jinsha Site Museum, who participated in the tindering session, said.
The inner pattern of the sun god bird gold ornament is a sun that sprays twelve rays of light on all sides, full of movement, and the outer layer of four winged god birds flying back and forth around the sun. The composition of this cultural relic is rigorous, the lines are smooth, the rhythm is very rhythmic, and it is full of strong dynamics, which coincides with the ancient Chinese legend of "Golden Wu Negative Day", which not only reflects the Chinese's love for light, but also shows the meaning of freedom, beauty and unity.
In the preparation of the 31st Summer Universiade, the sun god bird element appeared frequently, incarnated as the emblem of the Chengdu Universiade and the emblem of the core venue Phoenix Mountain Sports Park, showing the profound cultural heritage of the country of Tianfu. Above the main venue, Dong'an Lake Stadium, tens of thousands of pieces of glazed glass are assembled from the Sun God Bird, which welcomes the looking up of the earth and the overlook of the sky.
On August 31, 2021, the torch release event of the 31st Summer Universiade in Chengdu was held at the Jinsha Site Museum in Chengdu, and the first universiade torch "RongHuo" placed the sun god bird pattern on the top of the torch, ushering in the world's attention.
The first major archaeological discovery on the mainland in the 21st century
As the first major archaeological discovery on the mainland in the 21st century, the Jinsha site located on the second ring road of Chengdu was discovered in 2001. Precious cultural relics such as gold ornaments, gold masks, ten jade jades, and ivory were unearthed, which not only solved the mystery of the whereabouts of Sanxingdui, but also found the historical roots for Chengdu.
On Feb. 25, the 18th day of excavations at the Jinsha site, when archaeologists screened again, a small golden mass emerged from a small ten-centimeter-square mud block, particularly dazzling in the sun. After the archaeologists peeled off the soil on the outer layer of the "mud block" with bamboo pieces and brushes, they found that the inside was a gold object that had been kneaded into a ball. In the hands of cultural protection workers, the "Sun God Bird" was reborn and stretched and rotated.
In August 2005, the Sun God Bird Gold Ornament stood out from more than 2,000 cultural relics and was selected as a symbol of Chinese cultural heritage; in October, it carried the "Shen VI" spacecraft to space.
Now, the original of the gold ornament of the Sun God Bird is displayed in the exhibition hall of the Jinsha Site Museum, and the museum dome inspired by it, whenever the sun is clear, the sun casts the pulsating light and shadow of the Sun God Bird on the huge curved wall. In the exhibition hall of the museum under the shadow of this light, not only many precious cultural relics excavated from the Jinsha site are displayed, but also the cultural relics exchange dialogue from Egypt, Italy, Mexico, Syria and other countries and regions has been welcomed.
Jinsha Site Museum Pavilion Dome
Although it is "forbidden to go abroad (border) to exhibit cultural relics", the image of the golden jewelry of the sun god bird has also entered Mexico, Morocco, the United Kingdom and the United States in the form of colored lanterns, pictures or 3D prints, so that international audiences from afar can feel the charm of Chinese culture across the distance of time and space.
Cultural heritage and urban civilization coexist
The sun god bird has a special meaning for Chengdu people, it grows in Chengdu, buried deep in Chengdu, excavated in Chengdu, has been engraved into the memory of the city, it is not only the "past", but also the "present", existing in the lives of citizens.
Gold ornaments of the sun god bird excavated from the Jinsha site
Tianfu Square, located in the center of the city, is the heart of Chengdu, and the center of the square has the image of the sun god bird; as one of the traffic hubs open to the outside world in western China, the Chengdu Tianfu International Airport terminal has built the shape of the sun god bird; the new Internet red landmark Chengdu Longquan Mountain City Forest Park Danjingtai, there is a very nice name called "City Eye", the sun god bird is its eye. Since 2009, the "Jinsha Sun Festival", created by the Sun God Bird, has become one of the most popular entertainment activities for citizens during the Spring Festival. Subways, buses, overpasses, street light poles, manhole covers under their feet... Chengdu can see the "figure" of the sun god bird everywhere.
Night view of Chengdu Tianfu Interchange
In Chengdu, there are citizens using ginkgo biloba leaves to form a landscape of sun god birds on the street, and there are farmers' creative sunflower fields... The Sun God Bird is not an icy artifact, but a symbol of a city with a temperature.
Chengdu Chongzhou sun god bird rape flower field
Reporter: Tong Fang
Images courtesy of the Jinsha Site Museum
Editor: Li Zhengyan