From Sanxingdui to Jinsha: A picture of knowledge showing the spiritual world of ancient China
【Expert Forum】
The archaeological excavation of the newly discovered sacrificial pit in Sanxingdui, Guanghan, Sichuan, has once again made the world feel the great achievements and appeal of Chinese archaeology in the new era.
Sharing the prestige with the world-famous Sanxingdui site is the Jinsha site located in the west of present-day Chengdu.
The Jinsha Site is the continuation and development of the Sanxingdui civilization. It has many cultural factors the same as the Sanxingdui civilization, and together formed the basic style of the early bronze culture in Southwest China.
Sanxingdui gave the world a strong visual impact with its bizarre bronze masks and portraits, tall bronze sacred trees, masks made of gold, and golden rods, refreshing people's traditional knowledge of ancient civilizations in the world.
In addition to showing people the golden masks similar to those of Sanxingdui, the gold belt engraved with fish, birds, and arrows, and the massive accumulation of ivory and other archaeological scenes, the Jinsha site also continued the Chinese civilization with a large number of new unearthed cultural relics. The rich and colorful chapters provide more wonderful pictures of the ancient Chinese spiritual world.
Sun and Moon: The Symbol of the Sun Bird
The sun god bird gold ornament, which has become a symbol of Chinese cultural heritage, is the most representative artifact in the Jinsha site.
This is a highly creative and imaginative cultural relic. The overall shape is circular and is made of gold foil with a gold content of 94.2%. The pattern is divided into two layers, inside and outside, which have been meticulously portrayed and cut.
The pattern on the outer layer is composed of four equidistantly distributed birds end to end, and the pattern on the inner layer is the same precisely divided and equidistantly distributed twelve awn leaves, rotating to the left toward the center of the circle.
The whole pattern is balanced and symmetrical, full of movement, and the rhythm of the ups and downs implies a profound meaning that the four directions surround the center, the sky is left-handed, and the center radiates twelve rays of light.
The reason why people call it "the bird of the sun" is because this round gold ornament is likely to symbolize the view of the universe centered on sun worship.
The circular pattern symbolizes the sun. The twelve rotating golden ray lines radiating outward from the center and the four "sacred birds" that connect end to end on the outermost periphery are naturally reminiscent of celestial phenomena such as the four seasons and December. Good things.
Here, we should also mention a very important archaeological phenomenon that has often been overlooked in the past: at the same time as the sun bird unearthed at the Jinsha site, there are also frog-shaped gold foils belonging to at least seven individuals, two of them The shape of the piece is basically complete. It can be observed that its shape is frog-like, with a sharp head, round eyes, ridges in the middle of the back, slender limbs, curved on both sides of the body, and two rows of pitted nipple patterns on the back. , This shape is reminiscent of "Moon Toad".
If you think about the sun god bird and the moon toad in conjunction, the record of "Huainanzi·Spiritual Training" stated that "there are worms and toads in the day" can be said to be coincident with it.
Since these gold foils were originally attached to the surface of an object, some scholars have speculated that if these cultural relics unearthed in Jinsha are combined and restored, it is likely that the restored composition will be a circular sun god. The torii resides in the center, surrounded by eight or more frog-shaped gold ornaments at equal distances all around, forming a scene where the sun and the moon complement each other.
This speculation is not unfounded.
During the Shang and Zhou dynasties, many core knowledge of the ancient Chinese thought world was gradually being formed. Ancient astronomical and geographic experiences such as the place, the center and the square, the change of yin and yang, the change of the four seasons, the positioning of the sun, the moon and the stars, and the frame model of the universe have begun to take shape. It is expressed in different ways and appears in archaeological materials.
If the bronze sacred tree in Sanxingdui symbolizes the cosmic tree and the sun tree in the ancient civilization of mankind, then the profound meaning of the sun sacred bird unearthed at the Jinsha site is similar to it.
The Jinsha Site is located in the Chengdu Plain, known as the "land of abundance". It already has highly developed agriculture. Not only stone and wooden farm tools, but also plant seeds such as millet and rice have been unearthed from the site. The changing of the four seasons, especially the powerful power of the sun, has meticulous observation and profound experience. The golden products they created representing the concepts of sun and moon worship, yin and yang, four seasons, etc., are not only the most simple and natural for the Chinese nation to the universe, the world, the heavens and the earth. Expression, with its almost perfect artistic form, provides an extremely precious model for the history of world art and the history of ancient thoughts.
"Knowledge Code" hidden in mysterious patterns
There are many cultural factors in common between the Jinsha Site and Sanxingdui, which are reflected in the unearthed golden masks, jade, ivory, bronze statues, and pottery.
But the one that can connect the two most closely is a set of mysterious patterns engraved on gold objects.
A golden rod body was unearthed in the sacrificial pit of Sanxingdui Site No. 1, with a wooden core wrapped in gold leaf expanded from gold bars. As it was unearthed in a pit with strong sacrificial colors, scholars generally regarded it as Sanxingdui ruins. The "scepter" that represents power, prestige, rank, etc., or "scepter" or "king scepter".
What is striking is that the upper end of the stick body preserves the decorative patterns carved with two sets of Yin threads. The patterns are the same. They are all three side-by-side heads of people wearing crowns and large rings on the ears, and two sets of the same at the other end. The ornamentation, each composed of an arrow, a bird, and a fish, has a mysterious meaning that is intriguing.
Coincidentally, in the Jinsha site, a piece of gold called the "Golden Crown Belt" was also unearthed. It was in the shape of a circle and broke into a long strip when it was unearthed, with a large diameter and a small diameter.
The surface of this gold belt is also engraved with four groups of the same patterns. Its basic composition features an arrow, a bird, a fish, and a circular pattern similar to a human face, and a golden rod unearthed from the sacrificial pit of Sanxingdui No. 1 The patterns on it are almost identical.
It is still impossible to explain the meaning of these two sets of mysterious patterns.
However, whether it is regarded as a "totem" or "clan emblem" that symbolizes different ethnic groups, or as a symbol that conveys some mysterious meaning, the similarity of the patterns on the two gold objects is so high that it is enough to show that this is from Sanxingdui. There is some kind of primitive information between the highest-ranking people in Jinsha, the two sites share a common cultural heritage, and it is likely that they also share a common symbol of power: one is a golden scepter, the other is a golden crown belt, and then consists of a set of the same The pattern connects them.
The fish and bird in the pattern are connected by an arrow. The arrow shaft passes by the bird's body, and the arrow shoots into the fish's body. It makes people think whether this is used by the ancestors of Sanxingdui and Jinsha. Symbols for thought expression, recording and inheritance?
So far, no words have been found in Sanxingdui or Jinsha. For the ancient Shu bronze civilization with a high level of development, this is undoubtedly puzzling.
But this group of mysterious patterns engraved on gold objects may be able to reveal some of the "knowledge codes" that have disappeared in the ancient Shu civilization.
In the historical records about ancient Shu in the Han and Jin dynasties, the inheritance system of the ancient Shu kings was recorded as "the first of Shu was named as Cancong, Baiguan, Yufu, and Enlightened". Said Baiguan. The latter is called Yufu. These three generations have been deified for hundreds of years, and their people have followed Wang Huan quite well" ("The Book of the King of Shu").
These patterns with mysterious powers, such as fish, birds, arrows, etc., may be more or less related to the royal line and lineage of ancient Shu in historical legends. They also appear in Sanxingdui and Jinsha gold with special value and significance. On the artifacts, does it imply the alternation of power, or does it mean that the inheritance of civilization does not stop?
Although we cannot decipher their meanings for the time being today, the ability of ancient ancestors to express certain knowledge and ideas using mysterious symbols has been fully demonstrated.
"Jedi Tiantong": a sacred place of worship
There is a special sacrificial area in the Jinsha site, located in the eastern part of the site, with a total area of about 15,000 square meters, located along the river and distributed along the south bank of the ancient river.
It can be inferred from this that the initial sacrifice activities of the Jinsha people were held on the riverbank, and the sacrifices were buried in the riverbank after the sacrifice ceremony was completed.
Unlike ordinary living sites, most of the artifacts unearthed in the Jinsha Sacrifice Area are not practical items, but symbolic sacrificial vessels or ritual vessels.
Judging from the sacrificial activities reflected in the inscriptions of the Central Plains during the Shang and Zhou Dynasties, there are different sacrificial methods such as burnt and burial. Sacrifice, to show sincerity to the ancestors and gods in heaven and underground.
Archaeological findings show that Sanxingdui and Jinsha have the same practices as the Shang and Zhou rituals in the Central Plains, but they also have unique personalities and characteristics.
There are several noteworthy phenomena in Jinsha's sacrificial activities: First, the sacrificial offerings use a large number of animal horns, teeth and other parts. Like the Sanxingdui sacrifice pit, a large number of ivory was unearthed in the Jinsha sacrifice area, the longest of which was 1.85 meters long and was the largest ivory discovered by archaeology so far. In addition to using jade, bronze, stone tools, etc. as sacrifices, wild boar fangs, deer antlers, muntjac horns and other animal bones were also unearthed from the Jinsha site, which should be a sacrifice during the sacrifice, especially the large number of wild boar fangs. There are thousands of bones, but no bones from other parts of the above-mentioned animals have been found, which indicates that the sacrificial supplies were carefully selected and may have special meanings. Second, among the sacrifices are specially made animal images such as stone tigers, stone snakes, stone turtles, and the facial features are mostly painted with red cinnabar. Also unearthed are the kneeling stone figures with their hands tied behind their backs, and some stone figures. The facial features were also painted with cinnabar, indicating that their identity, like these stone animals, should be sacrificed as "human sacrifices". They are most likely prisoners of war or slaves. This also reflects the social changes in the Jinsha period. Third, sacrificial rituals and procedures gradually formed. The sacrificial activities at the Jinsha site have gone through about 500 years, from the late Shang Dynasty around 1200 BC to the early Spring and Autumn Period from 770 to 476 BC. With the shift of the political center, the sacrificial holy land of the Jinsha people only gradually increased. barren. During this long period of time, Jinsha’s ritual activities can be roughly divided into three stages: the first stage is about the late Shang Dynasty, and ivory and stone tools are mainly popular as sacrifices; the second stage is about the Shang Dynasty. From the late period to the mid-Western Zhou Dynasty, a large number of jade and bronze wares were used as sacrifices, and ivory was still used; the third stage was from the Western Zhou period to the early Spring and Autumn Period. However, wild boar fangs, deer antlers, muntjac horns and other animal bones, beautiful stones, pottery, etc. are used as sacrifices.
Although both are sacrifices, the sacrifice area of Jinsha is obviously different from the sacrifice pit of Sanxingdui.
The Jinsha Site is different from Sanxingdui in terms of the objects of sacrifice, the use of sacrificial vessels, and the places of worship, and there are no heavy objects such as the most iconic bronze heads, masks, large standing figures, and large bronze sacred trees in the sacrificial pits of Sanxingdui.
Although golden masks and bronze figures with the same shape as the sacrificial pit of Sanxingdui were unearthed at the Jinsha site, they are far inferior to Sanxingdui in size and scale. Does this mean the decline of the overall national power during the Jinsha period and the lack of sacrificial resources? Are they themselves sacrificial activities of different natures, functions, and methods carried out in different scenarios?
These all require more in-depth comparative research.
But what is certain is that in the use of a large number of ivory, gold foil artifacts, and jade artifacts to "communication between gods and men", the two are in the same line.
Unique Contribution to Reconstructing the Ancient Chinese Spiritual World
From Sanxingdui to Jinsha, a large number of archaeological discoveries are relics and relics related to sacrifices, thus providing the world with an unprecedented knowledge picture of the ancient spiritual world of China.
Why was sacrifice so important and sacred in ancient China?
This involves one of the basic issues of the early civilization of ancient China, namely, the communication, communication and harmonious coexistence between heaven and man, and between man and god.
Ancient humans generally believed that there was a certain "mysterious power" in the world between nature and heaven, earth, man and god. Through certain rituals and rituals, humans could "reach heaven and earth" or master the laws of this mysterious power. The password can be protected by it, or a variety of "spells" (that is, witchcraft) can be actively used to seek good fortune and avoid evil.
Since the Neolithic Age, primitive witchcraft and sacrificial activities have been found in archaeology.
Many scholars have pointed out that the animal face pattern on the jade cong of Liangzhu Culture, the dragon and tiger pattern on the clam shell in Puyang, Henan, the jade pattern of Lingjiatan in Hanshan, Anhui, the Hongshan cultural temple and the statue of Kazuo, Liaoning, etc., all contain primitive witches. The implied meaning of art and sacrifice is believed to have the mysterious power of "communication between heaven and earth and attracting ghosts and gods".
Entering the Bronze Age of the Shang and Zhou Dynasties in the Central Plains, sacrifices became a national event, and even a set of etiquette systems centered on bronze ritual vessels was formed and spread throughout the world.
What Sanxingdui and Jinsha show to the world is undoubtedly a different expression of this ancient tradition. It not only inherits the cosmic and spiritual views of the "Jedi Tiantong" and the "Jedi Tiantong" in all parts of China since ancient times, it is also located in southwest China. His unique perspective and extraordinary observation and creativity have constructed people’s understanding, imagination, thinking and expression of the ancient spiritual world.
When Sanxingdui becomes a hot topic of archaeology, we should understand the ins and outs of Sanxingdui civilization objectively and scientifically, and read and understand the heritage of ancient Shu in ancient documents and the reality of archaeological discoveries with a broader perspective.
At the same time, the Golden Sands next to Sanxingdui cannot be ignored. They complement each other, link the past and the future, mirror each other, and have profound meanings. The common book constitutes a long and glorious chapter of ancient Shu civilization.
(Author: Huo Wei, the chief expert of the National Social Science Foundation of China, "The Sorting and Comprehensive Research of Newly Unearthed Statues of Southern Dynasties in Sichuan", and the Dean of the School of Archaeology, Culture and Museum of Sichuan University)