Exploring Sanxingdui for a lifetime

Interview with Chen Dean, former stationmaster of the Sanxingdui site workstation and researcher of the Sichuan Provincial Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology

  "I followed the ladder down the pit, touched the rim of the exposed copperware, and said six words:'Dakou Zun, no problem.'"

  "Ms. Chen, everyone at the archaeological workstation is afraid to determine what the artifact is. You can determine it by touching it with your hands?"

  "I have touched the bronzes unearthed in Sanxingdui dozens of times, hundreds of times, and I'm very familiar with them."

  Chen De'an, 68, was the first postmaster of the Sanxingdui Site Station of the Sichuan Provincial Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology. He has been engaged in Sanxingdui archaeology for 26 years. He was the main excavator of Sanxingdui No. 1 and No. 2 sacrificial pits in 1986 that "sleeped for three thousand years and woke up to shock the world" He is also the site identification expert for the newly discovered No. 3 pit.

It can be said that Chen De'an is one of the people who know Sanxingdui the most.

  On the occasion of World Museum Day, the reporter went to the archaeological excavation site of the sacrificial area of ​​the Sanxingdui site in Guanghan, Sichuan, to interview Chen Dean.

  "Shock is not once or twice, it is the shock of breaking the unknown with the excavation"

  Reporter: When did you “began” with Sanxingdui?

  Chen De'an: In 1979, I graduated from the Department of Archaeology of Sichuan University and joined the Sichuan Provincial Museum's archaeological team. In March of the following year, I was sent to the wooden coffin tomb of Majia Commune in Xindu, Sichuan to assist in excavation.

We have an old comrade named Wang Youpeng. He was the first archaeological excavator to come to Sanxingdui during the reform and opening up.

There is also Ao Tianzhao, a full-time cultural relic librarian of the Guanghan Cultural Center. The two of them started the first excavation of the Sanxingdui site since the reform and opening up in the spring and summer of 1980.

  Both Wang Youpeng and I went to the Xindu Majia Commune in the spring of 1980 to assist in the excavation of a large Warring States wooden coffin.

After the contact, he felt that I was pragmatic and able to endure hardships.

At the end of the excavation, he hurried to Guanghan to rescue and excavate the Sanxingdui site. Before leaving, he said to me, "After the tomb of Xindu is excavated, come to Sanxingdui."

  To be honest, I didn’t know much about Sanxingdui at the time. In the university mimeograph lecture notes, Sanxingdui only had less than one class. The teacher talked about Southwest Archaeology and designated the Sanxingdui site as the Zhou Dynasty. The lecture was finished in 20 minutes, and the content was still the twenty-third of the 20th century. A jade tool discovered in the ten's.

  In the summer of 1980, when I arrived at Sanxingdui, Wang Youpeng had already finished excavation and left the construction site, planning to start work again in the autumn.

I participated in archaeological excavations in the fall. From then on until 2005, I was archaeological in Sanxingdui. I experienced 15 archaeological excavations after the reform and opening up. Several large-scale excavations were hosted by me.

  Reporter: In 1986, you and Mr. Chen Xiandan presided over the excavation of sacrifice pits No. 1 and 2. Sanxingdui “woke up and shocked the world”.

What was the situation at that time?

  Chen Dean: It turned out that the city walls and terraces of Sanxingdui are rich in clay. The brick and tile factory chose a location here to take clay and burn bricks. We rescued and excavated the dormitory that lived in the brick and tile factory. , Slept on a wire bed, and some people went home because they could not eat fresh vegetables for a long time.

  Workers dig up to the cultural layer (the accumulation layer of traces, relics and organic matter left by ancient human activities) and dig out a lot of pottery pieces.

Burning bricks needs to pick out the impurities in the soil, and pottery pieces and stones are piled up.

When I saw these pottery stone tools for the first time, I was dumbfounded and went straight to the section where I got the soil to understand the strata and age.

These are the treasures we want in archaeology!

Since then, we have never stopped in Sanxingdui archaeology.

  In 1986, we organized a relatively large-scale excavation, and the results were great. The excavation of 16 strata proved that the Sanxingdui site has a continuous history from 5000 to 2600 years ago.

But unexpectedly, there are bigger surprises waiting.

On the afternoon of July 18, a brick factory worker rode a bicycle into the work station and said, "Here is a jade knife from digging bricks."

My colleagues and I hurriedly put down the work in our hands, rushed to the exit site, recovered the unearthed jade fragments, and arranged personnel to protect the site.

  In the following two months, more than 1,700 pieces of gold, jade, bronze, pottery, and ivory were unearthed in the sacrificial pits on the 1st and 2nd, as well as a large number of bone (tooth) carver fragments, 4600 pieces of tiger teeth and sea shells.

The national treasure-level cultural relics displayed in the Sanxingdui Museum, such as the bronze giant man and the bronze sacred tree, are basically derived from these two pits, which also established the Sanxingdui site's important position in the history of Chinese civilization and world civilization.

  Reporter: Which of the cultural relics unearthed in 1986 surprised you the most?

  Chen De'an: The cultural relics unearthed at Sanxingdui are all pleasantly surprised, with new knowledge.

I like the bronze longitudinal-eye mask the most. It is not a realistic animal that imitates, it is a collection of certain animal's specialties and special functions.

The protruding eyes of the vertical-eye mask represent the sun; the eyes Jiakuilong, which is the animal face pattern on the bronze ware, represents the sun god.

If you turn the longitudinal eye mask upside down and look sideways, it is equivalent to the character "shu" in the oracle bone inscriptions, with an eye on the top and a Kuilong shape on the bottom.

This is the definition of "Shu" given by the merchants-a nation that worships the sun god.

This is a very interesting cultural relic. It is the ancestor god of the Shu people, but it is related to the Shang civilization.

  I still remember my shock when I found the bronze vertical-eye mask in Pit 2 because I had never seen such a bronze statue.

In the whole process, the shock is not once or twice, but the shock of breaking the unknown with the excavation.

  "I have touched almost every bronze ware unearthed in 1986 dozens or hundreds of times."

  Reporter: In December 2019, the archaeological team found a corner of Pit No. 3 while digging a ditch, revealing a bronze edge.

Why are you invited to identify it on the spot?

  Chen Dean: After they discovered the suspected Xinkeng, Tang Fei, the director of the Sichuan Provincial Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology, asked me to visit the site.

Nearly 100 meters away from the sacrificial area, I ran into a nearby farmer Zeng Juanbing, also an experienced veteran craftsman.

He smiled and shouted from afar: "Mr. Chen, there is hope, there is something to do!"

  What was exposed was a 6 to 7 cm long copper rim.

I followed the ladder down the pit, touched the rim of the exposed copperware, and said six words: "Dakouzun, no problem."

  Others may have touched the bronze seldom, and just came out a little edge, not sure what it was.

I like to feel the archaeological specimens with my hands. I am familiar with the different styles of bronze wares in various periods, and I have also studied the Dakouzun from the Central Plains and other places.

I have touched almost every bronze ware unearthed in 1986 dozens or hundreds of times, and I remember every part clearly.

Moreover, each type of artifact has its own evolution trajectory. Archaeological typology is to grasp the evolution of artifacts and find out which stage it is in the chronological sequence.

A solid basic skill in stratigraphy and typology is required for archaeological dating and staging.

  Reporter: What are the new discoveries you most look forward to during this excavation?

  Chen De'an: The round statues and square statues unearthed this time are large in size and peculiar in shape. They are new models with strong visual impact.

I am even more looking forward to the appearance of seemingly "insignificant" artifacts such as Yuzhang and Yuge.

Now Tongyuan has appeared in the new sacrificial pit, which was unearthed in Pit No. 1 and No. 2 as well as in the Jinsha Site.

The shape of Tongyuan in different periods is the same, which shows that it was specially made for a certain ritual or a certain sacrificial object, and the shape has never changed, which is very enlightening.

  There are a lot of debates about the nature of the No. 1 and No. 2 pits, and we tend to think that these are "sacrifice pits."

The excavation of 6 new pits this time will provide us with more research clues and evidence, which will help us to locate the nature of the pits more accurately.

  "This Sanxingdui excavation is a leap from'Midwife' to'Obstetrics and Gynecology'"

  Reporter: Comparing the archaeological excavations of 6 new pits in 1986 and this year, what is the most profound change you feel?

  Chen De'an: This archaeological excavation is the largest, strongest, and most advanced in the history of Chinese archaeology. Compared with No. 1 and No. 2 sacrificial pits of the year, the conditions are very different. Behind it is our country's economic strength and archaeological team. , Great progress in facility strength.

  This is a "joint fleet" archaeological operation, involving more than 30 archaeological, cultural relics protection, and scientific research institutions, and the deep integration of multiple disciplines.

  The first is to have a planning plan.

The rescue excavation in 1986 was relatively hurried. This time, through preliminary exploration, a comprehensive work plan was formulated to calmly deal with the problems that may be encountered during the excavation.

  The second is that the environment is controllable.

In the summer of 1986, the weather was very hot and sultry. There were frequent thunders, and the rain never came. I was very worried every day.

Once it rains, the water in the fields will turn over and destroy the cultural relics; but thunder does not rain, and the soil is hard and hard to control.

In the evening, the soil was slightly wetted, so we could control it a little bit, so we went around all night.

During the critical period of fetching cultural relics, I did not close my eyes for almost three days and three nights, and hurriedly completed the cleaning of the sacrificial pit before the thunderstorm.

Now, the archaeological greenhouse has replaced the fence and straw shed, the protective clothing has replaced the straw hat hat, the constant temperature and humidity multifunctional excavation cabin is protected from the weather, and a variety of analysis and detection and cultural relic protection methods can maximize the extraction of information and reduce the oxidation loss of cultural relics .

  In 1986, in the final clean-up stage, we selected a woman from the migrant workers who weighed only 67 kilograms, who was the lightest, to go to the pit, just not to trample on the cultural relics.

Now there is an operating platform that moves up and down. The archaeologists lie on the platform and touch the cultural relics with their hands to ensure that the cultural relics are not destroyed.

We carried the cultural relics out of the pit like a "midwife". This time the excavation site is equivalent to the obstetrics and gynecology department of a tertiary hospital. Both the "mother" (the body of the pit) and the "child" (the artifacts and relics) are protected.

  Reporter: Did you leave any regrets when you excavated in 1986?

  Chen De'an: There are indeed some regrets.

It was a rescue excavation after two pits were suddenly discovered. The archaeological team and migrant workers worked out various "earth methods" to quickly complete the excavation work.

Although we issued an archaeological report at that time, there is still a lot of work to be done now, including re-examination of artifacts unearthed in 1986, continuing to complete the restoration of difficult cultural relics, and combining this new excavation.

In 1986, there were still some artifact fragments in those two pits. If they could be found in these 6 pits, it would be very lucky to be like completing a puzzle.

  In addition to the excavation of artifacts, this time it is more important to study its relationship with the surrounding environment, the site, the city wall, the sacrificial area, and the traffic system of the ruins. Why these pits appeared on the edge of the trench near the city wall, and why the sacrificial area was in the south of the city. These are the focus of future research.

  "The Chinese civilization has a long history, and there are endless new archaeological discoveries every year. This is a blessing for Chinese archaeologists."

  Reporter: What do the six sacrificial pits newly excavated in Sanxingdui mean for the archaeological community and the origin of Chinese civilization?

  Chen De'an: On the basis of previous results, this time archaeological excavation has made a great breakthrough.

First, some of the newly unearthed bronzes are very close to the style of the Yangtze River basin, and some are close to the Shang civilization of the Central Plains. This allows us to further understand the close exchange relationship between the bronze civilization of Sanxingdui, the bronze civilization of the middle reaches of the Yangtze River and the Shang civilization of the Central Plains, and the ancient Shu Civilization and the Yangtze River civilization have made important contributions to Chinese civilization.

The development context and splendid achievements of the pluralistic integration of Chinese civilization and the diversity of civilizations in different regions can be seen more clearly in this archaeological excavation.

  Reporter: Lei Yu, the head of the Sanxingdui workstation and Ran Honglin, the deputy head of the Sanxingdui workstation, who presided over the excavation work, are all your juniors. There are also many "post-90s" archaeological team members. What do you think of the "new generation" of archaeology?

What are your expectations for the younger generation?

  Chen De'an: I am very pleased to see their work achievements.

When I was the stationmaster, there were only a dozen people on the workstation, but I had strict requirements on the team members.

For example, I would ask the cooks to ring the bell at 7 o'clock in the morning to ask them to get up and eat on time, to formulate relevant rules and regulations, and to teach them basic archeology classes and assign learning tasks in the evening.

The place Sanxingdui was relatively "barren" at the time, and many people would not be able to stay or slack off, and lack of strict discipline was not enough.

  In addition, the National Cultural Heritage Administration coordinated with the National Museum, the Palace Museum, the Institute of Archaeology of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences and other institutions to support our work, and sent experts to Sichuan to help us repair the drawing rubbings, and cultivated a large number of talents for our unit, the backbone of this archaeological excavation. Many of them were practiced at the time.

For example, drawing expert Luo Zeyun has first-class drawing technology, and most of the line drawings of the sacrificial pit report were completed by him under the guidance of experts from the Institute of Archaeology of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.

  The archaeological talents are renewed very quickly, and the stationmaster Lei and the stationmaster Ran belong to two generations.

The younger generation masters more natural science knowledge, uses high-tech equipment, and is also exposed to the most cutting-edge archeological theoretical methods. These are very different from the older generation.

I am also learning from young people, trying to absorb new research methods and research results; the society is developing very fast, we can no longer lead them, but ran behind them.

  Reporter: What do you think is the most important spirit of archaeology?

  Chen De'an: Perseverance.

Archaeology is not a career that can yield results quickly. You must persevere and persevere in order to be rewarded. This is true for individuals, and even more so for the development of archaeology.

  I studied archaeology out of chance, but after doing this work, I never thought of giving up halfway.

I regard Sanxingdui as my life's career, and I have been cut off from it, and all I think about is it.

I didn't retired, it was my job; now I retired, it is my pleasure, so I am still doing research on Sanxingdui and other archaeological work.

  Archeology cannot be accomplished in one or several generations.

Take the Sanxingdui site as an example. The current research findings are just the tip of the iceberg, and the unearthed artifacts cannot be repaired for generations.

This is an endless relay race.

  Reporter: This year marks the 100th anniversary of the birth of Chinese archaeology, and it has been nearly a hundred years since the discovery of Sanxingdui.

Looking back at the time, what do you think of the cause of archaeology?

  Chen De'an: When I first came into contact with archaeology, it was quite interesting. It was both physical and mental work, and it was a health profession.

In 1992, I went to the United Kingdom to participate in academic exchanges. British scholars said that in the West, archaeology is an "aristocratic" undertaking. It is done by rich people, or rich people fund archaeology.

  In China, archaeology is not a "noble" business, but a national business, and a people's business. The nature is very different.

We interacted with the ancients, traveled through the tunnels of time and space, interpreting the "wordless book", exploring both "where do we come from" and inspiring "where do we go". This is the foundation necessary for us to understand Chinese civilization and strengthen our cultural confidence. Work, so I now think that archaeology is a noble undertaking.

  The Chinese civilization has a long history and a huge volume. There are so many ancient sites, so many cultural relics, so many archaeological materials, and there are endless new archaeological discoveries every year. This is a blessing for Chinese archaeologists.

The theories and methods of Chinese archaeology must be established by Chinese archaeologists themselves.

A new era of archaeology with Chinese characteristics, Chinese style, and Chinese style has arrived. It is the mission of our archaeologists to enhance the influence and voice of Chinese archaeology in the international archaeological circle, and let the world know the glorious achievements of Chinese civilization.

(Our reporter Chai Yaxin and Ye Yuanhao reported from Guanghan, Sichuan)