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Overflow streamer Where the Soul of Shu is located
——Overview of Samsung gold stackers
Qiu Dengcheng
"Sleep for thousands of years, wake up and shock the world." The ancient Shu kingdom, which lasted for more than 2,000 years in the Sichuan region of China in the pre-Qin period, was once buried in the fog of history, almost legendary, so that the poet Li Bai left in vain the sigh of "silkworm bushes and fish, the founding of the country He Dazed". In 1986, the discovery of two large Shang Dynasty sacrificial pits at the Sanxingdui site knocked on the door of the ancient Shu kingdom that had been sealed for thousands of years, and the whole world was shocked. The excavation of many sacrifice pits at the recent Sanxingdui site has further unveiled the mystery of the ancient Shu civilization.
Thousands of mysterious and exquisite bronzes, gold, jade and ivory have been excavated from the No. 1 and No. 2 sacrifice pits of the Sanxingdui site, and there are not a few artifacts excavated in recent pits. These treasures reproduce the ancient Shu civilization that has disappeared, and have a mysterious and mysterious artistic charm that shakes people's hearts. As far as gold ware is concerned, a total of 65 pieces of gold artifacts have been excavated from the No. 1 and No. 2 sacrificial pits, including golden rods, gold masks, golden tiger ornaments, gold fish ornaments, gold zhang-shaped ornaments, golden quadrants, gold round ornaments and gold blocks, etc., and 4 gold mask human heads and some gold leaf fragments; recently several sacrificial pits have also unearthed a large number of gold masks and other gold ornaments, the specific number has yet to be sorted out and announced. Obviously, in terms of quantity and shape, the gold artifacts excavated from the Sanxingdui site are rare in archaeological discoveries at home and abroad, adding some mystery and magnificence to the ancient Shu civilization.
Sanxingdui bronze human head wearing a gold mask (Courtesy of Yun He Vision)
The golden wand is, of course, the most eye-catching heavy weapon, containing important historical and cultural information about ancient Shu. The rod is 143 cm long, 2.3 cm in diameter, has a net weight of about 463 g, and the core of the wood has been carbonized at the time of excavation. The upper end of the golden staff has a 46 cm long flat carved pattern, divided into three groups: the lowest group of lines is carved with two human heads with symmetrical front and back, wearing a five-toothed crown and earlobes; the upper two groups are the same pattern, the lower two are birds with two opposite backs, and above are fish with two opposite backs, and the neck and head of the fish are pressed with a feather arrow. Such a pattern undoubtedly has a special meaning.
First look at the human head pattern on the golden staff, wearing a five-toothed flower-shaped high crown and a triangular earring, which is almost identical to the large bronze standing figure. The high flower-shaped crown worn by the bronze statue is actually the symbol of the sun, and the bronze statue is the image of the wizard and king. Correspondingly, the five-toothed flower-like crown worn by the human head pattern on the golden staff is similar to the sun image in the plane, and its toothed crown edge is also the glow of the sun image. Combined with the analysis of bronze portraits, the head pattern on the golden staff represents the image of a revered wizard and king, and should be the supreme ruler who controls the theocratic kingship of the ancient Shu kingdom of Sanxingdui.
Academics generally believe that the fish and bird pattern on the golden staff is related to the Shu king fish, but the interpretation of the fish is not consistent. The "凫" of the fish, "Erya Shi Bird" said: "Shu Kai, Que." Jin Guo Pu's note: "Duck also." And the "Book of Poetry, Daya Kai" notes: "Hey, the water bird is like a duck." From a philological point of view, the word "凫" is derived from a bird, and the Shuowen also attributes it to the bird department, which shows that 凫 is a kind of water bird. Some scholars believe that many of the bird-shaped artifacts unearthed at Sanxingdui are very similar to the osprey commonly found in the Western Sichuan Plain, which is the osprey that catches fishing. So, is the fish and the fish a combination of two different tribes, representing two different tribes or an alliance of the two? If so, then one can't help but ask, why is it that among the tens of thousands of cultural relics unearthed at Sanxingdui, there are a large number of bird heads and spoons and bronze birds, but there are almost no matching fish-shaped artifacts? Coincidentally, in recent years, in the archaeology of the Jinsha Village site in Chengdu, another gold belt has been excavated, and the pattern on it is the same as the pattern on the Sanxingdui golden staff, which makes people have to re-examine this pattern and explore its special meaning.
Long strips of gold artifacts excavated from the No. 4 sacrifice pit of Sanxingdui site (Courtesy of Sanxingdui Research Institute of Sichuan Provincial Research Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology)
In the ancient people's spiritual deification of all things, birds that can soar into the sky and fish that can dive into the abyss are all things that can psychic spirits and have the same deifying function as dragons. And the one who can serve as a messenger to communicate with heaven and earth and connect people and gods is undoubtedly the King of Shu, who is a wizard and a king. In this sense, the golden staff is not only the scepter representing the king's power, but also the scepter that symbolizes the divine power, and is the magic weapon by which the king of Shu communicates with heaven and earth and connects people and gods. The Huainanzi Topographical Training says: "Jianmu is in Duguang, and the emperors are from top to bottom." Duguang is the "Wild Of Duguang", which is today's Chengdu Plain. And the "jianmu" that can provide the emperors up and down is not the tall and majestic bronze sacred tree unearthed from Sanxingdui. Since the gods used the bronze god tree to go to heaven and earth, the king of Shu was naturally able to communicate with the gods and unify the subjects through the magic power of the fish and birds on the golden staff. Although the meaning of the feather arrow is still unknown, the organic combination of the human head, fish, bird and feather arrow patterns decorates the golden staff beautifully, making people have to appreciate its harmonious and quiet artistic charm while appreciating its profound connotations.
The gold mask and the golden mask human head are another heavy object in addition to the golden staff. The gold mask is molded with pure gold skin, the eyebrows, eyes and mouth are hollowed out, the nose is raised, and its size and shape are consistent with the face of the excavated bronze human head, and some of them are also pasted on the bronze human head. In the past, the golden masks found in ancient Egypt and Greece were covered on the faces of the deceased to protect the faces of the deceased. But the difference is that the gold mask unearthed from Sanxingdui is pasted on the bronze human head, which seems to indicate the unique concept of soul and hierarchy of the ancient Shu people. There are not a few bronze human heads unearthed from Sanxingdui, and most of them wear masks, but few are decorated with gold masks. This seems to indicate that the bronze human head wearing a gold mask, whose identity is different from that of other people's heads, is likely to represent the nobles of the Shu people, the Venerables who receive the respect of all the people. The purpose of the gold mask's eyebrows, eyes and mouth is hollowed out, perhaps so that the eyes of the idol it covers can see the image of the priest and the scene of sacrifice, and the mouth can freely "talk to the priest in secret language". Moreover, the yellow radiance of the golden mask seems to have a crushing function, which can make the place of sacrifice uninfected by evil qi, and the festival is more solemn and solemn. In such a solemn scene, the priests communicate how sacred the sacrifice of the human gods is, and the purpose is to seek the protection of the gods through sacrifices, so as to defeat the enemy in war, or to ensure a good harvest of agricultural production, or to make future generations multiply, etc. In ancient times, the concept of immortality of the soul and the primitive religion found the best point of convergence through these golden masks. Here, the gold mask acts as nothing more than a medium. Although we can no longer imagine how the priests used these golden masks to pretend to be ghosts and communicate with people and gods, after all, we saw the golden and sacred and solemn faces of the ancient Shu people more than 3,000 years ago, and were amazed by the rich imagination and extraordinary artistic creativity of the ancient Shu ancestors.
The golden tiger ornament is a rare art treasure. It is from the bronze human head of No. 11 sacrifice pit, molded with gold leaf, and is 11.7 cm long. Its high head, large mouth of blood basin, short but powerful legs, and strong tail all show its mighty image as the king of the mountains and forests. Its limbs were boldly shortened, but the slightly extended forefoots were so coordinated with the crouching hind legs that it seemed ready to pounce. The hollow eyes are huge and deep, and it is unpredictable whether they contain the viciousness of the tiger or the wisdom of the Creator. And its all-over molded eye-shaped markings make its form more vivid and vivid. Perhaps, it reflects the ancient Shu people's worship and reverence for tigers. The ancient Shu people worshipped tigers with a very early historical origin, "Shan Hai Jing : The Great Wilderness Of the North Classic": "There is a shu shu kingdom." The son of the mole, he eats and makes four birds: tiger, leopard, bear, and cat. Bi Yuan's note: "Doubts are also doubtful." "The Classic of Mountains and Seas and the Classic of Hai Nei": "Lei Zu, the wife of the Yellow Emperor, was born Changyi." Changyi descends like water, born hallow. Korean...... He married a daughter of a son and gave birth to emperor Huan. Bi Yuan's note: "If the water is in Shu." Hao Yixing's "Shan Hai Jing Shu Shu": "濁, Shu ancient characters pass." 濁和通淖, is 淖子, that is, Shu Shan Zi ye. The ancestors of The Emperor were closely related to Shu, and he "sealed his branch to Shu", which is likely to be a different name for his son's "Shu State". The Shu people Shanghu should also be traced back to this point. And the tiger became the king of the mountains and forests with its physical beauty, strength and ferocity, and in the ancient period of animism, the Shu people feared and worshiped it, which was a very natural thing. This tiger-shaped ornament and the bronze tiger unearthed from Sanxingdui are vivid and realistic, which also shows that the Shu people observe the tiger quite carefully, and this should be the source of vitality of the golden tiger-shaped ornament art modeling.
Sanxingdui gold leaf tiger ornament (Sanxingdui Museum courtesy photo)
In addition, Sanxingdui also has goldfish-shaped ornaments, gold zhang-shaped ornaments, gold round ornaments, gold quadrants and gold blocks, etc., of which gold blocks are not formed independently. Goldfish-shaped ornaments, gold-shaped ornaments, and gold-shaped ornaments are all gold leaf flakes, with small wear at the end or center of the circle, and the goldfish-shaped ornament body is also engraved with fish spines and spiny grains. Combined with the analysis of bronze fish-shaped foil ornaments and zhang-shaped foil ornaments with similar shapes, its function should be mainly used as a hanging ornament on the sacred tree. The sacred tree itself is not only a bridge between the emperors and the earth, but also the product of the worship of the sun and the sun god. The golden quadrant is jagged, if closed into three-dimensional, it becomes a sacred mountain, similar to the shape of the bronze sacred tree base and the middle layer of the bronze altar, which is likely to be pasted on a small sacred mountain-like artifact, which should reflect the worship and sacrifice of the ancient Shu ancestors to the mountain.
The mainland is one of the earliest countries in the world to find and use gold, but the Chinese Xia Shang Zhou period gold ware is not popular, and the earliest gold ware is mainly found in the northwest and north, the shape of the instrument is mostly small ornaments, Sanxing gold ware is the Chinese Xia Shang Zhou archaeology in a single excavation of the largest number of gold, the largest shape. However, the golden rod and gold mask in the Sanxing gold stacker can not find any origin in the archaeological culture of the same period or even earlier in China, and the use of scepters and golden masks is the characteristic of the West Asian Near East civilization, so some scholars believe that the Three Star Gold Stacker has a certain relationship with the West Asian civilization, reflecting the contact and exchange between the Sanxingdui civilization and the extraterritorial heterogeneous civilization.
Nevertheless, in terms of style and cultural connotation, sanxing gold stackers are Shuren works with unique regional cultural characteristics. In terms of function, the Samsung gold stacker is not used as a separate utensil, but is first made into a variety of gold leaf, and then combined with other texture artifacts. For example, the golden staff, that is, the pre-made gold leaf wrapper is rolled on the wooden staff, and the wooden core in the middle has been carbonized when it is excavated; the gold mask is pasted on the bronze human head; other such as goldfish-shaped ornaments and golden zhang-shaped ornaments are also used as hanging ornaments. From the production process point of view, Samsung gold stacker is mainly the gold bar hammer into gold leaf, and then in the molding, engraving, pasting, riveting and other processes for processing and production, there is no Fan casting utensils, which is also significantly different from other regions. From the perspective of the source of gold, the material used in sanxing pile gold ware should be derived from the local Shu country. The Classic of Mountains and Seas and the Classic of Hai Nei: "The West of Quicksand... There is gold Xuan Zhen Dan goods silver iron. According to Mr. Meng Wentong's research, the records in the Hai Nei Jing are actually the geography, history, and ethnic conditions of the ancient Shu kingdom. In addition, the Huayang Guozhi Shuzhi also says that the Shu kingdom "has jade, gold, silver, beads, bi, bronze... Forgiveness. "In fact, the Sichuan Basin, where the ancient Shu State is located, is surrounded by the Minjiang, Jinshajiang, Dadu river, and Yalong River basins in western Sichuan, which are rich in sand gold and gold mines. The excavation of the Three Star Pile of Gold Ware is corroborated with the documentary records.
Golden staff excavated from no. 1 sacrifice pit of Sanxingdui site (partial, courtesy photo) of Sanxingdui Museum)
Because the documents documenting the history of ancient Shu are fragmented and rare, the exploration of the history of the ancient Shu kingdom depends on the in-depth study of the Sanxingdui site and its excavated cultural relics and new archaeological discoveries. So far, the excavation of the Sanxingdui site is still continuing, and the newly excavated gold artifacts have unprecedented new types, but they have yet to be sorted out and restored, and will not be discussed here. It has always been an indisputable fact that many mysteries existing in Sanxingdui have not been solved, and people need to continue to explore and study. But no matter what, after all, the three-star gold pile broke through the fog of more than 3,000 years, presented it to the world with a kind of deified Xuan Ang Qi, and showed the brilliance and splendor of the ancient Shu civilization from one side. Moreover, the three-star gold pile fills an important gap in the fields of mainland bronze culture history, metallurgical history and art history, and attracts the attention of the world with a relatively independent gold culture with rich connotations. In particular, the Three-Star Gold Stacker shows an unprecedented aesthetic object with an independent artistic image that did not belong to the category of arts and crafts at that time, and they showed the wisdom, talent and temperament of the ancient Shu ancestors with a unique and colorful artistic image, and also injected new connotations into the oriental art with China as the main body. As the British newspaper The Independent put it: "Their discoveries may lead to a reappraisal of Oriental art." Therefore, whether in terms of historical value, scientific value or artistic value, the gold artifacts excavated from the Sanxingdui site, like the bronzes unearthed from the Sanxingdui site, are rare artistic treasures in the history of continental and even world civilization, and they carry the soul of Shu that is long and thick, shining through the ages and never-ending.