The exhibition "Gaze at Sanxingdui – New Discoveries from Sichuan Archaeology" will be on display at the Hong Kong Palace Museum from September 27. On the 18th, four precious cultural relics were safely transported to Hong Kong from Sanxingdui Museum in Guanghan, Sichuan Province and Jinsha Site Museum in Chengdu. The Sichuan and Hong Kong exhibition teams unpacked the boxes together and ordered, inspected and installed these precious cultural relics.
△ "Bronze No. 2 Divine Tree Base"
Four precious cultural relics arrived in Hong Kong
The four precious artifacts first unveiled at the Hong Kong Palace Museum include the Bronze No. 2 Divine Tree Base, a national first-class cultural relic unearthed in 1986, and the Bronze Tiger Head Dragon Figure, Golden Mask and Bronze Sacred Beast, which were first exhibited outside Sichuan Province and unearthed in 2020-2022.
△ "Steller's Dragon"
"Bronze No. 2 Divine Tree Base" is the only divine tree cultural relic in this exhibition. The upturned tail of the "Steller's Dragon" is one of the tallest animal-shaped bronzes seen in Sanxingdui, with a height of 75.5 centimeters.
△"Gold mask"
Sanxingdui unearthed about ten "gold masks", the largest of which is on display, weighing about 350 grams, and accounting for 85% gold. The "Bronze Divine Beast" is the largest bronze divine beast found in Sanxingdui so far, 98 cm high, 104 cm long and 39 cm wide.
△ "Bronze Great Divine Beast"
It is understood that the exhibition will display 120 precious cultural relics such as bronzes, jade, gold and pottery dating from 2,600 to 4,500 years ago, including 23 national first-class cultural relics and 55 important cultural relics newly excavated at the Sanxingdui site between 2020 and 2022, most of which are exhibited outside Sichuan Province for the first time.
Immerse yourself in dialogue with ancient Shu civilization
The ancient Shu civilization, represented by the Sanxingdui culture in Sichuan, shows the outstanding achievements of ancient culture in the upper reaches of the Yangtze River at the same time, and is also an important part of the diversified and integrated development process of ancient Chinese civilization.
Wang Shengyu, curator of the Hong Kong Palace Museum, introduced that this exhibition has five angles, namely, a close-up and meticulous view of the diverse artistic expressions of the eyes in Sanxingdui culture, the reproduction of Sanxingdui as a city center and its various aspects of urban life from a macro perspective, immersive exploration of mysterious sacrifices and belief systems, and the overall presentation of the world and communication network of Sanxingdui period, as well as the ins and outs and archaeological process of Sanxingdui civilization. With the cooperation of more than ten multimedia technologies, the exhibition presents the complete story line to the audience, brings the audience an immersive experience, and completes the dialogue between modern people and ancient Shu civilization.
At present, preparations for the special exhibition "Gaze at Sanxingdui" are in the final stage, which will be officially opened to the public on September 27 in Hall 8 of the Museum until January 8, 2024.
Comprehensive: Hong Kong Palace Museum, South+
Source: Voice of the Greater Bay Area